BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Heading into Saturday’s Birmingham Bowl matchup against East Carolina, there were questions whether Florida still had any fight left in them this season.
With a new coaching regime taking over one day later, the game at Legion Field looked to be just that — one more game.
But any questions about the Gators’ commitment level quickly vanished as Florida (7-5) defeated East Carolina (8-5) 28-20 in Birmingham in front of a crowd of 30,0008.
“Words can’t really describe how I feel about these guys as a team,” UF interim head coach D.J. Durkin said. “I’m so happy for our players to go get that win.”
Florida looked to be down a leader early when junior linebacker Antonio Morrison suffered a left knee injury in the second quarter.
But the loss of Morrison fueled Florida’s defense.
“I had to keep going because Antonio is basically our leader, our quarterback of the defense,” junior Dante Fowler said. “When he got hurt, I told him I was going to hold it down and anchor everything.”
And Fowler succeeded with his mission.
The Buck linebacker sacked ECU quarterback Shane Carden three times — a career-high — while also recording two quarterback hurries and a pass deflection.
“We know Dante’s intentions and his future,” Durkin said. “For a guy in this situation to go out and of what he did and play how he played, I can’t say any more about this guy’s character. … You talk about a great teammate and a great person and a great football player — that’s No. 6.”
And after starting the season, quarterback Jeff Driskel was the one to finish the year under center.
Treon Harris went down with an elbow injury with less than three minutes left in the third quarter and Driskel finished out the game.
While the redshirt junior — who new head coach Jim McElwain said Saturday has already asked for the release from his scholarship — only completed eight of 17 passes for 48 yards, he iced the game with a 9-yard bootleg run with one minute left in regulation.
“I think it says a lot about him as a person,” Durkin said. “The amount of adversity he’s had to go through in his career, to be honest, I don’t know if I could last through that.”
The Gators started the game from behind after Carden found wide receiver James Hardy in the end zone for a 2-yard score early in the first quarter.
Hardy did the Gator chomp after giving the Pirates the 7-0 lead, but it was the Gators who would chomp last.
Florida scored 21 straight points to close out the half on a Brian Poole pick-six, a 2-yard Adam Lane rushing touchdown and a 13-yard completion from quarterback Treon Harris to Brandon Powell.
Florida closed out its scoring on an 86-yard catch and run from Harris to Ahmad Fulwood 11:20 left in the third quarter — UF’s longest play from scrimmage this season.
East Carolina crept back into the game with a 4-yard passing touchdown and a pair of field goals in the second half, but Pirates were stopped in their tracks when cornerback Vernon Hargreaves interception a Carden pass in the end zone, allowing Driskel and the Florida offense to run out the clock.
“The story of the game really came down to turnovers. … Vernon made a great play with a pick in the end zone,” Durkin said.
Lane — a redshirt freshman who had just eight carries for 72 yards all season — finished with a game-high 109 rushing yards on 16 carries en route to MVP honors.
“It felt great,” Lane said about his increased playing time on Saturday. “It just built a bigger fire in me. It just made me want to work harder and just take the opportunities that I did get and make the most of them.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Adam Lane rushes into the end zone for a touchdown during Florida's 28-20 win against East Carolina on Jan. 3 in the Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field.
