In the world of professional boxing, the defending champion gets a few tune-ups before that next title bout for the ages. Western Kentucky and Troy were tune-up fights for the Gators and Tennessee was supposed to present a formidable challenge before the Gators travel to Baton Rouge on October 6 to face LSU. That’s the way it was supposed to be, but in the world of heavyweights, things don’t always work out as planned.
Saturday, the fighter in the coon skin shorts threw a few stunning punches but our left-handed fighter dressed decked out in blue threw a flurry of body shots before landing a shot squarely on the jaw that saw the challenger fall hard to the canvas.
After 31 unanswered punches, the mountain man was KO’d in the fourth round and carted off to the trainers’ room.
“Certainly this wasn’t the representation that we intended it to be down here today,” defeated corner man Phillip Fulmer said. “Our players did work hard preparing for this. Their attitudes have been outstanding. I just told them in the locker room that I don’t expect anything less than that when we come back to work on Monday.”
It was an old fashioned trip to the woodshed. By no means did the mountain man didn’t expect this kind of beating. He was simply overwhelmed by the speed of the defending champion. His mental toughness was also duly noted. And the corner men, among the best in the business, had the champion very well prepared.
“The (Florida) linebackers played great,” Erik Ainge said. “They had tremendous speed…they eliminated the chances we had.”
Yes, they did. In fact, it just seemed as if every solid punch the challenger landed was met by a cannon shot by the champion. And it was. Here’s a blow-by-blow for you.
The Gators struck first when sophomore return man Brandon James fielded a Brandon Colquitt punt and took it 83 yards to paydirt. James returned one last year against the Vols, only to have it flagged and subsequently eliminated. This one counted.
Tennessee return man LaMarcus Coker took Joey Ijjas kickoff into the middle before darting back outside some 74 yards before Riley Cooper caught him from behind and shoved him out of bounds at the Florida 26 yard line. It took the Vols six plays to move a mere 15 yards inside the red zone at the Florida 11-yard line before cornerback Markihe Anderson stepped in front of a pass intended for former St. Augustine High School receiver Quinton Hancock. This was a huge swing early swing for the Gators.
Former Ocala Forest kicker Daniel Lincoln closed the gap to 7-3 with a 28-yard field goal for the Vols. Florida answered with a series of jabs followed by a big blow of their own. James returned the kickoff 31 yards to the Florida 35 yard line. Speedy Percy Harvin got the first call and responded with a 10 yard run. One play later, wide receiver Cornelius Ingram hauled in a Tebow pass for 25 yards and yet another first down to the Tennessee 30 yard line. On the very next play, Tebow found Cooper for a 30-yard strike to give the Gators a 14-3 lead.
With 9:55 left, Lincoln added another field goal to bring the Volunteers closer at 14-6. James returned the kickoff 31 yards to the Tennessee 42-yard line. The Gators responded with a nine play, 58-yard drive on the legs of quarterback Tim Tebow and receiver Percy Harvin that culminated with Tebow’s seven-yard touchdown run to stretch the Florida lead to 21-6.
Tennessee’s next possession saw then run three plays for absolutely no gain. The Vols punted and despite having a gunner right in his face, James brought it back eight yards. It took the Gators five plays to go exactly 75 yards for their next score. Tebow found Louis Murphy, who picked up 16 yards to the Gators 47-yard line. Then, Jarred Fayson lined up at running back and using a whole ‘nother gear took the ball 28 yards up the gut to the Tennessee 25. The following snap from Drew Miller saw Tebow drill Ingram with a 20 yard pitch and catch to give Florida a 28-6 lead.
Ainge rallied the Vols back with a nine play, 64 yard drive of their own. He hit Chris Brown for a 15-yard touchdown pass to cut the Gators advantage to 28-13, which ended the first half scoring. Florida took the second half kickoff and drove the ball into the Tennessee red zone at the 17 yard line. Tebow drilled a pass toward Cooper that was picked off by Tennessee freshman Eric Berry, who returned the ball 96 yards to the house. The Vols had crept back in down 28-20.
After forcing the Gators to punt on their next possession, Tennessee got the ball back on their own 13 yard line when disaster struck the challengers. Ainge, who was handing the ball off with his left hand missed sticking the ball into the belly of running back Arian Foster. The bouncing ball fell to the turf and was picked up by outside linebacker Dustin Doe, who took it 18 yards for a touchdown. Florida now led 35-20.
The Florida defense then held the Vols to seven yards on three plays and forced Colquitt to punt once again. James bobbled the punt and Florida was pinned down at their own one yard line. However, Tebow stepped back and drilled a 49-yard pass to Percy Harvin, who was running a go route on the left side. Using the clock very effectively, Florida then ran on four consecutive plays for yet another first down. On fourth and three, Tebow found wide receiver David Nelson for a 14 yards and another Florida first down. On the next play from scrimmage, Harvin scampered through the Volunteer defense for a 18 yard score to extend the Gators lead to 42-20.
The Volunteers followed by engineering an eight play drive for just 28 yards. They failed to convert a fourth and seven and gave the ball back to Florida. Once again, Tebow reloaded a fired deep, hitting Harvin for a 48-yard pass to the Tennessee five yard line. Tebow ran over the left side for the remaining real estate to give the Gators a 49-20 lead.
The Gators defense held the Volunteers to three and out again and gave the offense the ball. Florida took 5:29 off the fourth quarter clock on a 10 play, 66-yard drive that saw Ijjas hit a 25 yard field goal.
Reserve linebacker Jeremy Finch picked off Ainge during the Vols next possession. After abusing a Tennessee defender for an 11-yard gain, back-up quarterback Cam Newton bulled his way from four yards out and scored the final touchdown. Florida won a 59-20 contest that was supposed to be at least somewhat closer.
The Golden Gloves belong to the defending champions. A new challenger from The Magnolia State looms on the horizon. They’re not ranked. But, Florida has had difficulty bringing home the gold when they’ve faced Mississippi in recent years.