Nothing spectacular, but good enough.
Jacoby Brissett, playing his first full game of the season, was efficient and reliable as No. 7 Florida wore down Jacksonville State 23-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The win secured the team’s first undefeated record in The Swamp since the Tim Tebow era and kept the Gators in the hunt for a BCS bowl.
Brissett, from Dwyer High School, played quarterback in place of injured starter Jeff Driskel and completed 14 of 22 passes for 154 yards.
“It was great,” said Brissett, who had appeared in four previous games this year. “It’s all I asked for and I got it today.”
He completed passes to seven receivers, led by Omarius Hines with three catches for 37 yards and tight end Jordan Reed with two for 42, and connected on five passes of 15 yards or more in the first half before Florida shifted into a more conservative approach.
The question now is which quarterback will start Saturday against No. 10 Florida State. Driskel sprained his right ankle two weeks ago against Louisiana-Lafayette and has not practiced since. He was on the sideline for the Jacksonville State game and was no longer using crutches or a protective boot.
“It’s much better than it was,” coach Will Muschamp said. “We’ll see how it progresses through the week. I’ll probably know more Monday and certainly more Wednesday about where he is.”
Brissett plans to “just make sure I’m ready,” and continue preparing the way he has all season.
“Hopefully we get Jeff back fast, and whatever coach decides, I’ll be ready for it,” he said.
Florida (10-1) started sluggishly, allowing Jacksonville State receiver Kevyn Cooper to go 76 yards on a screen pass on the first snap of the game. The defense rebounded, though, and held JSU to a 25-yard field goal try, which failed. It kept the Gamecocks to 166 yards the rest of the afternoon.
The Gators went ahead 10-0 on their first two possessions, but did not score again until linebacker Jon Bostic’s interception return for a touchdown with 10:38 left in the third quarter. With Jacksonville State (6-5) backed up to its own end zone, he intercepted the ball and easily ran seven yards for a 17-0 lead. Bostic, a senior from Palm Beach Central High School, has five career interceptions.
Florida running back Mike Gillislee had one of his best games of the year, running for 122 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. He has 964 rushing yards this season, the most by a Gator since 2004 and more than in his first three years combined.
Matt Jones, a freshman, added 65 yards on eight rushes.
Caleb Sturgis, a senior, helped Florida with field goals of 21, 44 and 47 yards. His 47-yarder in the fourth quarter, the final score of the game, was the 66th of his career, one shy of the program record. He is 7 of 8 on field goals 40 yards or longer this year.
The Gators reached 10 wins for just the 13th time and the first since 2009. It marks enormous improvement for a team that ended the regular season 6-6 a year ago.
“We’ve been about what I thought we would be right now,” Muschamp said. “We need to continue to press forward — offensively more than anything. More consistency is the issue right now.”
Florida also finished 7-0 at home for the third time. Those seven wins included games against No. 4 LSU and No. 9 South Carolina, as well as a last-minute escape from Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Gators move on to a critical showdown with FSU in Tallahassee, where they will try to flip the rivalry back to their side. The Seminoles outscored UF 52-14 over the past two years to break a six-season losing streak. This is the final game of the regular season and will play a big role in determining where Florida goes for its bowl.
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