2022 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Florida 38, South Carolina 6
November 12, 2022
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
Gators Run Wild to Clinch Fifth-Consecutive Bowl Berth
• Florida’s win today makes the program bowl eligible for the fifth-straight season and for the eighth
time in the last nine campaigns.
• The Gators totaled their most rushing yards (374) in an SEC game in over a decade – since running
for 405 yards vs. Kentucky on Sept. 24, 2011.
o This is Florida’s third-highest rushing total in an SEC game since 1996.
o Florida’s 374 yards rushing was the team’s most since running for 400 yards in the 2021
season opener vs. Florida Atlantic (Sept. 4, 2021).
• Florida turned in its first 300-yard rushing performance of the season and third since the start of the
2021 campaign.
• The Gators had two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time in 22 contests, as Montrell
Johnson Jr. (161 yards) and Trevor Etienne (100 yards) both surpassed the century mark.
o Last time: Sept. 4, 2021 vs. Florida Atlantic QB Anthony Richardson (160) & RB Malik Davis
(107)
• Three different Gators rushed for over 95 yards, as QB Anthony Richardson finished with 96 yards
rushing on 15 carries.
o Richardson, Johnson Jr. and Etienne each scored a rushing touchdown.
• Florida averaged 6.9 yards per carry, while South Carolina rushed for 1.9 yards per attempt.
Gators Offense
● Florida fumbled on its final possession of the game, ending a streak of 50-consecutive offensive
possessions without a turnover.
o It was Florida’s first turnover since Week 7 vs. LSU.
● The Gators’ 6.1 yards per carry ranks second in the FBS and is on track to set a school record.
● Florida’s 225.7 rushing yards per game ranks 12th in the FBS.
● Florida scored its most unanswered points to open a game (24) since Oct. 9, 2021 vs. Vanderbilt
(42-0).
● Florida scored 21 points in the first quarter against a Power Five opponent for the first time since
Sept. 24, 2011 at Kentucky.
● First Half Superlatives:
o Florida outscored South Carolina, 24-7.
o Florida out-gained South Carolina, 362-112.
▪ UF out-rushed USC, 281-24.
o The Gators totaled 16 first downs while the Gamecocks had six.
o Florida won the time-of-possession battle, 16:55 to 13:05.
● The Gators eclipsed 400 yards for the fifth time this season including the fourth time in the last seven
games.
o Florida amassed 400-plus total yards for the 22nd time in its last 33 games including 35 of
the last 52 contests.
● The Gators eclipsed 500 yards for the third time this season including the third time in the last seven
games.
o This is the 15th time in Florida’s last 34 games that the Gators have totaled 500-plus yards.
● The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in 12-straight games including all ten games so far this
season.
o The Gators have now rushed for 100-plus yards in 21 of their last 23 games.
o Florida has rushed for 100-plus yards in 50 of its last 61 games.
● Florida rushed for 200-plus yards for the seventh time in ten games this season and for the fifth time
in the last six games.
o Florida posted its 13th game of 200-plus rushing yards in the last 23 contests.
o This marks Florida’s 25th 200-plus yard rushing game in its last 61 games.
● Today marked Florida’s third 300-yard rushing game across the past two seasons (23 games).
o Week 11 vs. South Carolina was Florida’s first 300-yard rushing game of the season.
● The Gators have out-gained their opponents in 17 of the last 23 games dating back to last season
(South Carolina, UCF, USF, Missouri, LSU, Georgia).
● Florida scored 30 points for the sixth time this season including the sixth time in the last eight games.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points for the 38th time in their last 61 games, including scoring
30-plus in 25 of the team’s last 37 games.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points seven times in 15 games last season.
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr. set a new single-game career high with 161 yards rushing, topping his
previous best of 150 rushing yards vs Arkansas State on Oct. 21, 2021.
o Johnson Jr. rushed for 100-plus yards for the fifth time in his career and for the third time as
a Gator.
o Johnson Jr. also set a career high with 24 rush attempts.
