NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On a day when the No. 1 team needed overtime to survive and the No. 3 team did not, Florida wasn’t about to write itself a bad country song against Vanderbilt Saturday night in Music City USA.
Nope, there was going to be no “At the Gas Station of Love, I Got the Self-Service Pump” and no “Beauty is Only Skin Deep, but Ugly Goes Clean to the Bone” for Urban Meyer’s team. The Gators, No. 5 in the BCS rankings, scored on five of their six first-half possessions thanks to three TD passes and two TD runs by Heisman Trophy defender Tim Tebow and two blocked punts by 6-foot-6 sophomore defensive end Carlos Dunlap.
With their eyes focused on the moment, the Gators took care of business and survived a lackluster second half with a 42-14 victory over the outmanned Commodores on a chilly evening at sold-out Vanderbilt Stadium. Florida led 42-0 against Bobby Johnson’s Commodores before Chris Nickson threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final 17 minutes of the game. It was Vandy’s fourth straight loss after a 5-0 start and left the school one victory shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since the 1982 season.
Meanwhile, the victory was Florida’s 18th in a row since its last loss to the Commodores during the 1988 season. The Gators now lead the series 31-9-2. It also was Florida’s fifth straight blowout victory since its 31-30 loss to Mississippi on the last Saturday in September. Florida has outscored those five foes – Arkansas, Louisiana State, Kentucky, Georgia and Vanderbilt – by a combined 250-57.
Finally, the triumph added another game to Florida’s schedule – the SEC Championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 6 as the East Division representative. Florida’s opponent in the game will be No. 1 Alabama, which escaped an upset bid by Louisiana State in Baton Rouge with a 27-21 overtime victory to clinch the West Division title.
But there are still three games remaining for the Gators, including their final SEC contest Saturday at The Swamp against South Carolina and the ol’ ball coach at Florida, Steve Spurrier. Then come non-conference games with The Citadel (Nov. 22) in Gainesville and Florida State (Nov. 29) in Tallahassee before Florida goes to Atlanta, where it has played for six SEC Championships and won five times.
The last of those five victories came in 2006 – 38-28 over Arkansas – and it allowed Meyer’s second Florida team to advance to the BCS National Championship at Glendale, Ariz. The Gators, who had lost to Auburn at midseason, met top-ranked Ohio State and ran away with the national title in a 41-14 victory.
Florida is hoping to duplicate that one-loss national championship this year by taking the same path, although this year’s BCS National Championship Game is scheduled for the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens on Jan. 8, 2009.
The Gators’ trip there got a little easier when Iowa used a last-second field goal in Iowa City to beat No. 3 Penn State, 24-23. The No. 2 team in this week’s BCS rankings, Texas Tech, steamrolled visiting Oklahoma State 56-20 Saturday night in Lubbock, the scene of the Red Raiders’ 39-33 upset of then top-ranked Texas last weekend. The Longhorns, who dropped to No. 4 with the loss, bounced back with a 45-21 victory over Baylor in Austin.
Anyone who believed Florida (8-1, 6-1 SEC East) would follow its 49-10 thrashing of Georgia last weekend in Jacksonville with a lackluster performance on Dudley Field at Vanderbilt (5-4, 3-3 SEC East) would be mistaken. The Gators outgained the Commodores 422-264, including 231-150 on the ground, and scored on six of their first seven possessions during the game.
But Florida managed just 92 yards in the second half, 69 of them on the Gators’ final TD drive of the game, which also was Tebow’s last work of the evening. For the second straight game, Tebow accounted for five touchdowns himself – three on passes and two on runs – and led Florida in rushing with 88 yards on 11 carries while connecting on 12 of 17 passes for 171 yards.
Meyer’s team also had two turnovers – a fumble by Percy Harvin and an interception by Tebow’s replacement, redshirt freshman John Brantley – that Meyer can show his team.
For the first 40 minutes, however, the Gators played flawlessly. They went 3-for-3 on their first-quarter possessions to run out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
Another blocked kick – this a partially blocked rugby punt from Vanderbilt’s Brett Upson by Dunlap – set up the first Gator touchdown, a 12-yard scoring pass from Tebow to Louis Murphy at 8:49. Tebow went 3-for-3 for 33 yards as the Gators ate up 4:27 of the clock on the 9-play, 60-yard drive.
