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» » Kyle Trask Struggles as Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma Rout Florida in Cotton Bowl - Bleacher Report

Kyle Trask Struggles as Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma Rout Florida in Cotton Bowl - Bleacher Report

Oklahoma defensive end Ronnie Perkins (7) celebrates after sacking Florida quarterback Emory Jones, center left on knee, during the second half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Lincoln Riley's bowl drought ended in blowout fashion. 

The Oklahoma head coach finally got his first postseason victory on his fourth attempt as the No. 6 Sooners knocked off a shorthanded No. 7 Florida team, 55-20, at the Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday.

OU (9-2) has now won at least nine games in each of Riley's first four seasons.

The Gators (8-4) played without their top four pass-catchers. Wideouts Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney opted out to prepare for the NFL draft. Tight end Kyle Pitts also declined to participate, while receiver Jacob Copeland was unable to play after testing positive for COVID-19.

The foursome combined for 2,778 yards and 34 touchdowns this year. That gave Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Kyle Trask an opportunity to show off his skill set with a new crop of receivers, but it wasn't enough to produce the win.

It's the first time UF has failed to win its bowl game under head coach Dan Mullen.

      

Notable Performers

Spencer Rattler, QB, Oklahoma Sooners: 14-of-23, 247 yards, 3 touchdowns

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Oklahoma Sooners: 18 carries, 186 yards, 1 touchdown

Charleston Rambo, WR, Oklahoma Sooners: 2 catches, 45 yards, 1 touchdown 

Kyle Trask, QB, Florida Gators: 16-of-28, 158 yards, 3 interceptions 

Emory Jones, QB, Florida Gators: 8-of-16, 86 yards; 10 carries, 60 yards, 1 touchdown

      

Florida Can't Match Sooners' Level

A week before Oklahoma and Florida kicked off, Gators linebacker James Houston uttered a phrase he probably wishes he could take back.

"Oklahoma is a good matchup," Houston told reporters. "But they're not on our level, they're not SEC, they're not the Florida Gators." 

Those words would be thrown back at him with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. With OU up 41-13, the overwhelmingly pro-Oklahoma crowd began chanting "S-E-C" back at the Gators. The Sooners scored again moments later to make it 47-13.

Whatever mystique the Southeastern Conference carried heading into the Cotton Bowl, it was gone as soon as Oklahoma took the field. Instead, it was OU quarterback Spencer Rattler who looked more like one of the top players in the country as he led nine scoring drives on 14 possessions. 

The Sooners racked up 249 passing yards, 435 rushing yards, 61 tackles and one sack.

It was the most points allowed by Florida in a bowl game since Steve Spurrier's 1995 team lost 62-24 to Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. It also happened to be the second straight game the Gators gave up more than 50 points after Alabama hung 52 on them in the SEC Championship. 

It got to the point where OU was readying to give Riley the traditional Gatorade bath with more than four minutes still remaining. 

Only one team looked elite on Wednesday. It wasn't the club that bragged about it. 

      

Shaky Start Sinks Gators

Whatever Mullen considered the worst-case scenario to open the Cotton Bowl before the game, reality proved much worse. 

A mess of turnovers, injuries and dropped passes limited what was already a thin offense. Oklahoma's ability to quickly turn that bad fortune into points put UF in a near-impossible hole to come back from. And a quarterback whose next stop is the Heisman Trophy ceremony looked like anything but a contender. 

Trask was intercepted on back-to-back-to-back drives to begin the game after the Sooners had already sliced their way through the Gators defense for a touchdown on the first possession of the game, which only ate up two minutes of clock.

The first pick Trask tossed was taken back for a touchdown. The second led to an OU field goal. The third somehow came back to Florida after the defense recovered an OU fumble—yet that might've been the most dispiriting play of the half on one of the wildest drives of the game. 

Sophomore backup quarterback Emory Jones entered the game as Mullen gave Trask an extra moment to regain his composure after missing his target on first down. Jones and Trask kept switching off in the huddle, rattling OU's defense. After finally reaching the Sooners' 10-yard line, Trask was picked off in the end zone, killing any momentum UF had mustered. 

After tossing five picks all season long, the senior quarterback turned the ball over three times right away Wednesday. 

Trask looked prepared to ride out the rest of the game on the sidelines after Jones bullied into the end zone for the Gators' first touchdown of the night before halftime, but he became ill as he jogged off the field, requiring Trask to re-enter. 

Jones was healthy enough to return in the second half as Trask's college career ended in just about the most brutal way possible. After racking up 4,125 passing yards and an NCAA-leading 43 touchdowns, his time at UF concluded in heartbreak. 

       

What's Next?

Florida enters the offseason with plenty of momentum on the recruiting trail. According to 247Sports, the Gators have the No. 5 class in the SEC for 2021, ranking No. 10 in the nation. The Sooners, meanwhile, sit atop the Big 12 rankings with one 5-star recruit and 12 4-stars. That puts OU at No. 9 in the country.

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