Florida football walked into Lexington on Saturday night and left on the brink of its third losing season in four years after the Kentucky Wildcats and toed even closer to the chasm with a demoralizing 38-7 beatdown.

Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway played his way off the field an effort that saw him throw a trio of picks while simply not being in sync. The Gators’ defense had few answers for the Cats’ offense, but the reciprocal was the polar opposite — Florida’s offense simply could not find seams in Kentucky’s blue wall of defense after their first quarter score.

As a whole, the vibe of the team was flat, and while the mounting turnovers continuously knocked the wind out of them, Kentucky refused to yield on the ground as well. Credit the Wildcats — they played a hard-nosed game and bullied the Gators on their own home field, as they should. But this loss really hurt.

So immediately after the final horn, here is a look at a trio of instant takeaways from Florida’s Week 11 loss to Kentucky. And boy, was it an ugly one everyone will want to quickly forget.

Florida’s first half left so much to be desired; it did not get better

The Gators were stymied on the ground, and with the absence of Eugene Wilson III and Dallas Wilson, the offense was undermanned at the receiver position. Case in point, running back Jadan Baugh led the squad in receptions (3) and yards caught (18) heading into the locker room on top of his own team-leading 11 carries for just 28 yards.

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That is a lot of work for just a few measly yards. But wait, it gets worse.

But we cannot ignore the purple polka-dot elephant sitting in the room right now: Lagway’s three interceptions — all on poorly-thrown passes — were simply too much for Florida to overcome in the first 30 minutes. It looked like he was trying to carry the full weight of the world on his shoulders, but his 11-for-19 effort with his arm and his 27 yards on five hard-fought runs made his labors look Sisyphean.

Baugh’s fumble certainly did not help either. And Kentucky happened to make a few boners with three turnovers of their own, so the score could have actually been worse than the 24-7 halftime mark. The game was more or less over before the teams hit the locker room.

This team simply cannot afford to make these kinds of mistakes if it wants to play in a bowl game. And that clock is less than a second from striking midnight.

Florida’s defense had few answers for Kentucky’s offense

The Wildcats scored on their opening drive — a 39-yard field goal following an interception on Florida’s first possession. Florida responded with a touchdown the next possession, but Kentucky put the pedal to the metal and throttled the visitors from that point on, taking it into the endzone the next possession… and four more times.

Bobby Stoops’ boys hung 401 total yards on Gonzales’ gang, grinding out 233 yards on the ground on 44 carries while managing a modest 168 yards through the air on an 18-for-23 performance from QB Cutter Boley. Seven players rushed the ball — five for positive yards — while 10 players hauled in at least one catch.

Then there was the 65-yard run with over 12 minutes remaining by McDowell. If there was ever a final dagger, that was certainly one, but the truly fatal blow probably came when Lagway tossed his third pick.

Billy Gonzales may have just been out-coached, out-rostered

This is not meant as an insult to Gonzales — to the contrary, I have immense respect for him and his efforts. His current job is far from enviable, and by all measures, he has done an admirable job since Billy Napier was dismissed as head coach. The interim is juggling both his old and new roles amidst a pressure-cooker fan base that expects nothing but success.

Unfortunately, Florida has already shown its weakness playing away from the Swamp, having lost all three games this fall by a score of 80-34 (not including the 24-20 neutral field loss to Georgia), coming into Saturday. But historically, the Orange and Blue hold a 22-12 edge on the home team in Lexington (a stat that is admittedly padded by that 31-game winning streak), so it is not like some insuperable bulwark to overcome.

Nonetheless, having to bench his erstwhile star quarterback after struggling at epic levels, while facing a hostile crowd along with a laundry list of injuries, and ostensibly a playbook that Stoops’ staff is already well-familiarized with… well, it was just too much for him to overcome.

And that is to be expected for a guy leading a team for just the second time at the collegiate level. Sure, there were some very encouraging moments against the Dawgs, but rivalry games are a totally different kind of animal than your average conference grind game at a campus stadium.

Do not be fooled by Kentucky’s lackluster results this season — Stoops is still a quality coach who knows the game inside and out. It just really hurts that Florida had to give him the victory for the fourth time in the last five years; it feels like forever since that winning streak was intact.

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