Florida routs Kentucky, 48-10

Florida scored three touchdowns in a 4:31 span of the first quarter, and Jeff Demps iced the game with an 84-yard touchdown run as No. 15 Florida routed Kentucky 48-10 on Saturday night for the Gators’ 25th straight win in the series.

“We have that quick strike ability to flip the field and score,” said Will Muschamp, who became the sixth Florida coach to start his career 4-0. “All those things are deflating to an opposing team.”

Demps carried the ball 10 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which qualified as the sixth-longest scoring run in Florida history.

The Wildcats managed to frustrate the Gators early on in their first road trip of the season. On the first drive of the game, one scripted beforehand by offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, Florida went three-and-out for just the fourth time all season, and the second drive didn’t prove to be much better.

But a fumble by the Wildcats provided the burst of energy Florida (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) needed. Josh Clemons lost the ball on second-and-1 at the Kentucky 45, and John Brantley hit Gerald Christian on a 45-yard touchdown pass across the middle on the next play to give the Gators a 7-0 lead with 8:10 in the first quarter.

The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) failed to pick up a single yard on their next possession, and Demps ran off tackle for 20 yards for the Gators’ next touchdown, capping a four-play drive that took just 1:23.

Kentucky picked up a first down on its next drive—its first of the game— but Matt Elam picked off a pass by Morgan Newton at the Kentucky 46 and returned it 17 yards to the Florida 28. Chris Rainey ran most of the rest of the way, with Trey Burton polishing it off with a 1-yard TD run to put the Gators up 21-0 with 3:39 still left in the first quarter.

Florida now has outscored the Wildcats 94-3 in the first quarters of the past four meetings.

“That’s a sloppy football team,” Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said of his Wildcats. “I’ve got to get this football team to know how precious, how precious the football is. We’ve had very poor field position the last couple weeks, and we’ve given the opponents good field position, and that equals an L most of the time.”