FINAL: Florida takes down Eastern Washington, 52-17

The Florida Gators were dominant in their 52-17 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sunday afternoon.

The blowout win put the Gators back above .500 with a 3-2 record on the season. Florida fans certainly got to see what the future of the program looks like as a number of underclassmen saw the field.

The Gators take on Missouri (2-3, 0-2 SEC) next Saturday in the Swamp at noon as they look for their first conference win.

Here are the live updates and big plays from Sunday’s game between the Eagles and the Gators:

Fourth quarter

UF running back Lorenzo Lingard finds the end zone for the first time this season from 11 yards out. He extends the Florida lead to 52-3 with 11:53 to play.

EWU gets its first touchdown of the game with a deep touchdown pass to cut Florida’s lead to 52-10 with 8:35 to play.

After a botched snap, Mihalek’s 46 yard field goal attempt is blocked. It’s still 52-10 with 6:27 to play.

The Eagles catch the Florida offense off guard with a 25 yard touchdown rush. Florida leads 52-17 with 3:17 to play.

Third quarter

Richardson goes deep on the first play of the second half and is intercepted for the sixth time this season. The Eagles take over from their own 26 yard line.

Eastern Washington comes up with a third down stop, and UF kicker Adam Mihalek hits a 36 yard field goal. Gators lead 38-3 with 7:47 left in the third quarter.

Kitna comes back into the game and hits true freshman wide receiver Caleb Douglas for a 62 yard touchdown pass. Gators lead 45-3 with 4:25 left in the third.

Stats at the half

• Score
  • EWU: 3
  • UF: 35
• First downs
  • EWU: 15
  • UF: 10
• Third down conversions
  • EWU: 3-9
  • UF: 2-2
• Fourth down conversions
  • EWU: 1-3
  • UF: 0-0
• Red zone
  • EWU: 1-2
  • UF: 3-3
• Total yards
  • EWU: 214
  • UF: 370
• Rush yards
  • EWU: 80
  • UF: 149
• Passing yards
  • EWU: 134
  • UF: 221
• Turnovers
  • EWU: 1
  • UF: 0
• Penalties
  • EWU: 1 for 5 yards
  • UF: 3 for 30 yards
• Time of possession
  • EWU: 21:21
  • UF: 8:39

Second quarter

On Florida’s first drive of the second quarter of action, Richardson goes down with a lower body injury, and quarterback Jalen Kitna takes over.

After an injury timeout for an EWU player, Richardson takes back over the for the Florida offense. Kitna completed his lone pass for 22 yards to wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

Florida running back Nay’Quan Wright punches it in from 4 yards out to give the Gators a 21-3 lead with 9:22 remaining in the half.

UF forces another EWU punt, and and Pearsall takes a reverse 76 yards to the house. Gators up 28-3 with 5:48 to play in the second quarter.

The Florida defense gets its first turnover of the day as freshman defensive tackle Chris McClellan comes up with the recovery. The Gators will start at EWU’s 40 yard line.

Richardson tosses his second touchdown of the day to wide receiver Xzavier Henderson. It’s 35-3 Gators with just over 3 minutes to play in the half.

A pass deflection from cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. keeps the Eagles out of the end zone with a turnover on downs. The Gators go into the locker room up 35-3 over EWU.

First quarter

The Eagles take a 3-0 lead on the first drive of the game where they were able to wind the clock down to 8:04 in the first quarter.

The Gators respond with a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Richardson to wide receiver Justin Shorter on their first offensive play. That’s touchdown No. 3 on the season for Richardson through the air.

After a fourth down stop from the Florida defense, Richardson led the offense down the field, and running back Montrell Johnson scored from 3 yards out. Gators lead 14-3 at the end of the quarter.