2022 Florida Football Postgame Notes
LSU 45, Florida 35
October 15, 2022
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
Gators Offense
● Florida’s 6.4 yards per carry this season ranks third in the FBS.
o The Gators rushed for 6.4 yards per carry vs. LSU, led by 12.1 YPC by Richardson.
● QB Anthony Richardson’s 81-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter marked Florida’s third-
longest TD rush since 1996 and the longest by a UF QB in that time.
o Richardson’s rush is tied for the ninth-longest TD rush in the FBS this season including the
third-longest by an FBS QB.
o La’Mical Perine (88-yard TD, Oct. 5, 2019 vs. Auburn; Jeff Demps, 84-yard TD, Sept. 24, 2011
vs. Kentucky
● Richardson passed for 150-plus yards and rushed for 100-plus yards for the third time this season.
o Richardson is one of three Florida players to accomplish the feat in the last 25 years, joining
Tim Tebow (four times) and Emory Jones (once).
o The feat has been accomplished eight total times, with Richardson accounting for three
such performances.
● Richardson rushed for 100-plus yards for the fourth time in his career and for the second time this
season.
● Richardson connected with WR Justin Shorter for a 51-yard touchdown pass on the second play
from scrimmage in the game
o The play marked Florida’s fifth-longest passing touchdown dating back to the start of the
2021 season.
▪ Richardson has accounted for three of the top-five passing plays the past two
years.
o The play marked the 19th longest passing touchdown by an SEC team this season.
o Florida scored on its opening drive for the third time this season (second touchdown).
o Shorter is the first UF player since Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts in 2020 with multiple 50-plus
yard receiving touchdowns in the same season.
● Of Richardson’s 21-career touchdowns (13 passing, eight rushing), he has:
o Four scores of 70-plus yards, eight scores of 40-plus yards, and 10 scores of 25-plus yards.
● Week 7 vs. LSU marked Florida’s seventh game with three-plus players scoring a rushing touchdown
since the start of the 2021 season.
o Among SEC teams, only Georgia (eight), Tennessee (seven) and Ole Miss (seven) have as
many or more.
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr. broke off a 39-yard touchdown run to give Florida a 14-7 lead in the first
quarter.
o Johnson has now rushed for two touchdowns of over 35 yards this season.
o This marked Johnson Jr.’s fourth rush of over 35 yards this season.
o The Gators scored from 35-plus yards out on each of their first two touchdowns against LSU.
● Johnson Jr. later rushed for a three-yard touchdown to put Florida ahead, 21-14 in the second
quarter.
o Both of Johnson Jr.’s scores were go-ahead rushing touchdowns in the first half.
● With two rushing touchdowns, Johnson Jr. now has 19 career rushing touchdowns including seven
as a Gator.
● Freshman RB Trevor Etienne brought Florida within one score, 42-35, with a one-yard TD rush in the
fourth quarter – the third of his young career.
● The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in all seven games so far this season and in nine-straight
contests dating back to last year.
o The Gators have now rushed for 100-plus yards in 18 of their last 20 games.
o Florida has rushed for 100-plus yards in 47 of its last 58 games.
● Florida rushed for 200 yards for the third-straight game and for the fifth time in seven games this
season.
o Florida posted its 11th game of 200-plus rushing yards in the last 20 contests.
o This marks Florida’s 23rd 200-plus yard rushing game in its last 58 games.
● The Gators scored 30-plus points for the fourth time in their last five games.
o UF scored 30-plus points for the 36th time in their last 58 games, including scoring 30-plus in
23 of the team’s last 34 games.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points seven times in 15 games last season.
● WR Ricky Pearsall has hauled a pass in 22-consecutive games.
● Florida has allowed only five sacks in 2022, which is tied for 12th-fewest in the FBS (t-second in the
SEC).