● Johnson Jr. and RB Trevor Etienne have combined for one rushing TD in all ten games this season.
o The duo has combined for 14 total rushing touchdowns.
o The duo has combined for 39 of Florida’s 65 explosive rushes (10-plus yards) this season
(60.0%).
● WR Ricky Pearsall hauled in his third touchdown reception as a Gator to put Florida ahead, 14-0, in
the first quarter.
o The grab was Pearsall’s longest touchdown reception of the season.
o It was the eighth receiving TD of Pearsall’s career.
o It was the 11th touchdown (rushing or receiving) of his career.
o The score marked his fourth TD of the season (three receiving, one rushing).
● Pearsall has now caught a pass in 25-consecutive games.
● TE Jonathan Odom caught his first-career pass and later hauled in his first-career touchdown.
o Odom finished with two receptions for six yards on top of the score.
● With Odom finding the stat sheet, 19 different players have caught at least one pass for Florida this
season.
● Etienne’s 85-yard TD rush was the seventh-longest TD rush in school history, and the longest by a
Florida player since Lamical Perine’s 88-yard TD run vs. Auburn in 2019.
o Etienne’s big score is tied for the eight-longest TD rush in the FBS this season.
o It marked the second-longest TD run by a Florida freshman in school history (John L.
Williams, 86 yards vs. West Texas State, 1982).
o Etienne’s 85-yard TD was Florida’s second-longest TD run since 1988 – when Emmitt Smith
ripped off a 96-yard TD (longest in school history) vs. Mississippi State.
● Etienne finished with a career-high 100 yards rushing.
● WR Caleb Douglas made his first-career start, becoming the first true freshman to start at wide
receiver since Kadarius Toney vs. Kentucky on Sept. 23, 2017.
o Douglas is one of four true freshmen to start for the Gators this season, along with LB
Shemar James, DB Kamari Wilson and S Miguel Mitchell (also vs. South Carolina).
o Douglas is one of six freshmen (true or redshirt) to start for Florida this season, joining James,
Wilson, Mitchell, DL Justus Boone (R-Fr.) and OL Austin Barber (R-Fr.).
● Florida opened the scoring with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by a three-yard
touchdown rush by QB Anthony Richardson.
o It marked Richardson’s ninth rushing TD of the season and the 12th of his career.
● Florida scored on its opening drive for the fifth time this season, including scoring an opening-drive
touchdown for the third time this year (first opening drive TD since Week 7 vs. LSU).
● Richardson’s nine rushing TDs rank second among SEC QBs and rank t-fifth in the FBS.
● WR Kahleil Jackson set a career high with 23 yards receiving.
Gators Defense
● Florida posted its best defensive performance in terms of points allowed (six) since shutting out
Vanderbilt, 42-0, on Oct. 9, 2021.
● Florida opened the second half by forcing a fumble on three-straight possessions – and recovering
all three.
● Florida held its opponent to under 300 total yards of offense for the second time this season.
o This is the sixth time since the start of the 2021 season that the Gators have held an
opponent to 300 yards or fewer.
● Florida held its opponent to under 200 passing yards for the third time in its last-11 matchups.
o This is the tenth time since the start of the 2021 season that the Gators have allowed 200 or
fewer passing yards in a game.
● The Gators allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards for the second time this season.
o This is the fifth time since the start of the 2021 campaign that Florida has allowed 100 or
fewer rushing yards.
● The Gators recorded three sacks in tonight’s game.
o Since the start of last season, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-29 margin.
o Florida’s 174 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and seventh nationally –
trailing (or tied with) only Clemson (213), Pittsburgh (212), Alabama (197), Miami (181) and
Ohio State (174).
o Florida ranked tied-for-14th in the FBS and second in the SEC with 34 sacks last season.
