Florida Texas Upset: Gators Stun No. 7 Longhorns 27-24
The florida texas upset delivered one of the wildest finishes of the college football season on Saturday, as unranked Florida stormed back from a 17-3 deficit to stun the No. 7 Longhorns 27-24 in Austin.
Texas looked in control early, opening up a 17-3 second-quarter lead behind a 63-yard punt-return touchdown by Ryan Niblett. But the Gators scored 24 straight points spanning halftime and never looked back.
Backup QB Sparks the Comeback
Florida turned to sophomore Tramell Jones Jr., making his first career start in place of the injured Aaron Philo, and he delivered. Jones found Lacota Dippre for a 7-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left before halftime, cutting the lead to 17-10.
The second strike came after halftime: Jones hit Dippre again from 8 yards out, capping a 15-play drive that chewed up more than eight minutes of the third quarter to tie the game at 17. Texas managed almost nothing in the second half — the Longhorns gained just 8 total yards in the third quarter.
Patrick Durkin’s 28-yard field goal with 10:43 to play gave Florida its first lead at 20-17, and Jadan Baugh broke through for an 11-yard touchdown run with 6:22 left to stretch it to 27-17.
A Strip Sack Seals It
Texas refused to go quietly. Arch Manning converted a fourth-and-6 with a 62-yard completion to Emmett Mosley V and found Cam Coleman for a 9-yard touchdown with 4:21 remaining, pulling the Longhorns within 27-24.
But Manning could not finish the escape. With Texas driving for a tie or the win, Florida’s Myles Graham strip-sacked the Longhorns quarterback with 1:58 left, and Kanye Clark recovered at the Texas 39 to let the Gators run out the clock. It was Florida’s fifth sack of the day.
Manning finished 14-for-20 for 173 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, but he was harassed all afternoon by a Florida defense that had ranked last in the SEC.
Simmons Injury Adds to the Pain
The loss was Texas’s second straight after last week’s Red River Rivalry defeat to Oklahoma, and it puts the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
It also cost them one of their best defenders. Texas pass rusher Colin Simmons, the national sack leader, was carted off the field in the fourth quarter with a left leg injury, adding a major injury scare to an already brutal afternoon.
Florida, meanwhile, snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-2 (3-2 SEC) under first-year coach Jon Sumrall — a season-saving win on the road in one of the sport’s toughest environments.
Source: Yahoo Sports