GAINESVILLE – When you’re going on long trip, one which will total nearly 10,000 miles and take more than five days to complete, you bring along some of the comforts of home.
The University of Hawai’i football team, which left Honolulu on Tuesday evening, brought along 2,000 fans, who the Warriors entertained in the pregame with their unique ha’a dance, a takeoff of the Maori haka dance made popular by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
Whatever mojo the Warriors sought from the ha’a – hey, it did pour and the Hawaiian trade winds blew through The Swamp just before the opening kickoff and through the first half – the ha’a worked for only the first 15 minutes.
For most of the final 45 of Saturday’s 2008 season opener on Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, it was the fifth-ranked Gators who got the last laugh.
With preseason All-America split end and Heisman Trophy candidate Percy Harvin resting his Achilles’ heel for next Saturday night’s rivalry showdown with Miami, fellow speedsters Brandon James, Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps dazzled the Warriors offensively and on special teams and the Gators added a pair of interception returns from sophomore safeties Major Wright and Ahmad Black for touchdowns in a 56-10 whitewash of the Warriors.
Last season’s non-Bowl Championship Series conference darling, the defending Western Athletic Conference champions were clearly out of their league for the second straight time against a Southeastern Conference team in 2008. After winning their first 12 games last season behind record-breaking quarterback Colt Brennan to receive a bid to the BCS Sugar Bowl, Hawai’i was soundly beaten by Georgia, 41-10 on Jan. 1.
Florida, which likely will battle Georgia for the East Division crown in the SEC, was even better, racking up eight touchdowns in two quarters – four each in the second and third – after the 0-0 first quarter.
With Brennan, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy which was won by Florida junior Tim Tebow last December, throwing footballs now in the NFL, the Warriors held the Gators scoreless in the first quarter, in part because of six penalties by Florida, four of them of the offsides variety.
Once the Gators got the first-game-of-the-season jitters out of their system, they showed why they may have enough speed, talent and depth on both sides of the line of scrimmage to seriously challenge for their second national championship in coach Urban Meyer’s fourth season.
The Gators scored four touchdowns in a little over 8½ minutes during the second quarter – the first two within 52 seconds of each other on Brandon James’ 1-yard run with 11:39 left in the half and Wright’s 32-yard interception return of a Greg Alexander pass at 10:47 and the final two within 2:35 of each other on James’ electrifying 74-yard punt return at 5:35 and redshirt freshman running back Chris Rainey’s 33-yard run with three minutes remaining.
The Gators added four more third-quarter touchdowns in equally electrifying fashion. After punter Chas Henry scooted 17 yards on a fourth-and-16 play for a first down to keep the Gators’ first drive of the second half alive, Demps, a 5-foot-8, 176-pound speedster from Okahumpka who was a 100-meter finalist to make the U.S. Olympic Team, went 62 yards through the Warrior defense to score at 12:16. On their next possession, Tebow hooked up with a wide-open Louis Murphy for a 48-yard touchdown pass-run play just 2 minutes and 34 seconds later for a 42-0 lead.
Meyer then turned the offense over to Tebow’s backups, Cameron Newton and Johnny Brantley. Newton culminated a 12-play, 70-yard drive started by Tebow with a 1-yard TD sneak with 2:52 left in the quarter, and then Black returned his interception of Brent Rausch 80 yards with 20 seconds remaining for a 56-0 lead.
The Warriors got their only points of the game on a 30-yard field goal by senior Daniel Kelly with 9:38 to play and a 13-yard scoring pass to Greg Salas from the third Warrior quarterback used, Inoke Funaki, with 1:37 left.
Florida outgained Hawai’i 406-241, including 255-60 on the ground, and forced six turnovers – four interceptions and two fumble recoveries – despite having the football 8 minutes less than the Warriors.
Eleven different Gators toted the football from The Spread, led by Demps’ 76 yards on two carries. Rainey picked up 58 yards on six carries and Tebow had 37 on nine runs while Kestahn Moore had 33 yards on seven carries. Tebow was 9-of-14 passinf for 137 yards and 1 touchdown, one of two receptions by Murphy, who averaged 25.5 yards a reception.
