After relying mostly on field goals in the first half, Florida scored two second-half touchdowns to cruise to a 36-7 win over UAB. The Gators improve to 4-6 on the season in the first win for interim head coach Randy Shannon.
Entering Saturday, Florida's largest margin of victory for the season was only 14 points (38-24 vs. Vanderbilt). The victory snaps a five-game losing streak, including a pair of home losses to LSU and Texas A&M.
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IT WAS OVER WHEN: Redshirt freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks found senior tight end DeAndre Goolsby for a 13-yard touchdown, extending Florida's lead to 26-0 at the 5:36 mark in the third quarter. UAB's offense did not look capable of coming back from down four scores.
The Blazers, however, actually drove into Florida territory after the Goolsby touchdown, but freshman safety Shawn Davis recovered a fumble to keep it a 26-0 game. After the fumble, Florida drove eight plays for 78 yards, capped off by a 15-yard Lamical Perine touchdown run.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: Saturday was The Eddy Pineiro Show. The redshirt junior kick set a career with five field goals made. The Gators had not hit five field goals in a game since the 1992 Sugar Bowl. Pineiro also became the first kicker in Florida history to make two 50-yard field goals in a game.
Senior punter Johnny Townsend also set the record for most career punts by a Florida punter with 232, which came early in the third quarter.
Florida entered the game without a touchdown scored by a tight end. Goolsby and C'yontai Lewis each made a touchdown catch Saturday.
Running backs Mark Thompson and Adarius Lemons had their best games of the season.
THE STATS DON'T LIE: UAB was not ready for Florida's defense and it showed in multiple stat categories. The Blazers entered the game averaging 210 rushing yards per game. After three quarters, they were at minus eight yards rushing.
The Gators capitalized on UAB's first three turnovers, scoring 17 points. They would have capitalized on all four turnovers if not for a holding penalty on a 62-yard touchdown run by Lemons which was called back.
WHAT A PLAY: Sophomore defensive end Antonneous Clayton is seeing more playing time due to injuries on the defensive line. He came up with a big sack on third-and-11 in the middle of the third quarter.
Thompson ran with purpose in the second half, breaking off multiple runs of 15-plus yards.
Freshman defensive back Brad Stewart made his first career interception in the fourth quarter, making a nice play on a deep ball.
THESE MATCH-UPS PROVED KEY: UAB's offensive line was not ready for Florida's defensive line. The Gators got a strong push to limit the run and put pressure on Blazers quarterback A.J. Erdley.
When Florida had the ball, the offensive line was particularly effective at run-blocking and did a solid job limiting the UAB pass-rush. The Gators ran for average 5.1 yards per carry, led by Lemons (11 carries, 89 yards).
UP NEXT: The regular-season wraps up with arch-rival Florida State coming to The Swamp for a Noon ET game on ESPN. The Seminoles are also 4-6 after a 77-6 win over Delaware State on Saturday. FSU has defeated Florida the last four seasons.
Stay tuned with ITG, as we provide more post-game coverage tonight of Florida's win over UAB.
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