Florida Atlantic vs. Florida: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The Florida Gators continue to survive and advance, though their 20-14 overtime victory over Florida Atlantic was too close for comfort. 

The Gators, which entered the week ranked eighth in the College Football Playoff standings and is now 10-1 overall, have been flirting with disaster lately.

They held on for a 9-7 win against Vanderbilt two weeks ago and led by just three in the fourth quarter before knocking off South Carolina 24-14 last week, but those are at least SEC foes with some history against Florida. 

Florida Atlantic came into Saturday with a 2-8 record (2-5 in Conference USA), the second-worst mark in the C-USA East Division. The Owls' wins came against 2-8 Charlotte and 5-6 Florida International. 

ESPN Stats and Info put in perspective how unexpected a loss by Florida would have been in this situation:

Florida Atlantic took the momentum midway through the fourth quarter. After Owls receiver Kalib Woods' third-quarter touchdown catch, Florida was leading 14-7 and had the ball at its own 16-yard line trying to run out the clock. 

That's when defensive end Trey Hendrickson strip-sacked quarterback Treon Harris, and defensive back Ocie Rose recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game, shown by ESPN on Twitter:

CBS Sports summed up perfectly what every Gators fan was thinking:

The two teams exchanged blows over the final eight minutes before going to overtime. Harris threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jake McGee to give the Gators a 20-14 lead, but Austin Hardin, who had already missed two field goals, had his extra-point attempt blocked.   

However, the Gators defense wouldn't let the kicking gaffes sink the team. Florida defensive back Brian Poole broke up Florida Atlantic quarterback Jaquez Johnson's fourth-down attempt in the end zone to preserve the win, shown here by the Gators' official Twitter:

Florida's biggest problem down the stretch has been at quarterback. Will Grier's year-long suspension has left a huge void no one has replaced. The freshman was having a terrific year with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, completing 65.8 percent of his attempts.

Harris, who finished Saturday 8-of-17 for 122 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, has been leading Florida head coach Jim McElwain's offense since the Oct. 17 game against LSU. The Gators did fare well against the Tigers in a 35-28 loss but have scored just 80 points in the four games since. 

Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel noted how difficult things were for Harris in the fourth quarter:

ESPN.com's Edward Aschoff wondered why McElwain was not looking to make a QB change:

The saving grace for Florida during this offensive lull has been running back Kelvin Taylor. He did his part once again, racking up 98 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. His yards-per-attempt average isn't great, but when opposing defenses don't respect the pass, it's hard to find many holes to hit. 

Taylor's touchdown run did put him in some nice and familiar company, per the SEC Network:

On a positive note, while not exactly the way he would have wanted it, McElwain did become the first Florida head coach to win 10 games in his inaugural season with the program, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

According to ESPN.com's Darren Rovell, Florida Atlantic was paid $1 million by the University of Florida for this game. Fortunately for the Gators, that money spent didn't turn into a disaster and end their playoff hopes. 

Florida has been getting by on the strength of its defense. It's dangerous to play with fire, but the end results have gone the Gators' way. That's all that matters at this stage of the season. 

Postgame Reaction

McElwain was not happy with his team's performance after the game, though he did try to put a positive spin on things, per Alligator Army on Twitter:

Expanding on those thoughts, McElwain gave credit to Florida Atlantic for its play in the game, per OnlyGators.com:

The Florida head coach joked that there may have been some extra concessions sold as a result of the close call, per Saturday Down South:

Looking ahead to next week's in-state showdown with Florida State, per Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post, McElwain noted the Seminoles may feel confident when looking at the tape from this game:

On the losing side, Florida Atlantic head coach Charlie Partridge was also putting a positive spin on the defeat, per Graham Hall of AlligatorArmy.com: