Live Updates: No. 5 Florida 51 vs. Ole Miss 35; FINAL
No. 5 Florida has kicked off the season against the Ole Miss Rebels and the two teams have gotten off to a fast start in the game. After the Gators held on the opening series, both teams scored touchdowns on the next series. After a couple of turnovers, the Gators scored again. A series later and the Rebels drove the field for a score.The second quarter has also offered some fireworks as both teams have scored and Kyle Trask has quickly thrown for three touchdown passes. The Gators finished off the first half with a touchdown strike as well. It's a fun one in Oxford.
Florida stayed hot to start the second half and scored in the first 36 seconds. Ole Miss came right back with a touchdown of their own. The Gators scored again on a 55-yard field goal, a career best. He followed that up with a 37-yard field goal and a 23-yard field goal.
Ole Miss then scored the first touchdown of the fourth quarter on a long drive and completed a two-point conversion to make the game closer The Gators then scored again on the passing combo of Trask to Pitts setting records along the way. Ole Miss scored one in the last mibute to cut the lead.
Below is the latest updates on the biggest plays of the game.
Scoring and Highlight Plays1st QUARTER
** Starting safety Shawn Davis was disqualified for a targeting call in the first offensive drive by Ole Miss.
Florida 7 Ole Miss 0 (Gators TD, 13 plays, 77 yards)
5:48… The longest play of the drive was an 18-yard reception from Kyle Trask to Kyle Pitts. The drive was aided by a pass interference call. The Gators marched methodically down the field and finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Pitts.
Florida 7 Ole Miss 7 (Rebels TD, 7 plays, 75 yards)
3:43… Quarterback Matt Coral hooked up with Elijah Moore for 28 yards and then a 46-yard touchdown strike to Dontario Drummond for a drive that took just 2:05 off the clock.
**Interception thrown by Emory Jones on the Gators' second drive when he was hit on the throw.
**After a sack, Florida defensive end Brenton Cox knocked a Matt Corral pass down and it was intercepted by freshman defensive lineman Gervon Dexter.
Florida 14 Ole Miss 7 (Gators TD, 4 plays, 82 yards)
0:50… Dan Mullen reinserted Emory Jones at quarterback and he would run for a first down on two plays. Trask came back to the field and handed off to Kadarius Toney who broke a tackle and went 50 yards. Then Trask finished it off with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Grimes.
2nd QUARTER
Florida 14 Ole Miss 14 (Rebels TD, 11 plays, 75 yards)
12:04… The longest plays were a 17-yard run by Scooter Conner and a 17-yard scramble by Matt Corral. Corral hit Dontario Drummond on a 14-yard touchdown to finish it off.
Florida 21 Ole Miss 14 (Gators TD, 9 plays, 78 yards)
3:10… Trask completed six passes of 12+ yards and the final one was a 16-yard touchdown to Toney for Trask’s third touchdown pass of the day. He completed passes to four different receivers on the drive and they all had completions of 12+ yards.
Florida 28 Ole Miss 14 (Gators TD, 8 plays, 81 yards)
0:05… Needing to hurry down the field, Trask completed passes of 19 and 21 yards to Pitts and finished the drive with a 16-yard touchdown to Pitts. That was the second touchdown reception for Pitts and the fourth touchdown pass from Trask in the first half.
3rd QUARTER
Florida 35 Ole Miss 14 (Gators TD, 2 plays, 75 yards)
14:19… After a ho-hum four-yard run by Kadarius Toney, Trask finds Pitts covered by a linebacker and hits on a 71-yard touchdown strike. Pitts stiff armed the pursuing linebacker to end up in the end zone.
Florida 35 Ole Miss 21 (Rebels TD, 2 plays, 75 yards)
13:43… Ole Miss came right back and scored on two plays of their own. After a 57-yard pass completion from Corral to Elijah Moore, running back Jerrion Ealy avoided several tackles on the way to an 18-yard touchdown run.
Florida 38 Ole Miss 21 (Gators TD, 8 plays, 38 yards)
9:30.. Gators stalled after a holding penalty on a first down, but ended up with points when field goal kicker Evan McPherson kicked a career best 55-yard field goal.
** Missed field goal by Ole Miss
Florida 41 Ole Miss 21 (Gators FG, 5 plays, 50 yards)
5:06… Emory Jones back in at quarterback and he gains a first down running and then with a 30-yard pass completion to Trevon Grimes before the drive stalls. McPherson would come on to kick a 37-yard field goal.
4th QUARTER
Florida 44 Ole Miss 21 (Gators FG, 11 plays, 66 yards)
12:54… A Trask completion to redshirt freshman Nay’Quan Wright for 25 yards was the longest play of the drive. Wright put on a couple of moves to get the extra yardage. The drive ended with a 23-yard field goal by Evan McPherson, his third three-pointer of the game so far.
Florida 44 Ole Miss 29 (Ole Miss TD, 5 plays, 81 yards)
11:00… Corral completed five straight passes including one for 32 yards and one for 33 yards to Kenny Yaboah, then finished the drive off with a touchdown pass to Yaboah of 8 yards.
