No. 10 Florida Defeats Michigan in Peach Bowl

Saturday, December 29

Atlanta, Ga.

Noon

Michigan

10-3

Florida

10-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Florida

Michigan

Shea Patterson

12/29/2018 4:16:00 PM | Football

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By: Dave Ablauf, Chad Shepard

» Florida earned its first victory in five games against Michigan.
» Florida scored touchdowns on three of four drives spanning the second and third quarters to turn a 10-6 deficit into a 27-10 lead.
» Josh Ross led the U-M defense with a career-high 10 tackles, and Michigan blocked two Florida punts.

Site: Atlanta, Ga. (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
Event: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Score: #10 Florida 41, #8 Michigan 15
Records: U-M (10-3), Florida (10-3)
Next U-M Event: Season completed

ATLANTA, Ga. -- The No. 10-ranked Florida Gators ran for 257 yards to spoil the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan football team's first Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl appearance in a 41-15 final Saturday afternoon (Dec. 29) at Mercedez-Benz Stadium.

Trailing 10-6, Florida scored touchdowns on three of four possessions spanning the second and third quarters to claim a 27-10 lead on the way to its first victory over the Wolverines in five tries. Florida averaged 6.4 yards per carry with a trio of runners logging more than 50 yards apiece.

Florida got on the board on its second drive of the game, utilizing a variety of quick pass completions to get inside the five-yard line before stalling and settling for a 21-yard field goal from Evan McPherson.

Michigan quickly answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead on a nine-yard strike from Shea Patterson to Donovan Peoples-Jones with 2:03 left in the first quarter. The drive was led by first-down receptions from Nico Collins, including a 41-yard gain to Florida's 21-yard line.

Florida edged closer with another field goal (26 yards) at the start of the second quarter as Michigan once again held off the Gators deep in Wolverine defensive territory.

Michigan's J'Marick Woods then blocked a Tommy Townsend punt, and Jordan Glasgow recovered the ball on Florida's 30-yard line, which led to a Jake Moody 48-yard field goal and a 10-6 lead with 5:56 left in the half.

Florida answered and claimed a 13-10 lead thanks to the running ability of quarterback Felipe Franks. He led the Gators on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 20-yard touchdown run up the middle. Franks accumulated 70 rushing yards on nine carries in the first half, many on designed QB runs, to go with 7-of-13 passing for 100 yards.

The Wolverines missed a 52-yard field goal at the end of the half to remain down by three points at halftime.

In the second half, Florida scored on two of its first three possessions, first using a timely fourth-down conversion before scoring on a five-yard slant. Following a U-M three-and-out, Florida again drove deep into Michigan territory to set up a one-yard option touchdown run from Jordan Scarlett and a 27-10 lead with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Michigan got back on the board with 12:16 left in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard field goal from Moody. The field goal came after a Tarik Black touchdown catch was overruled on review, the second Michigan TD to get taken off the board on the day.

Florida delivered a dagger on a 3rd-and-20 when Lamical Perine broke through for a 53-yard touchdown for a 34-13 lead with 9:21 remaining in the game.

With 4:58 remaining, Khaleke Hudson earned Michigan's second blocked punt, and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety and a 34-15 score. After the free kick, Michigan started from its 30-yard line, but a deflected pass was returned for a Florida touchdown by Chauncy Gardner-Johnson to cap the scoring.

Patterson completed 22 of 36 passes for 236 yards, while Peoples-Jones and Collins led the receivers with eight and five catches, respectively. Josh Ross paced the defense with a career-best 10 tackles.