In Depth: Muffed Punt Serves as Turning Point as Mizzou Tops Florida, 45-16
11/4/2017 3:36:00 PM | Football
Senior Anthony Sherrils recovered a fumbled punt at the Florida 11-yard line, giving momentum and the ball back to the Tiger offense with 6:52 left in the first quarter.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Only eight minutes into the game, both sides seemed prepared for a defensive struggle. Both Mizzou and Florida had unsuccessful offensive possessions in the first quarter and Mizzou was preparing to punt the ball back to the Gator offense at the Florida 45 with no score. Junior P Corey Fatony stepped onto the field, looking to strengthen his Ray Guy resume with another punt inside the 20.
Fatony did not disappoint, booming the ball high into the air from his own 45-yard line, allowing his teammates to rush down the field and put pressure on the Florida return man. The Florida returner was forced to call for a fair catch as a swarm of black and gold descended upon him, but as he went to haul in the punt, it became clear that he had misjudged the trajectory and the ball would be landing much sooner than he had expected. As the Florida player lunged forward to make the fair catch, the ball nicked the turf, bouncing up and out of Florida control.
As soon as the ball became live, the host of Tigers hovering around the return man sprung into action with senior S Anthony Sherrils immediately picking up the loose ball giving Mizzou possession of the ball on the Florida 11 yard-line, still with 6:52 left in the opening quarter.
"That was a big play," Mizzou head coach Barry Odom said. "Corey did a great job of hanging it up in a sky punt situation. We work every Tuesday on that drill, getting in position just in case the ball is fumbled or bobbled, we always try to get in position to make a play and he [Sherrils] did. We've done that drill a million times so, for that to show up and to happen, that's good. It's great carryover from practice."
"My keys were to go behind him," Sherrils said. "I looked up and I saw the ball wouldn't go behind him, so I was just putting a little pressure on him, making an ugly face or something, to get him to drop it, and he dropped it. I was there to pick it up."
The Tiger offense responded to this massive shift in momentum with a three-play touchdown drive, capped off by a five-yard touchdown pass from junior QB Drew Lock to redshirt-junior TE Kendall Blanton to give Mizzou a 7-0 lead.
"Setting them up like that, that was huge." Sherrils said. "Just to set the offense up, Drew [Lock] and J'mon [Moore] and all those guys, they put the ball in from anywhere. To set them up on the plus side of the field is just perfect."
From that point on, the momentum never left the Mizzou sideline. The Tigers scored touchdowns on each of their next three offensive possessions to close out the half, while the Mizzou defense kept Florida in check, only allowing a pair of field goals to give Mizzou a 28-6 lead going into halftime. The beat went on in the second half, as Mizzou finished with 227 yards on the ground and 228 through the air to secure the largest victory over an SEC opponent since November, 9, 2013 when Mizzou defeated Kentucky 48-17.
Sherrils continued to make his presence felt throughout the game, coming up huge in the second quarter with his third career interception, once again setting up the Tiger offense in prime field position. Sherrils added a touchdown saving tackle on off the edge in the third quarter to stomp out any thoughts of a Florida comeback.
Mizzou will look to extend their current three-game win streak on SEC Network when the Tigers host the Tennessee Volunteers next Saturday at 6:30 on Faurot Field. Tickets can be purchased at MUTigers.com or by calling the Mizzou Ticket Office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS. For all the latest on Mizzou Football, stay tuned to mutigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouFootball) and like the team on Facebook and Instagram.