● With three takeaways vs. Georgia, Florida’s defense has now produced 97 turnovers since 2018,
which ranks third in the SEC and tied-for-20th in the FBS.
o The Gators have produced 19 turnovers this season with at least one each game.
o The Gators have produced multiple turnovers in six games this season.
o The Gators’ 19 forced turnovers this season rank second in the SEC and t-ninth in the Power
5.
● DB Rashad Torrence II forced and recovered a fumble in the third quarter, becoming the first UF
player to force and recover a fumble on the same play since Taven Bryan vs. South Carolina on
Nov. 12, 2016 – six years to the date.
o It marked Torrence II’s first-career forced fumble and second-career fumble recovery.
● Strangely enough, DL Desmond Watson accomplished the same feat on Florida’s next defensive
stand, forcing a fumble and recovering it for Florida’s second takeaway.
o It marked the first forced fumble and fumble recovery in Watson’s career.
● S Kamari Wilson produced Florida’s third forced fumble of the game, marking the first of his career.
o Florida’s three forced fumbles (Torrence II, Watson, Wilson) came on three-straight drives to
open the third quarter.
o S Trey Dean was credited with the fumble recovery – his second of the season and the
third of his career.
● LB Ventrell Miller finished with four solo tackles, 2.0 TFL and one QB hurry.
o Miller’s 2.0 TFL tied a career high (sixth time).
● DL Gervon Dexter picked up 0.5 sack to move his season totals to 2.0 sacks and 3.0 TFL.
● DE Princely Umanmielen registered 0.5 sack to increase his season totals to 3.5 sacks and 7.5 TFL.
o Umanmielen also added two QB hurries.
● S Miguel Mitchell made his first-career start, becoming one of four true freshmen to start for the
Gators this season along with LB Shemar James, DB Kamari Wilson and WR Caleb Douglas.
● S Tre’Vez Johnson recorded 1.0 TFL to bring his season total to 2.0.
● LB Amari Burney finished with four tackles (one solo) and 0.5 TFL.
● DL Desmond Watson totaled three tackles, 0.5 TFL and one forced fumble.
● LB Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr. notched 1.0 solo sack for the second-straight game.
o Powell-Ryland Jr. now has 2.0 sacks and 4.0 TFL on the season.
● DB Jordan Young recorded his first-career pass breakup.
● LB Derek Wingo tallied his first-career sack in the fourth quarter.
● LB Bryce Capers made his collegiate debut.
Florida Special Teams
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted two times for an average of 58.0 yards, including a long kick of 67
yards, one 50-plus yard punt and one kick inside the opposing 20-yard line.
o Crawshaw’s 67-yard punt was his longest of the season (career long: 69).
o Crawshaw has punted for 50-plus yards on 28 of 671 career punts.
● K Adam Mihalek went 1-for-2 on field goal attempts.
o Mihalek connected on a 28-yard attempt in the second quarter.
o Mihalek’s 36-yard attempt in the third quarter was blocked.
Explosive Plays (13)
● Anthony Richardson: 10-yard rush, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 22-yard rush, first quarter
● Caleb Douglas (from Anthony Richardson): 27-yard reception, first quarter
● Ricky Pearsall (from Anthony Richardson): 15-yard TD reception, first quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 85-yard TD rush, first quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 23-yard rush, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 31-yard rush, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 20-yard rush, second quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 19-yard rush, second quarter
● Anthony Richardson: 18-yard rush, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 11-yard rush, third quarter
● Lorenzo Lingard: 10-yard rush, fourth quarter
● Kahleil Jackson (from Jalen Kitna): 23-yard reception, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the 43rd all-time meeting between Florida and South Carolina including
the 19th matchup in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s victory, Florida improves to 30-10-3 (.733) vs. South Carolina and 17-2 (.895) at home.
● The Gators are now 25-7 (.781) against the Gamecocks since 1964 and have won four-straight home
games in the series since 2016.
• HC Billy Napier defeated SC HC Shane Beamer in their first meeting as head coaches.