Vanderbilt ran three plays and punted on its next possession, and Florida went 58 yards on four plays, all involving Tebow. The first was a 14-yard Tebow pass to Deonte Thompson. Then Tebow had two runs of 9 yards for a first down at the Vandy 26. On first down, Tebow optioned right, got blocks from guard Mike Pouncey and tackle Jason Watkins, broke a tackle and scored. Phillips’ kick made it 14-0 with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Then the Gators’ defense went to work. Freshman safety Will Hill nailed quarterback Mackenzi Adams just as he released a pass that fellow safety Ahmad Black dove for and intercepted at the Vanderbilt 32. It was Black’s fifth interception of the season.
It took Florida just three plays to make it 21-0. Tebow hit Murphy for 19 yards, Jeff Demps ran for five yards and then Tebow faked a handoff to Demps, ran right and reversed himself back toward the middle before diving into the end zone to complete an 8-yard scoring play. Phillips’ PAT was true and Florida led 21-0 with 1:46 left on the first-quarter clock.
Dunlap’s second blocked kick gave Tebow and the Gators a short field early in the second quarter, and Tebow completed a 7-play, 24-yard drive with an 11-yard TD pass to Riley Cooper. Phillips’ kick made it 28-0 with 12:01 left in the first half.
The lead looked like it would be 35-0 with 5:46 left before halftime when Harvin rushed up the middle, got tackled at the 1 and appeared to have reached over the goal line with the football before he fumbled it. Vanderbilt recovered in the end zone, and officials ruled in the Commodores’ favor.
It was only the second time this season Florida had failed to score inside the red zone (the opposition’s 20-yard line). The other came in Florida’s 30-6 victory at Tennessee in September, six games ago, when the Gators were trying to run out the clock.
Florida and Tebow eventually got the ball back with 1:32 remaining and 80 yards from the Commodores’ end zone. No problem. Tebow completed 4-of-5 passes for 64 yards, the final 41 coming on a strike to a wide-open David Nelson. Phillips’ kick made it 35-0 with 8 seconds left before the intermission.
After the first 30 minutes, Florida had outgained Vanderbilt 330-93. The Gators were 4-for-4 on third-down conversions, while Vanderbilt was 1-of-7 and punted five times, two of which Dunlap got his hands on to set up Florida touchdowns.
After Brandon James returned the second-half kickoff to the Florida 31, Tebow finished his evening by directing a 10-play, 69-yard drive that used 5:21 of the clock. Mostly, the Florida junior quarterback handed the ball off. Tebow accounted for 33 yards on a 14-yard rush and a 19-yard pass completion to Aaron Hernandez that set up Harvin’s 1-yard scoring run on second-and-goal. Chris Rainey carried three times for 17 yards and Emmanuel Moody picked up 10 on another rush. Phillips’ PAT made it 42-0.
Vanderbilt finally got on the board behind quarterback Chris Nickson, who energized the offense with his presence. The Commodores drove 66 yards on 15 plays, converting on three third-down plays. The final one was a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nickson to Jamie Graham just out of the reach of Florida’s Janoris Jenkins. Bryant Hahnfeldt’s PAT left Vanderbilt trailing 42-7 with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter.
Vandy and Nickson closed out the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sean Walker with 5:07 left in the game.
HOW THEY SCORED
FLORIDA 42, VANDERBILT 14
At Nashville, Tenn.
Dudley Field at Vanderbilt Stadium
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Final
Florida 21 14 7 0 — 42
Vanderbilt 0 0 7 7 — 14
FIRST QUARTER
UF–Louis Murphy 12 pass from Tim Tebow (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 8:49. Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 4 first downs, 4:27 time elapsed following Carlos Dunlap’s partial block of Vanderbilt rugby punt by Brett Upson. Key plays: Tebow completed passes of 9 and 12 yards to Percy Harvin for first downs; Harvin rushed 11 yards for Florida’s third first down; Tebow, who was 3-for-3 on the drive for 33 yards, faked to Kestahn Moore and rolled left before throwing to a wide-open Murphy in the end zone. Score: Florida 7, Vanderbilt 0.
