GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida defense was awfully generous at times Saturday. Key times, actually. Missouri exactly didn’t go up and down the field, but three conversations on third-and-at-least-15-to-go in the fourth quarter alone had the Spurrier/Florida Field homecoming crowd on either their heels or the edge of the bleacher seats.
With UF clinging to a 24-17 lead and facing fourth down at his own 48, Tigers quarterback Brady Cook dropped and instantly felt the heat from blitzing linebacker Ventrell Miller. This time, Cook’s fourth-and-14 attempt — a left-to-right slant for wideout Tauskie Dove — was at the intended receiver’s shoe laces and the Gators claimed both a second consecutive win and first Southeastern Conference victory under Coach Billy Napier.
“The intangibles that we’ve developed with this group of players, I’m proud of that,” Napier said of a triumph that was truly a grind, like most UF-Mizzou contests have been since the Tigers joined the league in 2012. “They continued to respond and play through the ups and downs of the game.”
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson was just 8-for-14 passing, was intercepted twice and finished with only 66 aerial yards, his fewest in seven career starts. But Richardson’s 9-yard, rolling-right touchdown toss to junior Ricky Pearsall with just over 11 minutes to go gave the Gators (4-2, 1-2) a two-score lead and proved the difference in the final margin. Sophomore tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed eight times for 86 yards and a second-half score, part of a 231-yard ground onslaught for the home team after being held to just 66 total yards of total offense in…
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