No. 10 Florida Gators Defeat No. 7 Auburn In Front of Sold-Out Swamp
By Chris Harry, Senior Writer at FloridaGators.com // October 6, 2019
ABOVE VIDEO: In a defensive-fueled affair, No. 10 Florida topped No. 7 Auburn 24-13 in front of nearly 91,000 fans in The Swamp on Saturday afternoon in wild, turnover-filled game.
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (Florida Gators) – Senior tailback Lamical Perine broke off an 88-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes to play Saturday that ignited a seismic celebration at sold-out Spurrier/Florida Field and helped the No. 10 Gators finish off the seventh-ranked Tigers amid the hysteria of 90,000-plus who witnessed a Southeastern Conference victory with national implications.
Fourth-year Florida junior quarterback Kyle Trask passed for a couple first-half touchdowns, but also was responsible for three of UF’s four turnovers, the collection of which allowed Auburn to stick around.
The Florida defense, however, was not so accommodating in holding the Tigers and their lethal rushing attack to just 269 yards of total offense.
The Gators harassed quarterback Bo Nix most of the day, especially in the second half when the true freshman fell victim to the infamous noise inside a packed “Swamp.” Trailing just 17-13, Nix was intercepted in the end zone by safety Donovan Stiner on a third-and-7 from the UF 10 late in the third quarter.
With inside 10 minutes to go in the game, and the score the same, Nix faced a third-and-8 from the UF 36. Under pressure, Nix tried to escape the Florida pass rush by running backward, only to fall down for a 22-yard loss. Auburn punted the next play, pinning Florida at its 12. The next snap was Perine’s 88-yarder and delirium for the home team.
Trask, who left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury but returned two series later, finished 19 of 31 for 234 yards with TD passes of 64 yards to Freddie Swain on the second play of the game and 13 to Josh Hammond in second quarter, leading the offense to 398 total yards.
Perine carried 14 times for 130 yards, while Swain caught six passes for a career-high 146 yards. Nix’s day looked like this: 11 of 27, 145 yards, one TD, three interceptions. Auburn’s lone touchdown actually came after UF coach Dan Mullen gambled with a fake punt in his own territory that did not work. Other than that, the Tigers managed very little offensive success on the road.
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