COLUMBIA, Mo. -- No. 11 Florida scored touchdowns on two of its first three drives.
That was all the Gators needed in a 21-3 win over Missouri in an SEC game Saturday.
For good measure, Florida's defense added the final points of the night on a 40-yard touchdown return by Jalen Tabor after an interception of Missouri quarterback Drew Lock.
Those points came with 6:25 left in the third quarter, extending a two-possession lead to three in a game that felt over much earlier.
Florida's defense stymied Missouri's offense all night, forcing the Tigers to go 1-14 on third downs and 0-1 on fourth.
"We needed to win a game like that," Florida coach Jim McElwain said. "We didn't play great. In fact, we played not very good offensively, obviously. And yet our defense stepped up when they needed to and gave us a kick-start."
Lock, starting his second game for the Tigers (4-2, 2-1) in place of suspended starter Maty Mauk, completed 16 of 39 passes for 151 yards and two interceptions. Florida (6-0, 3-0) held Missouri's offense to 235 yards on 61 plays and made the Tigers one-dimensional.
At one point, Missouri had attempted 33 pass plays to just 14 designed runs. The Gators' defense -- second in the SEC in sacks -- was credited with three but hurried Lock five more times and hit him often.
"It was one of the things we wanted to do going in," McElwain said, "show something and get to something else, to give him a different look. It's hard on young quarterbacks, man, when you're giving a bunch of different looks. Believe me."
"We knew that most of the time they might start out in one thing and change to another," Lock said. "That's something I had to keep my head on. It was tough. That's the first time I've played against a true defense like that."
After torching Mississippi for four touchdowns a week ago, Florida quarterback Will Grier proved to be more game manager than game changer against a Missouri defense that sacked him five times. Grier completed 20 of 33 attempts for 208 yards.
Florida's offense leaned heavily on running back Kelvin Taylor, who carried the ball 27 times for 99 yards and the two offensive touchdowns. Florida gained 337 yards on 77 plays.
"It wasn't pretty, by any stretch of the imagination, so go ahead and pick it apart," McElwain said. "We're going to enjoy it. Sometimes in this business, you've got to kind of win like that. I thought our offense got off to a good, quick start, and then our defense just kind of closed the door."
After steamrolling third-ranked Ole Miss a week ago, Florida's offense came out clicking against Missouri.
Grier drove Florida to touchdowns on 75- and 82-yard drives to help cap a first half in which the Gators held the ball for 19:31. Each drive was capped by 1-yard touchdown runs by Taylor.
Grier completed 15 of 22 passes for 154 yards in the first half. However, with Missouri set to punt the ball back to Florida with just under two minutes left, Florida coach Jim McElwain elected not to call a timeout and allowed 40 seconds to run off the clock. The Gators' ensuing drive began with 1:16 left and ended on a 20-yard pass from Grier to DeMarcus Robinson to Missouri's 17 as the half expired.
Missouri's lone points came on a 21-yard field goal on its opening drive, one that stalled at Florida's 3-yard line. The Gators' defense took advantage of Lock and a porous offensive line, sacking him twice and hurrying him three more times.
NOTES: Florida K Austin Hardin did not make the trip to Columbia. He has missed the Gators' last three games. ... Missouri RT Nate Crawford (high ankle sprain) did not start but rotated in against Florida. He injured his ankle against Kentucky and has missed the last two games. ... Missouri celebrated its 104th homecoming game.
