30 Years of Dominance

1986:  The year the NFL adopted instant replay, the year Michael Jordan set a record for points scored in an NBA Playoff game with 63, and the last year The University of Kentucky beat The University of Florida in football.

After last Saturday’s 45-7 thrashing of the Wildcats, The University of Florida football extended its current 29-year win streak to 30. After struggling offensively the week before against UMass, the Gators combined for a total of 564 yards of total offense, their highest total in SEC play since 2001. Jim McElwain’s high power offense was on display in the Swamp last Saturday; here are a few notable statistics from the game:

Florida Offensive Numbers

• Luke Del Rio 19-of-32 passes for 320 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
• Lamical Perine rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries
• Antonio Callaway posted a career-high in receiving yards with 129
• Florida had 13 third-down conversions, 10 coming in the first half

Florida’s defense has come out this season looking strong as well. The Gators have allowed just seven points over the first two weeks of the season, the fewest since 2011. Kentucky’s starting quarterback Drew Barker, who threw for over 300 yards in his first game, threw for a measly 10 yards on 2-of-10 passes. The team as a whole only had 55-yards through the air. Here are a few notable defensive statistics from the game:

Florida Defensive Numbers

• Four forced turnovers (3 interceptions and 1 fumble)
• Jachai Polite had his first career forced fumble
• Jalon “Teez” Tabor had his first interception of the 2016 season.

The Gators have a long season ahead of them, but if they play anything like they did against Kentucky for the rest of the season then the Gators will have a very successful 2016 season.