2022 Florida Football Postgame Notes
No. 18 Florida 31, South Florida 28
September 17, 2022
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
Non-Con Dom: Gators Win 14th-Consecutive Regular Season Non-Conference Matchup ● With tonight’s victory over USF, Florida has now won 14-straight regular season non-conference games since the start of the 2018 season.
o Only five schools in the P5 have longer streaks:
▪ Alabama: 55
▪ Georgia: 17
▪ Oklahoma State: 16
▪ Oklahoma, Kentucky: 15
▪ Florida: 14
● In seven non-con games since 2021, UF ranks 10th among P5 schools with 492.7 YPG and second with 265.7 rushing YPG.
Swamp Superlatives
● Florida boasts a 352-112-13 (.752) all-time record at The Swamp, holding the third-highest home winning percentage in the nation since 1990 with a 171-33 (.838) record.
o The Gators have outscored opponents, 7,679 to 3,284 in 204 games inside The Swamp since 1990, putting the average outcome at 37.6 to 16.1 (21.5 points).
Gators Offense
● The Gators have now rushed for 100-plus yards in 14 of their last 16 games.
o Florida has rushed for 100-plus yards in 43 of its last 54 games.
o The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in all three games so far this season. ● Florida posted its eighth game of 200-plus rushing yards in the last 16 contests and its second of the 2022 season.
o This marks Florida’s 21st 200-plus yard rushing game in its last 54 games.
● Florida has now totaled 200-plus rushing yards against South Florida in all three of their meetings. o In the last 25 seasons, Florida has rushed for 200-plus yards in three-straight games against the same opponent just three other times:
▪ UAB: 2002-present (three)
▪ Kentucky: 2011-14 (four)
▪ Florida State: 2007-10 (four)
● The Gators scored 30-plus points for the 33rd time in their last 54 games, including scoring 30-plus in 20 of the team’s last 30 games.
o This is the first time UF has scored 30 points since erupting for 70 points against Samford on Nov. 13, 2021.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points six times in 13 games last season.
● Week 3 marked Florida’s fifth game with three players scoring a rushing touchdown since the start of the 2021 season.
o Among SEC teams, only Ole Miss (six), Tennessee (six) and Georgia (five) have as many or more such games.
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.’s 62-yard touchdown rush in the first-quarter marked Florida’s longest rush since Anthony Richardson ran for an 80-yard TD run vs. USF on Sept. 11, 2021.
o It also marked the longest rush by a Florida running back since Dameon Pierce’s 75-yard touchdown run against South Carolina on Oct. 19, 2019.
o This is Florida’s 27th rushing touchdown of over 60 yards since 1996.
o The carry marked Johnson Jr.’s longest as a Gator.
o Johnson Jr. now has two rushing touchdowns at UF and 14 for his career.
o Florida now has three 60-plus yard touchdowns vs. USF in the last two meetings alone. o Johnson Jr.’s rush tied Jeff Demps (2010) for the longest by a UF RB against USF. ● Johnson Jr. rushed for 103 yards on just six carries, equating to 17.2 yards per attempt – the second highest yards per carry in a single game in the FBS this season behind Nicholas Singleton of Penn State (17.9 YPC vs. Ohio, 9/10/22).
o Johnson Jr. is the first Gators running back to rush for 100 yards since Dameon Pierce vs. FAU on Sept. 4, 2021.
▪ Johnson Jr. and Pierce are the only Gators running backs to eclipse 100 rushing yards in a game over the last three seasons.
● Florida scored on its opening drive for the first time this season and the first time overall since Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Florida State.
● Florida and USF’s combined for 345 yards rushing in the first half – the most combined rushing yards in the first half by two FBS teams so far this season.
● Freshman RB Trevor Etienne put the Gators ahead in the fourth quarter, 31-28, with his second career rushing touchdown including his second in as many games.
Gators Defense
● Florida held its opponent to under 200 passing yards for the second time in its last-four matchups (Dec. 23, 2021 vs. UCF) and for the first time this season.
o Florida’s 116 passing yards allowed vs. USF marked the team’s fewest passing yards allowed since Oct. 2, 2021 vs. Kentucky (87).
o This is the ninth time since the start of the 2021 season that the Gators have allowed 200 or fewer passing yards in a game.
o Florida has held South Florida to under 200 passing yards in all three of their contests, having allowed 86 yards in 2010 and 188 yards in 2021.
