Florida Football: Winners and Losers from Week 12

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It wasn't pretty—it hasn't been pretty all season long—but Florida came out on top for a tenth time this season. Florida earned their second shutout of the season against the Jacksonville Gamecocks in a 23-0 win on Saturday that kept the Gators BCS hopes alive. 

Before we move on to Florida State, let's close the book on Jacksonville State and find out who were the winners and losers from last Saturday. 

Winner: Mike Gillislee

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Welcome back Mike Gillislee. 

After running the ball 34 times for 146 yards against LSU's vaunted run defense, it took Gillislee six more games to break the century mark rushing. 

Gillislee ran the ball 20 times for 122 yards and a score against the Gamecocks, and is now just 43 yards away from becoming Florida's first 1,000 yard rusher since Ciatrick Fason in 2004. 

Loser: Jacoby Brissett

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Jacoby Brissett finds himself on the wrong side of the list more for what he didn't do than what he did do. 

Brissett didn't have a bad game, but he didn't take advantage of the opportunity that was presenting itself. Brissett completed 14-of-22 pass attempts for 154 yards. He didn't turn the ball over, but he didn't score a touchdown or give the offense the kind of spark most people had anticipated. 

Brissett had an opportunity to have a career day against a bad defense and build some momentum heading into a big game next week, he failed to do that. 

Winner: Caleb Sturgis

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Caleb Sturgis scored 11 of the Gators 23 points on Saturday, not bad for a kicker. Sturgis finished the day going 2-of-3 on his field goal tries and 2-of-2 on his PAT's.

His two field goals brought him just one shy of a Florida record. Jeff Chandler holds the career record at Florida for most field goals made with 67 during his career. With two games left on the schedule, Sturgis should be able to break that this season and leave Florida with his name in the record books. 

Loser: Andre Debose

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Andre Debose missed the game with an injured hamstring but that isn't why he is on the wrong side of this list. 

Debose has yet to make an impact on offense all season and has made a minimal impact on special teams. He has struggled when having to make a decision of whether to fair catch a punt, return it or let it hit the ground. Marcus Roberson took Debose's place as the main punt returner and did a nice job. Roberson fair caught two balls in traffic and had a nice 31-yard return that set Florida up with good field position. 

Roberson's performance on Saturday might have pushed Debose even farther out down the depth chart and deeper into Will Muschamp's dog house. 

Winner: Jon Bostic

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What a way to go out on senior day. 

Jon Bostic recorded his first touchdown as a Gator in his final home game. 

Bostic finished the day with three tackles, one for a loss, an interception, a touchdown and a quarterback hurry. 

Loser: 3rd Down Efficiency

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Florida has struggled converting on third down all season, but Saturday was tied for their lowest conversion percentage of the season. Florida converted on just 2-of-11 attempts for a rate of 18.18 percent. 

That's abysmal. What makes it even worse is the opponent that was able to hold Florida to such a poor conversion rating. 

Florida will not, I repeat, will not beat Florida State if they cannot convert their third down attempts. 

Winner: The Seniors

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Florida's senior class included players from the 2007, 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes. 

If you've been a Florida fan for a while you know that was right in the middle of the most successful period of Florida football. 

While the classes of '08 and '09 were unable to carry the torch and keep Florida as BCS contenders, they will be able to say something that not many other teams can say. This senior class is part of just the third team in school history to finish a perfect 7-0 at home. 

Loser: The Offense

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Will Muschamp took the blame off of Brent Pease by saying he told the offensive coordinator to "just get the win" in the second half on Saturday. 

But were the Gators looking impressive before then? Have they impressed you at any point this season?

Florida's offense managed to score just one touchdown against a defense that gave up 49 points to Arkansas, 51 points to Eastern Kentucky and 49 points to UT Martin.

Florida should have had no problem moving the ball against the Gamecocks, and certainly no problem getting the ball in the end zone. Instead of taking advantage of a bad defense, Florida played it safe and looked bad offensively yet again. 

Winner: The Defense

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As bad as the offense has been this season, the defense has been that good. 

After allowing a 76-yard pass to open the game (a fluke play where the receiver landed on top of Marcus Roberson), the defense allowed just 166 yards the rest of the day. Florida didn't allow the Gamecocks to cross midfield the entire second half (eight possessions), and added as many points to the scoreboard as the offense did.