Florida Beats Arkansas – What They’re Saying

Florida Beats Arkansas 30-10

The Razorback football game in Gainesville, Fla., is in the books with another road loss for the Hogs. It wasn’t pretty after the start of the second quarter if you’re a Razorback fan. Here is a wrap up of what sportswriters and analysts had to say about the game.

How did the oh-so-dominating Loucheiz Purifoy muff the punt the other night? Here’s is story.

A lot of wacky things happened on Loucheiz Purifoy’s punt return near the end of the first half of Florida’s 30-10 win over Arkansas on Saturday. In the middle of a scrum for the ball, Purifoy and Razorbacks LB Jarrett Lake each clutched the ball.

Under the mountain of players, Purifoy claimed Lake spit on him.

“That’s probably the worst thing that happened to me at the bottom of the pile,” Purifoy said. “But I just can’t react and do something to him.”

How did he restrain himself from retaliating?

“You seen our coach?” Purifoy said, referring to the wrath of Will Muschamp.

Purifoy signaled for a fair catch on the punt return with 1:42 left in the second quarter, but bobbled the ball. As he tried to collect it, an Arkansas’ Austin Jones hit him and caused a frenzied rush for the ball. The officials did not rule whether Purifoy or Lake recovered the ball, because Jones’ hit was a penalty.

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Despite the loss, ESPN’s SEC bloggers are still predicting a bowl game appearance for the Hogs – The AdvoCare V100 Bowl, Dec. 31, (Formerly the Independence Bowl) in Shreveport, La.

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Our own J. Frank Parnell said this during the game Saturday:

Hogs are playing like the team they are. It’s deceiving, though; they’re not very far from being competitive. And Bielema will have a much better feel for SEC competition next year.

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Brett McMurphy of ESPN writes:

In the early going, Loucheiz Purifoy was the Gators’ best offensive player — while playing defense.

He blindsided Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen on a sack, causing a fumble, which was recovered by Florida’s Michael Taylor at the Hogs’ 29-yard line.

“When I saw [Allen] had the ball in his hand, my eyes got big,” Purifoy said. “I get a chance to tee off on the quarterback.”

Then in the second quarter, Purifoy turned a 7-3 UF deficit into a 10-7 lead, returning Allen’s pass into the end zone.

“I’ve been waiting my turn,” Purifoy said. “It came tonight.”

Added Muschamp: “I’ve seen that play a lot, but I haven’t seen him finish that play. He’s been in that position and he bats them down sometimes. But to finish on that play and create some momentum and get the crowd going — the top came off the place when that happened. I thought it was impressive.”

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The Razorbacks weren’t the only ones who crashed Saturday night in Florida:

GAINESVILLE – A small plane attempting an emergency landing in an open area at Flavet Field crashed close to two hours before Saturday’s Florida-Arkansas football game. There were no serious injuries reported.

The site of the crash was several blocks to the west of Florida Field. The area is used for RV parking and tailgating but the crash was not near the fans’ area but is located near one of the main entrance areas to parking around the game days.

The plane landed upside down on a vacant pickup truck. Both pilots aboard were ejected and transported to a local hospital. Witnesses said both were able to walk but had suffered several scratches.

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From CBSSports.com:

The Razorbacks (3-3, 0-2) ran the ball well early — against the league’s best defense — but fell behind on Loucheiz Purifoy’s interception return in the second quarter for a touchdown and faded from there.

“Obviously disappointed,” Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s not a lot of fun. We had too many issues — dropped balls, a pick-six, a couple missed tackles that resulted in an easy 14 points for them. Playing a ranked opponent on their home turf, you can’t do those things and expect to win.”

Purifoy had a sack and forced fumble in the first quarter, extending Florida’s streak with a takeaway to 16 games. The Gators also have intercepted a pass in eight straight games.

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Things might be worse for the Razorbacks, too. Starting cornerback Will Hines broke a bone in his right arm and left the field on a cart, and starting center Travis Swanson re-injured a sprained knee.

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“We had a lot of things not go our way,” Brandon Allen said. “There were some big momentum swings that we couldn’t get back to our side. … Their defense is No. 1 for a reason. They have a lot of speed on defense.”

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Scott Carter of the GatorZone writes:

The Gators did a lot of things right in Saturday’s win. They didn’t turn the ball over for the first time all season. Cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy had a sack, forced a fumble and returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown to put the Gators up 10-7 in the second quarter. Florida didn’t commit a penalty in the first half.

That changed after halftime with eight flags for 84 yards.

“Very disappointed with that,’’ Muschamp said. “That can’t be part of our team.”

The kicking game wasn’t great, either. Austin Hardin had a field goal blocked and was replaced by Brad Phillips, who later missed an extra point. Punter Kyle Christy shanked a punt.

And defensively, the Gators clamped down after falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter thanks to 81 yards rushing by the Razorbacks. Arkansas managed only 30 yards rushing the rest of the game and finished with 275 yards of total offense, the fifth consecutive game the Gators have held the opponent to 275 yards or less.

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The Ledger reports from Florida coach Will Muschamp’s weekly television show recap of the game:

Under Will Muschamp, the Florida Gators have put a priority on winning the fourth quarter. There also is an emphasis on winning the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half.