COLUMBIA, Mo. — The losses continue to pile up for the Florida football team, but a 33-31 defeat at No. 9 Missouri was the ultimate gut punch during the Gators’ four-game skid including close calls against Arkansas and LSU the past two weeks.
A 30-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis with five seconds remaining ended UF’s upset bid behind backup quarterback Max Brown, who replaced the injured Graham Mertz after the starter sustained a non-displaced fracture of the collarbone during the third quarter, according to coach Billy Napier.
The underdogs Gators (5-6, 3-5 SEC) had a chance to put away the Tigers (9-2, 5-2). But a 27-yard pass on 4th-and-17 from Brady Cook to star receiver Luther Burden III to the UF 40 kept alive the Tigers’ game-winning drive and ultimately undercut a gutsy performance down the stretch by Napier’s squad.
Completions of 11 and 16 yards then moved Mizzou to the UF 13 to set up Mevis.
“It’s a challenge to be prepared to play physically, mentally and emotionally when you come up short a couple weeks in a row,” Napier said. “We’re going to see that there’s opportunities, things we could have done better as a staff, and certainly opportunities for players to make plays. But they battled.”
With nothing to lose, the Gators had a chance to salvage their season against the surging Tigers with the day’s biggest upset in college football.
Even with Mertz sidelined in street clothes, the Gators rallied behind Brown and sophomore star running back Trevor Etienne Saturday night at Faurot Field.
“You can’t compliment the kids enough,” Napier said. “Didn’t tuck their tails and run away. Nobody ran and hid. Let’s put the backup in and let’s go.”
A 35-yard field goal by Trey Smack gave UF a 31-30 lead with 1:36 remaining and was the seventh of eight lead changes, including four during a wild third quarter after a lackluster first half with Missouri leading 13-6.
But with UF trailing 23-21 Mertz headed to the locker room and with him seemingly the Gators’ hopes for victory. Brown entered the game for the first significant action of his college career.
“You’re always one play away,” Brown said. “You’ve got to stay ready.”
In a continuing theme during a disappointing 2023 season, Napier’s team put up a fight even while Brown suffered some growing pains. A botched handoff with Montrell Johnson Jr. on the 15-yard line ended a Gators’ scoring bid. Two plays later, Tigers receiver Theo Wease Jr. scored on a 77-yard touchdown catch.
“That’s the one that gets me,” Napier said of the fumble. “There’s a lot going through a young man’s mind. It’s simple, simple fundamentals.
“It’s a play that he’s run multiple times in his career.”
Brown made no excuses.
“It’s 100 percent on me,” he said. “I got to be better mechanically.”
But the Gators answered behind Brown and Etienne.
A 5-yard completion to Kahleil Jackson on 4th-and-4 from the UF 31 kept alive a drive featuring runs of 11 and 12 yards by Brown followed by runs of 13 and 9 yards by Etienne, the second run for a touchdown to cut the lead to 30-28.
Florida tailback Trevor Etienne runs in for a touchdown during the Gators’ 33-31 loss at No. 9 Missouri Nov. 18 in Columbia. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)Etienne, who finished with 119 yards from scrimmage, gave the Gators’ a 14-13 lead to open the second half on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Mertz. It was his 20th touchdown throw of the season and surely his last.
Mertz’s durability and toughness have been his calling card as much as his SEC-leading accuracy and veteran leadership. Mertz once again did the No. 15 jersey proud, channeling his inner Tim Tebow on an 11-yard keeper with UF facing 3rd-and-5 from its UF 30.
Mertz, though, paid the price for running over over two Missouri defenders before two more took him to the ground. The redshirt junior left the game one play later, pointing to his left clavicle, and soon headed to the locker room for X-rays.
“What a play! What a competitor!” Napier said.
Mertz’s injury came on a night when Florida State’s Jordan Travis suffered a gruesome leg injury a week before the Gators and the Seminoles will meet in the Swamp.
The odds were stacked against the Gators against the SEC’s most surprising team.
UF entered an 11-point underdog facing long odds at every turn. Missouri arrived with momentum, a balanced attack, a defense stocked with playmakers and a sell-out crowd of 62,621.
But the Gators pushed the Tigers to the finish, given Napier hope for the future.
“Gotta believe there’s some good comes from it,” he said. “But right now we got a bunch of kids that are hurting — hurting in here. There’s a lot of guys who played their butts off out there tonight.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com