Missouri vs. Florida: Live Game Grades and Player Analysis for the Gators

The Florida Gators won a hard-fought game over the Missouri Tigers, 14-7.

Florida was sluggish on offense throughout the day, but the defense reigned supreme throughout the day with four interceptions.

Down 7-0 at halftime, the Gators scored 14 points in the second half to take the win.

The win completes SEC play for the Gators as they finish 7-1. Now, they must wait to see if they'll play in the SEC Championship Game. To get that opportunity, Georgia must lose one of its final two SEC games.

Let's take a look at the Gators' final postgame grades and evaulations.

Jeff Driskel

OVERALL GAME GRADE — C-

Jeff Driskel wasn't impressive at all during the game. He made one good play on a screen pass to Mike Gillislee. Outside of that, he looked lost and under duress throughout the game. He finished the game 12-for-23 for 106 yards and one touchdown. The one area he improved on from last week was the fact that he didn't throw an interception. Thankfully, his defense forced four interceptions saving him from a second-straight week of embarrassment.

Q4 – C

Driskel made a good read when he dumped the ball off to Mike Gillislee on a short pass. It was the first great decision he made during the game and gave the Gators their first lead of the game. Outside of that, Driskel played just as he did through the first three quarters. There was nothing impressive on his fourth-quarter play, although that could be attributed to the five runs Florida ran on Missouri’s side of the field.

Q3 – D+

Driskel is still not impressing. He only completed three passes for 11 yards in the third quarter. While the Gators may have only had 11 plays in the quarter, Driskel is doing everything he can to help Missouri have a chance in the fourth quarter.

Q2 – D-

The second quarter wasn’t kind to Driskel as he struggled for most of it. Driskel looked lost throughout the second quarter as the Missouri defensive pressure seemed to be too much for him. The lone highlight of the quarter was a 23-yard completion to Trey Burton.

Q1 – C+

Driskel performed nicely to start out the first drive of the game, completing his first three passes. After three-straight runs, Driskel missed on his next two passes, forcing the Gators to punt. The second drive wasn’t any better as Driskel missed his receiver on third down, forcing another Gator punt. Driskel has to be more accurate with his passes.

Offense

OVERALL GAME GRADE — C+

The Gators struggled mightily in the first half on offense, gaining 111 total yards on offense, largely thanks to three plays that went for 56 yards. While the Gators didn't dominate on offense in the second half, they still pushed the ball into the end zone twice, which is something they didn't do last week against Georgia. The Gators had seven plays of nine yards or more and gained 168 total yards in the second half.

Q4 – B-

Mike Gillislee was much improved in the fourth quarter with the big play being a 45-yard screen pass for a touchdown. The touchdown makes up for a touchdown that was called back two plays earlier on a holding call. The offensive line seemed to get better blocks in the quarter as Missouri seemed worn down on defense. The line, however, didn’t get key blocks on third down inside the 10-yard line, which forced a fourth-down field goal attempt.

Q3 – C+

Florida finally got on the scoreboard in the third quarter when Omarius Hines found a seam for a 36-yard touchdown run. Outside of that, the offense is continuing to struggle with only 33 yards the rest of the quarter.

Q2 – F

Florida had an excellent opportunity to get on the scoreboard first after starting on the Missouri 25-yard line after an interception. However, a run for -5 yards, two incompletions and a delay of game penalty forced the Gators to attempt a field goal. To make things worse, Mike Gillislee fumbled deep in Florida territory, turning the ball over to the Tigers. That fumble turned into seven points for Missouri.

Q1 – C

Early on, the offensive line was doing a good job at blocking the Missouri defensive front, but tipped a pass and forced Driskel to run for no gain. The offense is currently on its own 44-yard line driving, but has largely been unimpressive to start the game.

Defense

OVERALL GAME GRADE — A-

Four interceptions. That's all that has to be said about how the Florida defense performed. The last was a gimmie since it was on fourth down at the end of the game. However, that doesn't take away from how well the defense played all day. The only reason the defense is at an A-minus is because there were four drives of nine plays or more. They bent, but didn't break.

