Booed when he left the Swamp three weeks ago, Florida coach Billy Napier received a very different farewell on Saturday night. He was greeted with loud cheers.
Graham Mertz threw a touchdown pass, Montrell Johnson scored on a run, and Florida’s strong defense helped them defeat UCF 24-13, giving Napier back-to-back wins for the first time in almost a year.
“It’s evident that we took a step in the right direction on defense,” Napier said.
During their bye week, the Gators (3-2) focused on improving their defense, and it paid off as they held the Knights to just 108 rushing yards—the third-lowest total in coach Gus Malzahn’s four years—and recorded five sacks.
This marked the second straight disappointment for the Knights (3-2), who were coming off a 48-21 loss to Colorado.
UCF got off to a rough start when Malzahn decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 43 early in the second quarter. Quarterback KJ Jefferson was stopped for no gain, and the Gators took over in good field position. Florida quickly scored three plays later to take a 14-3 lead.
Johnson then extended the lead to 21-3 with a 3-yard touchdown run, and Trey Smack added a short field goal, making it 24-3 at halftime.
UCF improved in the second half and had some chances late in the game, but struggles on third down prevented them from making a comeback.
Mertz completed 19 of 23 passes for 179 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown to Elijhah Badger. Highly regarded freshman DJ Lagway played every third series and completed all four of his passes for 50 yards.
“Complimentary football,” Mertz said. “If we can go out there and play our best in all three phases, we can be a really good team. But we’ve got to do that consistently.”
Johnson rushed 10 times for 54 yards.
UCF struggled to get their ground game going, which had ranked first in the Big 12 and second in the nation at the start of the week. RJ Harvey ran 16 times for 75 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
