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Steve Spurrier reflects on another close Florida loss that slipped away

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The Florida Gators are back on the field this weekend after a tough loss on the road, welcoming an improved Mississippi State team to Gainesville for Homecoming. UF sits at 2-3 after playing four straight top-10 opponents, with three of those games on the road. The Gators will be looking to regroup and get a win in front of their home crowd before returning to the grind of SEC play.

Steve Spurrier says the 4th down decision swung the game

Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier made his weekly appearance on ‘Another Dooley Noted Podcast‘ on Monday and gave his thoughts on UF’s latest loss. Both teams traded touchdowns early in the game, which had Spurrier thinking it had the makings of a shootout.

“It was an interesting game because we scored on the opening possession, and then they scored on two plays. They hit a big one, and I said, ‘Man, at this pace it’s going to be a high-scoring game.’ Then, we scored on our third possession. They came back and scored pretty quick also. After that, we got a field goal the rest of the game.”

The Florida Gators found themselves in a familiar position this past weekend — one they’ve been in several times this season. Late in the fourth quarter, Florida was in a one-score game, only to see the opposing team pull away late. That change in momentum came after a pivotal play on a pivotal down.

“It was a 7-point game, and then we went for that 4th down at midfield, where I think most people, in hindsight, of course, would say just punt it down there,” Spurrier said. “Stop them, and let our defense maybe have a chance to win the game for us after we were sputtering on offense.”

Florida welcomes a much-improved Mississippi State team next

The Florida Gators have played four straight top-10 opponents, with three of those four contests coming on the road. Florida will have a break from ranked competition this weekend, but welcomes an improved Mississippi State team to Gainesville. The Bulldogs are 4-2 on the season but have lost their last two games.

It’s Florida’s Homecoming game — and a matchup Steve Spurrier views as more dangerous than Mississippi State’s recent losing skid would suggest.

“It’s a big game,” he said. “Mississippi State should have beat Tennessee. A play or two, and then they lost it in overtime.”

Spurrier was 4-2 against Mississippi State during his time as Florida’s head coach. One of those losses came in the 2000 season when an undefeated UF team lost 47-35 but ultimately went on to win the SEC that year. Spurrier and the Gators got their revenge the following year in 2001, his final season as UF’s head coach.

“We lost out there, and then they came to our place and we beat them 52-0. The year we lost out there, we won the SEC. The year they came here, and we were clobbering everybody. Tennessee beat us 34-32, and we didn’t win anything, but we finished third in the nation, and nobody ever talks about that team here at Florida.”

Florida and Mississippi State kick off this weekend at 4:15 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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