Q4 – A-

The Florida defense continued to bend a little, but didn’t break. The Gators came up with an interception on fourth down in the end zone as Missouri tried to tie the game late. Earlier in the quarter, after allowing Missouri to get down to the 20-yard line, Florida came up with two huge defensive plays to push the Tigers back to the 40-yard line. Pressure has been the name of the game throughout the fourth quarter as the Gators kept Missouri quarterback James Franklin uncomfortable throughout.

Q3 – A-

An interception by Elam near the end of the quarter ended a Missouri threat. The Florida defense came up big again and is the reason why the Gators aren’t losing. There was a little bit of a bend in the defense on Missouri’s last two drives of the quarter, but the defense made plays in the red zone.

Q2 – B-

Jaylen Watkins picked off James Franklin on the 35-yard line and returned it 10 yards to set up the Florida offense. After Florida failed to score, the defense again held but was put in a tough situation after a fumble on offense. Faced defending a short field, the defense tried to hold up, but Missouri was eventually able to score the first touchdown of the game. The front seven is still providing good pressure and keeping the Missouri offense from doing much.

Q1 – B+

Florida gets a nice three-and-out on Missouri’s first drive. The second drive saw the Gators struggle a little big allowing the Tigers get into their territory after starting from the 3-yard line. The drive lasted 6:13, but the Gators held strong, forcing another Missouri punt.

Special Teams

OVERALL GAME GRADE — B

The Gators were up and down on special teams throughout the game. They had a field goal blocked and missed another field goal. Then again, Florida blocked a field goal of its own and was solid in the punting department all day. For the day, punter Kyle Christy averaged 41.4 yards per punt.

Q4 – C-

­Two punts by the Gators were returned into their territory, but the Gators prevented a big play and let their defense do the dirty work. They didn’t make any mistakes and that’s all a coach can ask. Then, backup kicker Brad Phillips missed a 24-yard field goal, giving Missouri a final shot to tie the game.

Q3 – A+

The Florida special teams made some noise with a blocked punt in the third quarter to keep the game tied at 7-7.  Christy is continuing to show why he is one of the best punters in the nation. He pinned Missouri inside the 5-yard line for the third time in the game. This is a big change compared to the second quarter.

Q2 – D-

Caleb Sturgis had his 48-yard field goal attempt blocked. The Florida offensive didn’t knock the hands down of Missouri defenders, allowing for the kick to be blocked. A fumble on the kickoff after the Missouri touchdown put the Gators deep in their own territory. Christy is still impressing on his punts, getting enough hang time to down a punt on the 5-yard line. Christy is the only reason why the Gators don’t receive an F in the second.

Q1 – B+

There is nothing really to report on when it comes to the Florida special teams. Christy had good hang time on his first punt, forcing Missouri to fair catch the ball. His second punt was downed at the 3-yard line, giving Missouri a long field to go.

Coaching

OVERALL GAME GRADE — C+

If it was just about the defensive coaches, Florida would have an A in this category. However, there are some serious issues with play-calling on the offensive side of the ball. Trey Burton and Jordan Reed are true athletes, yet are rarely utilized in the offense. If Florida continues to struggle on offense, a loss at the end of the season to Florida State is not out of the question. On the bright side, head coach Will Muschamp didn't have an aneurysm (at least that we could see).

Q4 – B-

After Florida’s third interception of the day, the coaching staff elected to go exclusively with the run. The clock kept running to 1:53 and Florida was able to attempt a field goal. Unfortunately, the backup kicker missed it giving Missouri another chance. Sometimes those are the chances you must take as a coach.

Q3 – C+

There’s been no real change in coaching grades. The Florida defensive coaches continually have their players in the right position to make plays, while the offensive coaches have yet to stretch the field. If this doesn’t change, then Florida could see itself lose for a second-straight week.

Q2 – C-

The defensive coaches are on the ball making the right calls to set the defense up for success. On offense, the Gators have failed to stretch the field and it shows as Missouri is making plays at the line. On a positive note, there haven’t been any camera shots of Muschamp angry or cussing at his players. I guess that’s a positive.

Q1 – C-

Florida came out using an up-tempo offense, which got Missouri out of sorts to begin with. Play calls were good, but execution wasn’t there at the end of the first drive, forcing the Gators to punt. It was a bold move to go for it on fourth down by Muschamp near the end of the quarter. Luckily for the Gators, the officials gave them a good spot.