No. 24 Virginia is doing everything they can to keep things close in the Orange Bowl but the gap between them and No. 9 Florida has been as evident on the field early on as it is in the rankings next to their school names.
As a result, the Gators have led for all but 40 seconds of the game in South Florida as they took a 24-14 lead into halftime and look to be well on their way to a second straight New Year’s Six Bowl win under head coach Dan Mullen.
UF tailback Lamical Perine was the star of the show by far, breaking off a 61 yard touchdown run on the third snap of the game and winding up with two more scores by the time he hit the locker room (one on the ground, one through the air). The team’s running game has been a bit inconsistent for stretches this season but that clearly is not the case on Monday night as they’ve found plenty of success against the ACC Coastal champs (11.1 yds/rush).
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask was also pretty solid in the half, throwing one interception but balancing that out with a touchdown throw to Perine and netting 154 yards. He spread the ball out to eight different receivers through two quarters and also used his legs a few times to help move the chains as well.
Opposite number Bryce Perkins also was doing everything he could with his legs and his arm, much like he has throughout 2019. The signal-caller threw for 108 yards and a pair of touchdown passes while pretty much running for his life against the Gators’ pass rush.
While it looked like the Cavs were going to make things really interesting with a few of their scoring answers early in the first quarter, it’s been pretty clear that the Gators are the superior bunch and starting to pull away a bit. Still a lot of time left down in the Miami area though as the second half beckons between a pair of orange and blue squads.