Gator Country

Florida junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap sacks Troy quarterback Levi Brown at the 22-yard line for an eight-yard loss during the third quarter of the Gators' 56-6 win against the Trojans on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. / Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

Florida head football coach Urban Meyer goes out of his way to make sure his team doesn’t provide future opponents any locker-room board comments.

He prefers that his team’s performance on the field sends the proper message, so first-year Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin, who offended Meyer and the Gators with some remarks last winter, will need to check out Florida’s statistical lines after its first two games of the season – a 62-3 victory over Charleston Southern on Sept. 5 and Saturday’s 56-6 victory over Troy.

In two games, the top-ranked Gators, who welcome Kiffin and the Volunteers to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium next Saturday at 3:30 p.m., have been an offensive juggernaut. Florida is averaging 59 points a game and 643.5 offensive yards a contest – 330 yards rushing and 313.5 yards passing.

Lane’s father Monte, the Vols’ defensive coordinator and former defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is going to be a very busy man this week as he tries to determine which poison his team will want to swallow – prevent the pass or stuff the run.

Meanwhile, the Florida defense has yielded just three field goals (4.5 points a game) and just 462 yards in the two contests (231 yards a game, 84 rushing and 147 passing).

HOW ABOUT THE DEFENSE? After finishing as one of the top defensive units in the nation in 2008, Charlie Strong’s defenders are picking up where they left off. Florida, which had every starter and reserve back from last season’s national championship team, held its second straight opponent under 100 rushing yards.

After surrendering 95 yards to Charleston Southern, the Gators’ rushing defense was even stingier to Troy, allowing just 73 yards. Last season, Florida held five of its 14 opponents under 100 yards and every one of them under 150 yards.

With their two fumble recoveries (one by Jermaine Cunningham and the other by Justin Trattou) and one interception (by Janoris Jenkins) assured the Gators of having caused a turnover in 14 straight games. The interception also helped keep Florida’s streak of games with at least one interception alive at 14.

In two games, Florida has not surrendered a touchdown and yielded just three field goals.

Linebacker Ryan Stamper and safety Ahmad Black led the defense with five tackles each, while cornerback Joe Haden and Cunningham had four each. Cunningham, who missed last week’s game because of a discipline matter, forced the fumble that Trattou recovered. Jenkins, who also missed the game because of disciplinary reasons, finished with three tackles, two of them for minus 16 yards. Fifteen of those yards came when Jenkins covered Troy holder Austin Silvoy after he misplaced a snap on a second-quarter field-goal attempt.

Florida also had three sacks – one each by defensive end Carlos Dunlap, linebacker A.J. Jones and cornerback Markihe Anderson. The 6-6, 290-pound Dunlap roamed up and down the line of scrimmage as he did last January in Miami in the BCS National Championship victory over Oklahoma in Florida’s 3-3-5 defense.

POTENT ATTACK: The 663 yards in total offense accumulated by the Gators is the second highest they’ve ever had under Meyer’s direction.

Last week against Charleston Southern, Florida totaled 624 yards in total offense – 369 yards on 33 carries and 255 yards (on 18-of-27 passing) through the air. Saturday, the Gators threw for 372 yards (on 25-of-36 passing) and gained 291 yards on 46 carries.

In two games, Florida has gained 660 yards on 79 carries, an average of 8.4 yards per carry. Sophomores Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey lead the Gators with 176 yards and 161 yards, respectively, and are averaging 14.7 and 12.4 yards a carry.

Junior Emmanuel Moody gained 12 yards on his one carry Saturday but fumbled the ball and did not see action again as Meyer preferred to keep the ball in the sure hands of Demps (87 yards on 7 carries), Rainey (85 yards on 12 carries) and Tebow, who gained 75 yards on 13 carries (one a 4-yard run) in addition to throwing for 237 yards (on 15-of-24 passing) and four touchdowns . His backup, redshirt sophomore John Brantley, went 10-of-12 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Nine different players rushed the football, while Tebow and Brantley connected with nine different receivers Saturday. Senior wide receiver Riley Cooper, who continues to show his downfield blocking abilities, led the way with five receptions for 82 yards and a 36-yard second-quarter touchdown from Tebow, his roommate. Wideout Omarius Hines (67 yards) and tight end Aaron Hernandez (39) each had four receptions, while senior walk-on/scholarship player Cade Holliday, the son of former Florida assistant and current West Virginia head coach-in-waiting “Doc” Holliday, snared three passes for 66 yards.

The points came in bunches in the second quarter. Florida scored two touchdowns in 20 seconds (at 8:04 on Tebow’s 4-yard run and at 7:44 on Thompson’s 33-yard TD reception from Tebow) and 21 points in 3:59 starting with Cooper’s 36-yard TD reception from Tebow with 11:33 left before half.

TIMMY IN THE RECORD BOOK: Tebow’s five touchdowns (one rushing, four passing) bring his total of touchdowns responsible for to 117, five behind all-time Florida and SEC leader Danny Wuerffel, who totalted 122 from 1993-96. Tebow’s 4-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter was the 45th of his career, moving him into a third-place tie with Auburn’s Carnell Williams in the SEC record book. His four touchdown passes give him 72 for his career. His 6-yard TD pass to Thompson in the first quarter marked the 30th straight game in which he has thrown a touchdown – the best such streak in the nation.  It was his second four-touchdown-pass game of his career (he had four in a 45-37 victory at Kentucky in 2007) and his 237 yards passing was his 20th career game over 200 yards.

THIS AND THAT: Rain began falling during a television timeout at 8:54 of the first quarter but ended just before halftime. … Carl Johnson, who left last week’s game with a bone bruise, started at left tackle and James Wilson started at left guard while Black was a starter at safety. … On Demps’ 24-yard touchdown run just before halftime, Cooper lost his helmet on a downfield block. Cooper later lost it again on an end-around during the second half. … On the play before Brandon James caught his 32-yard touchdown reception from Tebow, he fumbled the ball after taking an option pitch from Tebow. The ball went into the air and, fortunately for James, teammate Mike Pouncey was there to grab the ball with a nice vertical jump and falling to the Florida Field turf to keep the drive alive.

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