• This year’s matchup marked Florida’s largest defeat over South Carolina (38-6) since the Gators’ 44-
11 home victory (33 points) over the Gamecocks on Oct. 20, 2012.
• Florida held South Carolina to its fewest total yards in the head-to-head series since November 14,
2015 (201 yards allowed).
o South Carolina’s 44 yards rushing were the team’s lowest against Florida since Nov. 12, 2016
(43 yards).
Swamp Superlatives
● Florida boasts a 355-113-13 (.752) all-time record at The Swamp, holding the second-highest home
winning percentage in the nation since 1990 with a 174-34 (.837) record.
o The Gators have outscored opponents, 7,828 to 3,369 in 208 games inside The Swamp,
putting the average outcome at 37.6 to 16.2 (21.4 points).
Other
● UF has scored in 433-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 49 of its last 54 games.
● Florida Game Captains: #2 Amari Burney, #76 Richard Gouriage, #51 Ventrell Miller, #86 Jordan
Pouncey
● South Carolina won the toss and deferred; South Carolina defended the south end zone.
● Attendance: 89,454
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
Florida 38, South Carolina 6
November 12, 2022
Opening statement…
“Before we get going here, I think there is a handful of things to cover. First of all, I want to thank our
fans. I think this is the largest average attendance we’ve had for a home season since 2015, right
around 87,000 on average. They made an impact tonight, there’s no question about it. This group of
seniors are deserving of that. You can’t have a good football team unless you got some maturity
amongst your seniors, some presence, some ownership, some leadership. We’ve got a handful of
players in this group in particular that I think have been difference makers. It’s certainly good that we
were able to make a memory for that group, a positive memory for that group. And I also want to
say that this week has been really impactful to our team and staff saluting those who serve. We were
intentional about putting around our players that have served in the military and people that are in
leadership positions. Sometimes I think if those things are out of sight and out of mind, we take those
things for granted. We are very thankful for those people that participated this week and certainly all
the people across the country that are doing just that. Great memory for the seniors. I can’t
complement the staff enough, just from a leadership standpoint. Amongst the players, there’s an
ownership that is different. I think that the football is improving because the people are improving.
There is a brotherhood in that room. There is a connection in that room. They’re starting to play the
game with the right intent. Getting consumed with what they can do to help the team. Then the
individuals play better, and the result is better. A lot of good out there, but still a handful of plays that
aren’t quite what we are looking for. It’s good to start fast, get control, and keep control to some
degree.”
On the defense…
“I think that we’ve done a good job of sticking with and getting consumed with the process of
preparing to play. I do think the staff has done a terrific job making tweaks. We’ve improved in
certain statistic areas that were not up to par, not the standard. But again, I go back to, I keep saying
this I know y’all don’t like to talk about these things, but the people are improving the football is
improving. There’s just a different approach. I think that guys are playing the game with the right
intent, with respect for the game, understanding that this game is not about individuals. If you want
to have individual success you get consumed on what you can do to help the team, you work hard
on the role that you’ve been given, you prepare a certain way, and there’s a certain part to this
game, there’s a human element to this game. That’s what makes it a special game. We’ve got
hundreds of people that contribute to that out there. It’s not just the defensive players that
contribute, there’s lots of people that impact the players ability to perform. It goes back to the
intangible parts of the team and I think that’s ultimately the difference.”
On getting to a bowl game…
“Those are things that are good. I would like to think that we go to a bowl. I’m not really worried
about a bowl game. I’m worried about getting that group to keep improving. That’s not how we do
it. You get consumed with the things that you can do better: being more efficient, having better
relationships, being better at communication, better fundamentals, all these things that contribute to
winning.”
On the team’s character…
“I think the character, the consistency of the character of an individual, it’s easier to respect an
individual when you see consistency from a person. You see them really trying. You can’t fool players
and you certainly can’t fool your teammates. I think that there’s been ownership at that level. There’s
been leadership. There’s been challenges made. They know who is doing their part and who’s not.
