Pierce Moves into Top-10 All-Time for Career Rushing Touchdowns at UF
● With one rushing touchdown tonight, running back Dameon Pierce moved into a tie for 10th all time for career rushing touchdowns (23) at Florida, while his 13 rushing scores this season now rank tied-for-fifth all-time for a single season in school history.
o Pierce entered tonight’s game with 12 rushing touchdowns this season and 22 total rushing touchdowns in his career.
● Pierce found the endzone one time tonight to bring his season total to 16 total touchdowns (13 rushing, three receiving). He now ranks tied-for-sixth all-time for touchdowns (rushing + receiving) in a single season at Florida.
o Pierce entered the game ranked third in the SEC in touchdowns with 15.
● Pierce concludes the season with 574 yards rushing on 100 carries, translating to 5.7 yards per attempt.
● Pierce finishes with career totals of 1,806 yards rushing, 23 rushing touchdowns, 329 carries, 45 receptions, 422 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.
o Pierce is just two touchdowns shy (28) of cracking the top-10 all-time for total touchdowns at Florida.
Gators Offense
● Florida finishes the 2021 season with 462.9 yards per game, which ranks sixth in program history. ● Florida averaged 5.5 yards per rush attempt this season, which is the fourth-highest mark in program history.
● Florida concludes the 2021 season with 208.7 rushing yards per game, which is the 11th-highest mark in program history.
● Florida wraps up the 2021 season with six 200-plus yard rushing games, four 290-plus yard passing games, 12 350-plus total yardage games, seven 400-plus total yardage games, four 500-plus total yardage games and two 600-plus yardage games.
● The Gators have now totaled 200-plus rushing yards in four-straight bowl games. ● Florida posted its sixth game of 200-plus rushing yards in 13 games this season. o This marks Florida’s 19th 200-plus yard rushing game in its last 51 games since 2018. ● The Gators rushed for 100-plus yards in 11 of 13 games this season.
o Florida has rushed for 100-plus yards in 40 of its last 51 games since 2018.
● With 62 rushing yards tonight, quarterback Emory Jones finishes with 758 rushing yards this season (third all-time at UF) and 1,272 for his career (second all-time at UF).
Gators Defense
● The Gators defense held UCF to just 64 yards in the first quarter of play.
● Entering the game ranked tied-for-sixth in the SEC and tied-for-25th nationally with 35.0 sacks this season (2.82 per game), the Gators recorded two sacks vs. UCF to bring their final season total to 37.
o Florida’s 156 sacks since Mullen’s debut 2018 season rank second in the SEC and fourth nationally – trailing only Clemson (188), Pittsburgh (180) and Alabama (157).
o Florida ranked tied-for-14th in the FBS and second in the SEC with 34 sacks last season. ● Brenton Cox recorded 1.0 sacks tonight, as he closes out the season with 5.0 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss in the final two games of the campaign.
o Cox also tied his career high with four tackles for loss, marking back-to-back games with four TFLs (had four TFLs in Week 13 vs. FSU).
● Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper recorded a career-high 1.5 sacks tonight.
● Defensive lineman Gervon Dexter tied his career highs with nine tackles (eight solo) and 1.0 tackle for loss.
● Derek Wingo, Princely Umanmielen and Jalen Lee all made their first-career starts on the Florida defense.
● Chris Thomas Jr. made his collegiate debut in the bowl game.
Florida Special Teams
● Jeremy Crawshaw punted six times for an average of 44.7 yards, including a long punt of 53 yards, two 50-plus yard punts and one punt inside the opposing 20-yard line.
● Chris Howard went 1-for-3 on field goal attempts, connecting on a 26-yard attempt in the second quarter.
o After starting 8-for-8 to begin his career, Howard missed on his first field goal attempt of the game from 51 yards and his third attempt of the night from 45 yards.
o Howard is now 9-for-11 in his career on field goal attempts.
● Rocco Underwood made his collegiate debut tonight at long snapper.
