JACKSONVILLE – The red on Georgia’s uniform jerseys Saturday afternoon was no match for the red on the Bulldogs’ faces after Florida got through punishing them.
Oh, did Florida coach Urban Meyer and his Gators avenge “The Incident” – Georgia’s bench-clearing celebration of its first touchdown in its 42-30 victory last season.
Tony Soprano would have enjoyed “The Atonement” – Florida’s 49-10 neutering of the Bulldogs before 84,649 in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, half of whom were on their way back to “The Peach State” barely after the fourth quarter had begun.
Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Gators turned three second-half turnovers by Georgia’s disappointing duo – two interceptions of junior quarterback Matt Stafford and a fumble by sophomore running back Knowshon Moreno – into three touchdowns by the hand of reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to put Florida in the driver’s seat as the SEC East representative in the SEC Championship Dec. 6.
Tebow finished with five touchdowns – three on the ground and two through the air – before getting relieved by his coach with 9:53 remaining and Florida leading 42-3. The Florida faithful rose to salute him and his redshirt frosh replacement, Johnny Brantley, had Tebow smiling when he finished off the Gators’ scoring with a 7-yard scoring pass to Deonte Thompson with 7:21 left in the game.
Backup quarterback Joe Cox threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Aron White with 3:09 to play to prevent the game from being Florida’s largest margin of victory in the series which has been played for more than three-quarters of a century. Cox replaced Stafford, who threw for 265 yards on 18-of-33 passing but missed on two possible touchdown passes in the end zone to go with his three interceptions, two of which were returned 88 yards (by Joe Haden in the third quarter) and 64 yards (by Ahmad Black in the fourth quarter) to set up Florida touchdowns. A year ago, Stafford threw for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns against Florida.
For the game, the Bulldogs outgained the Gators 398-373 but Florida had 172 yards in turnover returns – three interceptions (by Haden, Black and Dustin Doe) and one fumble recovery (by lineman Terron Sanders, who ran it back inside the Georgia 10 in the third quarter). The Bulldogs’ placekicker Blair Walsh, who kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter, missed wide left with a 38-yarder in the first quarter and doinked a 27-yard attempt off the left upright late in the first half.
This sure didn’t look like the same Georgia team that took apart Louisiana State 52-38 last Saturday in Baton Rouge, the same LSU team Florida whipped 51-21 on the evening of Oct. 11 in The Swamp. Moreno, who rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns in last season’s game against the Gators, was held to 65 yards on 17 carries by a swarming Florida defense led by Haden (who had 10 stops) and Brandon Spikes (who had seven tackles).
Florida followed its LSU victory and a bye with a 63-5 victory over Kentucky, and the 49 points Saturday gives the Gators 163 in their last three victories. Now on a four-game winning streak, Florida has outscored its four foes 201-43.
Florida moved to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the SEC East and probably needs only a victory in one of its last two conference games – next Saturday night at Vanderbilt or the following Saturday against visiting South Carolina – to make it to Atlanta after season-closing, non-conference games with The Citadel and Florida State. The Gators, of course, would like to win out and possibly play for its second Bowl Championship Series national championship in two seasons on Jan. 8 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, fell to 7-2 and 4-2 in the SEC East heading to Kentucky next week, their hopes for an SEC Championship berth severely damaged and their national championship hopes certainly ended. The 39-point victory was the worst defeat of Georgia by the Gators since a 47-7 victory here in 1996 with the Ol’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, administering the punishment like an evil scientist. Spurrier was 11-1 against the Bulldogs, and since his first year in 1990, the Gators are now 16-3, closing the gap in the series to 38-46-2 (or 38-47-2 if you’re from Georgia, which claims a 52-0 victory in Macon over Florida, which doesn’t recognize the game).
It also was the worst defeat by a Georgia team coached by Mark Richt, who told his 2007 team he would be disappointed if they didn’t show their emotions against the Gators. The Bulldogs did with their end-zone stomp – and Meyer promised the incident wouldn’t be forgotten. Richt is now 2-6 against Florida, while Meyer improved to 3-1 against the Bulldogs after calling Florida’s last two timeouts in the final minute of the game so Georgia could endure the pain and punishment a little longer.
