Following two back-to-back loses, the Florida Gators defeated the No.7 Texas Longhorns 27-24 on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, earning an important Southeastern Conference road victory.
This victory marked Florida’s first road win against an Associated Press top-10 team in 5,075 days, with the last occurrence coming in 2012 against No.10 Florida State, 37-26.
Quarterback Trammel Jones Jr. led Florida in his first career start, completing 22 of the 35 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns passes went to tight end Lacota Dippre. Jones is the first Florida quarterback since Jesse Palmer in 1997 to win his starting debut against a top-10 team on the road.
Texas started off strong, scoring the game’s first 10 points before Florida responded with a 45-yard field goal from Patrick Durkin. A touchdown by Ryan Niblett in the second quarter extended the Longhorns lead to 17-3.
The Gators came back fighting with a seven-yard touchdown by Dippre, cutting Texas’ lead to 17-10 at halftime.
Florida carried that momentum into the second half, with Dippre getting his second touchdown of the game to tie the score at 17-17. Durkin later converted a 28-yard field goal, giving the Gators their first lead of the afternoon.
Running back Jadan Baugh extended Florida’s lead with a touchdown run, putting the Gators ahead 27-17 with just over six minutes remaining. Texas answered with a touchdown pass to Cam Coleman, bringing the Longhorns within three points. Florida held on in the final minutes to secure the 27-24 victory.
The win improved the Gators record to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play. The Gators will now have a bye week before returning to action against Georgia on Oct.31 in Atlanta.
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