● With three takeaways vs. South Florida, Florida’s defense has now produced 83 turnovers since 2018, which ranks tied-for-fourth in the SEC and tied-for-27th in the FBS.
o Florida’s three takeaways marked the team’s most since Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Florida State (three).
● Freshman LB Shemar James notched a fumble recovery and QB hurry vs. USF. o James recorded a QB hurry for the third-straight game to begin his career, registering one on South Florida’s second play from scrimmage of the game.
o James picked up his fumble recovery on South Florida’s opening drive as well. ● Florida totaled two interceptions in a game for the first time since Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Florida State. ● Freshman CB Jalen Kimber’s 39-yard interception return TD in the second quarter represented
Florida’s first pick six since CJ Gardner-Johnson’s 53-yard interception return TD against Michigan in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 29, 2018.
o The pick six marked Florida’s 51st since 1996.
o The interception, as well as the touchdown, were the first of Kimber’s career.
● S Trey Dean surpassed 200-career tackles.
o Dean now owns 208 for his career.
● DL Desmond Watson set a career high with 1.0 TFL while tying his personal best of three tackles. ● LB Tre’Vez Johnson hauled in his third-career interception and his first of the 2022 season. ● OLB Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. tallied his first-career forced fumble, bringing the end to USF’s opening drive.
● S Miguel Mitchell, DL Chris McClellan and DL Jaelin Humphries all logged their first-career tackles. ● DL Tyreak Sapp recorded 0.5 TFLs – the first of his career.
● QB Anthony Richardson registered a tackle for the third-straight game to open the season. ● JACK Brenton Cox Jr. and Powell-Ryland Jr. both collected two QB hurries.
● DL Jamari Lyons made his collegiate debut in the victory.
Florida Special Teams
● Jeremy Crawshaw punted two times for an average of 43 yards, including a long punt of 54 yards. ● K Adam Mihalek was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts and converted all four extra-point attempts. o Mihalek put the Gators ahead, 3-0, with a 31-yard field goal on Florida’s opening drive. o Mihalek improved to 3-for-3 on field goals to begin his career.
Explosive Plays (9)
● Keon Zipperer (from Anthony Richardson): 20-yard reception, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 62-yard touchdown rush, first quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 16-yard rush, second quarter
● Trent Whittemore (from Richardson): 33-yard reception, second quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 16-yard rush, third quarter
● Justin Shorter (from Richardson): 30-yard reception, fourth quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 10-yard rush, fourth quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 18-yard rush, fourth quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 15-yard rush, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the third all-time meeting between Florida and South Florida including the second matchup in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s victory, Florida improves to 3-0 vs. South Florida and 2-0 in home games. o UF has outscored USF, 111-62 (+49 pts / 16.3 PPG), and out-gained USF, 1,418 to 1,029 (+389 yds / 129.7 YPG).
● UF HC Billy Napier rises 1-0 all-time against South Florida HC Jeff Scott.
o The two previously worked together on the coaching staff at Clemson from 2008-2010. ● Florida has now totaled 300-plus yards of offense against South Florida in all three of their contests. • Florida has now totaled 200-plus rushing yards against South Florida in all three of their meetings.
o In the last 25 seasons, Florida has rushed for 200-plus yards in three-straight games against the same opponent just three other times:
▪ UAB: 2002-present (three)
▪ Kentucky: 2011-14 (four)
▪ Florida State: 2007-10 (four)
Facing the American Athletic Conference
● Florida improves to 34-14-2 (.700) in 50 all-time meetings against the American Athletic Conference.
● HC Billy Napier improves to 1-1 all-time against the American Athletic Conference o His only previous matchup against the AAC came against Tulane on Dec. 15, 2018 in the AutoNation Cure Bowl, where the Ragin Cajuns fell, 24-41.
● The Gators extend their streak of regular season non-conference wins to 14-straight. o This streak dates back to 2018, where Florida defeated Charleston Southern 53-26 in the season opener.
Other
● Florida has scored in 426-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record and 56 games longer than any other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on Oct. 7, 2017.
● Florida has finished with fewer than 10 penalties in 45 of its last 48 games.
● Florida Game Captains: #1 Brenton Cox Jr., #26 Jeremy Crawshaw, #76 Richard Gouraige, #2 Montrell Johnson Jr.
● Florida won the toss and deferred; Florida defended the south end zone.
