With his team down by ten points and a typically dominant running attack rendered toothless, Dan Mullen entrusted his junior quarterback Emory Jones to erase the fourth-quarter deficit.
Instead, Jones’ teammates on the offensive line and the backfield took, or rather jumped, into the spotlight with a pair of back-breaking false start penalties that doomed Florida’s final two drives.
A false start call on Malik Davis eventually led the Gators to a long fourth and goal try for the Gators to decide the game, which was deflected by a Kentucky defensive back to seal a 20-13 Wildcat victory.
Wide receiver Trent Whittemore led Florida’s first drive, hauling in a pair of catches to drag the Gators near Kentucky’s 40-yard line. However, a pair of unproductive rushes from Jones and Malik Davis paired with a dubious punt call saw UF end their opening series empty-handed.
Florida’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the day for the second game in a row, and the offense briefly showed its nationally-acclaimed potency on the following possession. Jones completed all three of his pass attempts on the drive, including a screen pass to Ja'Quavion Fraziars, who followed a convoy of blockers into the endzone to give Florida a 7-0 lead.
Kentucky answered the bell in nearly identical fashion, as quarterback Will Levis moved UK into Florida territory with a pair of completions before hitting Wan’Dale Robinson on a bubble screen. Robinson scampered 41 yards into the endzone to tie the game at seven, benefitting from a well-designed play call and poor open-field tackling from the Gators.
Punters Jeremy Crawshaw and Colin Goodfellow faced off in a field-position battle, as the two teams ended each of their next two possessions with a boot.
Dan Mullen opted to insert Anthony Richardson at quarterback to break up the trench warfare, and AR15 led the Gators across midfield with a number of strong runs and a completion to Dameon Pierce. Jones returned under center and found Nay’Quan Wright for a 16-yard completion, but the drive stalled from there and Jace Christmann nailed a 51-yard field goal to give UF a three-point advantage.
Florida seemed to take firm control of the game after an errant Levis throw landed into Tre’Vez Johnson’s arms. But Florida failed to gain any yards on three plays, and Christmann’s field goal attempt was blocked at the line of scrimmage and returned 76 yards for a touchdown by Josh Wallace. A wild special teams sequence was capped off by a blocked extra point attempt, keeping the Kentucky advantage at 13-10.
The Gators enjoyed another opportunity to seize the momentum, coming up with a key 4th and 2 stop at their own 34. But Jones threw his only interception of the afternoon just two plays later, which was returned 20 yards to the Florida 29. Chris Rodriguez ran into the endzone from nine yards out to put an exclamation point on an impressive, 99-yard afternoon and force the Gators into a 20-10 deficit.
Jones showed impressive poise and accuracy to lead the Gators into the redzone on the following drive, but a crucial false start penalty forced UF into another field goal.
A relentless pursuit from Brenton Cox forced Levis into an incompletion and the Kentucky offense into a three-and-out, giving the Gators an opportunity to tie the game with a touchdown.
The junior quarterback engineered a Tom Brady-esque two minute drill to set the Gators up with first and goal, but another false start penalty forced the Gators into a long fourth and goal try that fell harmlessly to the turf.
