Quotes from the players and coaches on the Gators’ 26-3 win over Miami:
Coach Meyer:
On the defense: “Our defense has played outstanding two weeks in a row. We stand out like a sore thumb if we don’t go hard…They had us on the ropes in the first half. We covered their receivers very well. It’s really great progress from last year.”
On special teams: “I am very proud of how our special teams played. We blocked a punt and Chas Henry made some great punts; his hang-time was decent but he did shank one. Jeff Demps blocked a punt and that was the momentum shift. I wish we had recovered that for a touchdown.”
On Miami’s defense: “They executed well. In the early parts of the game, they did a good job pressuring us. In the fourth quarter, we opened it up and made some plays.”
On the offense: “Miami threw some mix blitzes, raider blitzes and edge pressure. We used jet sweeps to counter and get Percy some decent yards. If I could do it again, I would have used play-action pass more in first half. In the second, we used more quick plays and bubble screens to move the ball.”
On Carl Moore’s catch at the end of the third quarter: “It was the play of the day and it changed the game’s momentum. It would have been fourth down if he hadn’t made that play.”
Junior Quarterback Tim Tebow
On the total team effort: “It was a great win for us. Every group played their game tonight, some more so than the offense. We relied on the defense and special teams, and they stepped up.”
On the second-half offensive adjustments: “We had to pick up the blitz. Once we did that, we just had to throw and catch. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute early, but we got it going in the second half.”
On having Percy Harvin back from injury: “It was great having Percy Harvin back making plays. We didn’t utilize him as much as we wanted to, but when we got him touches, he made big plays for us.”
Sophomore Tight End Aaron Hernandez
On his career-high five receptions: “I ran my routes. I know as a tight end I’m not going to get all the balls, so I made sure to get open and catch the ball when it came my way.”
On Cornelius Ingram’s influence on him: “Cornelius Ingram has helped me a lot, taught me to play my hardest. I did that today and I made some plays.”
Junior Linebacker Brandon Spikes
On the overall defensive performance: “We did a great job flying around and making plays. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I’m happy with how we played.”
On ways to improve for the SEC opener versus Tennessee: “We need to work on execution and communication. We played well tonight, but improving communication will help us play better.”
Randy Shannon
On the game: “This game tonight against Florida was a great one. It got away from us a little bit but our guys kept playing and fighting hard.”
On what Miami needs to improve on: “After the game, we talked about how there are situations offensively that when we cross the 50- yard line, we have to make sure that we capitalize and score out of it. Defensively, when we have somebody backed up, we have to keep them backed up.”
R-Fr QB Robert Marve
On the game: “We obviously didn’t play well enough to win and I’m a little disappointed.”
On how he played: “I felt pretty good all game. I think it is pretty unfortunate that the ball didn’t fall our way a couple of times on third down. They played what they showed on film, a lot of man tonight. My assignment was to keep the ball safe and play tough and I thought I did that pretty well tonight.”