They know who can do better. I think that you finally got to the point where players are basically
taking the bull by the horn to some degree. Players make a team. I think that some of those things
were missing to be quite honest. I think that we’ve seen the growth in some of those areas and I think
it’s effected how they play.”
On the rushing attack and the team’s play…
“It’s what we’ve done in the past. It’s what we are good at. I think you’ve got to play to the strengths
of your team. It’s unfortunate we turned the ball over there at the end. We played four games in a
row without a turnover. Penalties, we’ve minimized that part. We’re getting takeaways on defense.
But I think, this game in particular if you take a good look at how you beat South Carolina, you got to
win the line of scrimmage and the edges. You got to rush the ball effectively and you’ve got to stop
the run. We certainly did that today. That was the challenge of the week: win the turnover margin,
win the rush part of the game, and special teams, obviously, a big part of the game as well. We
screwed that up a little bit. There are certainly some things we can do better there. We did what we
needed to win the game.”
On team mistakes…
“I thought our operation on offense was a little sloppy at times, maybe things you guys don’t see.
When we make mistakes, they have nothing to do with the other team. Those are things that I get.
We made a handful of errors tonight that I think we can clean up. The kicking game in particular I
thought was a little sloppy. But they’re good. They work hard at it. They invest time in it. They’ve got
really good people leading that are of their team. They work at it and they’re good at it. We
botched a field goal. They blocked a field goal. We gave up a fake punt for a touchdown. Those are
the three plays that I’m thinking about right off the top of my head.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
Florida 38, South Carolina 6
November 12, 2022
51 Ventrell Miller, Redshirt Senior, Linebacker
On the Senior Day festivities…
“I feel like I was just taking it all in. My last time walking out into that Swamp, just taking it all in. Seeing
the fans cheer for me, it was a great feeling. Great to take the tunnel the last time in The Swamp.”
On the turnaround since halftime in College Station…
“We had a little team meeting Thursday. I let the guys know how I felt about this game, how this
game is really emotional for me. I broke down and all that there, Thursday to them boys. I was just
happy to see how they came out and dominated on defense, especially.”
On setting the tone early on the first-couple defensive series…
“Most definitely. Going into this game, we know we started slow at Texas A&M, so starting fast, that
was the goal of this game. Those guys definitely came out and did that, and I appreciate those boys
for sending me out the right way.”
On the three takeaways to open the second half…
“Man, all I’ll say is they made my job a lot easier. We were on the field and off, so that felt good. We
created a lot of turnovers. I’m definitely proud of those boys…”
On the importance of takeaways from the coaching staff…
“That’s a definite point of emphasis, every week. We know turnovers win ballgames, so we definitely
try to go out there and get turnovers every game.”
On Powell-Ryland Jr.’s impact the last two weeks…
“He’s just a guy that stepped up. Definitely a talented guy. He’s going to go hard regardless. Like you
said, he’s one of those guys that wanted to come out there and do it for the seniors. He definitely
showed up big time and proud of him, the way he stepped up.”
15 Anthony Richardson, Sophomore, Quarterback
On the run game for Florida…
“That’s always been a staple of ours, just moving the ball. As you guys can tell, we are a fifty-fifty
offense, we got to run the ball, we got to pass the ball, so just getting the run game going, that’s
been a blessing for us.”
On if this was his last game in The Swamp…
“I haven’t really thought about it. After the Georgia loss, we have just been trying to get the team
rolling again, get back on track. So, I really haven’t thought about that, just trying to win every game
now and you know, win a bowl game.”
On what changes were made across the last six quarters on defense…
“Nothing really. We just started playing for each other. You know, just playing for each other. You
play for your brother that’s next to you and we play for the coaches, as they are supporting and
helping you. It makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun to play football. So just playing for each other
has helped us a lot.”
On if there was an adjustment in attitude after the Georgia game…
“I believe so, just coming out in the first half playing against Georgia and talking in the locker room.
