LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a week of battling various germs, No. 1 Florida unleashed its own bug on the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday night: The TB0 virus.
But after spending nearly three quarters scaring the daylights out of the Kentucky blue bloods, Tebow put a scare into his coach, Urban Meyer, his teammates and Gator Nation as he laid on the Commonwealth Stadium turf, breathing deeply but motionless after a vicious but clean hit by UK’s Taylor Wyndham with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tebow got to his feet and walked to the Florida sideline, his evening over and the Gators with another concern heading into an off week following their 41-7 Southeastern Conference victory over Kentucky. The triumph—the 23rd in a row for Florida in the series—improved the Gators to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC East heading into an off week, which couldn’t come at a better time for the Gators. Florida puts the nation’s longest winning streak of 14 games on the line when it returns to play Oct. 10 at Louisiana State.
Tebow, who with teammates Riley Cooper, Joe Haden and Major Wright flew separately from their teammates to Lexington on Friday to prevent any further contamination from the flu bug going around the locker room, was brilliant before the hit, which snapped his head backward before it hit the left knee of tackle Marcus Gilbert and snapped forward. Eventually, team medical officials got Tebow to his feet and took him to the bench, where he stayed until a cart wheeled him off the field. Tebow was visibly ill on the ride to an ambulance, which took him and his parents to the UK Medical Center.
“We’re going to find out more about Tim,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said in his post-game press conference. “We believe it is a concussion. He got hit pretty good, but that’s one tough cat. Our team will pray for him and he’ll be fine.”
Prior to the hit, Tebow put his other discomforts aside (a respiratory infection) and led an amazing Florida first-quarter performance that even exceeded last year’s 28-point first-quarter explosion during the Gators’ 63-5 victory over the Wildcats.
When Tebow and his mates were through spreading their germs around Commonwealth Stadium in the first 15 minutes, they had a 31-0 lead.
Tebow ran for two short (3 and 2 yards) touchdowns and threw 44 yards to Aaron Hernandez for another in a 223-yard, first-quarter offensive outburst. Meanwhile the Gators’ defense forced four three-and-outs by an anemic Kentucky offense that managed minus one yard.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Gators’ special teams got into the act as they did in last season’s game when they blocked a school-record three kicks, including the first two punts Kentucky attempted. This time, sophomore speedster Chris Rainey broke through to block a Ryan Tydlacka punt and fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown.
“We came out and played hard,” Meyer added. “We’re not weak. College football isn’t all about playing great defense. Our guys were really charged up and came out hard after a really difficult week. I love these guys. They’re there for each other. They pray for each other. It’s really cool. With all the negativity of college athletics, it’s really neat.”
When the first 15 minutes were mercifully over, Kentucky coach Rich Brooks was seething on his sideline and most of the 71,011 fans in soldout Commonwealth Stadium (some of whom wore surgical masks to mock the ill Gators) were in disbelief wondering if there was a doctor in the house for the Wildcats, who fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the SEC East with No. 3 Alabama coming to town next week.
“I am very frustrated. I am embarrassed by the way we played,” Brooks said. “I felt like I had never coached a down in my life the way we came out in that first 15 minutes at home.”
Tebow spent several minutes on the bench surrounded by team medical officials. Meyer came by to check out his player, as did other members of the team, and his parents Bob and Pam Tebow made their way down to the sidelines to check out their son.
Team officials informed the ESPN broadcast crew that Tebow had “his bell rung” on the play. Eventually, the Gators’ 6-3, 240-pound quarterback, winner of the 2007 Heisman Trophy and the owner of two national championship rings, was put on a cart and driven from the field. The combination of his respiratory problem before the game plus the injury left Tebow sick to his stomach and he vomited into a bag as he left the field.
“He didn’t lose any feeling,” Meyer said. “They checked memory and all that, he’s fine. We were without Tim for about a day and a half. He was in isolation all day yesterday. There were a lot of guys sick and the staff got them ready to play today.”
For the game, Tebow was 5-of-10 passing for 103 yards and the touchdown to Hernandez. He also picked up a game-high 123 yards on 16 carries (7.7-yard average), including two rushing touchdowns that brought his total to 48, one short of the SEC record held by Herschel Walker.
With sophomore Jeff Demps adding 97 yards on 12 carries and Emmanuel Moody running five times for 57, freshman Mike Gillislee running six times for 39 yards and Rainey picking up 36 on nine carries, the Gators totaled 362 yards on the ground and finished with 495 yards in total offense.
Kentucky, meanwhile, managed just 179 yards in total offense, a good deal of it coming on a 14-play, 58-yard scoring drive in the second quarter that ended with Ross Bogue cradling a 2-yard touchdown pass from Mike Hartline. Kentucky did not have a first down until its fifth possession of the game with 8:58 to play before halftime. Hartline was 13-of-28 for 85 yards and the one touchdown but was intercepted twice (by Gators Janoris Jenkins and Major Wright).
