Saturday, September 29
Starkville
5:00 PM
Mississippi State
3-2 , 0-2
6
vs
13
Florida
4-1 , 2-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Florida
0
3
7
3
13
Mississippi State
3
3
0
0
6
Florida Downs No. 23 MSU 13-6 In Defensive Battle
September 29, 2018 | Football
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – In a low-scoring affair, Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) overcame a 6-3 Mississippi State halftime lead to outscore the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs (3-2, 0-2) 10-0 in the second half and hold on to a 13-6 win at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday night.
The Gators limited the Bulldogs to just 202 yards of offense and two field goals. Conversely, State only allowed the Gators two field goals and one touchdown, but they would be enough to hand UF the victory.
"This was the second week in a row that the defense gave us an opportunity to win," first-year head coach Joe Moorhead said. "They played incredibly hard and did a good job on third down of getting off the field. Time after time, they got the ball back to us and we just couldn't capitalize."
State struck first with Jace Christmann's first field goal of the night (34 yards) that capped off a methodical 12-play, 59-yard drive late in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, the Gators responded with a 39-yarder from Evan McPherson in the second quarter.
Christmann gave the Maroon and White a 6-3 halftime lead with a 39-yard field goal of his own with 3:30 remaining in the half.
"It's good to see [Christmann] get back to where he was last year," Moorhead said. "I thought special teams played well today, we just have to get going on offense."
Midway through the third quarter, Kadarius Toney connected with Moral Stephens from 20 yards out to give the Gators the lead for good. UF would stretch its lead with a 21-yard kick by McPherson with 5:22 left in the contest.
Florida's strong defensive effort was charged by six sacks of Bulldog signal-caller Nick Fitzgerald, who led the MSU offense completing 11-of-26 passes for 98 yards. Kylin Hill had 41 yards to head the MSU ground charge.
Defensively, Erroll Thompson racked up 14 tackles in State's defensive effort. Johnathan Abram and Mark McLaurin followed with eight and seven stops, respectively.
Next Up For MSU …
MSU remains at home next Saturday, Oct. 6, continuing conference action by hosting No. 10 Auburn (4-1, 1-1 SEC). It will be the 92nd meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers all-time. The game is set to kickoff at either 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium and will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or the SEC Network.
STARKVILLE – In a low-scoring affair, Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) overcame a 6-3 Mississippi State halftime lead to outscore the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs (3-2, 0-2) 10-0 in the second half and hold on to a 13-6 win at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday night.
The Gators limited the Bulldogs to just 202 yards of offense and two field goals. Conversely, State only allowed the Gators two field goals and one touchdown, but they would be enough to hand UF the victory.
"This was the second week in a row that the defense gave us an opportunity to win," first-year head coach Joe Moorhead said. "They played incredibly hard and did a good job on third down of getting off the field. Time after time, they got the ball back to us and we just couldn't capitalize."
State struck first with Jace Christmann's first field goal of the night (34 yards) that capped off a methodical 12-play, 59-yard drive late in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, the Gators responded with a 39-yarder from Evan McPherson in the second quarter.
Christmann gave the Maroon and White a 6-3 halftime lead with a 39-yard field goal of his own with 3:30 remaining in the half.
"It's good to see [Christmann] get back to where he was last year," Moorhead said. "I thought special teams played well today, we just have to get going on offense."
Midway through the third quarter, Kadarius Toney connected with Moral Stephens from 20 yards out to give the Gators the lead for good. UF would stretch its lead with a 21-yard kick by McPherson with 5:22 left in the contest.
Florida's strong defensive effort was charged by six sacks of Bulldog signal-caller Nick Fitzgerald, who led the MSU offense completing 11-of-26 passes for 98 yards. Kylin Hill had 41 yards to head the MSU ground charge.
Defensively, Erroll Thompson racked up 14 tackles in State's defensive effort. Johnathan Abram and Mark McLaurin followed with eight and seven stops, respectively.
Next Up For MSU …
MSU remains at home next Saturday, Oct. 6, continuing conference action by hosting No. 10 Auburn (4-1, 1-1 SEC). It will be the 92nd meeting between the Bulldogs and Tigers all-time. The game is set to kickoff at either 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium and will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or the SEC Network.
Team Stats
UF
MS
Total Yards
357
202
Pass Yards
239
98
Rushing Yards
118
104
Penalty Yards
90
15
1st Downs
20
15
3rd Downs
5
2
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
33:47
26:13
1st Quarter
UF 0, MS 3
MS - Jace Christmann 34 yd field goal 12 plays, 59 yards, TOP 6:09
2nd Quarter
UF 3, MS 3
UF - McPherson,E. 39 yd field goal 15 plays, 68 yards, TOP 7:56
UF 3, MS 6
MS - Jace Christmann 39 yd field goal 13 plays, 67 yards, TOP 6:48
3rd Quarter
UF 10, MS 6
UF - Stephens,M. 20 yd pass from Toney,K. (McPherson,E. kick) 6 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:48
4th Quarter
UF 13, MS 6
UF - McPherson,E. 21 yd field goal 10 plays, 36 yards, TOP 5:13
Game Leaders
CMP
11
TD
0
YDS
98
INT
0
Players Mentioned
S
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K
/ FootballQB
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RB
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S
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LB
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