Takeaways from Florida’s clunky season-opening win

Florida stumbled through a clunky but important 24-7 victory over Massachusetts on Saturday night in the aptly named Swamp. But on a night it honored the man who brought a wide-open offense to Gainesville, Florida was anything but electrifying on that side of the ball.

A few takeaways from the season-opener.

* The Gators found their kicker. Eddy Piniero, who never had attempted a field goal in a real game, made field goals of 40, 48 and 49 yards. Florida had one of the worse kicking situations in the nation last season.

* Defensively, the Gators were good, not great. UMass only scored once, and that touchdown drive was aided by 35 penalty yards. But you didn’t get the feel that the Gators’…