Instant Analysis: Gators go out on a winning note
In an injury-filled Birmingham Bowl, Florida (7-5, 4-4 SEC) got a win Saturday for departing interim head coach D.J. Durkin and its seniors by holding off East Carolina (8-5, 5-3 AAC) for a 28-20 victory. The bowl win is Florida's first since early 2012, when the Gators knocked off Ohio State in the Gator Bowl. As the program heads into a new direction now with Jim McElwain on board, Instant Analysis takes a further look at Saturday's events.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Vernon Hargreaves III saved the day for the Gators. With ECU down 28-20 but in the red zone late in the contest, Hargreaves made the read on a pass intended for Justin Hardy on 2nd down and notched the interception. After that, UF forced ECU to burn all of its timeouts and then earned the first down after a 3rd-and-6 quarterback keeper by Jeff Driskel to ironically but fittingly end the game and this season.
THIS STAT DOESN'T LIE: When Harris was knocked out of the game in the third quarter due to injury, Florida's offense couldn't get much going under Driskel. Eight of Florida's 10 second-half drives ended in a punt, interception or a fumble. Overall, ECU outgained UF 536-339.
AN UGLY MOMENT: In a game where a lot of Gators got banged up, Antonio Morrison appeared to suffer the worst injury of them all. Early in the second quarter on 1st and 10, as Florida's defenders piled to tackle Justin Hardy, Morrison appeared to hyperextend his knee when he got his left leg stuck under Caleb Brantley. Morrison was down on the ground writhing in pain and screaming being attended to by trainers. Then, the junior linebacker - who plans on making an NFL draft decision after this game - was carted off the field. At halftime, UF announced that Morrison had suffered a left injury and would not be returning to the contest.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: In his final game wearing a Gators uniform, Dante Fowler Jr. continually wrecked ECU's plans. He pieced together one of the most memorable performances of his career, racking up three sacks and two tackles for loss. Meanwhile, [db]Adam Lane/db] had a career day for the Gators on offense Saturday. The 5-foot-7, 222-pound redshirt freshman running back finished with 109 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
WHAT A PLAY: Early in the third quarter on 3rd and 6, Treon Harris found Ahmad Fulwood for an 86-yard touchdown - the longest of the sophomore wide receiver's career - to lift the Gators to a 28-14 lead. On the play, Harris connected on the screen pass to the speedy Fulwood, who used a lead block from Roderick Johnson to take it down the right sideline.
THIS MATCH-UP PROVED KEY: ECU struggled to stop the run Saturday as UF amassed 168 rushing yards on 43 carries. Harris and Lane combined for 26 of those attempts and 150 of those yards.