Gators Defense
● The Gators recorded one sack in tonight’s game.
o Since the start of last season, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-31 margin.
o Florida’s 170 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and fourth nationally –
trailing only Clemson (205), Pittsburgh (202) and Alabama (186).
o Florida ranked tied-for-14th in the FBS and second in the SEC with 34 sacks last season.
● With one takeaway vs. LSU, Florida’s defense has now produced 89 turnovers since 2018, which
ranks fourth in the SEC and tied-for-26th in the FBS.
o The Gators have produced 11 turnovers this season with at least one each game.
o The Gators have produced multiple turnovers in three games this season with two
interceptions and a forced fumble vs. USF, two forced fumbles at No. 11 Tennessee, and
two interceptions vs Missouri.
● BUCK Brenton Cox Jr. picked up a sack (1.0) for the second-straight game.
o Cox Jr. also logged at least 0.5 TFL for the fifth-straight game and for the sixth time in seven
game this season.
o Cox also finished with two QB hurries.
● DL Chris McClellan tallied his first-career QB hurry.
● LB Ventrell Miller recorded double-digit tackles for the second-straight game, finishing with 10 (five
solo).
o Miller also notched a TFL for the second-straight game, finishing with 1.5 to increase his
season total to 5.0
● DB Jaydon Hill registered a career-high six tackles (five solo).
● DL Justus Boone tied his career high with four tackles (three solo).
● Florida held LSU to 54 rushing yards in the first half.
Florida Special Teams
● The Gators picked up their first special teams takeaway of the season, with LS Rocco Underwood
recovering a muffed punt by Jack Bech for the first fumble recovery of his career.
o Florida recorded its first special teams takeaway since Nov. 27, 2021 vs. LSU, when Xzavier
Henderson recovered a muffed punt in the third quarter.
● Florida has punted just three times across the team’s last 14 quarters.
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted two times for an average of 56.0 yards, including two punts of 50-plus
yards, one punt inside the opposing 20-yard line and a long kick of 62 yards.
o Crawshaw has punted for 50-plus yards for 25 of 66 career punts.
● K Adam Mihalek finished 5-for-5 on extra-point attempts.
● RB Trevor Etienne returned three kicks for an average of 33.0 yards including a long return of 47
yards on the game’s opening kick.
Explosive Plays (6)
● Justin Shorter (from Anthony Richardson: 51-yard TD reception, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 39-yard TD rush, first quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 10-yard rush, second quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Richardson): 20-yard reception, third quarter
● Pearsall (from Richardson): 29-yard reception, third quarter
● Richardson: 81-yard TD rush, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the 69th all-time meeting between Florida and LSU including the 34th
matchup in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s loss, Florida falls to 33-33-3 (.500) vs. LSU and 16-15-3 (.515) at home.
● UF has now lost four-straight games against LSU
● The Gators are now 11-7 at home vs. LSU across the last 18 meetings dating back to 1988.
• Florida has totaled 100-plus rushing yards against LSU in seven-straight games and in 11 of the last
12 meetings.
• HC Billy Napier falls to LSU HC Brian Kelly in their first meeting as head coaches.
Swamp Superlatives
● Florida boasts a 354-113-13 (.751) all-time record at The Swamp, holding the third-highest home
winning percentage in the nation since 1990 with a 173-34 (.836) record.
o The Gators have outscored opponents, 7,766 to 3,346 in 207 games inside The Swamp
since 1990, putting the average outcome at 37.5 to 16.2 (21.3 points).
Other
● UF has scored in 430-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record and 57 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 47 of its last 51 games.
● Florida Game Captains: #34 Chief Borders, #65 Kingsley Eguakun, #23 Jaydon Hill, 51 Ventrell Miller
● LSU won the toss and deferred; LSU defended the south end zone.