Tebow, who was shooed back to the Florida bench by an official as he walked toward the Florida band in the final minute to begin the celebration, figured in five of Florida’s seven touchdowns, scoring three times on runs of 2, 1 and 8 yards and connecting for a pair of touchdown passes of 44 yards to Louis Murphy and 25 yards to Percy Harvin, who started the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.
Amazingly, Tebow did it all with just 193 yards in total offense – 12 carries for 39 yards and 154 yards on 10-of-13 passing. His first touchdown – a 2-yard run with 7:26 remaining in the first half – made him Florida’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, leaving Gator great Emmitt Smith in his wake, and gave Florida a 14-3 lead, which it took to the locker room.
Tebow now has 39 rushing touchdowns for his career, including eight this season. His two touchdown passes give him 11 for the season and 51 for his career.
After the teams exchanged punts on their first two possessions, Georgia marched to the Florida 9 before Stafford was sacked by Carlos Dunlap on second down and then lost 5 yards when Sanders and Spikes stopped him on third down. Walsh came in for a 38-yard field-goal attempt but kicked it wide left.
Florida took that momentum and cashed it into a touchdown – a 13-yard run by Harvin on an option pitch from Tebow – for a 7-0 lead. Georgia replied with a 35-yard field goal by Walsh, but again Florida responded with a scoring drive, Tebow finishing it off with a 2-yard plunge on fourth down for a 14-3 lead that remained that at halftime after Walsh’s 27-yard field-goal attempt with 1:44 remaining before intermission hit off the left upright.
Haden stopped Georgia’s drive to cut into the lead when he stepped in front of a Stafford pass, intercepted it at the Florida 11 and returned it 88 yards to the Florida 1, where Tebow made it 21-3 with his second rushing touchdown.
Florida went up 28-3 a little more than two minutes later when Tebow connected with Murphy on a 44-yard scoring pass, and then Moreno fumbled on Georgia’s next possession, Sanders running the recovery down to inside the Bulldogs 10. On second down, Tebow faked a sweep to Harvin and then ran untouched into the end zone for a 35-3 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, it became 42-3 when Black intercepted Stafford and returned the ball 64 yards to the Florida 25 from where Tebow threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Harvin.
The touchdown sent many fans of the Bulldogs to the exit.
HOW THEY SCORED
FLORIDA 49, GEORGIA 10
At Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Final
Florida 7 7 21 14 — 49
Georgia 0 3 0 7 — 10
FIRST QUARTER
UF–Percy Harvin 13 run (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 0:20. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 5 first downs, 4:56 time elapsed following missed 38-yard field goal by Georgia’s Blair Walsh. Key plays: On third-and-1 at the Florida 29, Tebow kept for 2 yards but Georgia challenged the spot but replays were inconclusive, giving Florida a first down. Percy Harvin then gained 20 yards on a sweep right, got 18 more on pass completion from Tebow. On third-and-6 at the UGA 27, Tebow forced a pass that was intercepted by Prince Miller, but Georgia’s Jarius Wynn was penalized 14 yards for illegal use of the hands under guard Carl Johnson’s helmet. Two plays later after some nifty ballhandling, Tebow optioned left and pitched to Harvin, who ran untouched into the end zone. Score: Florida 7, Georgia 0.
SECOND QUARTER
UGA–FG Blair Walsh 35 at 11:18. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 2 first downs, 4:02 time elapsed following Florida kickoff. Key plays: On third-and-10 at the Florida 49, UGA quarterback Matt Stafford found Mohamed Massaquoi for 26 yards. Score: Florida 7, Georgia 3.