● Attendance: 88,496
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
No. 18 Florida 31, South Florida 28
September 17, 2022
Opening statement…
“Hats off to South Florida. Jeff’s [Scott] got a good football team. They had a great plan tonight. I thought offensively they played well. They blocked us well. They gave us some unique concepts. A ton on respect for what Jeff’s building. Obviously, a good friend of mine. We made it hard, but a lot of that had to do with South Florida and their execution. Always good to get the win. I’m very thankful for our fans and the environment they created. It was awesome in there again tonight. I think it was just a couple hundred tickets away from selling out again. They continued to affect the game. Our team and everybody in our organization are certainly thankful for that and can’t express our gratitude enough. I’m proud of the team and the fight that they showed. This is a group that has showed that they’re going to stick together, they are going to fight through adversity, they’re going to have each other’s back, and do enough on offense, defense, and special teams. Thankful to win. I told the players that this game, I don’t think people really understand how much work goes into it from our players to our staff. Anytime you win a football game, there’s a place to celebrate that and we are certainly going to do that tonight. We got a lot of work to do. That’s very obvious. But credit to our team and staff for sticking together and finding a way to win.”
On Anthony Richardson’s redzone interception…
“It was a run play with an individual cut option. They loaded the box up. Had one on one coverage over there and made the decision to throw it. I had no issue with the decision that he [Anthony Richardson] made to throw it. It is how he threw it, to try and throw a back shoulder fade when that wasn’t what was required. Simple plays that we execute. It’s certainly part of his growth as a player. You play that position, we put the ball in his hands. He’s going to make some mistakes and certainly can throw that one better.”
On South Florida’s run game…
“I think it was a really good design. They involved the quarterback, and the big gains were really unique stuff. Some things that we maybe had not seen on film. I do think that we’re in good calls, it’s more about execution. First, second, and third level being on the same page. I’m pretty confident, when we go watch the tape, we are going to see one player maybe not doing what they are supposed to do. When you involve the quarterback in the read game, it causes you to be assignment sound. There were times where we had a gap out there. I thought we addressed those things at halftime and really fixed those issues in the second half which was great to see.”
On Ventrell Miller’s absence…
“I think I’ll be able to tell when we watch the tape. I think that group competed in the game and played the game. A guy like Scooby [Williams] out there and Shemar [James] both are young players with minimal experience that played a big role in the game and made some critical stops at times. I don’t think that you replace Ventrell Miller. His leadership, his ability to communicate, and his production. There’s a lot there. But two good young players go with Amari Burney that put it out there and competed tonight.
On creating turnovers…
“It’s the difference in the game, ultimately. You talk about the pick six. You talk about an interception on the short field there where they potentially take the lead. Turnovers are going to be critical every week. They’re critical week one. They’re critical week two. They were critical tonight. We need to take care of the ball better. We threw it to the other team twice tonight. Both of which were very correctible but credit our defense. They effected their quarterback and knocked it off of him in the first possession and made him throw it to us twice. Those were takeaways. I think it’s a big part of playing good defense. “
On Anthony Richardson running…
“I think he made a few plays, a few first downs with his feet in this game. There’s a couple, two in particular, early where he made first downs with his feet. So I think I’ll be able to give you a little bit better information when I watch the tape. When a guy’s going through his progressions, at time there’s a place for pulling it down and running. Sometimes they give you that opportunity and sometimes they keep you in the pocket. I think they did a little bit of both at times. They gave him opportunities and he made some plays with his feet and then there were times that he couldn’t.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
No. 18 Florida 31, South Florida 28
September 17, 2022
#15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On checking to pass on his second interception…
“We gashing them down the field. So the call is a 1-on-1 shot to the receiver or keep it and run. I saw Shorter out there and I trusted him. I just didn’t give him a chance to make a play on the ball and the defense made a play. That was pretty much what happened. I just gotta give my guys a better chance to attack the ball and score.”
On his confidence level making checks on offense…
“I feel like I’m growing. Honestly, it’s just knowing even what to do and knowing what we want to do. Of course, that defense. We were talking about that all week and talked about it earlier today. If they did this, we were going to check this. I was talking to Montrell. He said I was happy I checked into it because he saw it himself. So, just being able to learn the offense a little bit and just recognize the coverage a little bit, it helps when you’re trying to make plays.”
On the production from the running backs…
“I feel like it definitely saved us. I couldn’t do much in there. It falls back on me, not giving my guys a chance to get the ball. But the O-line and the running backs, they’re saving us. I’m glad that we can count on them when times get tough.”
