Austin Appleby eyed the edge and held the ball to his running back’s gut. When he saw what he was waiting for — the South Carolina defensive end rushing into the backfield — he ripped the ball out and ran.
With Luke Del Rio under center, that’s a play that doesn’t happen. UF’s usual starter has run for negative 43 yards this season. But with Appleby, the Gators were able to surprise the Gamecocks with the read option on Florida’s third play of the game, racking up 33 yards and setting up a 6-yard touchdown strike from Appleby to tight end C’yontai Lewis on the game’s next play.
In Florida’s 20-7 win over South Carolina on Saturday, that play was an outlier. Appleby ran for one more yard the rest of the game. But it — and Appleby himself — awakened a dormant Florida offense that looked like an entirely new unit against the Gamecocks. Even if the final score didn’t reflect it, this was a team that had all the pieces to put up 40 points but made critical mistakes.
“I was doing my best to get 240 pounds moving,” Appleby said of his run. “It kind of got the spark going.”
Rushing ability aside, Appleby found holes in the South Carolina defense all afternoon, going 17-of-21 for 201 yards and a touchdown. Antonio Callaway led the way receiving with 48 yards while senior Ahmad Fulwood caught his first touchdown pass of the season.
Meanwhile, sophomore Jordan Scarlett anchored the running game with a career-high 134 yards. After months of hesitation, it appeared that McElwain and his staff finally decided on Scarlett as the team’s featured back.
The running game wasn’t a full-blown success story, though.
With a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and with the offense humming along toward its second touchdown in as many drives, junior Mark Thompson grabbed a handoff and ran right. He was met by a hive of defenders that swarmed him, with one of them falling under his knees to prevent him from going down and another dislodging the ball a foot from the ground.
South Carolina recovered the ball but punted three plays later.
However, turnovers were a concerning trend for the Gators against the Gamecocks — one that kept the Gators off the scoreboard on several occasions.
Thompson’s aside, Appleby appeared to have lubricant on his hands when he dropped a snap without provocation at the South Carolina 5-yard line. He followed that miscue with an interception.
“I mean, if we don’t throw the ball on the ground the way we did,” McElwain said, struggling to find the words to describe his team’s turnover woes. “It’s the second time now down in the red area that just, yeah.”
While those plays killed momentum, Florida’s defense was consistently able to get it back.
Despite entering the game with serious questions at linebacker following injuries to reliable cogs Alex Anzalone and Jarrad Davis a week ago, the Gators held South Carolina to 43 yards on the ground.
That was thanks in large part to their fills-ins — true freshman David Reese and redshirt freshman Kylan Johnson — who combined for 18 tackles. Reese led the team with 11.
In addition, the defensive line put pressure on South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley all afternoon. Taven Bryan made one particularly impressive play when he sacked Bentley, stripped the ball and recovered the fumble himself. Defensive tackle Joey Ivie also picked up a pair of sacks.
And in the defensive backfield, Marcell Harris notched seven tackles and grabbed a pick.
That defense will need to maintain the same form a week from now against LSU for Florida to leave Death Valley with a win, but with Florida’s offense clicking, players are feeling confident.
“We can be as good as we wanna be,” Fulwood said. “Doesn't matter who the opponent is.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @ebaueri.
Austin Appleby runs during Florida's 20-7 win over South Carolina on Nov. 12, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
