(whispering) Here, in the burnt-orange grasslands of central Texas, a remarkable thing has occurred.
A young quarterback, making the first start of his college career, has crept into a stadium holding 103,989 Longhorns. The herd does not notice him at first. It scores 17 of the first 20 points. It grows comfortable. And then, slowly, patiently, over 38 minutes and 11 seconds of possession...
(full volume) THE GATOR STRIKES!
Sorry. I'm Dax Marchetti. I minored in herpetology, I classify every opponent as a species, and I've been narrating Florida football in a nature-documentary whisper since before it was socially acceptable. It still isn't. I do it anyway.
That play had scales, friends. Let's go to the tape.
Part 1: Field Notes From Austin
Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Let me set the scene, because the context makes it sweeter. We started 4-0 under first-year coach Jon Sumrall and climbed as high as No. 8 in the AP poll. Then we lost 45-17 at Missouri and 38-19 at home to South Carolina. Our defense, the AP noted, ranked last in the SEC. Our starting quarterback, Aaron Philo, was hurt. And so we went to Austin with Tramell Jones Jr. making his first career start.
And for a while, the documentary looked like it was about to get sad. Raleek Brown ran 32 yards for a Texas touchdown on the opening drive, Gianni Spetic added a field goal, and Ryan Niblett returned a punt 63 yards for a score. 17-3, Texas, in the second quarter.
But observe, friends, the patience of the apex predator.
Patrick Durkin had already hit a 45-yard field goal. Then, with 18 seconds left in the half, Jones found Lacota Dippre for a 7-yard touchdown. 17-10. In the third quarter, the Gators went on a 15-play drive that took eight minutes off the clock, and Jones hit Dippre again, this time from 8 yards out. 17-17. Durkin's 28-yarder gave us our first lead, and then Jadan Baugh broke outside for an 11-yard touchdown. 27-17.
Texas answered with a touchdown with 4:21 left. And then, on Texas's final possession, Myles Graham got to Arch Manning and forced a fumble. It was our fifth sack of the day. Game over.
The AP called it the program's first road win over a top-10 opponent since 2012. Fourteen years, friends. In that time, I finished a herpetology minor and filled three field notebooks. The Gators were overdue.
The Habitat Report
Jones completed 22 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, and ran 10 times for 41 yards. Baugh carried 25 times for 91 yards and the score, Eric Singleton Jr. caught seven passes for 43, and Durkin made both field goals. We didn't turn the ball over once.
But the defense, friends. The defense. The group that ranked last in the conference held Texas to 272 yards. Graham led us with seven tackles to go with his sack and forced fumble. LJ McCray had a sack and a half and 2.5 tackles for loss. After the first two Texas drives, the AP noted, the defense was excellent, allowing one first down on the Longhorns' first three drives of the second half. We held the ball for 38:11. Texas had it for 21:49. That's not a football game. That's a crocodile waiting at the riverbank.
Part 2: The Open Week, and the Bulldog Ahead
(whispering) And now, the predator rests.
Florida has an open date this Saturday, Oct. 24. No game. That's the honest schedule note. The Gators get a week to heal, and I get a week to update my Field Guide to Opponents.
Then on Saturday, Oct. 31, we play No. 5 Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with kickoff listed for 3:30 p.m. Eastern. That's right. Atlanta. The rivalry has called Jacksonville home since 1933, but with Jacksonville's stadium under renovation, it moves to Atlanta this year and to Tampa next year. Which means the Okefenokee Oar, the student-government trophy carved from a 1,000-year-old cypress from the swamp that straddles the state border, is coming to Atlanta, too.
The Reptile Index: Georgia
Every week I classify the opponent. This week, I've had to think hard.
Georgia's mascot is a bulldog. A mammal. Not a reptile. And yet, this Georgia team has the qualities of a saltwater crocodile: large, powerful, and very difficult to dislodge from a riverbank. The Bulldogs are 6-1, they score 43 points a game, and they allow 15.9. Their defense gives up 91.4 rushing yards a game. Gunner Stockton has thrown for 1,570 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. Raylen Wilson leads them in tackles, with 44, and in sacks, with four. Respect the crocodile.
But I am a scientist, and science requires that we observe recent behavior. And last Saturday, friends, the crocodile was surprised.
Auburn walked into Sanford Stadium and beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 on a field goal as time expired. Georgia led 14-0, and then Auburn scored the next 24 points. The Bulldogs had three turnovers, including a Stockton fumble with 58 seconds left while driving for a potential go-ahead field goal. They committed three personal fouls, the AP noted. Auburn outrushed them 192 to 113. And the loss ended Georgia's 53-game winning streak against unranked teams.
Fifty-three. That's a long time for an apex species to go without a surprise. But nature always finds a way.
Who to Watch
Jadan Baugh, our running back: 763 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 135 carries. Thirteen, friends. That is a creature that finds the end zone the way a gator finds a warm rock.
Tramell Jones Jr., quarterback: one start, one road win over a top-10 team, zero interceptions. That's a perfect field record.
Dallas Wilson, receiver: our leader with 29 catches for 403 yards and three touchdowns.
Myles Graham: 48 tackles, the team lead, plus the play of the season. Jayden Woods: 4.5 sacks, our leader.
Gunner Stockton, Georgia quarterback: 16 touchdowns, and four interceptions, two of them last Saturday. Our secondary will want to be in that neighborhood.
The History Section
I'll be honest, as a scientist must be. CollegeFootballData.com's count has Georgia ahead in the series, 58-44-2, and the Bulldogs have won the last five meetings. Last year's game was 24-20. That's a long dry season. But dry seasons end, friends. Ask the Longhorns.
Swamp Report: A Tale of Two Towns
Gainesville. Our home ground had 141,085 residents at the 2020 census, the most populous city in North Central Florida. Just south of town sits Paynes Prairie, 21,000 acres of wilderness where, I can tell you from personal field research, actual alligators live. Gatorade was invented right here in the 1960s to help refresh the Florida football team. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came out of Gainesville. And on Saturdays we play in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, which holds 88,548, making it the largest stadium in Florida. Steve Spurrier named it the Swamp in 1992 because, as he explained, a swamp is where Gators live, and it's hot and sticky and can be dangerous. We've won three national championships, in 1996, 2006 and 2008, and produced three Heisman winners: Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow.
Athens, Georgia. Now, Athens is a lovely town. Great music scene. R.E.M. came from there, and the B-52's, and they're very proud of it, as they should be.
But I have to share a field observation. In Athens, at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets, there's a famous oak called the "Tree That Owns Itself." Sometime between 1820 and 1832, its owner deeded the tree ownership of itself and the land around it. Friends, I've studied many species, and I've never seen one that confident. A tree, with a deed. The tree standing there now is an offspring of the original, so even the tree has a backup. Georgia's run defense could have used one when Auburn ran for 192 yards on it.
And their stadium is famous for its privet hedges, planted because roses wouldn't grow well in Athens's climate. Friends, roses wouldn't grow there. Gators, on the other hand, can live just about anywhere. Including Atlanta, on Oct. 31.
The Final Narration
(whispering) The predator rests this week. It studies. It waits. And on the last day of October, in a dome in Atlanta, it will rise once more from the water...
(full volume) AND THE GATOR... STRIKES!
That play had scales. Go Gators.