Post Game notes from UAA

2023 Florida Football Postgame Notes​

Kentucky 33, No. 22 Florida 14 Kroger Field – Lexington, Ky.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• By finishing with an 83.0% completion percentage, QB Graham Mertz became the first Florida quarterback in the last 20 seasons with five-straight games completing 70% of his passes or more.
o Mertz accomplished this feat in his first five career starts as a Gator (70.5%, 82.4%, 79.2%, 87.5%, 83.0%).
o Mertz leads the SEC and ranks third nationally with a 79.1% completion rate.

• Mertz finished with a 167.0 passer rating at Kentucky – his fourth-straight game over 150.0 and his third of the season at 165.0 or better.

• After starting 0-for-3 passing, Mertz completed 22-of-27 passes (81.5%) for 244 yards and two touchdowns.

• Mertz threw his first interception in 95 pass attempts – since Week 1 at No. 14 Utah – on a deflected pass to WR Arlis Boardingham in the first quarter.

• Mertz finished the first half completing 10-of-12 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown.

• Mertz has thrown a touchdown pass in 20 of his last 23 games.

• TE Hayden Hansen made his first-career start and put Florida on the board with his first-career touchdown reception on his second-ever catch.

• RB Montrell Johnson Jr. led the receiving corps with a career-high six receptions.

• RB Trevor Etienne posted a career-high 38 yards receiving while his four catches tied his career high.

• WR Kahleil Jackson set career highs with three receptions and 41 yards receiving.

• WR Ricky Pearsall recorded a reception in his 33rd-consecutive game, tied for the eighth-longest streak in the FBS.

• Pearsall finished with a team-high 62 yards receiving on three catches and one touchdown.

• Freshman WR Andy Jean caught four passes for 33 yards to set new personal bests in his young career (previously had just one catch for 62 yards across two games).

• The Gators were held under 100 yards rushing for just the fourth time in 18 games under HC Billy Napier.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
● In year one under DC Austin Armstrong, Florida has allowed just 275.6 yards per game.
o Through five games last year, Florida had allowed 421.0 yards per game.
o UF came in ranking first in the SEC, fourth in the P5 and fifth in the FBS in total defense.

● The Gators have limited teams to 17.4 points per game (t-18th in FBS), an 11.5-point improvement from last season (28.9).

● Florida is allowing just 144.0 passing yards per game.
o Entering the game, Florida ranked 15th in the FBS, eighth in the P5, and first in the SEC.

● Florida allowed more than 24 points for the first time this season.

● Florida held its opponent to under 200 passing yards for the eighth time in the Napier era including the fourth time this season.

● Florida limited Kentucky to 36 passing yards in the first half.
o This was the Gators’ fourth-straight game limiting its opponent to under 100 passing yards in the first half (216 first-half passing yards in that span).
o Florida has surrendered just 375 first-half passing yards this season (75.0 per half).

● LB Mannie Nunnery made his first start as a Gator (transferred from Houston).

● Despite trailing 23-7 at the half, Florida won the time of possession battle (17:02-12:58) and ran more plays (32-30) than Kentucky across the first two quarters.
o Florida ultimately prevailed in both categories (31:14-28:46 / 59-56) by game’s end.

● LB Shemar James paced the Orange & Blue in tackles (eight) for the third time this season and also notched one tackle for loss.

● DB Miguel Mitchell notched a career-high five tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

● P Jeremy Crawshaw unleashed a 60-yard punt on his 100th-career attempt (his first of the game).
o With the punt, Crawshaw has produced a 60-yarder in each of the last three seasons.

● Crawshaw punted five times for an average of 53.8 yards including a long punt of 61 yards, four 50-plus yard kicks and one inside the opposing 20-yard-line.
o Crawshaw has now punted for 50-plus yards on 42 of 104 career punts while placing 40 inside the opposing 20-yard line.

EXPLOSIVE PLAYS (5)
● Ricky Pearsall (from Graham Mertz): 20-yard reception, second quarter

● Trevor Etienne: 16-yard rush, second quarter

● Caleb Douglas (from Mertz): 34-yard reception, second quarter

● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 14-yard rush, third quarter

● Ricky Pearsall (from Mertz): 33-yard touchdown reception, third quarter

SERIES UPDATES
● Tonight’s game represented the 74th all-time meeting between Florida and Kentucky including the
34th matchup in Lexington.

● With tonight’s victory, the Gators fall to 53-21 (.716) in the all-time series vs. Kentucky and 23-11 (.647)
in Lexington, having now lost three-straight games against the Wildcats.

● Despite the loss, Florida is 33-4 in its last 37 games against Kentucky and 16-2 in the last 18 matchups
in Lexington.

• HC Billy Napier falls to 0-2 against Kentucky HC Mark Stoops in their second meeting as head
coaches.

THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 441-consecutive games -- which is an NCAA record and 54 games longer than any other college football team in history.
o The last time Florida was shut out was on Oct. 29, 1988 vs. Auburn (L, 16-0).

GAME DETAILS
● Florida Game Captains: #88 Caleb Banks, #65 Kingsley Eguakun, #15 Graham Mertz, #15 Derek Wingo

● Coin Toss: Kentucky won the toss and deferred; Florida received and defended the east end zone.

● Attendance: 61,699