TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — John Brantley laid flat on his back as the training staff ran onto the field to tend to Florida’s starting quarterback.
Down 25 points in the fourth quarter, UF needed eight yards to convert a desperate fourth-down try from the Alabama 20-yard line. Brantley eluded a would-be sack in the backfield, stepped up in the pocket and then took off before two Alabama defenders converged on him, stopping him a yard short.
It was the literal and figurative knockout punch after a night of body shots laid on the Gators’ first-year starting quarterback.
Brantley put the hit behind him, walked off the field under his own power and came back out for the next possession down 31-6.
The question for the Gators is, will Brantley be able to put a nightmarish performance in Bryant-Denny Stadium behind him when LSU rolls into Gainesville next weekend?
“Personally, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t matter,” Brantley said. “It’s a team thing.”
Brantley was coming off the best performance of his career, going 24 for 35 for 248 yards and a touchdown against Kentucky, but his development took a serious step back Saturday night.
UF’s signal caller went 16 for 31 for 202 yards and two interceptions against the Crimson Tide.
The only touchdown he threw went up on the board for Alabama.
When the Gators took over for their second offensive possession of the second half, there was still a glimmer of hope.
Brantley hit wide receiver Deonte Thompson for a 24-yard gain to move UF off its own goal line, and it looked like the Gators may have shifted some of the momentum in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Two plays later, Brantley made the worst pass of his five-start career. Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley ran away with the momentum and the Crimson Tide ran away with the game.
“I was trying to get down to my check down and I didn’t see [Mosley],” Brantley said of his interception. “And then when I slid over and found a throwing line, I just tried to do it too quick.”
A week after throwing the first interception of his career as a starter against Kentucky, Brantley threw this first pick-six.
Brantley scanned the field deep before checking down to running back Emmanuel Moody, but Mosley stepped in front of the pass and broke one tackle before scoring easily.
On UF’s next possession, Brantley led the Gators down the field on a 77-yard drive before botching an exchange with Moody on the one-yard line. Brantley failed to recover the fumble, and Alabama once again came away with the turnover.
“[The red zone offense] was awful,” coach Urban Meyer said. “We just have to get better. It was real disappointing. That game is a different game I think. I don’t know if we would have beat them because they were pretty good today, but we self destructed.”
Alabama’s front seven recorded just one sack against Brantley but pressured him the entire night — one Brantley would just as soon forget.