Following Tebow’s injury, Caleb Sturgis, who opened the game’s scoring with a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter, added a 32-yard field to give Florida a 34-7 lead.
Finally, Johnny Brantley, Tebow’s replacement, connected with Cooper (Tebow’s off-campus roommate) for an 8-yard touchdown play with 6:39 remaining that made it 41-7. Brantley was 4-of-6 for 30 yards but also lost the ball on a fumble.
HOW THEY SCORED
No. 1 FLORIDA 41, KENTUCKY 7
At Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Ky.
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4—Total
Florida Gators 31 0 3 7—41
Kentucky Wildcats 0 7 0 0—7
FIRST QUARTER
FLA—FG Caleb Sturgis 22 at 11:13. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3 first downs, 3:47 time elapsed after opening kickoff and 27-yard return by Brandon James. Key plays: On third-and-5 at Florida 34, Tebow kept for 30 yards and a first down at the UK 36. Jeff Demps followed with runs of 17 and 14 yards to give Florida a first-and-goal at the UK 5 but on third-and-goal UK’s Sam Maxwell hit Tebow as he threw the ball, Florida’s only pass on the drive. Score: Florida 3, Kentucky 0.
FLA—Tim Tebow 3 run (Caleb Sturgis kick good) at 7:11. Drive: 4 plays, 36 yards, 3 first downs, 2:03 time elapsed following Kentucky punt from its own end zone that was set up with QB sack of cornerback Joe Haden. Key plays: Kentucky was penalized on the first play of the drive for defensive holding. Tebow then ran 14 yards to the UK 12 and Jeff Demps ran for 10 yards on second down. Tebow’s touchdown run came on third-and-1. Score: Florida 10, Kentucky 0.
FLA—Chris Rainey 0 blocked punt return (Sturgis kick good) at 6:04. Key plays: After Kentucky was penalized following a punt for illegal procedure, offensive tackle Matt Patchan occupied two blockers, freeing up Rainey, who burst through and stuffed Ryan Tydlacka punt, followed the blocked football into the end zone and fell on it for a touchdown. Score: Florida 17, Kentucky 0.
FLA—Tebow 2 run (Sturgis kick good) at 2:15. Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards, 4 first downs, 2:35 elapsed following Kentucky punt. Key plays: After two rushes by James and Demps netted 15 yards to start the drive, Tebow completed an 18-yard pass-run play with Emmanuel Moody, a 13-yard completion to David Nelson for another first down and then ran 10 yards for a first-and-goal at the UK 2. Score: Florida 24, Kentucky 0.
FLA—Aaron Hernandez 44 pass from Tebow (Sturgis kick good) at 0:00. Drive: 3 plays, 72 yards, 3 first downs, 1:07 time elapsed following punt. Key plays: After Moody ran 11 yards for a first down and Tebow went 17 yards for another, Tebow faked play-action and hit Hernandez, who bounced off a UK defender and raced into the end zone as the quarter ended. Score: Florida 31, Kentucky 0.
SECOND QUARTER
UK—Ross Bogue 2 pass from Mike Hartline (Lones Seiber kick good) at 2:44. Drive: 14 plays, 58 yards, 5 first downs, 6:33 time elapsed following Florida punt. Key plays: Touchdown came on fourth-and-1 play on play-action; Derrick Locke ran six times for 28 yards; Hartline was 4-for-5 on the drive for 22 yards, his first three completions to Randall Cobb for 20 yards. Score: Florida 31, Kentucky 7.
THIRD QUARTER
FLA—FG Sturgis 32 at 3:45. Drive: 10 plays, 60 yards, in 3:49 following Kentucky punt. Key plays: Moody had a 32-yard gain to the UK 28, Rainey had a 12-yard run for a first down at the UK 13. But the drive stalled with Florida penalties and Tebow was left motionless on the turf after a Taylor Wyndham sack one play before the field goal. Score: Florida 34, Kentucky 7.
FOURTH QUARTER
FLA—Riley Cooper 8 pass from John Brantley (Sturgis kick good) at 6:39. Drive: 1 play, 8 yards, 0 first downs, 0:08 following Major Wright interception and 33-yard return. Score: Florida 41, Kentucky 7.
GAME SUMMARY
Attendance: 71,011.
Game start: 6:12 p.m. End of game: 9:32 p.m. Elapsed time: 3:20.
Officials: Steve Shaw, referee; Brent Sowell, umpire; Gary Jayroe, head linesman; Jim Kelley, line judge; Rich Martinez, back judge; Mike Washington, field judge; Chuck Ross, side judge.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, temperature of 70 degrees, humidity 81 percent, winds calm.
Coin toss: Kentucky won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.
Records: Florida 4-0, 2-0 SEC East; Kentucky 2-1, 0-1 SEC East.
Next game: Florida, idle next Saturday, travels to Louisiana State Oct. 10. Kentucky is host to Alabama Saturday, Oct. 3.
Game statistics from ESPN.com:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=292690096