On South Florida’s halftime adjustments…
“They didn’t really change much. They kept their defense mostly the same. They were bringing pretty much the same pressures. It’s just me trusting the routes and the combos. All of us know the plays. Especially that first interception, I should have trusted that pass to Shorter. I just need to trust my own offense.”
On conversations on the sideline after the interception on the throw to Shorter… “First, we got to process and understand what happened and why it was an interception. I talked to coach Napier for like two minutes about that. He said it was a good read, but he didn’t like the throw. I didn’t like the throw myself. We just talk about why it happened. Understand why and just try to move on to the next play.”
On his confidence level…
“I’d say it definitely got back up. Feel like I’m getting back to myself, just focusing on football not focusing on the outside noise. Despite the two interceptions, you know, I feel like I keep growing as a player, as a person, put that in the past. Nobody wants to see two interceptions, zero touchdowns after the game but it is football and I got to get better.”
On if his experience at LSU in 2021 prepared him to play in Knoxville next weekend… “LSU, it did help just getting used to the crowd going against us and being loud. That’s when you just gotta show up and play ball. Definitely when you’re on the road playing an SEC team. So play ball and make things happen. But, it’s my first career road start and I’m just ready to play.”
#8 Jalen Kimber, Redshirt Sophomore, Cornerback
On his thoughts during the pick six…
“Obviously, I’m happy about it, but we still got work to do. Just keep our head down, keep working on this, keep improving week by week.”
On his apparent hand injury…
“The day after I broke my hand, I actually learned how to catch with the cast. You can see, it’s kind of shaped like a hand anyway, so I just learned how to catch with it, and [the interception] just kind of fell right into my hands when he threw it.”
“I hurt it the week before Utah. I just wanted to keep playing, being out there, fighting with my brothers.”
On the atmosphere of The Swamp…
“I love it. I love the atmosphere. I love the fans. I love the vibe. I love everything about The Swamp. I feel like I could not have come to a better place.”
#2 Montrell Johnson Jr., Sophomore, Running Back
On what he saw on his touchdown run …
“Before the play started [we were in a play action], I saw the [linebackers] were on the heavy side of the formation, so I’m like ‘it’s open over there.’ I guess Anthony saw it and he just checked it [to a run].”
On the emotions after the win …
“Only thing in my head, I’m just like ‘we got to get better as a team,’ because I don’t think they could have played with us, to be honest with you. I just think we have to get better as a team, get better as a unit, an offensive unit.”
On what kept USF in the game…
“The offense. We couldn’t really get going early. We started moving the ball kind of late, during the game. That really changed the game, the offense.”
On what USF did well…
“On offense, they held the ball away from us. They had the ball a lot.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Jeff Scott, South Florida Head Coach
No. 18 Florida 31, South Florida 28
September 17, 2022
Opening statement…
“We came here to win the game and I have no doubt In my mind that our team believed we could win the game before it started. I really told them I wanted to see two things. I wanted to see us play hard four quarters because we haven’t done that all year, and I wanted to see us have fun. I think we did both of those things. Obviously, it is a heart breaker because of how well we played for the majority of the game. I told our players after the game, three games into my third season and this is the first time I have really seen our team play at the level that I feel we are capable of playing. I know we have some other big games but that is a talent team in a big-time venue right there. For our guys to show their heart and what they showed. The other thing we talked about all week long is embracing adversity and I did not feel like we did that real well in our first games. I told them there would be some adversity tonight, we were down 11. At halftime, we kicked the ball to them and then went on a 15-point run. We came here to win the game and didn’t get that done and that hurts but I could not be prouder of the young men in that locker room. The coaching staff, I felt like we had a great game plan. We had a game plan to win and I felt like our guys played well enough outside of a couple miscues. Obviously the three turnovers on offense hurt and that let to 17 points, one of them being a pick six. We did get two turnovers on defense. We did get two turnovers on defense. Just again costly penalties that were disappointing. Just had some mistakes at the wrong time. So this hurts, there is nobody in the locker-room happy for keeping this close. We will show up tomorrow and watch the tape. One of two things is going to happen. We are either going to use this as a stepping stone to take the next big step forward, or we will sit there and beat our feelings. The team we play next week came off a similar game and the team that responds the best off these games is going to be the team that wins next week, I believe that 100%. Hopefully this will be one of those stepping stone games for us and we can see what we are capable of and see some of those mistakes that cost us.”
