2022 Florida Football Postgame Notes
No. 20 Kentucky 26, No. 12 Florida 16
September 10, 2022
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
Gators Draw 180,000-Plus Fans Through Two Games
● Paired with Week 1’s attendance of 90,799 (10th all-time, most ever for home opener), Florida’s
Week 2 attendance of 89,992 equates to a combined 180,792 fans through two games.
o Florida’s 180,792 fans represents the fourth-largest two-game attendance start in program
history.
o Largest Two-Game Attendance Starts, Program History
▪ 180,970 (2009, v. CSU and Troy)
▪ 180,939 (2008, v. Miami and Ole Miss)
▪ 180,806 (2005, v. Wyoming and LA Tech)
▪ 180,792 (2022, v. Utah and Kentucky)
▪ 180,790 (2010, v. Miami and USF)
History of Ranked Florida vs. Ranked Kentucky
● A Ranked Florida falls to 2-2 against ranked Kentucky teams in the fourth-ever matchup in which
both programs have been ranked in the AP Top-25.
o Week 2 marked just the second head-to-head meeting in the last 70 years in which both
teams were ranked in the AP Top-25 (2007).
● Previous Ranked Matchups:
▪ 10/20/2007: No. 14 Florida 45, No. 20 Kentucky 37
▪ 12/6/1952: No. 17 Florida 27, No. 19 Kentucky 0
▪ 11/4/1950: No. 5 Kentucky 40, No. 17 Florida 6
● Florida has now played a ranked Kentucky team seven times across the all-time series, including
three times since 1953 (2022, 2007, 1977).
● UF went from NR in Week 1 to No. 12 in Week 2 – the largest jump in school history in the current AP
Top-25 format and the Gators’ fourth-biggest ever.
Gators Offense
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr. exploded for a 40-yard rush in the second quarter, marking Florida’s
second-longest rush of the season (Anthony Richardson, 45 yards) and the longest of Johnson Jr.’s
young Gators career.
● RB Trevor Etienne scored his first-career touchdown with a go-ahead, 11-yard scamper into the
endzone to make it 12-7 in favor of Florida in the second quarter.
o Etienne then caught a pass from QB Anthony Richardson to convert the two-point
conversion, moving the score to 14-7.
▪ Etienne is the first Gators player since 1996 to score a rushing touchdown and
convert a two-point conversion on a reception in the same game.
● Etienne is one of three players (Kyle Trask, Anthony Richardson) to score a
rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion in the same game in the
last 25 years.
▪ Week 2 represented UF’s second-straight week with a successful two-point
conversion attempt.
● Johnson Jr. and Etienne combined for 108 yards rushing on 16 carries (6.8 YPC).
o That equates to 53.3% of carries and 79.4% of UF’s rushing yardage in Week 2.
● TE Dante Zanders hauled in his first-career reception for four yards in the second quarter.
● WR Xzavier Henderson paced all UF receivers with 50 yards and six receptions on ten targets.
● The Florida offensive line took over six quarters to surrender its first sack of the season, which came
on Florida’s first drive of the third quarter.
● Six different Gators caught at least one pass.
● Florida was shut out at home in the second half of a game for the first time since Oct. 1, 2011 vs.
Alabama.
Gators Defense
● Florida held its opponent to under 300 total yards of offense for the first time since Nov. 20, 2021 at
Missouri (286).
o Florida has held Kentucky to under 300 total yards in three-straight meetings.
▪ The Gators have held the Wildcats to under 300 yards in 15 of the last 22 meetings.
o This is the fifth time since the start of the 2021 season that the Gators have held an
opponent to 300 yards or fewer.
● The Gators allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards for the first time since holding Vanderbilt to 88 on
Oct. 9, 2021.
o Tonight’s matchup marked the first time since Sept. 10, 2016 that Florida held Kentucky to
100 or fewer rushing yards (94).
▪ The last time Florida held Kentucky to fewer rushing yards was on Sept. 28, 2013 in
Lexington (48 rushing yards).
o This is the fourth time since the start of the 2021 campaign that Florida has allowed 100 or
fewer yards, having also accomplished the feat at home vs. Alabama and Florida Atlantic
last season (in addition to Vandy).
● The Gators recorded three sacks in tonight’s game, their most since sacking Florida State four times
on Nov. 27, 2021 of last season.
o Florida’s three sacks were the team’s most against Kentucky since Sept. 23, 2017 (four).
o Florida’s 160 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and fourth nationally –
trailing only Clemson (192), Pittsburgh (189) and Alabama (171).
