TALLAHASSEE — CeCe Jefferson slogged to the sideline and shoved defensive line coach Chris Rumph.
The sophomore defensive end had just been flagged for roughing Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois, and he wanted to show Rumph how softly he had shoved the Seminoles’ signal caller.
Nevertheless, he had shoved him. And whether embellishing or not, Francois fell to the ground and the flag flew.
Luckily for Jefferson and the rest of the Florida defense, the penalty didn’t result in lasting damage. That FSU drive ended when UF’s Joey Ivie blocked a field-goal attempt.
But in Florida’s 31-13 loss to the Seminoles on Saturday in Tallahassee, similar mistakes and miscues cost Florida momentum, the game and an unlikely shot at the College Football Playoff.
“We had opportunities,” quarterback Austin Appleby said. “We moved the ball really well. We just didn’t punch them in.”
The game’s first miscue for the Gators came on their first drive. Faced with a fourth-and-goal at the FSU 2-yard line, coach Jim McElwain was feeling lucky. His offense had easily gotten into the red zone, and he wanted to send a message early. In a way, he did.
Appleby, dropped back, got pressured and threw an incompletion. Similar plays became common, with Appleby going 19-of-35 for 149 yards.
But it wasn’t just that one miscue or Appleby’s relative ineffectiveness that plagued the Gators.
There were also turnovers.
Appleby was responsible for the most costly one, fumbling in the first quarter in FSU territory. Florida State took advantage of his mistake with a touchdown two Dalvin Cook rushes later.
There was also a Chris Thompson fumble on a kickoff return, which set the Gators up inside their own 10-yard line and led to a Johnny Townsend punt.
Appleby also fumbled again in garbage time, setting up FSU for a for-fun score.
“We couldn’t block them up front,” McElwain said. “We couldn’t protect, (which led to) turnovers.”
And that wasn’t the end of UF’s troubles.
There were Eddy Pineiro’s pair of kickoffs that sailed out of bounds, giving Florida State solid starting field position.
Or Jalen Tabor dropping an interception in the end zone in the first quarter.
Or Florida getting the ball back following a momentum-swinging, touchdown-scoring fumble recovery in the fourth quarter only to punt after four plays.
But aside from Appleby’s fumble and the failed fourth down conversion, Florida’s biggest blunder came in the third quarter.
Francois dropped back to pass deep in his team’s own territory and overshot all his own men.
UF safety Chauncey Gardner was deep downfield waiting for it, snagging it and scampering across the field for a 15-yard return.
The offense came back out with momentum and the opportunity to tie the game, at that point trailing 10-3.
Instead, the Gators gained three yards on three plays, settling for another field goal.
“We didn’t take advantage of some things we needed to,” McElwain said.
Appleby, meanwhile, was also aware of Florida’s inability to capitalize at crucial moments. He said that in the past, like at LSU, for example, the team was able to deliver in the clutch.
Against FSU, though, it was not.
“There are a couple of plays where we had our shots and we were able to hit them in weeks past,” he said. “For whatever reason, today we were an inch off or we weren’t able to make the grab or we weren’t able to hold up in protection for that one more second or we weren’t able to break that tackle like we did.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @ebaueri
Austin Appleby is pressured in the pocket during Florida's loss to FSU on Nov. 26, 2016, in Tallahassee.
