MSU 38, UF 31: Gators fall to 4-3 for the second straight season in a defeat coach Ron Zook calls "embarrassing."
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published October 24, 2004
[AP photo]
Florida coach Ron Zook reacts to his team's play against Mississippi State.
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Trailing by seven with 32 seconds left, Florida's equipment crew started packing up the gear and rolling it toward the locker room when someone yelled, "The game's not over yet."
Yes, it was.
And if history is any indication, so might Ron Zook's tenure as Gators coach.
Mississippi State's 38-31 upset in front of 43,170 at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday continued No.20 Florida's downward spiral. The players said all last week they understood they could be playing for their beloved coach's job, but ultimately, they failed, running back Ciatrick Fason said.
"When we wanted to play, we played. But a lot of players didn't play 100 percent every play, and you can't do that," said Fason, who had 16 carries for 143 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown.
"Now there's going to be a lot of heat out there on Coach Zook. But like I always said, he puts players on the field to make things happen. A lot of us didn't make things happen today."
Asked if he believed some players quit, Fason nodded. "I think a lot of players didn't play hard every play," he said. "I told people at halftime we have to pick it up. We can't just go through the motions against a team like Mississippi State in front of their hometown. We knew they were going to come out here and play hard no matter what the situation was, and a lot of people just, I guess, underrated them."
Sylvester Croom, the SEC's first black football coach, won his first conference game. The Bulldogs (2-5, 1-3) broke an eight-game SEC losing streak and have four consecutive wins over Florida in Starkville dating to 1986.
"This is embarrassing for us," Zook said. "We thought we were ready to play. We practiced well (last) week, but it did not show. We were not consistent in anything we did."
Mississippi State took a 17-7 lead then exchanged leads until the final minute of the game. Tied at 31 with a first down on the Bulldogs 49, Florida's Chris Leak was intercepted by Jeramie Johnson, who returned it to the Bulldogs 44. Five plays later, Jerious Norwood ran 37 yards for the winning touchdown with 32 seconds left. Norwood had 29 carries for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs had possession of the ball for 9:51 of the final quarter and ran all over Florida's defense, gaining 149 of their 251 rushing yards in the fourth quarter. "It didn't really hit me until they scored that last touchdown," Florida receiver Andre Caldwell said. "This wasn't supposed to happen. We're a better football team than what we showed."
The Gators, who most likely will drop out of the Top 25 today, are 4-3, 2-3 as they prepare for Georgia on Saturday in Jacksonville. The last time Florida lost three SEC games was 1989. At the end of that season, coach Galen Hall was fired.
This marks the second straight season the Gators are 4-3. You have to go back to 1986 to find a Gator team that was worse. That team started 1-4 and finished 6-5 and 2-4 in the SEC, the only time the Gators lost four conference games since the 1979 team finished 0-10-1.
"I tried to tell the guys not to take them lightly," said senior linebacker Travis Harris, a redshirt freshman on the 2000 team that lost 47-35 in Starkville. "We feel real embarrassed, which we should be. They played good, but in no way are they better than us."
The Bulldogs broke a tie at 17 with a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jonathan Lowe early in the third quarter. Florida tied it at 24 on Fason's 55-yard run. Norwood's 1-yard run with 9:06 left gave the Bulldogs a 31-24 lead, but Leak's 1-yard run with 5:05 left tied it again. Mississippi State quarterback Omarr Conner, who missed the previous two games with a strained knee, had 50 yards on 13 carries and went 15-of-24 for 158 yards and one touchdown. Leak was 20-of-35 for 260 yards.
"It's all about believing," Conner said. "We wanted this sick feeling of losing out of our stomachs. We want to be part of a great winning tradition. This is the start of the Sylvester Croom era."
