Tim Tebow accounted for five touchdowns, and the Florida offense rolled to 663 yards of total offense. The Florida defense stepped up big, allowing just 139 yards of total offense, while managing 3 sacks, and forcing 3 turnovers on the afternoon. It was an superb all-around effort by the Gators as they head into a battle next Saturday with SEC East rival Tennessee.
Fourth Quarter
It was the Chris Rainey show to start the fourth quarter, as the redshirt sophomore running back carried the ball five times for 25 yards to open the period. Florida moved the ball as deep as the 21, but the drive would stall there. Jonathan Phillips 39-yard field goal attempt missed well right, and Florida retained a 49-6 lead with 11:29 to play in the contest.
A staple of the game – a Troy three-and-out, would ensue on the follow possession. Will Goggans would get off his eighth punt of the game, which newly inserted returner Frankie Hammond found too hot to handle. He did manage to recover the mishandled kick at the Florida 23-yard line, setting up the Gator offense for a return to the field.
The return would be triumphant. John Brantley directed the Gators on an 7 play, 77-yard drive in which he completed 4-of-5 passes for 75 yards. The final toss – a 6 yard reception by Mike Gillislee, would culminate the drive in a touchdown. Caleb Sturgis successfully connected on his first PAT attempt of the day, and the Gators took a 56-6 lead with 6:19 remaining in the contest.
Florida would have one more impressive drive in the fourth quarter, as the Gators moved from their own 21 with 5:04 to play, all the way down to the Troy 20, where Mike Gillislee put the ball on the ground. Troy’s Rod Winston would recover with 1:35 to play, and the Florida scoring threat was averted.
Troy would run sophomore quarterback Dantavious Parker four times to close out the game, as the Gators get a good tune-up for SEC East rival Tennessee next week, coming away with a 56-6 victory.
– The biggest issue of the day? Holding on to the football. Florida receivers dropped numerous passes, and Florida would fumble the ball a total of 6 times on the afternoon, 3 which were recovered by Troy.
– While ball security is something the coaching staff will really be able to harp on in practice over the course of the next week, you rather see that type of sloppy play happen against a team like Troy, rather then next week against Tennessee. It gives the staff a chance to knock the Gators off their perch just a bit as well. It’s hard to say too many other negative things about a 50-point win in which the Gators outgained their opponent 665-139 in terms of total offense.
– Florida is looking to build depth in their wide receiver corps. It looks like the first two games against Troy have allowed them to do that a bit. Riley Cooper has stepped up as a #1 option in the passing game for this team. Deonte Thompson and Brandon James showed flashes of their potential impact in the passing game against the Trojans. Omarius Hines and Cade Holliday impressed (albeit in garbage time) today as well. Hines finished with four receptions for 67 yards (and made a couple of nifty moves with the ball in his hands) while Holliday would reel in 3 receptions from 66 yards.
– Seven different players score the eight Florida touchdowns on this afternoon: Deonte Thompson (2), Riley Cooper, Jeff Demps, Mike Gillislee, Brandon James, Chris Rainey, and Tim Tebow all got in on the scoring bonanaza against Troy this afternoon.
Third Quarter:
Tim Tebow picked up right where he left on in the second quarter, as the Gator quarterback directed the offense down the field with surgical precision. On third-and-nine from the Troy 32-yard line, Tebow found Brandon James in the back of the end zone. James laid out to make a beautiful grab, giving him the second receiving touchdown of his career. The Jonathan Phillips extra point capped off a six-play, 60-yard drive which took 2:33 off of the clock, giving Florida a 42-3 lead with 12:27 to play in the third quarter.
Again, the Trojan offense found themselves stuck in quicksand, going three-and-out for the sixth time on the afternoon. Florida would take over at their own 38-line with 10:58 to go in the third quarter. Surprisingly, Tebow is still on the field, which might be attributed to some of the sloppiness the offense displayed through just over a quarter of play.
Florida’s seventh scoring drive showed some new wrinkles. Riley Cooper received his first ever collegiate carry on a sweep around the right end which went for 14 yards and a first down. Omarius Hines would make a 23-yard reception on the following play from Tebow, showing some some agility on the play to make a move that broke him away from a defender for extra yardage. Chris Rainey would take over from there, running the ball for 10, 14, and finally 1 yard for his first touchdown of the day. The Phillips extra point (gosh, I feel like I’m writing that a lot lately) gave Florida a 49-3 lead with 8:38 to play. The possession took 2:20 off the clock, and covered 62 yards in seven plays.
Again, Troy went three-and-out, as their second possession of the third quarter would give Carlos Dunlap his first sack of the season. Brandon James would return the ensuing Will Goggans punt for a touchdown, but the return was wiped out by a holding penalty called on freshman running back Mike Gillislee. John Brantley’s first action of the day was largely ineffective, as Florida punted from their own 20, and Chaz Henry’s kick would bounce out at the Troy 46-yard line.
