Game Balls: Florida's top performers against South Carolina
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Following each Florida victory, Gators Online will hand out game balls to UF’s top players.
Here are the standout performers from the Gators’ 41-39 win over South Carolina.
QB Graham Mertz
The Gamecocks came into this game with the SEC’s worst passing defense and UF redshirt junior quarterback Graham Mertz exploited that weakness. He had a career-high performance, throwing for 423 yards and three touchdowns on 30 of 48 passing.
That surpasses his previous mark of 333 yards at Utah. Prior to his transfer to Florida, Mertz had never eclipsed the 300-yard threshold in a game during his three years at Wisconsin. He orchestrated two TD drives to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit.
WR Ricky Pearsall
Mertz’s top target was senior receiver Ricky Pearsall, who had his best performance of the season against the Gamecocks. He set new career highs for receptions (10) and yards (166) and caught the game-winning touchdown with 47 seconds left.
Saturday was the second 100-yard receiving game this year and the fifth of his career. Mertz targeted him 13 times and he made several critical plays, including a 23-yard grab on third-and-10, a 26-yard on fourth-and-10 on Florida’s final drive and his TD.
WR Kahleil Jackson
With the Gators trailing 14-13 in the second quarter, redshirt sophomore receiver Kahleil Jackson had a game-changing drive to put his team back in front. He made one of their top plays of the season on offense, laying out for a 45-yard reception inside the 10-yard line.
Jackson finished off the series two plays later with his first career touchdown, hauling in a 7-yard pass over senior cornerback Marcellas Dial and staring him down in the end zone after making the catch.
K Trey Smack
Sophomore kicker Trey Smack came up big in Columbia, making his first four field goal attempts. After their second drive stalled in South Carolina territory, Smack nailed a 48-yard field goal to give the Gators a 10-7 lead.
He made another field goal from 40-plus yards (44) early in the second quarter to make it a one-point game and added a 28-yarder before the break. Smack then showed his range on Florida’s first series of the second half, matching his career long with a 54-yarder.
However, it wasn’t a perfect night for Smack. His 48-yard attempt in the fourth quarter was blocked by Gamecocks senior EDGE Tyreek Johnson, marking Smack’s first miss of the season after connecting on his first 11 attempts. But UF doesn’t win this game without Smack.
EDGE Princely Umanmielen
There weren’t a lot of bright spots on defense, but Princely Umanmielen made some plays from his EDGE position. With the game tied at 21 late in the first half, he sacked South Carolina senior quarterback Spencer Rattler for a 7-yard loss to force a punt.
It was his third sack of the season and led to Smack’s second field goal with 3 seconds left, giving the Gators a three-point going into the locker room. Umanmielen also registered two tackles for loss and had a quarterback hurry that was almost another sack.
![Florida Gators wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (3) hauls in a pass while taking balls from a throwing machine during University of Florida Gators’ Spring football practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 28, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://on3static.com/cdn-cgi/image/height=215,width=393,quality=90,fit=cover,gravity=0.5x0.5/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/08/01212103/Untitled-design-80.png)