● Florida forced Kentucky to a three-and-out and -2 total yards on its opening drive.
o Kentucky had scored on 69.2 percent of its opening drives since last season, the third-best
mark in the FBS during that span (Wake Forest & BYU – 71.4).
o Florida forced just one three-and-out drive in last week’s win over No. 7 Utah. The Gators’
defense opened with one in Week 2, forcing a loss of two yards.
● Florida held Kentucky to -37 rushing yards in the first half, marking the lowest first-half rushing total
allowed by the Gators in the last 10 years.
o This is the second-fewest rushing yards allowed in any half by an SEC team in the last 10
years.
▪ Kentucky held UT Martin to -45 yards in the first half of their Nov. 23, 2019 game.
● The Gators went ahead, 16-7, thanks to their first safety in 41 games – since Sept. 23, 2018 vs.
Tennessee.
● Florida tallied three sacks against Kentucky in the first quarter alone – the first time UF logged three
sacks in a quarter since sacking Missouri QB Connor Bazelak three times in the third quarter on Nov.
20, 2021.
o DL Gervon Dexter Sr. and DB Trey Dean III got the Gators to the opposing quarterback for
the first time this season, combining with for a one-yard sack of Will Levis on UK’s first drive
of the game.
o DL Justus Boone registered Florida’s second sack of the season, getting to Levis for a
seven-yard loss in the first quarter.
▪ It marked the first full sack of Boone’s career, moving his career total to 1.5 sacks.
o LB Amari Burney collected his first sack since Dec. 5, 2020 at Tennessee, as he picked up
Florida’s third sack of the first quarter.
● Dexter Sr. picked up his second-career interception in the second quarter.
o His first came at Ole Miss in 2020 during his collegiate debut.
o Dexter is the first UF player to be credit with a sack and an interception in the same game
since Mohamoud Diabate vs. Kentucky on Nov. 28, 2020.
● Dean tied his career high with 1.5 TFLs.
● LB Shemar James finished tied-for-second on the team with seven tackles, setting a new career
high in his second-ever game.
● With one takeaway vs. Kentucky, Florida’s defense has now produced 80 turnovers since 2018,
which ranks third in the SEC and tied-for-30th in the FBS.
Florida Special Teams
● Jeremy Crawshaw punted five times for an average of 47.4 yards, including a long punt of 54 yards
and three kicks inside the opposing 20-yard line.
● Adam Mihalek was 2-of-2 on the first-two field goal attempts of his career.
o Mihalek converted a 50-yard field goal to bring the score to 7-6 in the second quarter.
▪ Mihalek’s 50-yarder was Florida’s longest since Jace Christmann hit a 51-yard field
goal at Kentucky on Oct. 2, 2021 of last season.
o Mihalek made his first-career field goal in the form of a 39-yarder to put the Gators ahead,
3-0, in the first quarter.
Explosive Plays
● Justin Shorter (from Anthony Richardson): 16-yard reception, first quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Richardson): 24-yard reception, first quarter
● Xzavier Henderson (from Richardson): 28-yard reception, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 40-yard rush, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 15-yard rush, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 11-yard touchdown rush, second quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Richardson): 15-yard reception, third quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 14-yard rush, third quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the 73rd all-time meeting between Florida and Kentucky including the
35th in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s defeat, Florida falls to 53-20 vs. Kentucky and 29-6 in home games.
o Florida has still won 33 of the last 36 meetings in the series including wins in 21 of the last 23
home matchups in The Swamp.
● The Gators fall to 7-3 against Kentucky since HC Mark Stoops took over in 2013, with the only prior
losses coming in 2018 (home) and 2021 (away).
o Those are UF’s only losses in the head-to-head series dating back through 1987.
o Since 2013, UF has outscored UK, 255-184 (+71 pts / 7.1 PPG), and out-gained UK, 4,015 to
2,931 (+1,084 yds / 108.4 YPG).
● UF HC Billy Napier drops to 1-1 as a head coach and 0-1 all-time against Kentucky HC Mark Stoops.
o The two previously met in 2013 and 2016, when Napier was the WRs Coach at Alabama.
o A No.1-ranked Alabama team won both matchups over Stoops’ Wildcats, 48-7 (2013) and
34-6 (2016).
