Kyle Trask had another impressive showing and, and No. 3 Florida football improved to 2-0 against South Carolina despite a defensive underperformance against an inferior team.
Throwing for four touchdowns and flexing underutilized running ability, Trask started the season looking like a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender. The offense had no issue marching up and down the field for most of the game. In an interesting change of pace for this Florida program, one could almost be forgiven for mistaking Dan Mullens’ airborne attack for one run by a Mike Leach-led team. Trask has no shortage of weapons at his disposal, with star tight end Kyle Pitts hauling in two scores and wideout Kadarius Toney taking half a dozen catches for 86 yards and six points of his own. So far so good for the orange and blue offense.
The defense on the other hand, allowed far too much freedom for its opponent for much of the game. Allowing a 14-14 game for the second straight week against a team the Gators should have been looking to blow out, the Gamecocks were allowed to hold onto the ball for far too long as the Florida defenders struggled to get off the field, allowing 11 total conversions on third and fourth down. South Carolina was even allowed to make it a ballgame in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points after being down 24 and forcing Trask’s only interception of the game. QB Collin Hill and the rest of the Gamecock offense inexplicably ran too much time off the clock to even give itself a chance.
The Gators face their tallest task of the season next Saturday in Kellen Mond and No. 11 Texas A&M. Florida will have to protect the chains much better than it did against their first two opponents. The offense’s star is shining bright early in the season, but the other side of the ball must catch up if Florida hope to justify its lofty top three national ranking.
