The defending national champion Florida Gators didn’t show much in Saturday’s Orange and Blue Debut spring game.
But redshirt sophomore quarterback John Brantley showcased his arm and feet and showed future Florida football foes what life might be like following the graduation of Tim Tebow after the 2009 season.
Brantley, whose father John III and uncle Scot played football for the Gators, is scheduled to back up the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner next fall and perform the super-sub role Tebow played during his freshman season to Chris Leak during Florida’s 2006 national championship season.
On Saturday, however, an estimated record spring crowd of 65,000 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium had its collective eyes on the 6-foot-3, 217-pound Brantley and the Ocala Trinity Catholic graduate did not disappoint, throwing three touchdowns for the Orange and running for a touchdown for each squad as the Orange beat the Blue, 31-21.
Head coach Urban Meyer was impressed with Brantley, who threw for 265 yards for both teams, but more impressed by the crowd.
“John Brantley managed the game well,” Meyer said. “But to have 65,000 people show up to this game when the fans knew they wouldn’t see much of Tim Tebow, Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Spikes is amazing.”
Brantley was worth the price of admission ($5) with his double-duty work, and typically as quarterbacks do, he credited everyone but himself for his success.
“My line did a great job and my receivers really stepped up,” Brantley said. “I just tried to get the ball to my playmakers and let them make plays for me.”
One playmaker who did was 6-foot, 175-pound sophomore wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr., who averaged 32.8 yards on his four receptions, two of them second-half touchdowns of 50 and 8 yards.
“(Hammond) was the man I was going to because he is a playmaker,” Brantley said. “Today he really stepped up and made a lot of plays for us.”
So how good did Brantley do?
“I think Johnny Brantley did a great job,” said Tebow, Brantley’s mentor. “He’s not necessarily a running quarterback … but he is athletic and he will make plays when he needs to. He is going to do whatever he needs to in order to make a play and he’s going to be great.”
Brantley, like Tebow wearing a red jersey so he wouldn’t be tackled, had a 15-yard touchdown run at the end of the first half as the Orange squad overcame a 7-0 lead by the Blue squad with 17 points in the second quarter for a 17-14 halftime lead.
Brantley connected with Hammond for a 50-yard touchdown on the second play of the third quarter to put the Orange up 24-14 and the two combined for an 8-yard scoring pass with 7 minutes left in the game, which featured 10-minute quarters.
For the Orange, Brantley was 12-of-18 for 214 yards with the three touchdowns and one interception, and Hammond caught four passes for 131 yards (a 32.8-yard average) and redshirt freshman T.J. Lawrence had 59 yards on five receptions. The rushing attack was led by redshirt junior walk-on Christopher Scott, who gained 52 yards on eight carries. Scott also was the leading rusher for the Blue squad, gaining 28 yards on six carries.
“I think I played fairly decently,” said Brantley, who totaled almost half of the yardage – 288 of 578 – the two teams combined for Saturday.
Tebow did not play in the second half and finished 7-of-9 passing for 83 yards and the touchdown with an interception and 21 yards rushing on 3 carries. After receiving the Touchdown Club of Atlanta’s 2008 Wally Butts Award as the Southeast’s top offensive back for the second straight year, Tebow became a spectator and enjoyed what he saw.
“It was really great to see the young guys get into the action,” Tebow said. “That is what today is all about – for those guys to get out there and play in ‘The Swamp’ in front of all the fans and all of the excitement. There are plenty of guys who did well – Frankie Hammond Jr., Christopher Scott. All those guys are doing well and will continue to do well going into the summer and eventually the fall. They will all contribute.”
Brantley was 2-of-5 for 51 yards with the Blue offense in the second half and his 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Blue ended the game’s scoring. Senior Carl Moore had two receptions for 49 yards, including a nifty 43-yard reception from Brantley on the final touchdown drive. Deonte Thompson caught four passes for 44 yards for the Blue. One of Thompson’s receptions was a 19-yarder thrown by Moore on a flanker reverse.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Brendon Beal, who missed last season after suffering a knee injury in fall practice, led the Blue defenders with 13 tackles and an interception of Brantley. Defensive end Duke Lemmens had the first sack of the day when he touched Brantley for a loss of 7 yards. Earl Okine and Willie Green also recorded sacks. Another player coming off season-ending knee surgery last fall, safety Dorian Munroe, intercepted Tebow and returned it 30 yards in the first half.