Other
● With UK HC Mark Stoops passing Bear Bryant as the winningest head coach at Kentucky, Steve
Spurrier now lays claim as the only FBS coach to be the active-winningest HC at multiple schools
(Duke, Florida).
● UF has scored in 425-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 44 of its last 47 games.
● Florida Game Captains: #2 Amari Burney #65 Kingsley Eguakun, #3 Xzavier Henderson, #86 Jordan
Pouncey
● Kentucky won the toss and deferred; Florida defended the south end zone.
● Attendance: 89,993
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
No. 20 Kentucky 26, No. 12 Florida 16
September 10, 2022
Opening statement…
“I think coaching is a lot like teaching. When the students don’t perform as well as you want them to,
I think as a coach and as a teacher, you got to take a good look in the mirror. I think that’s exactly
what I’m going to do, what our staff is going to do. A lot of good out there tonight. I can
complement certain parts of our team I thought were outstanding. We certainly made improvements
in a lot of areas of our team, but there are some that obviously didn’t perform as well. In football, you
always got to tell the truth. Between the lines each week, you got to earn the right to win. I think
when we evaluate this game there is no question, we didn’t earn the right to win. We made too
many mistakes. I think the film will say that. Also, I think that much like life, the game of football can
teach you. There is adversity in your life and in this game as a competitor and as a person you got a
choice to make. You can choose character, or you can choose to compromise. I’m excited about
the character of our team. I know how they are going to respond. We’re going to learn. We’re going
to improve and we’re going to go back to work. I think you got to take ownership. As a leader, that’s
exactly the plan here.”
On Anthony Richardson…
“I think there’s no one that’s his own worst critic than Anthony [Richardson]. Anthony is a perfectionist.
He’s the ultimate competitor. He wants to do his job for the team. Can’t talk enough about his
loyalty, his sense of responsibility for playing the position and doing that really well for the team. I get
the chance to be in the meeting room with him every single day, the entire year. To have the
opportunity to be around that guy is pretty special. Anthony can do things better, but that starts with
me. We got to think that part of coaching is putting your players in position where they can have
success. We made mistakes tonight. Anthony made mistakes. I made mistakes. That is the beautiful
thing about the game of football. It requires hundreds of people to have success. Hundreds of
people contribute when you don’t maybe get the result that you want. I think sometimes the
quarterback position, you get that spotlight put on you. Reality is there’s things around you that can
be done better. That contribute to quarterback play. One thing I know about Anthony is he is going
to be a fighter. He is going to show back up and he is going to work hard to improve. He has that
level of investment and commitment to the players and the people in the organization.
On the 4th and 6…
“We had gotten some stops. At that point in the game, you got to be aggressive. You think about
where you are on the field, four minutes left in the game. You are only going to get so many
opportunities to get it back. They were chewing it up pretty good. No question, that was the right
decision.”
On Richardson running the ball…
“I think a little bit of it was the way they defended us. It was part of it. I think we had opportunities
there for him to run it, but sometimes the defense dictates some of those things. I do think last week
he had more opportunities and part of that was the structure that the defense played.”
On the team and Richardson’s youth…
“We tried to talk about that as much as we can. I think the guy [Richardson] he’s a young player.
That’s his second start in the Swamp of his entire life. I think that’s the great thing about experience.
This guy started this season with very minimal experience. How many lessons does this guy learn in an
actual game setting when the game counted? I think that he’s going through that. That’s part of the
game of football. It’s part of life. You are going to experience mistakes. Ultimately, I know that the
most growth in life comes from some of the most difficult struggles that you go through. I think the
game’s no different. There will be players and him. He’s really going to grow and improve and learn
lessons and grow his character relative to how he responds. With these things comes opportunity, if
you have the right attitude and approach.
On the positives…
“I think at times there in the first half we rushed the ball effectively. I’ll have a better opinion after I
watch the film. There is no question you can see the improvement on special teams, you could see
the improvement on defense. There’s no question about that. Offensively, I’m going to reserve my
answer for Monday after we go back and watch this tape. I do note that there’s too many mistakes
for my liking across the board. I think that’s coaching and we are going to take ownership of them.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
No. 20 Kentucky 26, No. 12 Florida 16
September 10, 2022
15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On takeaways from the game…
“Just got to play better. I feel like I let everybody down. Especially the defense because I looked
everybody on defense in the eye and I told them I’ve got them and that I was put up points for them.
