Inside the numbers: Mississippi State-Florida first-half stats
Mississippi State and Florida have reached halftime at Davis Wade Stadium and Florida holds a 28-14 advantage.
After both teams went three and out on their opening possession, it was Florida denting the scoreboard with an 84-yard drive featuring short passes and a couple of Graham Mertz scrambles. Mertz caped off the drive with a three-yard scoring toss to tight end Arlis Boardingham and the Gators led 7-0 with 3:39 remaining in the opening period.
State would answer on the ensuing drive thanks to a solid ground game and a 25-yard pass from Blake Shapen to tight end Seydou Traore. Davon Booth capped off the 62-yard drive with one-yard scoring plunge and the game was tied with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs collected the first turnover of the game to start the second quarter. However, State could not take advantage and Florida quickly responded. Mertz connected with Marcus Burke from 20 yards out to cap off a 65-yard drive and the Gators led 14-7 with 10:56 left in the half.
Florida’s offense continued to roll after the Gators’ defense forced a three and out. Mertz completed a quick two-play drive with a 35-yard scoring toss to Hayden Hansen and the Gators led 21-7 with 9:02 remaining in the first half.
The Gators capped off their first-half scoring with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Ja’Kobi Jackson, giving Florida a commanding 28-7 lead with 1:17 remaining in the first half. Mississippi State then showed some signs of life and went 75 yards in just 54 seconds. Shapen finished off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run and State trailed 28-14 with 23 seconds left in the half.
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Florida rolled up 311 yards of offense in the first half with 196 coming through the air. The Gators were 4 of 5 on third down conversions and had just one penalty for 10 yards. Florida held the ball for 15:15 of the opening half and averaged 8.2 yards a play.
Mississippi State had 216 yards of offense in the first half and collected 115 on the ground. The Bulldogs had six penalties for 50 yards and were 4 of 9 on third down. The Bulldogs had the ball for 14:45 of the opening half and averaged 5.4 yards per play.
Individually for Florida, Mertz was 15 of 16 passing for 147 yards with three touchdown passes. Montrell Johnson led the ground game with nine carries for 42 yards while Elijhah Badger had three catches for 45 yards in the first half.
For Mississippi State, Shapen was 9 of 16 for 101 yards and also had a rushing touchdown in the first half. Keyvone Lee paced the Bulldogs on the ground with eight carries for 52 yards while Mario Craver had two catches for 53 yards.