But that was one of the things we wanted to correct and fix, and just playing for each other instead
of trying to worry about who we are playing, because once we play together, we are unstoppable.”
52 O’Cyrus Torrence, Junior, Guard
On participating in Senior Day…
“It was pretty special. I remember the photo scene, I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it. But I talked to
the coaches, they know I’m going to graduate in the classroom. There was reason enough for me to
do the walk… So, it was a little special to be able to walk to the middle of field and then take a
picture of my family.”
On his emotions going through Senior Night…
“It didn’t really hit until I ran onto the field. It’s been a long ride from starting back in 2019 at UL with
coach and then coming all the way here in 2022 to finish it off. Just having a pretty good end-of-the-
year season. Great win out there and just makes it feel more special. Enjoy the journey, it’s been a
long one. Even though it went by pretty fast…”
On what this win means for this program and the team…
“It’s big because it builds up momentum for the next guys coming in. We had a lot of recruits out
there, so I’m glad they were able to see us and see The Swamp in its maximum potential, crowd
rocking, us winning. Just seeing the atmosphere and being able to experience that now before they
get a chance to come here…”
On the last two games of the season…
“We’re going to be pretty focused because we want to win out and that’s the main goal. The away
games are the hardest, so we just got to make sure we stay locked down on the small things that
helped us to get to this point and we feel like we are a pretty good team. We have played much
more team ball and I feel like we’re just getting better from now.”
On the 85-yard Etienne run…
“It was a regular, little play. Honestly didn’t expect him to take it all the way, because usually for an
outside zone, I was expecting him to hit the outside. But the fact that he cut it inside, when I felt him
cut it inside, I saw him miss the backer, I was like, ‘He going to the house.’ Nobody was going to
catch him. It was just a well-run play, everybody did their job. He had one person to make miss, and
he did it.”
0 Trey Dean III, Senior, Safety
On his Gators’ career…
“Words really can’t explain it. It has been a blessing to play in the Swamp and be a part of DBU. It is
something I’ve wanted to be a part of since I was a little kid. To be able to achieve that goal is a
blessing.”
On going six consecutive quarters without giving up a defensive touchdown…
“Before I had made the decision to come back, I knew that the [new] coaching staff had a great
plan. I know that once it clicked it would be exciting to see. The second half against Texas A&M and
this game was a great sight to see. Coach Napier and his staff have done an excellent job.”
On the atmosphere on Senior day…
“We know that Gator Nation would be behind our back regardless of what happens. It’s great and
breathtaking to end this with a win, especially because the Swamp was packed. There’s no other
place like the Swamp. I am glad to be a Gator, and I am glad to be a part of DBU.”
On player accountability and leadership during this game and the season…
“When you have player accountability, it’s when you are going to attack to the next level. Coach
overseeing everything along with us players knowing that we have each other’s backs allows us to go
out there and execute, and it showed.”
On the future of the defensive back room…
“I am super excited. Those young guys go to work every day, especially Kamari [Wilson] and Miguel
[Mitchell]. They come out and compete each day; it’s a great sight to see. The future of DBU is going
to be really good.”
On his favorite memory at the Swamp…
“The Swamp is second to none. Every time I run out there, it’s breathtaking. I have all types of
memories at the Swamp, but this last one was really good.”
87 Jonathan Odom, Sophomore, Tight End
On the touchdown…
“All glory to God. It’s a really surreal moment. My dad was on the sideline for a little bit before the
game because they were honoring his team. It was really just a blessing and I told Ventrell [Miller]
and [Amari] Burney, those are my locker roommates, Burney sits to the left and Ventrell right in front of
me, I came off the field and said, ‘This is for y’all.’ We talked about, all week, sending these seniors off
the right way. It feels a little bit better after how it went down in South Carolina last year when we
were there. It was a little bit sweeter than just a normal win, especially because we’ve got to send
these guys off the right way.”
On the touchdown ball…
“It’s going to my family for sure. I give everything to my family. They’ll keep it. Maybe we will have a
little area for me and my dad’s stuff together one day.”
