No. 4 Miami’s defense holds Florida to 141 yards, Hurricanes ease past Gators 26-7 to move to 4-0
No. 4 Miami’s defense holds Florida to 141 yards, Hurricanes ease past Gators 26-7 to move to 4-0
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Barring some bowl or playoff matchup, there likely won’t be another Miami vs. Florida game again for many years.
That means the Hurricanes will have bragging rights for a long time — after a defensive performance that rendered Florida as inept as it has been at moving the ball in more than a quarter-century.
Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown, Marty Brown rushed for a pair of scores and No. 4 Miami struggled at times before beating Florida 26-7 on Saturday night.
Brown had a 2-yard rush to cap the first drive of the game for Miami (4-0), then had a 1-yard plunge with 4:08 left to seal what became the Hurricanes’ ninth win over the Gators in the teams’ last 11 meetings. Fletcher scored from 1 yard out with 1:57 left.
“We’ve come miles, but we have miles and miles to go,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
Jadan Baugh had a 7-yard touchdown run for Florida (1-3), off to its worst start since 1986. The loss sent embattled coach Billy Napier’s record with the Gators to 20-22.
The Gators were outgained 344-141, were 0 for 13 on third downs — the worst showing by any FBS team since 2022 — and quarterback D.J. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for only 61 yards. It was Florida’s lowest yardage since managing 119 against Alabama on Dec. 4, 1999.
“The first half was a trial of errors,” Napier said. “Not many plays where we executed well at all. … We struggled to stack good plays together.”
Miami quarterback Carson Beck completed 17 of 30 passes for 160 yards and an interception. Beck improved to 3-0 all-time against Florida; in the last 25 years, only fellow former Georgia quarterbacks Jake Fromm and Aaron Murray also had three wins over the Gators as starters.
“Feels really, really good,” Beck said. “I grew up a Florida fan but now I’ve been to two schools that Florida is a huge rival of, so I’m not the biggest fan of the Gators anymore. Although not a fan, I have the utmost respect for them. That defense is really good.”
The Hurricanes were fuming after a play early in the third quarter where it appeared Brown — on fourth-and-1 from the Florida 48 — bounced off a pile, kept his legs moving and broke free for what would have been a touchdown and a 19-0 Miami lead with an extra point pending.
Southeastern Conference referee David Smith said Brown’s forward progress was stopped, taking the score off the board, and Miami punted four plays later. The Gators scored on the ensuing drive, and a game where the Hurricanes thought they had gone up by three touchdowns was suddenly a 13-7 contest.
Beck got picked off on the next Miami drive, but the Hurricanes snuffed out that Florida possession by getting a fourth-down stop on the first play of the fourth quarter and holding on to the six-point lead. Florida never got any closer.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Beck said.
The takeaway
Florida: The Gators had 32 yards of offense on their first six drives, before going 80 yards on the third-quarter possession capped by Baugh’s touchdown run. That extended Florida’s NCAA-record scoring streak, which now is up to 465 games dating back to 1988.
Miami: There are no talks between the schools to play again, and with the SEC going to a nine-game conference schedule the odds don’t seem likely for another Miami-Florida game anytime soon. The Hurricanes improved to 10-0 at home since the start of last season.
Up next
Florida: Host Texas on Oct. 4.
Miami: Visit Florida State on Oct. 4.
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By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
