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.

Everything is back to normal

After last year's aberration, the Gators have resumed control of the WLOCP. I don't know if the celebration last year meant anything for last night. All I know is the Florida Gator football team hosted a nice little shindig for 3 1/2 hours on Saturday.

Tim Tebow threw his name back into the Heisman race after after an impressive 5 touchdown performance against the Dawgs. Those td's included 2 passing and 3 rushing. Percy Harvin was Percy Harvin once again as he caught a touchdown pass and ran for another one.

Despite the 49 points the seemingly unstoppable Gator offense put on the board, it was the Florida D that paved the way for victory. The Gators' defense held Mr. Moreno to only 65 rushing yards last night. This is the same man who had his coming out party against the Gators to the tune of 188 yards the previous season. The D also picked off the supposedly better passer in the game, Matthew Stafford, 3 times. Joe Haden, Ahmad Black and Dustin Doe all recorded an interception.

Earlier in the week, I listed a few Gators that were poised to step up this week. I'm glad to report that all of them, for the most part, had a big game against UGA. Terron Sanders recorded a sack and returned a fumble to the Georgia 9; Emmanuel Moody came in late to rush for 71 yards; Louis Murphy caught a long touchdown pass that helped break the game wide open; and Joe Haden provided perhaps the play of the game by picking off Stafford and running it all the way back to the 9.

Here are the stats for the super bad ass Florida Gators:


Passing
Tim Tebow 10-13 154 yards 2 tds
John Brantley 3-4 34 yards 1 tds


Rushing
Emmanuel Moody 7 71 yards
Tim Tebow 12 39 yards 3 tds
Percy Harvin 4 37 yards 1 td
Jeff Demps 7 19 yards
Chris Rainey 6 11 yards
John Brantley 1 6 yards
Brandon James 1 2 yards


Receiving
Percy Harvin 3 recs 52 yards 1 td
Deonte Thompson 3 recs 34 yards 1 td
Riley Cooper 2 recs 22 yards
Jeff Demps 2 recs 8 yards
Louis Murphy 1 rec 44 yards 1 td
Aaron Hernandez 1 rec 18 yards
Tate Casey 1 rec 10 yards


Tackles
Joe Haden 10
Brandon Spikes 7
Will Hill 5
Major Wright 5

Interceptions
Joe Haden 1 88 yards
Ahmad Black 1 64 yards
Dustin Doe 1 0 yards


Sacks
Carlos Dunlap 1
Brandon Spikes .5
Jermaine Cunningham .5


Player of the Game

Joe Haden - CB, Rockstar, Ears O' Plenty

Haden heeded my advice and stepped up in a major way against the Dawgs. Haden pick and subsequent return was the absolute biggest play of the game. Haden showed his athletic ability on the run back that allowed him to get all the way down to the 1 yard line, setting up a Tebow td run. Joey was also the only Gator to record double digit tackles in the game. I'm really liking Haden and Janoris Jenkins patrolling the corners for this D.