On the offense …
“Watching them on video, I was worried about running the ball. Credit Coach Trickett and our offensive staff, I felt like we kept them off balance with our running game. We ran Gerry [Bohanon] a lot more, he had over 100 yards. [Brian] Battie had a big game. From the standpoint I am really proud, I think we had over 200 yards rushing in the first half, and that may be more yards rushing given up than they have all year. I think that was positive, obviously we have to clean some things up in the passing game. We have a couple guys banged up. I believe we can build off of this game offensively with the way we ran the ball. There is more opportunity in the passing game for us to reach our best effectiveness on offense.”
On the offensive line …
“It was special. That was a really talented defensive front. If you watch their first two games of Utah and Kentucky, we knew it was going to be a battle. There are a lot of guys on that defense that are going to play in the NFL. Our guys really just fought their tails off and played extremely hard and they executed the game plan upfront and I felt like our running backs ran well. We ran the ball well enough to win the game, we just had a couple miscues in other areas.”
On the first scoring drive…
“It was key. We talked about it all week. One thing we hadn’t done this year is get off to a good start. To be able to play four quarters the right way you have to be able to get off to a good start. To be able to go out there in that venue, I haven’t been here since I was in high school and my dad was coaching South Carolina. That is an impressive environment and our guys, outside of that one high snap there at the end and one illegal procedure, our guys did not look out of place at all. There is no doubt that first drive was an important.”
On if USF outplayed Florida…
“At the end of the day, it is about winning the game and we did not win the game. There were a lot of plays in there that I felt like we won the matchup as far as running the ball. Defensively, one of the best defensive performances we have had in a long time. If you look across the board they are a little bit taller and bigger and our guys were not phased one bit. Credit Coach Shoop and the defensive staff and defensive players. It comes down to just a couple plays that they made that we did not.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
South Florida Student-Athletes
No. 18 Florida 31, South Florida 28
September 17, 2022
#9 Aamaris Brown, Freshman, Defensive Back
On the attitude in the locker room….
“Honestly, there are a lot of guys with their heads down. But being a leader of the team, my main goal is to keep everyone up and to keep their heads up. We went out there and played a good game against a good football team. They were ranked and had a 94 percent chance to beat us and they beat us by three points. So I’m just in there keeping everyone’s head up and telling them we got good things planned ahead for us.
On containing Anthony Richardson and the gameplay …
“That was big on our game plan this week. We knew that he is a big and physical guy who can run the ball. He is like 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds or whatever he is. As far as my execution, I feel like I went out there and gave it my all. I feel like I executed every play to the best of my ability.
On stopping Florida on first four drives of the second half (two punts and two interceptions) …. “That was real big for us. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We knew that turnovers were going to play a big role in tonight’s game. When we got those two stops and those two picks, that just gave us that momentum that we knew we were going to win the game. But you know, its football and things happen”
#11 Gerry Bohanon, Junior, Quarterback
On what Coach Napier said to him postgame…
“Good game and good effort. He Recruited me out of high school, so he talked about that to me a little bit. He wished me good luck on the season and said that we have a good team and everything like that.”
On the mood in the locker room…
“A bit cloudy in the head. We felt like we should have won that game. But there is also some excitement for what’s to come. It’s a tough loss, but a lot of guys care and this should be good for us.
On feelings on the sideline when Florida went up 24-10…
“Our guys didn’t even look at the scoreboard. We were just there in that moment, and we embraced it. We were just having fun, grinding, and competing.
On the exchange with Coach Scott following his second interception…
“It was nothing crazy. It was just about how much time is left, and that we are going to get the ball back and have a chance.
#21 Brian Battie, Sophomore, Running Back
On coming in with frustration from the past two weeks…
“…We know that we got the ability to be a great team, so we just need to keep putting in the hard work. We just got to keep working.”
On the crucial third down play he converted…
“… We had momentum at the time and everybody was pumped up and ready to go. I got the program on my back, on this particular play we got to get this first down because if we don’t, then they are going to have great fielding position. It was wide open so I really did my job, the runners did their job and it worked.”
On what worked well tonight in the rushing game…
“We stayed focused and we know the abilities we have as a team. The O-Line played a great game… I give all the credit to my [guys] out in the front, they were opening holes all night.”
On the crowd and its impact…
“It feels great whenever you can shut a crowd up. It was pretty loud tonight, but there was a lot of times that we kept them quiet. We are just disappointed at the end of the night, but we did what we could. We played a good game, but we didn’t win at the end of the day.”