On beating South Carolina after last year’s loss…
“I think you really didn’t have to talk about it. Everyone who was there last year, you hate that taste.
All of us are competitors. We hate losing. South Carolina has been talking about that since it
happened. It was great to get on the right side of things and put that to rest.”
2022 Florida Football Quotes
Shane Beamer, South Carolina Head Coach
Florida 38, South Carolina 6
November 12, 2022
Opening statement…
“Obviously know we weren’t good enough tonight in any phase. When you can’t run the ball, you
can’t stop the run, you lose the turnover battle that is going to happen. Completely unacceptable.
Disappointing to say the least.”
On what went wrong…
“First quarter, I don’t know what it was but we couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t stay on the field in
the first quarter. It seems like forever ago but I think they scored on the first three possessions if I’m not
mistaken. They scored the first three times they touched the ball and we couldn’t stay on the field.
They went up and down the field on us in the first quarter and we weren’t able to stay on the field as
well. Having said that we were able to get some points before the half. It felt, as ugly as the first half
was, we felt good. We told the players all week it is going to be tough. It is one of the great
environments in college football and it is going to be hard. Keep swinging and get this thing to the
fourth quarter and let’s find a way to win it in the fourth quarter. When you go out on offense in the
third quarter and go turnover, turnover, turnover in four plays, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.
Actually, state semifinal game my Senior year of high school, we fumbled the ball the first two times
we touched it. The kickoff return and the first play of offense to start the game. But to go four plays
and three turnovers is completely unacceptable. Florida leads the SEC in turnover margin and you
see why. We are last in the SEC in turning the ball over and you saw why tonight. We have to be a
whole lot better at ball security and protecting the ball because we didn’t do a great job of
protecting it to start the second half. Credit to our defense, we put them in some tough positions and
they kept playing. I told the team in there I am proud of them, they fought their asses off. The effort
was good and we are going to find out a lot about this team and I saw what kind of men we have in
this room. We just have to play a lot better than we did tonight.”
On what he saw in the three turnovers in the second half…
“I think they do a great job of getting the ball out. I didn’t see all of them. I know one of them, Jalen’s
[Brooks] play was a bang-bang play and the guy did a nice job of coming down hill. They are
physical in the secondary. They did a nice job of attacking our guys and knocking the ball out. We
have to be better at protecting it. I did not see anything specific. Good plays by them and poor ball
security by us.”
On not being able to create big plays…
“They were better than us tonight without a doubt. I will look at the video on the plane going home
but one thing I thought they did a good job of was tackling. We had some one on one opportunities
on the perimeter with our running backs and receivers and we lost some one on one battles tonight
with ball carriers and have to continue doing a great job of making people miss and winning those
one on ones also.”
On if there was a key theme from the first three possessions of the game…
“Nothing that I can remember. We weren’t good enough. I’ll have a better answer for you tomorrow
night on the teleconference but fresh off that [game] I don’t remember. They did a good job at
defeating blocks and we wanted to get the ball on the perimeter. We ran a perimeter play on the
second play of the game and got beat. Their defensive back beat our receiver. We ran the counter
off the first play of the game and they did a good job stopping it obviously. We will have to continue
to see what happened there.”
On MarShawn Llyod and Christian Beal-Smith’s status…
“MarShawn, same injury. The contusion or deep thigh bruise that he has. He actually practiced on
whatever day I told you guys or someone that he practiced on. Wednesday, he actually practiced
and looked really really good in practice. We didn’t think he was going to practice on Wednesday.
He went and he went fully speed and we thought everything was going to be good. Then he came
in the next day and it swelled up a little on him and he just didn’t respond to the swelling like we
wanted on Thursday and in to Friday so he stayed home to try to get that better. CBS [Christian Beal-
Smith] obviously got banged up a little bit in the Vanderbilt game. It was a foot and wasn’t able to
progress to the point that we felt like he could give us carries tonight. Jaheim [Bell] and Juju
[McDowell] obviously were going to be our running backs tonight.”
