Utah blows out Florida Gators even without Rising, 24-11

Despite Utah running two QBs in this game, the Florida Gators were not able to make this game a competition due to dumb penalties and poor defensive play. What can Gators fans take away from the loss?

The Gators lost to the Utah Utes, 24-11. Utah ran two different QBs in replacement of Cam Rising – Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes. Johnson was used as a QB who ran on mobile plays and Barnes ran the team when they opted to be more of a pocket passing team. Mertz was serviceable at QB for the Gators. He played a lot better in the second half than he did in the first half.

Florida let up a touchdown on the first play of the season. They ended up making some offensive gains but were unable to have any major endzone success due to the fact that they had a lot of key flags in this game.

A good example of this is when Florida had two players wearing number three which allowed Utah to get the first down after failing to convert on third down. They would end up scoring a TD on that drive. While the rest of those penalties were not as stupid as that one, Florida hurt themselves in the foot with flags.

It seemed like the game was over when the Gators were unable to convert on fourth down deep in the Utes territory in the third. The game wouldn’t be completely out of Florida’s reach until the end. Florida controlled the second half of this game but they were not able to take advantage due to dumb mistakes.

What can Florida Gators fans take away from this game?

To be honest, Florida never really had a shot to win this game to begin with. This Gators roster was just not talented enough to get a victory against the Utes. Florida was able to hang on for a bit due to the fact Utah’s offense wasn’t able to light it up from the start with Cam Rising out.

Mertz at times looked very serviceable. If he continues to play this way, he could be very complimentary for the Gators’ rushing attack this season. This take is probably going against the grain but Mertz being able to support Ricky Pearsall and the other playmakers on this team is probably the best the Gators could have gotten this season from the QB position.

When October comes around and Florida is competing with everyone but Georgia and LSU in conference play, the discourse around Mertz could change. Florida never really had a shot to win this game. If Florida is able to dominate to win over the next two weeks against Charlotte and McNesse St. (yes Florida is losing by a lot to Tennessee), they could go into the bulk of conference play with a lot more confidence surrounding their team.