● Attendance: 90,585
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
LSU 45, Florida 35
October 15, 2022
Opening statement…
“I told the team before and after the game this is a great game that we play. It’s a blessing to play
the game and coach the game. The best thing about the game was the people that you get to do
it with: the players, the coaches. We’ve got hundreds of people on the staff that contribute to our
team. I’m proud to be associated with that group in that locker room because I get a chance to be
with them every single day. Ultimately, we did not do enough to win the game tonight. When you’re
in a leadership position, there is only one answer. You’ve got to do better for the people that you are
leading: players, staff, and all the people that care and represent this university. You’ve got to do a
better job. There’s lots of things that we can do better. Nothing fun about losing. I think the most
difficult part, when you are in my chair, is seeing it in the people that work so hard. There’s going to
be a ton of things that we can do to improve. I respect the fight in the group. I respect the
competitive spirit. There’re many times out there tonight where they could’ve folded their cards and
they fought back in the game and got it to a one score game. We did a lot of good things tonight,
but ultimately not enough to win the game. It’s my job to position the team to win, to have success,
and I could do my job better. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m proud of the players and
certainly excited to continue to work with them. It’s a good group. It’s the best thing about the
game. The people you get to do it with. I got to do more for our team.”
On the defense…
“What I see is opportunity. I’m seeing a lot of opportunity. You have to give a little bit of credit to LSU
tonight. The skill players, the quarterback. I don’t know that we tackled. I don’t know that that’s one
of our better days from a tackling perspective. Individual matchups, they won their fair share tonight.
We got the guy. We are all over the guy a lot of times and the guy out runs us or breaks the pocket. I
think that, when we look at it, we’ll see a combination of things. We’re going to see a lot of things
that we can do better schematically. I think we are going to see things that we can do
fundamentally better. I think there are going to be opportunities for guys to make plays. It’s going to
be a combination of all those things. I do not think it’s one thing or another. I think it’s a combination
of all those things. Ultimately, with the things that we can control from a coaching perspective and
the things that we can do better, we need to do those things better. I think that we are going to be
sick when we watch this tape. That’s what I can tell you.”
On Anthony Richard’s touchdown run…
“I can’t credit Anthony [Richardson] enough relative to flipping the switch and being a great
competitor. You can see it in his eyes, and he is wearing his heart on his sleeve. Anthony’s a guy that
wants to do his absolute best for the team and that one play was a good example of that. Gets it to
two scores and we get a stop. We are going to be sick when we watch the tape. I think, ultimately,
we have to do more for our players. We are going to see a lot of opportunities when we watch the
tape.”
On clock management at the end of the half…
“They’ve got two as well, so you are in a mayday two-minute situation. There’s a certain level of
aggression that you are going to use based on field position. We never really got into field position
where you needed to be aggressive. Ultimately, I think they’ve got two [timeouts]. The last thing you
want to do is give them the ball back again. I think it’s a deliquiate situation there that you try to help
manager the players there.”
On the offensive line…
“I thought, for the most part, we fought them pretty well. I don’t know what the numbers look like. We
had some leakage here or there. Richie Leonard played for the most part and did a good job in the
game. They had some really good players on the edges. On third down in particular we had some
issues with their dime package, but overall that group played well. I think we’ll be pleased with that
when we go back and look at the tape.”
On the roughing the passer…
“I think there will be some opportunity to teach there. That’s a judgment call. It is bang-bang. The guy
felt like it was unnecessary roughness on the quarterback. We didn’t get a replay of it. I wasn’t able
to see it, so it probably wouldn’t be right for me to comment on it. Officiating wasn’t an issue tonight.
They let them play tonight. That’s what I would say, and that’s what I always want them to do. They
let them play. We got a great crew, great people there. There will be some things there. We’ll ask for
feedback. When we get to the tape, we will be able to coach them better based off the feedback
just like we do every week.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
LSU 45, Florida 35
October 15, 2022
15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On the timing of his 81-yard touchdown run…
“Definitely feels good. Right before we went back out there, I was talking to Coach O’Hara and we
were down, and he said, ‘We’re going to score and make it 42-28, and put us right back in the
game.’ And it just so happened that I made that play right there and it did put us in a position to
come back and win the game. So, it felt pretty good just to be a part of that.”
