Gators send UCF Knights home with a 24-13 loss

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA — The Florida Gators have their first winning streak of the season.

With a 24-13 victory Saturday night in The Swamp over UCF, Billy Napier and Co. have taken two straight games. This one came thanks largely to a strong first half as the Gators built a 24-3 lead.

Florida (3-2) quarterback Graham Mertz finished the night 18-of-23 passing for 179 yards and a touchdown. Running back Montrell Johnson added 54 yards rushing and a score. Al told, the Gators had 359 yards and 19 first downs.

The story of the game, however, probably was the Florida defense. Much-maligned this season, the Gators held a vaunted UCF (3-2) rushing attack to 108 yards — more than 200 below its season average.

The win Saturday by the home team might temporarily quiet some of Napier’s critics. But the Gators still face a gauntlet in the weeks ahead, beginning with a visit to Tennessee next Saturday.

Click here to follow along with our game thread and join the discussion on the Swamp Talk forum. Below are live updates from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium:

FOURTH QUARTER

-UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson was just intercepted deep by Florida’s Bryce Thornton with 1:48 left and that should just about do it. Jefferson is only 12 of 22 for 165 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.

-With a seven-play, 82-yard drive, UCF has some life. An RJ Harvey touchdown run of 13 yards has brought the Knights to within two scores. Harvey now has 71 yards on 15 caries. The Gators have yet to put any points on the board this half. SCORE: Florida 24, UCF 13; 7:57

THIRD QUARTER

-A 10-play, 40-yard Florida drive ended with a missed Trey Smack field goal of 53 yards.

-UCF had a long drive stopped by the Florida defense in the red zone. The Knights had to settle for a Grant Reddick 37-yard field goal at the end of a 14-play, 56-yard drive that took 8:28 off the clock. SCORE: Florida 24, UCF 6; 6:33

SECOND QUARTER

-Florida just added a 28-yard field goal from Trey Smack. That capped a seven-play, 46-yard drive. SCORE: Florida 24, UCF 3; 0:04

-The Gators have taken control against overmatched UCF. After forcing another punt, Florida just went 58 yards in nine plays and scored a touchdown on a 3-yard run from Montrell Johnson Jr. SCORE: Florida 21, UCF 3; 1:54

-Florida quickly capitalized on UCF’s failed fourth-down conversion. The Gators went up two scores on a 1-yard Ja’Kobi Jackson touchdown run. Backup quarterback DJ Lagway had a 37-yard completion to Chimere Dike to spark the drive, which covered 43 yards in three plays. SCORE: Florida 14, UCF 3; 12:52

-UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson was just stopped short by the Florida defense and 4th-and-1 at the UCF 43.

-UCF begins the second quarter facing a 2nd-and-5 from the Knights 39.

FIRST QUARTER

-Florida got nothing going on its second drive and a false start didn’t help. The Gators had to punt on 4th-and-9 from their own 13. Gators punter Jeremy Crawshaw boomed a 53-yarder with no return.

-UCF just answered Florida’s score with one of its own. The Knights went 65 yards in 12 plays but had to settle for a Grant Reddick 27-yard field goal after quarterback KJ Jefferson badly missed two throws to the end zone. SCORE: Florida 7, UCF 3; 2:32

-The Gators marched down the field with relative ease on their opening drive to take the early lead. The efficient series took 15 plays, covered 75 yards and consumed 7:58 off the clock. The touchdown came on a 13-yard pass from Graham Mertz to Elijhah Badger, who was wide open in the left corner of the end zone. Mertz was 4-of-4 passing for 55 yards on the drive. SCORE: Florida 7, UCF 0; 7:02