Florida 51 Ole Miss 29 (Florida TD, 10 plays, 75 yards)
5:14… A roughing the quarterback call saved the drive for Florida. The longest plays were a 14-yard run for junior Dameon Pierce and a 17-yard touchdown strike to Pitts from Trask. It was Pitts fourth touchdown reception of the game and Trask’s sixth TD pass.
Florida 51 Ole Miss 35 (Ole Miss TD, 16 plays, 75 yards)
0:58… Needing big plays, the Ole Miss had to settle for underneath plays. Snoop Coner finally ran it in from one yard out to cut the lead.
**Ole MIss covered an onside kick inside the last minute of the game.
__________The Swamp247 staff will be virtual for the day thanks to company-wide travel policies related to COVID-19 that force us to pick our spots in 2020, but we'll have plenty of game coverage, discussion and more.
You can keep up to date with all the latest with staffers Thomas Goldkamp, Bob Redman and Blake Alderman following the action and providing commentary and discussion. We'll have live updates throughout the pre-game and commentary once the game begins, so jump in and join the discussion.
We'll also have extensive post-game updates from players and coaches.
During the game, you can also bookmark this page. It will be updated throughout the game with key scoring drives, turnovers and relevant stats and information. Join the discussion on our message boards at the link below.
In the meantime, here's what Dan Mullen had to say on ESPN's College GameDay just prior to the start of the game.
"I'll be honest, we've waited a long time for this," Mullen said. "There's a lot going on, we've dealt with a lot, but you know what? This is what we've worked for. This is what we started working for last January. All the sacrifices we had to make, all the mental toughness we've had to endure over the last six months preparing for this moment, it's finally here. So go enjoy it, go out there and play.
"Finally we get to do what we love and feel normal for the first time in six months. In about 30 minutes from now I'm going to feel normal out here on gameday."
No. 5 Florida @ Ole MissKickoff: 12:00 p.m. ET from Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, MS
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: fuboTV
Radio: Gators IMG Network (Station List)
Listen Online: HERE
Live Stats Update Online: HERE
Betting Lines: Florida is currently a 13.5 favorite according to William Hill
__________*Pregame notes*
- Florida opens its 10-game SEC season with its first meeting with Ole Miss since 2015, and it's first trip to Oxford since 2007.
- Florida begins its season with a true road game for the first time since 1987, when it traveled to No. 10 Miami.
- Florida’s No. 5 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll is its highest ranking since 2012, when it climbed to No. 3.
- The Gators ended the 2019 season at No. 6, their highest final AP Poll ranking since 2009, when they finished No. 3.Dan Mullen is also the first head coach in UF history to post top-10 finishes each of his first two seasons at the helm.
- In addition to consecutive top-10 finishes in the AP Poll for the first time since 2008 and 2009, the Gators are coming off consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins for the first time since 2008 and 2009 (both 13-win campaigns).
- Florida’s 11 wins last season marked its highest total since 2012, and was the eighth 11-win season in school history.
- After taking over Florida’s offense at the start of the fourth quarter at Kentucky last season, redshirt senior Kyle Trask was 233 of 349 (66.8%) for 2,901 yards and 24 touchdowns (plus four rushing touchdowns), and turned the Gators into one of the most effective passing teams in the nation.
- UF finished last season ranked 16th nationally in passing offense (300.8 yards per game), which was the first time in nearly two decades it threw the ball that consistently. UF’s highest national finish in passing offense since the start of 2010 was 79th (in 2016), and it finished outside the top 100 in four of the nine seasons from 2010-18.
- Florida last finished in the national top 25 in passing offense in 2004, when it was 14th with 271.1 yards per game.
- UF was also 16th nationally in yards per play (6.5) last year, far and away its best average since 2009 (7.0 per play).
- Florida closed the 2019 season with four consecutive 300-yard passing games, marking its longest streak of 300-yard passing outings since 2001, when it had 300-plus yards in all 12 games.
- Last year was the first time the Gators had eight 300-yard passing games in a season since 2001 (all 12 games), and it was the third time they accomplished the feat since the start of 1997 (UF also had nine 300-yard games in 1998).
- UF threw for 300 yards against ve SEC foes, marking the first time it did that since 2001 (eight times).
- Florida threw four touchdown passes in three different games (four apiece at LSU, at South Carolina, vs. Florida State) for the first time since 2001, when it did it in eight games.
- Even with the sudden offensive shift, Florida kept firing on all cylinders, and the Gators have logged 400-plus total yards in 12 of their last 17 games.
- The Gators had eight representatives on the Preseason Coaches All-SEC Team: quarterback Kyle Trask (first team), tight end Kyle Pitts ( first), linebacker Ventrell Miller (second), defensive backs Kaiir Elam and Marco Wilson (second), Kadarius Toney (third all-purpose), defensive lineman Zachary Carter (third), and kicker Evan McPherson (third).
- Trask is the first Gators quarterback to be a preseason first-team selection since Tim Tebow in 2009. Below are Trask’s FBS rankings among returning players (regardless of their team’s status for the 2020 season).
- Passing Yards Per Game: 18th [245.1 yards per game was 33rd in 2019]
- Passer Rating: 10th [156.09 rating was 15th in 2019]