On whether he was paying attention to the crowd during the third-quarter break…
“A little bit. You know, mainly when we’re winning. But we were down there, so we try to focus on
executing the next play. And I was in the moment, and I was just excited to score a touchdown with
my teammates.”
On the emotions heading into the bye…
“Another SEC loss, we wanted to win that one. We needed to win that one. So, we’re not really
happy about that, but it also gives us a chance to come back in and see what we can work on and
improve on. It gives us a little bit more time to prepare for the next game and make sure this doesn’t
happen again.”
On the area of focus during the bye week in advance of the next matchup…
“Definitely connecting with the receivers a lot more. You know, I missed a few over routes. Few balls
behind the receivers. I got to make it easier for them to make plays. I can definitely improve on that.
Protection checks. Improve on that. Help the O-Line. Help the running backs. Just playing confident. I
feel like that’s the main thing to improve on. Just being able to communicate better with each other
and knowing that we’re all on the same page.”
On the impact of not having O’Cyrus Torrence and what he saw from Richie Leonard…
“I didn’t expect anything less from Richie. He plays hard. He’s always going to play hard. He’s always
ready for the moment, whenever he does get a chance to get out there. So, I didn’t expect
anything less from him, and I thought he did pretty good.”
4 Justin Shorter, Wide Receiver, Redshirt Junior
On the play call on his 51-yard touchdown reception and whether it was planned…
“I’d say, it wasn’t something we talked about, but we definitely practice it. Like every week, we
practice going through our deep balls and short balls, short game. So, it’s just something that we
practice, been practicing since the summertime.”
On the mood in the locker room after a game like this…
“I’d definitely say it’s very hard, especially coming in after a loss. Everyone is kind of down. But
Ventrell Miller came in, he really picked the team up and brought us all back together. Coach
Napier came in, said some really, really positive stuff. You know, we’re just going to go back to the
drawing board. Tomorrow, come in there and just put that work in, really to improve and get better
because we got Georgia now.”
On Miller’s message to the team…
“He just – I’m obviously not going to say everything he said, because it’s a locker room thing – but he
just told us how like we need to come together and come in and really just go back to the drawing
board, and just work hard and work together every day, and really just work as hard as we can and
have great practices. Because that’s the only way we’ll be able to get better and really improve.”
On the meaningfulness Tom Petty Day in The Swamp and being a part of it…
“I’d definitely say it’s definitely a blessing just to even be able to go out there, and just see everyone
out there and just know really what it’s for… I’m just grateful to be a part of this team, and go out
there and really create an impact on everyone watching, too.”
On the emotions of this game and how they impacted Coach Napier and the team…
“I’d definitely say it was a big game and I feel like it’s more emotional when you put so much work
into it. You really fight and you really come back with a chance to win. But, you know, we really,
really fought and came back. So, I think we were all really into it and I think that took a little toll on
him, but we all picked him up, you know, just like how he picks us up, too.”
2022 Florida Football Quotes
Brian Kelly, LSU Head Coach
LSU 45, Florida 35
October 15, 2022
Opening statement…
“Proud of my coaches and certainly the players. They competed. It’s a tough place to play. Give
credit to Florida too, they kept fighting. I can’t be more pleased to take a group of guys that didn’t
play up to their capabilities the week before and they were able to go back to the practice field
and really be more purposeful, be more through, and come out here and play well and beat an SEC
team at their home stadium. Really proud of our group.”
On if he expected a game like this from Jayden Daniels…
“Absolutely. We were hoping that he was going to be more assertive with the football and he was
going to push it down field. The offense is coming to him. It’s a new offense he is in and it is slowing
down for him. Throwing for three and running for three [touchdowns], you saw his athletic ability and
his ability to move this offense.”