A 37-yard screen pass from Tebow to sophomore running back Chris Rainey on the opening drive of the game set up the Blue at the Orange 14. Then with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter, Pridemore caught a 2-yard scoring pass from Tebow.
The Orange offense did nothing with its first drive of the game but Brantley got them on the board early in the second quarter when he connected with Burgess from the 1 to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:07 to go before halftime. The touchdown completed a 10-play, 90-yard drive that began late in the first quarter when Brantley and Hammond connected for a 47-yard gain on the first play from the Orange 10. Scott then followed with a pair of 12-yard first-down runs to end the quarter.
On the first play following the Burgess touchdown, Tebow’s pass was tipped into the hands of Munroe. But the Orange offense bogged down. So sophomore Caleb Sturgis booted a 44-yard field goal to give the Orange a 10-7 lead with 5:05 remaining in the half.
Tebow brought the Blue team back to take a 14-10 with a 7-play, 65-yard scoring drive. He started the drive with a 13-yard run and then hit Lawrence for 13 yards and another first down to the Orange 39. After Rainey picked up 4 yards, Moore came in motion, got a pitch from Tebow and connected with Thompson for 19 yards to the Orange 16.
Three plays later, Rainey rushed in from the 1 with 1:21 remaining in the half.
Brantley and the Orange needed only 66 seconds to regain the lead, going 65 yards with 7 plays. After a 3-yard pass to Lawrence, Brantley found Justin Williams for 12 yards to midfield. Brantley then rushed for 9 yards and the Orange called a timeout with 39 seconds left. When play resumed, Brantley hit Lawrence for 22 yards on a slant and followed with a 4-yard screen pass to Lawrence that got the ball to the 15. After another timeout with 22 seconds left, Brantley broke containment and rushed 15 yards to the end zone. Sturgis’ PAT gave the Orange a 17-14 halftime lead.
On the first play of the second half, Scott scooted 15 yards over left tackle to midfield and Brantley found Hammond over the middle for 50 yards and a touchdown that put the Orange up 24-14 just 40 seconds into the third quarter.
Brantley and Scott then started doing double duty. Late in the third quarter, the Orange was on the move again. Hammond started an 8-play scoring drive with a reverse run of 9 yards and two plays later caught a 26-yarder from Brantley that put the Orange into Blue territory to start the final quarter. Five plays later, Brantley found Hammond for 8 yards and the touchdown that made it 31-14.
Switching over to the Blue offense, Brantley directed the final scoring drive of the game, one that went 65 yards on six plays. Scott started things with a 12-yard gain and Brantley then found Moore, who made an acrobatic catch for a 43-yard gain to the Orange 10. After two Scott runs gained half of the total, Brantley rushed through the middle of the Orange defense untouched on fourth down for a 5-yard touchdown run that made the final score 31-21.
“It was a great spring,” Meyer said. “Now we’ve got to finish class, go see the President (Obama) on Thursday (at the White House) and then prepare for the hardest summer we’ve ever had.”
SCORING SUMMARY
ORANGE 31, BLUE 21
At Florida Field, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville
Score by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Score
BLUE 7 7 0 7 — 21
ORANGE 0 17 7 7 — 31
FIRST QUARTER
BLUE—T.J. Pridemore 2 pass from Tim Tebow (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 5:43. Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards, 3 first downs, 4:17 time elapsed after start of game. Score: Blue 7, Orange 0.
SECOND QUARTER
ORANGE—Rick Burgess 1 pass from John Brantley (Caleb Sturgis kick good) at 6:07. Drive: 10 plays, 90 yards, 4 first downs, 4:40 time elapsed following punt. Score: Orange 7, Blue 7.
ORANGE—FG Caleb Sturgis 44 at 5:05. Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 0 first downs, 1:01 time elapsed following Dorian Munroe’s interception of Tim Tebow and 30-yard return. Score: Orange 10, Blue 7.