Obviously, I did not. I turned the ball over, twice…three times. I fumbled the ball once. It was a tough
loss and I’ve got to play better for the team and the university.”
On moving forward…
“You’ve just got to grow. With this game and with life, adversity is going to come and you just have to
grow. Especially from this because everybody expects a lot from me and I expect a lot from myself. I
didn’t showcase anything that I’m capable of tonight.”
On how he felt throughout the game…
“I was pretty good. I started the game off and missed a couple of wide-open throws and my
confidence got shot. It affected my receivers poorly, you know, missing them wide open. So, I know
their confidence probably went down as well. I didn’t help my o-line. I didn’t help my running backs. I
didn’t help the team. So mentally, I sat myself down a little bit, but I tried to stay in it. And physically, I
was fine, just trying to play through it and just play the game.”
On the two interceptions…
“The first one, I didn’t get enough depth with my naked. I thought I could get around to the end. I
didn’t want to throw over the top because I know he was a long player so I tried to saddle him and
he just made a great play on that one. The second one is flashbacks of the Georgia game. Same
thing, I just threw it right to the dude.”
On only rushing six times…
“I pretty much just took what the defense gave me. You know, I try not to force too much. I’m a
quarterback, so I told myself, I was going to try to pass the ball more. I guess that probably affecting
my game a little bit. I just have to do better when the time comes.”
On what Coach Napier said in the locker room after the game…
“We just have to go forward. We felt like we didn’t really fight hard enough. He said we did fight but
we didn’t play hard enough and we didn’t play like we deserved to win. We just thought we were
going to come out here and win and maybe took them for granted. We just have to play better. “
9 Gervon Dexter Sr., Sophomore, Defensive Line
On the interception…
“Brenton Cox Jr. made a great play on the ball; I saw the ball and got ball.”
On Napier’s message to the locker room following the loss…
“We’re just going to prepare and get better from our mistakes. His message to us was see what we
did wrong, identify what we did wrong, and fix it.”
On the defensive line pass rush…
“Coach Toney called a very good game. We just executed what he called and it went well for us.”
On potential fatigue in the second half…
“No, I don’t think there was any fatigue. They had the ball longer, but like I said, we are going to see
what we did wrong and fix it tomorrow.”
On Will Levis…
“He’s a pretty good player. Coach Toney called a great game against him, we executed it. We
knew coming into the game what type of player he was and we tried to take some things away that
he was good at. It worked well, but he’s a good player.”
On Ventrell Miller…
“Ventrell is the quarterback of the defense. He’s very vocal, so that makes it very difficult for us to
play without him on defense. He communicates well and does a lot of things well. It is kind of like
losing your heart.”
On mistakes…
“It’s tough losing a game like that. I’m very competitive and I hate losing. It is tough losing with it
being an SEC game. It makes it a tough loss. Hopefully we will get our mistakes solved.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Mark Stoops, Kentucky Head Coach
No. 20 Kentucky 26, No. 12 Florida 16
September 10, 2022
Opening statement…
“Just really proud of our football team. Proud of our coaches, the preparation, the improvement that
we made between week one and week two. We knew we had a good football team. We knew we
had to play good in all three phases. We played solid in all three. The special teams miscues are, as
you can tell, pretty easily fixable. We haven’t had any snap problems in a long time. So, we got to
get that fixed… I felt like our coaches had a great game plan on both sides. We still can improve,
and will improve on the offensive side of the ball, especially with the running game and being
balanced. But that commitment to the running game opened up a lot of play passes, and they were
there. And then defensively, what more can I say? Defensively, really impressed with the game plan.
Coach White and the coaches, and the players how hard they played. Great team win. You got to
be a tough son of a bee to come into this environment and win. And we all understand that. And we
know this team is built that way. We’ve shown it through the years. That’s who we are. We’re gonna
be a tough, hardnosed football team and win tough games, no matter what they look like. And we
may win and may we may lose. But by God, we’re gonna be tough. And we showed that tonight.”
On getting Jordan Wright back…
“Yeah, I mean, he’s a player for us. And I don’t think there’s any question. You know that, you’ve seen
him play for a while. He’s not only a good football player, but he brings good energy… One of those
guys who’s a strong leader and his presence, he has that energy. That’s a bit contagious.”
