LIKE IT IS

Aid to Gators comes pouring in from Hogs

Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams runs around the Florida defense on his way to score a touchdown in the 1st quarter of Saturday night's game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.
Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams runs around the Florida defense on his way to score a touchdown in the 1st quarter of Saturday night's game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - It was a team loss. Not a few players, or even one official, cost the Arkansas Razorbacks a chance to beat Florida Saturday night in The Swamp in a game almost as ugly as the gray uniforms Tennessee wore earlier in the day.

It was too many breakdowns that led to big plays and touchdowns. It was wasted opportunities. It was penalties. It was dropped passes. It was bad decision-making, and when a team does all of those it is almost impossible to win on the road in the Southeastern Conference.

Forget the call on the punt that was ruled not a Florida fumble, but a penalty against the Arkansas Razorbacks because they didn’t give the Gators’ return man a chance to recover his fumble in the air. Seriously.

This was not just a case of Arkansas getting hosed in Gainesville by the officials again.

This is about protecting the quarterback, and it is about the quarterback making smarter decisions under pressure.

It is about covering receivers on every down, not just most of them. Florida’s big plays turned a strong start by the Hogs into a loss.

The Razorbacks appeared to be in control of the No. 18 Gators after one quarter. The Hogs were moving the ball on offense and had 120 total yards and led 7-0. The defense held Florida to 72 yards of offense, including a 6-yard possession after Brandon Allen was sacked and fumbled at the Hogs 29.

The Gators got zilch off that turnover.

They also had first and goal from the 6 - Martrell Spaight saved a touchdown with a shoestring tackle - and thanks to tackles for losses by defensive ends Chris Smith and Trey Flowers the Razorbacks held them to a field goal.

Then the Hogs began to methodically shoot themselves in the foot.

Arkansas faced a thirdand-6 from its own 41, and the Gators pressured Allen out of the pocket. Allen tried to throw on the run, but cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy made his first career interception and scored his first career touchdown.

Then, with less than two minutes to play in the half, the Hogs forgot to cover Solomon Patton, who went 51 yards for a touchdown.

Any doubt about whether the home team went into halftime with the momentum was dismissed on Florida’s first possession of the second half.

The Gators drove 75 yards in seven plays, the last 38 coming on a touchdown pass to an open Patton. The Hogs missed two tackles.

The Razorbacks fired another round into their foot when a Razorback fielded the ensuing kickoff and stepped out of bounds at his own 3.

Florida tried to even the gifts by getting an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and suffering a 15-yard rugby style punt, which incidentally seems to be one of the least effective plays in football, and with 6:33 to play in the third quarter the Hogs were starting from their own 44.

The Gators were hit with a pass-interference call and Allen threw a strike to Alex Collins in double coverage for 30 yards to the Florida 14, but the drive stalled and the Hogs settled for a 30-yard field goal by Zach Hocker.

The Hogs recovered an onside kick but were offside.Fair-catching a punt inside their 10 didn’t help.

All-American senior center Travis Swanson was hurt and had to be helped off the field.

That’s the way the game went for the Razorbacks.

To put this simply, the Gators are a little overrated because their offense spits and sputters unless you give them help. The Hogs fought to the end in a loud and hostile environment, and they might have won, but they gave up some big pass plays and suffered too many breakdowns in the final three quarters.

Sports, Pages 23 on 10/06/2013

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