Explosive Plays
● Malik Davis: 18-yard rush, first quarter
● Emory Jones: 16-yard rush, first quarter
● Kemore Gamble (from Emory Jones): 15-yard reception, first quarter
● Rick Wells (from Jones): 18-yard reception, second quarter
● Justin Shorter (from Jones): 16-yard reception, second quarter
● Emory Jones: 16-yard rush, second quarter
● Emory Jones: 20-yard rush, second quarter
● Justin Shorter (from Jones): 18-yard reception, second quarter
● Dameon Pierce: 14-yard rush, second quarter
● Rick Wells (from Jones): 20-yard reception, third quarter
● Malik Davis: 32-yard rush, third quarter
● Malik Davis: 19-yard touchdown rush, third quarter
● Justin Shorter (from Jones): 20-yard gain, fourth quarter
● Jacob Copeland (from Jones): 30-yard reception, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the third all-time meeting between Florida and Central Florida. o This was the first time the two teams have faced off outside of Gainesville.
o This was the first-ever postseason meeting between the two programs.
● With tonight’s loss, Florida falls to 2-1 all-time against UCF.
o 1999 (W), 2006 (W), 2021 (L)
● Today represented Florida’s 67th bowl appearance.
o This is Florida’s fourth-straight bowl appearance and seventh in the last-eight seasons. ● Florida is now 24-23 all-time in bowl games.
o This includes a 3-2 record in the Gators’ last-five bowl games.
o Florida is 8-4 in bowl games since 2009 and10-5 since 2006.
● UF Interim HC Greg Knox drops to 2-1 in his career as a head coach.
Other
● UF has scored in 423-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on Oct. 7, 2017.
o The next-closest active streak belongs to TCU, as the Horned Frogs have scored in 367- straight contests.
● Florida has finished with fewer than 10 penalties in 42 of its last 45 games.
● Florida Game Captains: #20 Malik Davis
● Florida won the toss and elected to receive; UCF defended the north end zone. ● Attendance: 63,669
o Tonight’s attendance is a Gasparilla Bowl record.
2021 UNION HOME MORTGAGE GASPARILLA BOWL GAME NOTES FINAL SCORE: UCF 29, Florida 17
Game MVP:
Ryan O’Keefe, UCF – 251 all-purpose yards; 110 yards rushing, 85 yards receiving, 56 yards returning kickoffs; 1 touchdown receiving
Bowl Notes:
● The game attendance of 63,669 is a new Gasparilla Bowl record, eclipsing the total of 29,763 established when Rutgers faced UCF in 2009 when the game was played at Tropicana Field. The previous record attendance for games played at Raymond James Stadium was 28,987 for the 2019 game between Marshall and UCF
● The victory is the third in five Gasparilla Bowl appearances for UCF, matching Marshall for the most victories by a school in the 13-year history of the bowl.
● The American Athletic Conference improves to 3-3 in Gasparilla Bowl appearances while the Southeastern Conference (SEC) falls to 1-1.
● UCF is the first team trailing at the half to win the Gasparilla Bowl since Mississippi State in 2016. Bowl Game Records Set/Tied:
● Longest run from scrimmage: 74 yards, Ryan O’Keefe, UCF
● All-Purpose Yards (Run, Rev., KR, PR, IR): 251 yards, Ryan O’Keefe, UCF
● Most Rushing Attempts: 35, Isaiah Bowser, UCF
● Most Field Goals Made: 3 (ties record), Daniel Obarski, UCF
● Worst Third Down Conversion Percentage: .154, Florida (2-of-13)
● Most Combined Punts: 11 (ties record), UCF (5) vs. Florida (6)
Game Notes
● The 74-yard run by Ryan O’Keefe of UCF in the third quarter is the longest run in Gasparilla Bowl history and the longest play from scrimmage for UCF this season. The run setup a four-yard touchdown by Isaiah Bowser.
● Later in the third quarter, O’Keefe caught a 54-yard touchdown pass that was the longest pass reception of the season for UCF. He also had a 38-yard kick return in the game to establish a bowl record for all-purpose yards.
● Ryan O’Keefe (110) and Isaiah Bowser (155) of UCF became the first teammates and fifth and sixth runners, respectively, in Gasparilla Bowl history to eclipse 100-yards rushing. Bowser’s 147-yards are the second most in game history while O’Keefe’s 110 yards is the third highest.
