No. 11 Florida (6-2, 4-2 SEC) had an opportunity Saturday to build a comfortable cushion in the race for the SEC East crown on the road against Arkansas (6-3, 2-3 SEC). Instead, poor offense and uncharacteristically shaky defense plagued the Gators as they fell to the Razorbacks 31-10 in Fayetteville.
Instant Analysis now further examines the Gators' rough road loss.
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IT WAS OVER WHEN: With how much Florida's offense struggled throughout the entirety of Saturday's contest - and the defense allowing a number of explosive plays in the air and on the ground - the game felt out of reach for the Gators when the Razorbacks took a 21-7 lead 16 seconds before halftime. However, Arkansas truly put the game away with 9:19 left when it converted on a 36-yard field goal to increase its lead to 24-7 and make it a three-score game.
The Gators managed to tack on a 49-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro to cut their deficit to 24-10 with 6:41 remaining, but then they tried an onside kick - and the Razorbacks recovered. Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams essentially sealed the win for his team with a 41-yard touchdown run three plays later.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: There weren't very many standouts on either side of the ball Saturday for the Gators, so we're going with punter Johnny Townsend here. Against the Razorbacks, Townsend averaged 44.4 yards per punt on seven attempts, with a long of 59 on the day and four landing inside of the 20.
On Arkansas' end, Williams shined. Williams finished with 148 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries against the Florida defense Saturday. Wide receiver Drew Morgan also pieced together an impressive performance, with seven catches for 95 yards and a score.
THESE STATS DON'T LIE: After Arkansas allowed 543 yards on the ground in a 56-3 loss to Auburn two weeks ago, the Gators managed to record only 12 rushing yards on 14 carries (0.9 YPC) Saturday. On the flip side, Arkansas racked up 223 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 49 carries against the Florida defense.
Meanwhile, Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio had an abysmal outing against the Razorbacks. The redshirt sophomore signal-caller completed just 19-of-37 passes for 229 yards and two interceptions. In his past three games, Del Rio is just 52% passing for 596 yards and two touchdowns against six interceptions.
Arkansas won the time of possession battle, 39:21-20:39, as the Gators offense struggled to stay on the field while the defense battled through numerous injuries and eventually looked worn out.
WHAT A PLAY: Florida defensive back Duke Dawson came through with the Gators' most dynamic play of the first half, when he made a play on Allen's throw intended for tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and picked off the junior signal-caller for a 37-yard interception return. Dawson's interception in 1-on-1 coverage on the behind pass kept Florida in the hunt during the first half, cutting the Gators' deficit to 14-7 with 2:44 left in the first quarter.
THIS MATCH-UP PROVED KEY: As mentioned above, Arkansas held the edge on both sides of the ball in the battle along the line of scrimmage Saturday. The Gators defense took numerous hits on defense due to injury, including to linebackers Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone and Kylan Johnson, while the remainder of the group often struggled with discipline and assignments. The Florida offensive line, meanwhile, struggled to get much of a push up front in the run game against Arkansas' defensive front.
UP NEXT: Florida will return to The Swamp for its final home game of the 2016 season, as the Gators will host Will Muschamp and South Carolina next Saturday on Senior Day. The league is set to announce the start time of Florida-South Carolina on Sunday.
Stay tuned with ITG, as we provide more post-game coverage of Florida's road loss at Arkansas.
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