BLUE—Chris Rainey 1 run (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 1:21. Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 4 first downs, 3:44 following field goal. Score: Blue 14, Orange 10.
ORANGE—John Brantley 15 run (Caleb Sturgis kick good) at 0:15. Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 3 first downs, 1:06 time elapsed following touchdown. Score: Orange 17, Blue 14.
THIRD QUARTER
ORANGE—Freddy Hammond Jr. 50 pass from John Brantley (Caleb Stugis kick good) at 9:20. Drive: 2 plays, 65 yards, 2 first downs, 00:40 time elapsed following start of third quarter. Score: Orange 24, Blue 14.
FOURTH QUARTER
ORANGE—Hammond 8 pass from Brantley (Caleb Sturgis kick good) at 7:00. Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards, 4 first downs, 5:10 time elapsed following punt. Score: Orange 31, Blue 14.
BLUE—John Brantley 5 run (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 3:55. Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2 first downs, 3:05 time elapsed following touchdown. Score: Orange 31, Blue 21.
GAME FACTS
A—65,000.
Officials: Referee, Ken Williamson; Umpire, Wally Hough; Linesman, Greg LeFils; Line judge, Deon Lafontaine; Back judge, Dale Keneipp; Field judge, Scott Peterson; Side judge, Dave Lafontaine.
Weather: Mostly sunny, light winds, temperature 74 degrees.
TEAM STATISTICS
BLUE ORANGE
FIRST DOWNS………………. 11 17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)………… 20-68 23-143
PASSING YDS (NET)…………. 153 214
Passes Att-Comp-Int……….. 15-10-1 21-12-1
TOTAL OFFENSE….. 35-221 44-357
Fumble Returns-Yards………. 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards………… 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards……… 0-0 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards…. 1-0 1-30
Punts (Number-Avg)………… 3-40.7 1-39.0
Fumbles-Lost……………… 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards…………… 0-0 0-0
Possession Time…………… 14:43 25:17
Third-Down Conversions…….. 2 of 6 3 of 7
Fourth-Down Conversions……. 1 of 1 2 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances……. 2-2 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards…….. 1-7 2-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Blue-Scott, C. 6-28; Tebow, T. 3-21; Thompson, D. 2-17; Rainey, C. 5-5; Brantley, J. 4-minus 3. Orange-Scott, C. 8-52; Brantley, J. 5-26; Hannah, M. 3-20; Brown, V. 4-20; Lawrence, T. 1-12; Hammond, F. 1-9; Blaylock, A. 1-4.
PASSING: Blue-Tebow, T. 7-9-1-83; Brantley, J. 2-5-0-51; Moore, C. 1-1-0-19. Orange-Brantley, J. 12-18-1-214; Blaylock, A. 0-2-0-0; TEAM 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Blue-Thompson, D. 4-44; Moore, C. 2-49; Rainey, C. 1-37; Lawrence, T. 1-13; Wilson, P. 1-8; Pridemore, T. 1-2. Orange-Lawrence, T. 5-59; Hammond, F. 4-131; Williams, J. 2-23; Burgess, R. 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Blue-Beal, B. 1-0. Orange-Munroe, D. 1-30.
FUMBLES: Blue-None. Orange-None.
SACKS (UA-A): Blue-Lemmens, D. 1-0. Orange-Okine, E. 1-0; Green, W. 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Blue-Beal, B. 8-5; Ross, M. 3-2; Peek, S. 3-1; Finley, D. 2-2; Lemmens, D. 2-2; Bushell, A. 3-0; Henderson, C. 1-1; Epps, T. 1-0; Watson, G. 0-1. Orange-Bostic, J. 4-0; Jones, J. 3-1; Edwards, L. 2-0; Hill, W. 2-0; Munroe, D. 2-0; Howard, J. 2-0; Okine, E. 2-0; Anderson, M. 1-1; Lemmens, D. 1-0; Jenkins, M. 1-0; Jones, A. 1-0; Pierre-Louis, W 1-0; Green, W. 1-0; Hunter, O. 1-0.