No. 25 Florida settles for field goals, beats Charlotte in the Swamp

GAINESVILLE — Ricky Pearsall considered using two hands. He switched it up at the last second and made a catch so impressive that it will be hard to top this season.

Pearsall made a one-handed grab that has to be among the best in program history, and No. 25 Florida beat Charlotte 22-7 on Saturday night.

“We practice that actually,” Pearsall, who caught six passes for 104 yards said. “I like to say that happens in practice.”

Trey Smack made five field goals to help the Gators (3-1) overcome their red zone woes. Florida went 1 for 9 on third down and settled for three field goals from inside the 10-yard line. The Gators won their third consecutive game since losing at then-No. 14 Utah, but looked far from ready to go on the road and end a two-game skid to Kentucky next week.

“Are we happy with everything that happened out there?” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “No. But we see a lot of bright spots.”

Graham Mertz completed 20 of 23 passes for 259 yards, with a touchdown and a fumble for the Gators. Pearsall’s leaping snag down the seam led to a field goal and a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

“(Coaches) always say don’t play down to the competition, raise the standard, set the Gator standard,” linebacker Shemar James said. “For any game, we play a faceless opponent, so that’s what we tried to do tonight. Fortunately we came out with the W, but it was kind of a little bit sloppy.”

Florida’s defense helped save the day, allowing just 210 yards. Napier suggested the tighter-than-expected outcome could help put his team find an edge before facing the Wildcats.

“There will be some things that come from keeping this too close,” he said.

A week after a 20-point second quarter against Tennessee, the Gators managed 18 yards — including minus-1 rushing — in the second against one of the worst defenses in major college football.

The 49ers (1-3) allowed nearly 1,100 yards in back-to-back lopsided losses to Maryland and Georgia State. Coach Biff Poggi promised better production and had Florida out of sorts for much of the night.

“I thought the defense was incredible,” Poggi said. “They played so hard. We held Florida to 136 rush yards on 36 carries. They were 1 for 9 on third-down conversions and 0 for 1 on fourth-down conversions. I doubt they’ll be anywhere near that in the next five years, so I’m really proud about how our defense.”

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After scoring on their first four possessions, the Gators went punt, field goal, turnover on downs, punt and field goal. It was far from what anyone expected from a team that was a 27 1/2-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Jalon Jones, who originally signed with Florida in 2019 but transferred following sexual assault accusations, led Charlotte with 65 yards rushing and a touchdown. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards..

Not-so-special teams

Special teams continue to be an issue for Florida despite Smack providing a bright spot the last two weeks. Smack, who supplanted errant Adam Mihalek against Tennessee, had made all six of his field-goal attempts, including a 54-yarder against Charlotte that tied for the fourth-longest in program history.

But the units have otherwise been less than ideal for the Gators, who have an analyst serving as special teams coordinator.

The Gators were penalized on their first two punt returns, getting flagged for holding and an illegal block. Those were Florida’s fourth and fifth penalties on special teams in four games and the latest special teams woes.

Florida has dealt with two shanked punts, a missed field goal and a missed extra point that prompted a kicker change, a high snap on another extra point, eight men on the field while trying to block a field goal against Utah and two players wearing No. 3 during a punt return against the Utes.

The Gators also had just 10 men on the field twice, once for a field-goal attempt and once for a punt return.

Up next

Charlotte: Plays at SMU next Saturday in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Florida: Plays at Kentucky next Saturday, an 11 a.m. start locally that will be the Gators’ first day game of the season.

By MARK LONG, Associated Press