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After allowing 62 points to Ohio State in the regular-season finale, Michigan's defense was hoping for a bounce-back performance against Florida on Saturday.

Instead, it had another dismal showing, allowing 34 points (seven of UF's points came on a pick-six) and 427 yards to the Gators.

"Defensively, it was really the same story," head coach Jim Harbaugh admitted after the game. "We didn't play as well as we had been. We had some missed calls and adjustments, and left a couple receivers wide open, which are things that we don't normally do."

After a three-and-out on its first series, Florida kicked a 21-yard field goal at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter and added another field goal at 12:22 of the second frame.

UF scored its first touchdown right before halftime, when redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks ran it in from 20 yards out to give the Gators a 13-10 lead at the break.

The floodgates broke open in the second half, though, when junior running back Lamical Perine found the end zone on a five-yard TD pass at 8:06 of the third quarter to put Florida up 20-10.

Redshirt junior running back Jordan Scarlett then scored from a yard out to increase the margin to 27-10 at 6:41 of the third stanza, then Perine sealed the deal with a 53-yard TD run with 9:21 to go in the game to make it 34-13, before a pick-six with 4:43 left extended it to the final score of 41-15.

U-M's defense had no answer for UF all game long, allowing it to rush for 257 yards and throw for 170.

The Gators averaged 6.4 yards per carry, and Michigan allowed them to convert eight of their 16 third downs, plus one of their two fourth-down attempts.

The Wolverines did rack up nine tackles for loss, including a team-high three from fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich, and three sacks (one from Winovich).

"Personally I thought I played pretty well, but even playing at 65 percent, I’m hurting," Winovich explained afterward. "I strained a calf and a hamstring early this week, and need to have surgery.

"I’m not making excuses or complaining, but it’s not the Michigan team we were when we played Penn State.

"Coach [Don] Brown did what he could. It wasn’t a perfect game by him or myself — nobody on the defense could claim perfection, but I love Coach Brown to death.

"If I had to pick one person on the entire planet to lead this defense, I wouldn't want anybody but him."

Another positive for U-M — the Wolverines blocked two Gator punts, with the first one coming from sophomore safety J'Marick Woods at the 7:54 mark of the second quarter.

The second came with just 4:58 left in the game, when junior viper Khaleke Hudson blocked a UF attempt, and watched it sail through the back of the end zone for a safety.

Freshman kicker Jake Moody was also an asset on the afternoon (for the most part).

He converted two of his three field goal attempts — from 48 yards out and from 26 yards out — with the former being a career-long and his first conversion from beyond 40 yards. His 52-yard miss right before halftime, meanwhile, was the first failed kick of his career.

Redshirt sophomore punter Will Hart had a subpar showing, averaging just 41 yards on four punts.

It should also be noted that freshman wideout Ronnie Bell (averaged 27 yards on two returns) served as U-M's primary kick returner, not sophomore cornerback Ambry Thomas (who had brought back kicks this season).

• Saturday was Michigan's first-ever loss to Florida; the Wolverines had been 4-0 against the Gators.

• Winovich and senior wideout Grant Perry were named captains in place of the two captains who chose to sit out — junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. and senior running back Karan Higdon.

• In his first career start, sophomore linebacker Josh Ross led the team with 11 tackles, while also grabbing a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, all of which were career highs.

• The 257 rushing yards Michigan allowed were its most since UCF racked up 275 on Sept. 10, 2016, in Ann Arbor.

• Sophomore defensive end Kwity Paye and redshirt sophomore linebacker Devin Gil both left the game with injuries, and Harbaugh revealed afterward they each had hamstring ailments.

• The last time Michigan gave up at least 103 points over a two-game span was in 2010 (106 points). The Wolverines fell to Penn State, 41-31, on Oct. 30, before defeating Illinois, 67-65, the following week.

• The 427 yards U-M surrendered were the second most it had given up all year, trailing only the 567 it allowed to Ohio State.

• Woods' blocked punt in the second quarter was recovered by redshirt junior viper Jordan Glasgow.

• The setback dropped U-M's all-time record against the SEC in bowl games to 8-7. Michigan is 25-10-1 overall against the conference.

• In addition to his blocked punt, Hudson also had six tackles and a stop behind the line of scrimmage on Saturday.

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