On how the attitude of the team changed in the second half…
“We weren’t going to change, you know. The team, the defense, wouldn’t have changed all night,
no matter what. It’s not their mentality. We always have a belief in the trust. And we talked about
that all week. That trust that we will make the plays and we will do what’s necessary to win. And I
firmly believe that defense knew that. I think the pick at the end of the first half was very big, big
play.”
On his team’s discipline…
“Yeah, I mean, they’re hardnosed, tough guys. You know, they play hard. And they’re very
coachable. They’re very selfless. And, you know, it’s credit to our coaching staff.”
On what clicked for the offensive line in the second half…
“With being able to be balanced like that, we were able to lean on him a bit. And I know we weren’t
just gutting them or anything like that. But just those yards, controlling the clock, moving the football,
being able to run the ball for the tough four or five, six yards, maybe 10 here and there. That kept
them more off balance. And, you know, had the game not played out like that we maybe had some
of our play passes still there because they were committing so hard to the run game. That’s what
opened some of that stuff up. You do got to protect the edges on the boots and things, and you
could tell, you know, we had to get one or two of those cleaned up after the first half.”
On breaking Bear Bryant’s wins record…
“Yeah, I’m glad it’s here. I’d like to be at home with my fans and family and friends and all that, but
that’s okay, there’s time for that. And we needed this one. And I’m just appreciative of, you know,
that, as I said on the field, when they asked me that, just appreciative to get this opportunity. The
great coaches that have been here, way back starting in 2013, that commitment from Mitch, Mark,
Dr. Capilouto the people, you know, it’s been a group effort. You can’t do this and win that many
games or stay in this conference that long without a lot of people doing a lot of good things and
committed to what we’re trying to achieve. And just really greatly appreciate all the past coaches
from the dog days, you know, early on ‘til now, because there’s been a bunch of really good people,
and great players. Such appreciation for the players all the way back to 2013, ‘til now. I love each
and every one of them. And it’s really fun.”
On the benefit of having linebackers who have logged so many games…
“They’re very steady and they see a lot of things. So, if they get them once or twice, you know, they
can get it corrected. They understand. They understand the situational football. And our young guys
looked to them, because they knew they had a lot of snaps under their belt.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Kentucky Student-Athletes
No. 20 Kentucky 26, No. 12 Florida 16
September 10, 2022
0 Kavosiey Smoke, Senior, Running Back
On how hard the team worked to finish the win…
“All the hard straining, and we had to strain there, and then to come down and finish it, fourth
quarter we had to finish it. That’s our quarter, the fourth quarter.”
On the team being called “soft” this past week…
“We don’t listen to the outside world, man. They can say what they want to say. We know what we
are. Soft, ask them what we are now. Ask them what makes us soft.”
On the rivalry with Florida…
“I feel like every team we play, we have the same intensity. Florida is just an SEC team. Our first SEC
game, we just wanted it more.”
On rebounding after a lackluster run game in the first half…
“I mean, that’s what you’re going to get in any game. A little frustration, but it’s how you respond. We
just found the will, and came out with a victory.”
7 Will Levis, Senior, Quarterback
On how it feels to get the win…
“Yeah, feels awesome. I mean, that was the number one goal, regardless of how it happened. We
could have done a lot of things a lot better, but let’s just celebrate a great win right now.”
On what changed with the running game in the second half…
“I think we saw kind of a few concepts that we were just one block away or just one shoestring tackle
away where we were close to it hitting. I think we had zero rushing yards going into the half. And I
was so proud of our O-line for just staying determined, trusting in their keys and our backs were
running hard, hitting their holes, making their reads correctly. And took a lot of time off with the run.
Got down there into field goal range a couple times, but really proud of how they performed in the
second half.”
On what he saw on the touchdown to Dane Key…
“So, we had a kind of street concept with a high cross and really built for two high, but that single
high safety cut the high cross so it was just one on one, Dane with the corner. So, as soon as I saw the
safety cut down, I stepped up threw it over the top. It’s a ball that we haven’t completed in a long
time, even in practice, so pretty cool for that to happen.”
On what this rivalry means…
“It’s fun. I mean, that’s what college football is all about. I mean, whatever gets the fans excited,
whatever gives us a little extra motivation. Just looking back to where the program was when Stoops
first got here, that’s a little thing we talked about after the game compared to now. I mean, beating
them two years in a row is crazy. And that’s kind of what’s expected now for us. And to do it here in
The Swamp… Beat them the last couple times. I know how much it means to our fans, especially after
just not being able to beat them for so long. So, it’s just really cool.”