On his biggest concern going forward…
“Not turning the ball over first of all. 3 of 11 on third down. 44 yards rushing. Turn the ball over three
times. Just not good enough and we have to sustain drives. Going into this game in the last staff
meeting I had with Clayton [White] and [Marcus] Satterfield at the hotel is if Florida is out there for 80
plays tonight that does not bode well for us because of our depth issues and injuries on defense. We
have to stay on the field and sustain drives. They were out there for 79 [plays]. We tried to stay on the
field, going for some fourth downs, faking the punt, those were all us trying to stay on the field and
not leave our defense out there forever. The defense has got to get off the field too. When you give
up 374 yards rushing, we have to be better at creating turnovers.”
2022 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
South Carolina Student-Athletes
Florida 38, South Carolina 6
November 12, 2022
0 Debo Williams, Redshirt Sophomore, Linebacker
On what broke down trying to stop Florida’s rushing attack…
“We’ve got to play the right gaps. Be fundamentally sound. Just tackle. It’s that simple. When we can
perfect that, everything is going to be good. We’ve got to be better.”
On what the primary issues were in the first few drives…
“Getting off on third down. We could have been three-and-out in the first series, and then second
series too. We got to get off on third down. We do that, we’ll be just fine.”
On defense having little time to rest after three straight offensive turnovers…
“Our slogan and mentality is ‘put the ball down’. They could have been on the one-yard line. We’ve
got to put the ball down. We got to stop them as a defense. As an offense they got to have our
back. As a defense we got to have their back. Ain’t no problem with that. We’ve got to put the ball
down and stop them.”
On what makes Anthony Richardson difficult to contain in the run game…
“He’s definitely a great athlete and he knows how to read those RPO’s. Kudos to him and his team. I
hope everybody’s healthy.”
On what happened on the Trevor Etienne 85-yard TD run…
“Yeah, definitely [a] missed gap. Wish I could have been in on that drive to help. I think it was a
missed gap though.”
7 Spencer Rattler Payton, Junior, Quarterback
On the Florida defense and if South Carolina missed something in game plan…
“No, I mean I don’t feel like they did anything crazy to stop us. We just didn’t execute.”
On if there is concern with offense…
“They probably did a few things defensively, but we just got to execute, it’s not that concerning.”
On 3rd down distances…
“It’s tough. We all shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff goes into it,
like I said we just got to be better, we got to execute in short down situations, that’s got to be one of
our key focuses and hopefully moving forward, we can do that.”
On the fumble recovered by Desmond Watson…
“We actually had a crease to hit it and big boy got in there with his right arm and you aren’t getting
away from him he’s huge. But hey, I tackled him so come on [laughs]. He’s probably the biggest
dude in college right, on the D-line.”
5 Dakereon Joyner, Redshirt Senior, Wide Receiver
On how frustrating it was on offense tonight…
“Yeah, it was very frustrating. At the end just coming down to executing, we’ve got to execute
better. Whenever the play is called, we’ve got to make it.”
On how the offense can get more consistent on drives when they aren’t getting the big play…
“I think it just comes back down to doing our job. Trusting our coaches and executing. That’s what it
comes down to. Just executing.”
On what Florida did on defense to keep them off-balance…
“I think we’ve just got to communicate better up front. Not just up front, but as an offense as a whole.
We got to communicate better. Sometimes it was different looks, but we’ve just got to execute. You
know what I’m saying? That’s it.”
On what opened up on the fake punt touchdown…
“We had that play design for a couple weeks. We were just waiting on a perfect opportunity. That
was a perfect opportunity and Coach Lembo does what he does. Made the right call and I just
made the play.”
On if he has doubts that the team can bounce back next week…
“Why would I have doubt? I know we’re going to bounce back. We’re not going to have any doubt.
We’re going to bounce back.”
