ATLANTA, Ga. — The Michigan Wolverines were overwhelmed by the Florida Gators during the second half en route to a 41-15 loss in their Peach Bowl showdown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Michigan entered the game ranked seventh in the country while Florida came in at No. 10 nationally.
The 10-2 Wolverines were 6-point favorites over the 9-3 Gators.
Michigan received the opening kickoff and appeared to get on the scoreboard quickly on a long TD run by freshman Christian Turner, which was nullified when replays showed that he ran out of bounds around midfield.
The two teams then traded possessions until Florida took a 3-0 advantage on freshman Evan McPherson’s 21-yard field goal at the 5:37 mark of the opener. The Wolverines responded with their first lead at 7-3 at 2:03 of the first frame when quarterback Shea Patterson connected with Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 9-yard scoring strike. That margin stood until the initial break.
McPherson tacked on a 26-yard field goal to close the count to 7-6 with 12:22 to go until intermission. But once again Michigan came right back with Jake Moody’s 48-yard field goal to take control 10-6 at the 5:56 juncture.
The Gators surged ahead 13-10 on a quarterback draw by Feleipe Franks with 2:41 left in the half. That margin remained in effect at halftime.
Florida came out for the second half and upped the scoreboard to 20-10 when Franks hooked up with Lamical Perine for a 5-yard touchdown aerial with 8:06 showing on the clock, and then 27-10 on Jordan Scarlett’s 1-yard scamper around the right side at the 2:34 mark, which was still in place at the final break.
After another Michigan touchdown was called back, Moody then booted a 26-yarder to slice the gap to 27-13 with 12:16 to play. But Florida came right back with a long TD run to jump up 34-13 with 9:21 left.
The margin reached 41-15 with 4:43 remaining on a Wolverine safety and a Gator touchdown, which stood until the final gun.
EARLIER STORY:
https://fox17online.com/2018/12/29/michigan-trails-florida-13-10-at-halftime-of-peach-bowl/