UF–Tim Tebow 2 run (Phillips kick good) at 7:26. Drive: 7 plays, 41 yards, 3 first downs, 3:52 time elapsed following onside kickoff recovery by Florida’s Butch Rowley. Key plays: Tebow hit tight end Aaron Hernandez on second play of drive for 18 yards. On third-and-1 at the UGA 2, Tebow was ruled down at the 2, negating a TD, so Florida went on fourth-and-1 and Tebow scored his 37th career rushing touchdown, breaking the tie he had with Emmitt Smith for first place in the Florida record book. Score: Florida 14, Georgia 3.
THIRD QUARTER
UF–Tebow 1 run (Phillips kick good) at 7:51. Drive: 1 play, 1 yard, 0 first downs, 0:03 time elapsed after Joe Haden intercepted Stafford at the Florida 11 and returned the ball to the UGA 1 where Mohamed Massaquoi hustled back to tackle him. Touchdown came on next play. Key plays: On the interception, Haden managed to throw receiver A.J. Green off by hooking his body and Stafford’s throw was off. Haden stepped in front of it and ran down the sideline before encountering a bunch of Georgia tacklers. He cut inside, burst downfield and was almost to the end zone before Massaquoi caught him., Score: Florida 21, Georgia 3.
UF–Louis Murphy 44 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 5:33. Drive: 4 plays, 56 yards, 2 first downs, 1:19 time elapsed following Georgia punt. Key plays: After Tebow gained a first down by rushing for 4 yards on a third-and-2 play at Georgia 48. On the next play, Tebow faked a handoff to Harvin, freezing the linebackers and secondary. Murphy tugged on Asher Allen’s jersey to get around him and Tebow hit him in stride at the 2 for the touchdown. Score: Florida 28, Georgia 3.
UF–Tebow 8 run (Phillips kick good) at 3:29. Drive: 2 plays, 10 yards, 0 first downs, 0:47 time elapsed following Knowshon Moreno’s fumble and Terron Sanders 20-yard fumble return inside the Georgia 10. Key plays: Moreno took his eye off a pitch from Stafford, couldn’t fall on the fumble as A.J. Jones forced it free and Sanders picked the ball up. On touchdown play, Tebow faked a handoff to Harvin and rushed straight up the middle into the end zone untouched. Score:Florida 35, Georgia 3.
FOURTH QUARTER
UF–Harvin 25 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 11:30. Drive: 1 play, 25 yards, 1 first down, 0:06 time elapsed following Ahmad Black’s 64-yard interception return of a Stafford pass. Score: Florida 42, Georgia 3.
UF–Deonte Thompson 7 pass from Johnny Brantley (Phillips kick good) at 7:21. Drive: 6 plays, 66 yards, 4 first downs, 3:03 time elapsed following fourth-down incompletion by Stafford at the Florida 34. Key plays: Florida’s first three plays all earned first downs – a 28-yard run by Emmanuel Moody was followed by completions of 13 and 14 yards from Brantley to Thompson. Score: Florida 49-3.
UGA–Aron White 19 pass from Joe Cox (Blair Walsh kick good) at 3:09. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 3 first downs, 4:12 time elapsed following Florida kickoff. Key plays: Cox kept the drive alive with an 8-yard pass completion to Israel Troupe on fourth-and-3 at the Florida 34. Score: Florida 49, Georgia 10.
Game summary
Kickoff: 3:35 p.m. End of game: 7:01 p.m. Length of game: 3:26.
Officials (assigned by SEC): Penn Wagers, referee; Thomas Floyd, umpire; Lane Thomas, linesman; Terry Walters, line judge; Blake Parks, side judge; Richard Morales, field judge; Stan Murray, back judge; Ben Oldham, replay official; Thomas Ritter, alternate official; Steve Howard, scorer.
Weather: Sunny skies, 69 degrees, winds out of NNE at 10 miles per hour.
Coin toss: Florida won the toss and deferred to the second half; Florida kicked off, defending the north end zone.
Attendance: 84,649.
Records: Florida 7-1, 5-1 SEC East; Georgia 7-2, 4-2 SEC East.
Next games: Florida at Vanderbilt, Nov. 8; Georgia at Kentucky, Nov. 8.