UF–Tebow 26 run (Phillips kick good) at 4:50. Drive: 4 plays, 58 yards, 3 first downs, 1:59 time elapsed following Vanderbilt punt. Key plays: Tebow figured in all four plays. First he hit Deonte Thompson for 14 yards and then rushed twice for 9 yards before optioning right behind blocks from guard Mike Pouncey and tackle Jason Watkins and breaking a tackle to get to the end zone. Score: Florida 14, Vanderbilt 0.
UF–Tebow 8 run (Phillips kick good) at 1:46. Drive: 3 plays, 32 yards, 2 first downs, 1:19 time elapsed following Ahmad Black’s diving interception. Key plays: On first play, Tebow used play action to freeze the linebackers and then threw a 19-yard strike to Murphy. Following a 5-yard run by Jeff Demps, Tebow faked a handoff to him, ran right and then reversed himself away from a Vanderbilt defender toward the middle of the field and dove into the end zone. Score: Florida 21, Vanderbilt 0.
SECOND QUARTER
UF–Riley Cooper 11 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 12:01. Drive: 7 plays, 24 yards, 2 first downs, 2:43 time elapsed following Carlos Dunlap’s second blocked punt of the game. Key plays: Tebow converted a third-and-2 play at the Vandy 16 with a 5-yard run. Then after two incomplete passes, he rifled a strike to a wide-open Cooper on third-and-10 for the score. Score: Florida 28, Vanderbilt 0.
UF–David Nelson 41 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 0:08. Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 3 first downs, 1:24 time elapsed following Vanderbilt punt. Key plays: Tebow completed 4-of-5 passes on the drive for 64 yards. Score: Florida 35, Vanderbilt 0.
THIRD QUARTER
UF–Percy Harvin 1 run (Phillips kick good) at 9:39. Drive: 10 plays, 69 yards, 5 first downs, 5:21 time elapsed following second-half kickoff. Key plays: Florida got a first down on a third-down pass interference penalty by Vanderbilt, converted on another third-down play when Emmanuel Moody rushed for 10 yards. Tebow’s 19-yard pass completition to Aaron Hernandez to the Vandy 1 set up Harvin’s short run on second-and-goal. Score: Florida 42, Vanderbilt 0.
VU–Jamie Graham 2 pass from Chris Nickson (Bryant Hahnfeldt kick good) at 1:04. Drive: 15 plays, 66 yards, 6 first downs, 8:35 time elapsed following Florida kickoff. Key plays: The Commodores converted on three third-down conversions on the drive, the last one on the touchdown pass which Graham caught outleaping Florida’s Janoris Jenkins in the corner of the end zone. Score: Florida 42, Vanderbilt 7.
FOURTH QUARTER
VU–Sean Walker 14 pass from Nickson (Hahnfeldt kick good) at 5:07. Drive: 14 plays, 84 yards, 5 first downs, 7:28 time elapsed following Florida punt. Key plays: The drive was kept alive when Florida was penalized 15 yards for roughing the punter on a fourth-and-3 at the Vandy 32; Nickson converted a third-and-13 play with a 17-yard pass completion to George Smith; the TD came on a fourth-and-3 play from the Florida 14. Score: Florida 42, Vanderbilt 14.
GAME SUMMARY
Time of game: 3:07. Start of game: 7:02 p.m. CT. End of game: 10:09 p.m. CT.
Attendance: 39,773.
Coin toss: Vanderbilt won the toss and elected to receive; Florida kicked off and defended south goal.
Florida captains: Louis Murphy (9), Ryan Stamper (41), Brandon Spikes (51), Phil Trautwein (75).
Officials (assigned by SEC): Marc Curles, referee; W. Randall Kizer, head linesman; Mike Washington, field judge; Michael Watson, back judge; Julian Mapp, line judge; Ronnie Jones, umpire; Jesse Dupuy, side judge; Rob Skelton, alternate; Gerald Hodges, replay official; Joe Dawson, replay communicator.
Weather: Cloudy, 50 degrees, winds from W 9 miles per hour.
Records: Florida 8-1 overall, 6-1 SEC East; Vanderbilt 5-4 overall, 3-3 SEC East.