Finally, with some good field position to work with, Troy would put together a bit of a drive. Trojan quarterback Levi Brown would make two nice throws – 24 yards to Tebiarus Gill, and 10 yards to Zack Marcum to drive deep into Gator territory. The Gator defense stood tall once again, aided by a sack of Brown by cornerback Markihe Anderson, to help halt the Trojan drive. Sam Glusman’s 42-yard field goal would make it 49-6 with just 39 seconds to play in the quarter.
T.J. Lawrence returned the ensuing kickoff to the Florida 43-yard line, and Chris Rainey would carry for eight to push Florida over the 500-yard mark as the third quarter came to a close with Florida still on top, 49-6.
Some notes as we start the second half:
* It was a dominant performance in all facets of the game for Florida. The Gators out gained Troy 292-29 in total offense over the course of the second quarter.
* Tebow’s line in the second quarter: 9-of-13 passing, 144 yards, 2 touchdowns; 9 carries, 60 yards and a touchdown on the ground, just for kicks.
* Through a half of play, linebacker Ryan Stamper and safety Ahmad Black lead the team in tackles with five.
Second Quarter:
Some notes on the first quarter of play:
The Florida offense looks sloppy once again to start the second quarter. Quarterback Tim Tebow picks up a first down on third-and-two with a four-yard gain, but would fumble on the next play when Troy defensive end Cameron Sheffield stripped him of the ball in the backfield. Again, the Troy defense making plays. They aren’t dominant, but a group full of fast-twitch athletes who put themselves in a position to make plays time and time again.
Troy’s offense couldn’t muster much more than a first-down pass interference call on A.J. Jones in coverage. Despite an awful looking pass by Levi Brown on the play, Troy gets 15 yards on the penalty, but couldn’t move it any further. Holder Austin Silvoy fumbled the snap on what would have been a 37-yard field goal attempt by Sam Glusman, and Florida would take over at their own 35-yard line.
The Gators finally get something going on their second possession of the second quarter. Tim Tebow completed a 15 yard pass to Aaron Hernandez on third-and-five from their own 40, and he would pick up nine yards on the ground during the ensuing play. On second-and-one from the Troy 36, Tebow dropped back to pass and literally had all day to throw (he still might be looking for an open receiver if he didn’t let the ball go when he did). He lofted a deep pass towards the end zone that looked as if it could be picked by a pair of Trojan defenders. Instead, both players fell down, and Riley Cooper made the perfect picture grab near the back of the end zone. The extra point by Jonathan Phillips would give Florida a 14-3 lead with 11:33 to play in the first half.
While some sections of the Swamp looked a little sparse right before kickoff, the crowd has finally made an appearance, and the noise seems to be giving Troy some problems. The Trojans were forced to use a timeout on third-and-ten from the Florida 25-yard line on the first possession of the quarter. The crowd noise also seemed to give quarterback Levi Brown some issues when Troy was flagged for a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-ten from their own 26-yard line. The ensuing DuJuan Harris run went for nine yards, but forced Troy into yet another punt situation (Will Goggans’ fourth of the game) as Florida would take over from their own 28-yard line with 10:04 left to play in the second quarter.
Brandon James would get in on the action with a well-blocked draw play that went for eight yards on first down. Tim Tebow would follow that up with a four-yard quarterback keeper which gave Florida first-down at the 40-yard line. Jeff Demps would break out for a 38-yard gain on first down, as the ball would see the field once again. I’m not sure if they are using a pigskin, or a greased pig for a football on this afternoon.
Set up with a first-and-ten from the Troy 21-yard line, the second half of the lightning-and-lightning combo, Chris Rainey, would rumble for 17 yards on first down. After that, possibly the best short-yardage back in the SEC, quarterback Tim Tebow, took it in from four yards out. The subsequent Jonathan Phillips extra point would give Florida a 21-3 lead with 8:04 to play in the first half. The Florida scoring drive covered 5 plays, 71 yards, and took exactly 2:00 minutes off the clock.
It seems like the wheels have completely come off for Troy at this point. It’s been all downhill for the Trojans since fumbling away an opportunity to cut the Florida lead to a point with a botched field goal at the beginning of the second quarter. Following Tim Tebow’s short touchdown run, the ensuing series proves disastrous for the Trojans as Janoris Jenkins intercepts a Levi Brown pass that was tipped by Florida defensive lineman Justin Trattou at the line of scrimmage.
The Gators immediately capitalize on this play, as Tim Tebow throws his third touchdown pass of the first half, finding Deonte Thompson on a post right down the middle of the field for 33 yards. On the play, Thompson appears to pull up lame with a hamstring injury, which is the injury that is seemingly being passed around the Gator locker room this year. Last year it was ACL tears, this year it’s the hamstrings that are giving Florida players issues.
Troy uses a bit of trickery on their next possession. Facing a fourth-and-one from their own 47-yard line, Trojan head coach Larry Blakeney decides to roll the dice and go for it. A play involving quarterback Levi Brown making gestures toward the sideline as if the play needs to be changed allows for a direct snap to running back DuJuan Harris. The exchange fails, however. The ball would careen off of Harris’ facemask, and Jermaine Cunningham would recover the ball at the Troy 40.
