Too Close For Comfort

Saturday came and went. All the hooplah and hype surrounding the Tennessee-Florida match-up built everyone up for what turned out to be a good, hard-fought, poorly reffed game.

Lane Kiffin didn't get a chance to sing Rocky Top after the loss, but he does leave Gainesville able to hold his head up high. The Gators fumbled and stumbled their way to a 23-13 victory. While a win is a win, this one left a lot to be desired. I don't care what Coach Urb says.

Tim Tebow had one of his worst games in the Orange and Blue. For the first time since he was 12, Tebow did not throw a touchdown pass. Not only does that look bad, but it totally screwed my fantasy football team. He also fumbled while the Gators were driving in for a deciding touchdown. All that aside, Timmy did make some great plays. He bulldozed over all-everything Eric Berry. He made a spectacular game saving run on a third and long. Even on the aforementioned fumble, Tebow was in the midst of a terrific run.

The refereeing in this game was horrendous. It's nice to see how close Gator games will be reffed throughout the rest of the season. On Tennessee's only touchdown drive Jaye Howard was called for a celebration penalty after going with the Duante Culpepper hand rolling celebration after stopping a reverse. On the Gators' ensuing drive, Tennessee's defensive end Chris Walker celebrated in a similar manner after sacking Tim Tebow. No flag. I don't think Howard should have been flagged in the first place, but since he was, how about a little consistency? Speaking of consistency. Jonathan Crompton was not penalized late in the game for an intentional grounding when he launched the ball about 60 rows deep in the stands to avoid a sack. Crompton was not out of the tackle box and therefore should have been flagged.

All in all, the game was a little surprising. Just look at my prediction from last week to see what I thought of the game. Tennessee's offensive line pushed the Gators' d-line around all game long, And the Vols' secondary shut down the Gator receivers pretty regularly.


The stats:

Passing

Tim Tebow - 14-19 115 yds 1 int

Rushing

Tim Tebow 24 rush 76 yds 1 td
Chris Rainey 9 rush 64 yds
Emmanuel Moody 3 rush 33 yds
Jeff Demps 4 rush 31 yds 1 td

Receiving

Aaron Hernandez 4 recs 26 yds
Riley Cooper 3 recs 25 yds
Brandon James 3 recs 23 yds
Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 3/3 Long 37 yds
Interceptions

Joe Haden 1 int
Ahmad Black 1 int
Tackles

Ryan Stamper 12 tckls
Ahmad Black 11 tckls
Joe Haden 8 tckls
Will Hill 5 tckls
Brandon Spikes 4 tckls

Sacks

Ryan Stamper 1 sack



Player of the Game
Ahmad Black - Mighty Mouse

Black secured the interception on Tennessee's last drive of the game. The pick finally sealed the victory for the Gators. Also, Black manged to get double digit tackles thanks to the not so great play of the d-line. Ahmad was solid in helping stop the run as the 8th man in the box. That role may have helped in Black's inflated tackle stats as well.