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Sluggish Gators win opener over UMass

Season openers long have been a celebration of Florida Gators football.

Saturday night in the Swamp was no different, highlighted by the renaming of Florida Field to honor Steve Spurrier.

But then, the game began.

After that, the Gators gave fans little reason to rejoice on the way to a pedestrian 24-7 win against UMass. A 26-yard touchdown catch by Brandon Powell with 8:04 remaining broke open a surprisingly tight game and salvaged an otherwise shaky night for Florida’s offense.

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” UF coach Jim McElwain said.

McElwain’s second Florida team entered its matchup with the Minutemen favored by 36 points ― or the average margin of victory of the Gators’ past 26 home openers.

The nation’s longest active win streak in season openers remains intact. McElwains’ offense, however, remains on shaky ground.

When the third quarter ended, Florida clung to a 10-7 lead and did not have a run longer than nine yards or a completion longer than 18 yards.

“Explosive plays, not anywhere near enough,” McElwain said.

The 2015 Gators had a similar issues and stumbled badly down the stretch during losses to national powers Florida State, Alabama and Michigan.

But UMass allowed 62 points twice last season, including to Bowling Green – a 77-10 loser Saturday to Ohio State. Unlike coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes, McElwain’s Gators found themselves in a fourth-quarter struggle with the Minutemen.

A 49-yard field goal by kicker Eddy Piniero gave the Gators the cushion they needed and elicited cheers of, “Eddy, Eddy” from an announced crowd of 88,121.

“He was clutch. Clutch Eddy,” star linebacker Jarrad Davis said. “He did some really good things tonight, and it’s just… after the first one, I was nervous going into the first one to see how he would do. But he took care of business and after that one, the way he kicked it, I knew everything else was going in after that.”

Piniero, a former Alabama commitment, was one of the stars of the game, connecting from 40, 48 and 49 yards. A season after the Gators missed 10 of 17 field-goal attempts, a reliable placekicker is a major addition.

But upgrades were expected at several key areas for McElwain’s second team, none more than at quarterback.

Redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio looked sound during his first college start, completing some throws under pressure, moving well in the pocket and keeping his poise.

“I actually didn’t get nervous,” he said. “I actually surprised myself.”

But the 21-year-old’s his efforts did not produce many points and ultimately tied the 2013 Gators for the second fewest scored in an opener.

Surprisingly, Spurrier’s 1997 squad has the lowest output in an opener, a 21-6 win against Southern Mississippi. Spurrier’s teams also scored fewer than 40 points just one other time in 12 seasons.

“You try not to get frustrated,” Del Rio said. “You try to stick to the gameplan. The coaches put in a good gameplan. We were having successful plays, just penalties, one missed blocked here, a drop here, a missed throw here, just little things like that kind of hinder drives.”

Del Rio finished 29-of-44 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns, but most important no turnovers.

“The turnover piece was something that I thought was really good as far as taking care of the football,” McElwain said. “And you know what, that’s how you become successful as a team.”

The Gators have plenty to clean up on offense. They suffered a number of dropped passes and had three three-and-out drives against an overmatched opponent.

But even Florida’s vaunted defense was a bit off its game.

UMass was 108th of 128 team nationally last season, but managed to score on the Gators even with a new starting quarterback and without a 1,000-yard receiver from 2015. During a nine-play, 75-yard drive by Minutemen, the Gators committed three penalties for 35 yards and gave up a 24-yard completion on 4th-and-14.

Two plays later, quarterback Ross Comis scored on a 5-yard run when Davis overran the play, allowing Comis a clear path to the end zone.

“We kind of knocked a little dust off tonight,” Davis said. “It wasn’t the best game that we’ve ever played by far. We made a lot of mistakes, we made a lot of errors on us.

“Just a little over-excited, first game, get the jitters out the way. Now it’s time to settle in and get this story going.”