On Jayden Daniels becoming more aggressive…
“It has been a process of him being more confident and comfortable within the offensive structure,
knowing where people are. The receivers played at a level that I think they are capable of. That has
a lot to do with it as well. Assertiveness is confidence in who you are throwing to and confidence in
yourself. That is something that has happened through the relationships he is building with players on
the team. He is new to this group and that is just the maturation that is occurring.”
On Kayshon Boutte…
“I made him a gameday captain and you could just see that intensity just pickup. I don’t know if that
is the reason for it but he played fast. I made him a gameday captain because of the way he
practiced this week. He by far set the standard by how he went to practice. It showed in the way he
played. He was faster than anybody, he broke tackles, he was a difference maker. If he plays at that
level, we are a different football team.”
On the defense…
“They did some really good things. We harassed the quarterback tonight but we have to tackle
better. I thought we probably got too conscious of protecting the formations. They are in multiple
formations and we tried to protect too many things and we probably lightened our defensive backs
a little bit in the running game. I think if we had to do it all over again we would be more stout inside
out. Having said that it is the first time we have gone up against this quarterback, and having a
better understanding of who he is going to help us moving forward.”
On the offensive line…
“You have two freshmen playing against really elite talent off the edge. Those kids just battled and
battled and battled. Josh Williams got the game ball because of his running and catching but he
was part of a lot of chipping where he was doubling up on their defensive ends. He did a lot to help
us offensively.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
LSU Student-Athletes
LSU 45, Florida 35
October 15, 2022
18 BJ Ojulari, Junior, Defensive End
On evaluating the defense…
“It wasn’t our best defensive performance but I think we made plays when we needed them.
Tackling was a little sloppy all around. Hats off to Florida, they made a couple good plays when they
needed to. Our whole team played very well and the offense made plays when they needed to. The
defense came through when we needed it.”
On the team coming together…
“The whole team is coming together very nicely. I think everybody is staring to find their identity and
their role each and every day. That starts in practice, going through the process that Coach Kelly has
for us each and every day. Everybody finding their identity and everything is starting to click.”
On the offense…
“It is just fun to watch him play. Especially the way he was just zipping that ball to all the receivers,
giving our receivers a chance to make those plays. BT [Brian Thomas], Kayshon [Boutte], Malik
[Nabers], Jaray [Jenkins], all those guys are big time receivers and it was just so fun to watch that
offense explode to night. Especially the run game as well, being able to control that tempo.
Offensive line did a great job moving the line of scrimmage. The running backs did a great job
running hard and running behind their pads.”
5 Jayden Daniels, Junior, Quarterback
On how the game felt for him…
“It just felt great for the whole offense. That’s what we were talking about the whole week. We
considered this game a breakout game. We put in the preparation. We saw what we did last week, it
was right there. We just went out there, we trusted each other, and we went out and played four
quarters of football.”
On the game slowing down for him…
“It’s a new offense, new guys, just trying to get right with those guys. Like I said, throughout the weeks
we’ve been right there on the edge to go out there and make plays and put up the stats that we
know we can. Tonight, we showed it.”
On what he liked most about his game tonight…
“I just liked how everybody played together. I think we went like 6 or 7 drives with a score. No punts,
that’s a plus. I just liked how the rhythm of the offense was going, how we were all playing, just going
out there and having fun.”
On if he felt he was playing looser…
“For sure. Like I said, just talking about the trust. Trusting the receivers for them to go make plays. They
showed that they could do that tonight, we can build on that and just keep moving forward.”
On what was working between him and Kayshon [Boutte]…
“It was just a great week of preparation we had at practice. Everything that we hit, we hit at
practice. Other than the scramble drill, but he stayed quarterback friendly, I found him down the
field. Throughout the week of practice, we went out there, we hit those passes routinely. You can go
back and watch our film, we hit those type of plays. I missed him on one, which I wish I had back, but
other than that we just got that good rhythm going, that flow.”
