Mizzou Football Falls on Halloween Night to No. 10/9 Florida, 41-17

Saturday, October 31

Gainesville, FL

6:30 p.m. (CT)

University of Missouri

2-3 , 2-3

Florida

3-1 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Missouri

Florida

Mizzou Football Falls on Halloween Night to No. 10/9 Florida, 41-17

10/31/2020 9:49:00 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Book (PDF)

Pair of late second-quarter TDs too much for Tigers to overcome

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mizzou Football dropped a 41-17 decision at No. 10/9 Florida Saturday night (Oct. 31) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The loss snapped a two-game Mizzou winning streak as the Tigers fall to 2-3 on the season. Florida improves to 3-1 on the year.

Mizzou got a pick-six score from junior CB Jarvis Ware but failed to get much going offensively. Junior LB Nick Bolton continued his All-SEC caliber season with 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss as he continues to lead the team in tackling this season. Sophomore LB Devin Nicholson posted a career-high 13 tackles as well, his second double-digit tackle outing this season.

A Quick Recap

On each of Florida's first two offensive series, the Gators drove the ball down into the red zone. Coming into the game, Florida had converted touchdowns on 12-of-15 red zone appearances, settling for field goals just three times. But that's exactly what Mizzou forced Florida to do on each of those drives, keeping Mizzou in the game with Florida leading 6-0 after the first quarter.

Mizzou then grabbed momentum midway through the second quarter, thanks to an incredible effort by the defense. Junior All-SEC LB Nick Bolton broke through the Florida line and got a hand on Florida QB Kyle Trask's arm as he unloaded, causing an underthrow, which was read by Mizzou CB Jarvis Ware. Ware, a Florida native, slowed up and caught the short throw for an interception and returned it 59 yards for a score, giving Mizzou a 7-6 lead. It was Mizzou's first interception since last year at Vanderbilt (Oct. 19, 2019), snapping a nine-game streak without a pick. It was Mizzou's first pick-six since Cale Garrett had one against Troy last year (Oct. 5).

Florida tacked on a TD on an 18-yard screen pass from Trask to Kadarius Toney to take a 13-7 late in the quarter. Mizzou tried to go up-tempo on the ensuing possession, but a third-and-one fumble gave Florida the ball back deep in Mizzou territory. Florida added another TD, this time a 30-yard strike from Trask to Toney, on the very next play and took a 20-7 lead into the half.

The Gators added another Toney score to open the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

Top Tigers

Junior CB Jarvis Ware tallied his first career interception, a 59-yard pick six, in the second quarter to give Mizzou a 7-6 lead. It was Mizzou's first interception in nine games.
Mizzou sophomore LB Devin Nicholson posted his second game with 10-plus tackles this season, posting a career-best 13 in the loss.
Junior LB Nick Bolton finished the game with 10 tackles while adding 1.5 tackles for loss as he continued his All-SEC caliber campaign.
Sophomore S Martez Manuel forced a fumble and tallied seven tackles.
Junior RB Larry Rountree III rushed for his 30^th career touchdown on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter. He moves into a tie for fourth on the school record book with Henry Josey.

Up Next

Mizzou will be on a scheduled bye week next weekend before returning home to play No. 5 Georgia on Nov. 14. The time and TV designation for that contest will be set on Monday (Nov. 2).