TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Montrell Johnson ran for 99 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown, and Florida recovered five fumbles in a 31-11 win over Florida State on Saturday.

Jadan Baugh added 81 yards while Florida had 235 rushing yards while DJ Lagway had two touchdown passes to give coach Billy Napier his first win over the Seminoles in three tries.

Florida recorded eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and recovered four fumbles – a fifth came on a muffed Florida State punt – in a defensive performance that was among the team’s best this fall.

“Defensively we were really poor,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We had a season high in TFLs and sacks. We created some takeaways and were able to capitalize on them.”

Florida benefited from short field situations. The Gators scored a touchdown after recovering a fumble at the Florida State 14 and scored a field goal after recovering a fumble at the Seminoles’ 12.

Lagway completed 14 of 22 passes for 133 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Burke and an 8-yard pass to Tony Livingston.

The Gators (7-5) put together an impressive performance through the end of November, defeating ranked opponents LSU and Ole Miss and picking up a win over Florida State after starting the season 3-3.

Outside the Florida locker room, players, coaches and staff were seen smoking victory cigars to cap off a celebration over their rivals that had been three years in the making. When asked if Napier enjoyed a cigar, he smiled and said, “Absolutely.”

Florida’s defense held Florida State to 79 yards rushing in the first half while the Seminoles averaged just 2.5 yards per play. The Seminoles (2-10) finished the game with 239 offensive yards, falling below the 300-yard mark in all 11 games against FBS defenses in 2024.

Lawrance Toafili had a 1-yard touchdown run for Florida State late in the fourth quarter.

The Seminoles lost all three rivalry games (including Miami and Clemson) by double digits.

“I’m extremely disappointed today,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “I made too many mistakes during the game. Turned the ball over five times. Too many negative plays. … It’s a disappointing end to a terrible season. That’s the best way I can put it.”

MONTRELL JOHNSON FOR 3,000

Johnson became the sixth Florida player to surpass 3,000 yards rushing on Saturday. He had 2,990 career rushing yards at Louisiana and Florida.

“It means a lot to me, but I just feel like going the right way means more to me,” Johnson said.

TAKE AWAY

Florida: The Gators averaged 6.5 yards per carry in the first half and picked up a dominant first rivalry win over Florida State to cap off the final three weeks of arguably the toughest schedule in the nation.

Florida State: The Seminoles suffered double-digit losses in their first season since 1974, two years before the arrival of Bobby Bowden.

NEXT

Florida: The regular season ends and awaits bowl announcements on December 8th.

Florida State: The regular season ends.

——

Get AP Top 25 poll alerts and updates throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football