Ryan Stamper, the redshirt junior who started in place of injured middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, and cornerback Joe Haden had fumble recoveries for the Gators, while Black (two), Wright and Jacques Rickerson had interceptions.
Hawai’i used three quarterbacks in its Run-and-Shoot offense – starter Alexander and reserves Rausch and Funaki – and they were a combined 21-of-39 for 181 yards. But the Gators held the Warriors to use 60 yards on 24 carries, with Daniel Libre rushing for a team-high 35 yards, two more than Leon Wright-Jackson.
The loss spoiled the head coaching debut of Greg McMackin, the defensive coordinator for June Jones, who left Honolulu for the mainland following last season to coach at Southern Methodist University.
The victory was the 19th straight season-opening win for the Gators and moved Meyer, who is 32-8 at Florida and 71-16 overall in his eighth season, to 7-0 in openers at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. Under Meyer, Florida moved to 20-1 at The Swamp.
HOW THEY SCORED
No. 5 FLORIDA 56, HAWAII 10
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008
At Gainesville, Fla.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida Field
Score by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Total
Hawaii 0 0 0 10 — 10
Florida 0 28 28 0 — 56
FIRST QUARTER
No scoring.
SECOND QUARTER
UF—Brandon James 1 run (Jonathan Phillips kick) at 11:39. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 4 first downs, 5:09 time elapsed following Ahmad Black’s interception. Score: Florida 7-0.
UF—Major Wright 32 interception return of Greg Alexander pass (Phillips kick) at 10:47. Score: Florida 14-0.
UF—James 74 punt return (Phillips kick) at 5:35. Score: Florida 21-0.
UF—Chris Rainey 33 run (Phillips kick) at 3:00. Drive: 2 plays, 48 yards, 2 first downs, 0:22 time elapsed following Hawai’i fumble by Aaron Bain forced by Joe Haden and recovered by Ryan Stamper. Score: Florida 28-0.
THIRD QUARTER
UF—Jeffrey Demps 62 run (Phillips kick) at 12:16. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 3 first downs, 2:44 time elapsed following second-half kickoff. Key play: Drive was kept alive when punter Chas Henry rushed 17 yards on a 4th-and-16 play for a first down. Score: Florida 35-0.
UF—Louis Murphy 48 pass from Tim Tebow (Phillips kick) at 9:42. Drive: 2 plays, 58 yards, 2 first downs, 38 seconds time elapsed following James’ 14-yard punt return to the Florida 42. Score: Florida 42-0.
UF—Cam Newton 1 run (Phillips kick) at 2:52. Drive: 12 plays, 70 yards, 4 first downs following James’ 9-yard punt return to the Florida 30. Score: Florida 49-0.
UF—Ahmad Black 80 interception return of Brent Rausch pass (Phillips kick) at 0:40. Score: Florida 56-0.
FOURTH QUARTER
HAW—FG Daniel Kelly 30 at 9:38. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 3 first downs, 5:42 time elapsed following Florida kickoff was returned by Jovonte Taylor for a loss of 1 yard. Score: Florida 56-3.
HAW—Greg Salas 13 pass from Inoke Funaki (Kelly kick) at 1:37. Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 3 first downs, 2:47 time elapsed following Chas Henry 56-yard punt for a touchback. Score: Florida 56, Hawaii 10.
Game summary
Officials: Referee, Matt Moore; Umpire, Johnny Hibbett; Head Linesman, Allama Matthews; Field Judge, Richard Morales; Side Judge, Bobby Moreau; Back Judge, Rich Martinez; Replay official: Robert Rougeou.
Weather: Partly cloud, periods of rain showers, very windy.
Attendance: 90,575.
Records: Florida 1-0, Hawaii 0-1.
Next games: Miami at Florida, Sept. 6, 8 p.m. (ESPN); Weber State at Hawai’i, Sept. 6, 6:05 p.m.