Ho-hum, another possession, another touchdown for Florida in the second quarter. This time Jeff Demps would break loose for a 24-yard jaunt along the right sideline, as Riley Cooper would lose his helmet while making a block. The play earned Cooper considerable praise from coaches and players along the sideline. Jonathan Phillips extra point split the uprights, and Florida would take a 35-3 lead with 4:03 to play in the quarter. The five-play, 40-yard scoring drive took 1:46 off of the clock.
Once again, the Trojans would go three-and-out on the ensuing possession. The bright spot of the series would be a 55-yard punt by Will Goggans that was downed at the one-yard line by the Trojan special teams.
Despite being pinned in the shadow of their own goal-line, Florida would embark on an 83-yard drive that would end at the Troy 16-yard line, and only because the first half (mercifully) came to an end for Troy. The Gators headed to the locker rooms with a huge second quarter under their belts. It started a little shaky on the Tebow fumble, but finished in grand fashion with the Gators walking off the field with a 35-3 lead.
Some notes on the first quarter of play:
* Florida outgained Troy 72-43 in total offense over the course of the first quarter. Neither team looked very impressive in the first period of play. It would be easy to blame the rain for the offensive miscues, but for Florida they began at the very start (Tebow’s fumbled handoff to Demps being a primary example).
* The players of the game so far might be the two punters – Florida’s Chaz Henry and Troy’s Will Goggans. They have vastly differing kicking styles, but both have been very effective. Henry pinned Troy deep inside their own 20 on his first punt, while Goggans’ rugby-style kicks have proved hard to return for Brandon James.
*Ahmad Black with four tackles through the first quarter, he leads all defenders. He’s definitely making his presence felt at the start this contest.
Some pre-game notes:
* I watched Jordan Reed run routes in warm-ups. It looks like he is working out as a tight end in an effort to get on the field this year.
* Eugene Kinlaw is a player I will be tracking today for Troy. He earned national player of the year honors at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, KS. He actually earned an offer from Florida when the Gators decided to pursue a junior college defensive tackle in the 2009 class. That position would eventually be filled by Edwin Herbert.
* Former LSU defensive lineman Sidell Corley transferred to Troy in the offseason. Many will remember Corley as a long-time commitment for Florida as a part of the 2007 recruiting class before he reneged on his pledge late in the process to sign with the Tigers.
First Quarter:
Troy received the ball to start the game, and the Florida defense immediately showed a different side than they did a weak ago. The defensive front for the Gators got plenty of pressure on Trojan quarterback Levi Brown, and Troy went three-and-out on their first possession. Will Goggans was effective with a rugby-style punt which netted 47 yards.
The ensuing possession started out well enough. Florida fans get their first look at the read option this year as Jeff Demps rushed for 5 yards on first down, and then carried for 26 yards on the ensuing play. A fumbled exchange between Tebow and Demps on first down from the Troy 39 would kill all the momentum, however. A dropped pass by Deonte Thompson on third-and-16 would finish it off.
A deep punt by Chaz Henry was downed by Florida at the Troy seven-yard line, pinning the Trojans deep in their own territory. Both teams go three-and-out over the next two possessions, as the rain starts to come down on Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. I guess that 100% rain forecast by the Weather Channel this morning proved to be accurate.
Troy’s third series started with the Trojans best field possession of the day – at their own 30-yard line. They wouldn’t keep the ball long, however. Jermaine Cunningham managed to knock the ball loose from Troy running back DuJuan Harris on second down, and Justin Trattou would fall on the ball to give the Gator offense a great scoring opportunity.
Florida would make quick work of the following drive, going 29 yards in four plays as quarterback Tim Tebow found Deonte Thompson in the front corner of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown pass. Forget the Swine Flu, Deonte Thompson finally appears to recovered from a severe case of the “dropsies” on that play. After throwing a touchdown pass in his 30th consecutive game, Tebow had to physically restrain Carl Johnson from going after a Troy defender. With 6:39 to play in the first, Florida strikes first, 7-0.
The Gator defense strikes again on Troy’s fourth possession of the first quarter. Joe Haden twice nearly made an interception of a short Levi Brown pass as the ball eventually ricocheted off of his head. Third down produced Florida’s first sack of the season (FINALLY!), as A.J. Jones broke through the offensive line on a blitz to drop Brown for an eight-yard loss.
Another series with great field position was squandered by the Gators, as Florida would start from their own 49 after a fair catch by Brandon James of a 30-yard Will Goggans punt. Emmanuel Moody would cough up the ball on second and ten, however. Troy would recover the fumble at their own 39, finally able to turn the tables on the field position battle they had previously been on the losing end of through most of the first quarter.
Troy was finally able to carry the momentum from their strong play on defense in the first quarter to the offensive side of the ball as the Trojans drove the ball 34 yards on nine plays, aided primarily by a 14-yard rush by Shawn Southward which put the Troy offense on the Florida 37-yard line. Sam Glusman would boot a 45-yard kick right down the middle as the Florida lead was cut to 7-3 with 51 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Florida returner Brandon James would bring the ball out to the 32-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Tim Tebow would take the option keeper eight yards on first down, but Jeff Demps was stopped for no gain on the ensuing play, setting up a third-and-two from the 40-yard line to open the second quarter.