GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gators coach Billy Napier spent the offseason trying to lessen the pressure and hype on star quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Good luck doing that after Saturday night’s showing against Utah.
Richardson dazzled with three touchdown rushes, an unbelievable two-point conversion attempt, a daring fourth-down conversion and the game-winning score in the Gators’ 29-26 upset of No. 7 Utah in Napier’s debut.
Richardson looked like the quarterback who dazzled off the bench in last year’s opener against Florida Atlantic, not the inconsistent one who entered Saturday with almost as many career touchdown passes as interceptions.
He completed 10 of his 13 first-half passes and had a pair of rushing touchdowns. The second was a remarkable 45 yarder that gave UF a 14-13 lead at the break.
His biggest highlight came with 12:48, after running back Montrell Johnson dashed in for a touchdown that put UF up by a point. Richardson made it three. He rolled right, jumped and spun to avoid a would-be tackler. He ran right and found Ja’Quavion Fraziars wide open in the end zone. Fraziars didn’t have to move an inch on the successful two-point conversion.
Richardson’s breakout performance in his second careers start (after Georgia last year) was the most obvious difference of the Napier era compared to what happened under Dan Mullen. It wasn’t the only one.
Napier’s “scared money don’t make money” philosophy showed up, too, when he opted to go for it on fourth-and-2 at the 16. His play call worked (Richardson running right and throwing to a wide-open Johnson), and Richardson followed it with a short touchdown run.
That sequences contrasted with one from Utah near the end of the first half. On fourth-and-3 at the 8, the Utes tried to make the Florida jump the snap early — and maybe the 2021 Gators would have — but failed. They settled for a field goal.
The biggest change came early in the third quarter with a defensive stop UF hasn’t seen in far too long. Utah pounded and gashed the Gators to set up second and goal at the 1. First Utah running back Tavion Thomas slipped for a short loss. Then quarterback Cam Rising’s rush was stopped short. Finally, linebacker Ventrell Miller blew up Thomas at the goal line and jarred the ball loose to preserve UF’s lead. It was the Gators’ best goal-line stand since the one that clinched the 2016 SEC East title at LSU in the bitter Hurricane Matthew game.
Unfortunately for Florida, the defensive strength didn’t last. Utah ran at and through the Gators, with Micah Bernard rushing for a 7-yard touchdown in the closing seconds of the third. Thomas added a short touchdown run midway through the fourth to put Utah ahead 26-22. It wasn’t a flashback to the historically bad 2020 defense, but it was problematic.
It ended up being irrelevant this time thanks to Richardson.
The Gators charged afterward and drove to a fourth-and-2 at the Utah 26. Richardson scrambled and picked up nine to keep the drive going. He finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run — his third of the night — to complete the comeback and the upset.
Utah had a last-gasp chance, but linebacker Amari Burney intercepted a pass in the end zone to seal UF’s win.
The announced attendance of 90,799 was the largest ever for a season opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
