GAINESVILLE – Just when it looked like the Miami defense had Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators figured out Saturday night, the Gators’ Heisman Trophy quarterback and his speedy teammates went into another gear in the fourth quarter to end a 23-year winless drought in the series.
Stymied for most of three quarters by a surprisingly quick, young and spirited Miami defense, Florida exploded for two touchdowns with 4:20 of each other in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 26-3 victory in the renewal of the series before a Ben Hill Griffin Stadium record crowd of 90,833 on a hot and humid evening in The Swamp.
The victory ended a six-game winning streak by Miami in the series, which except for a pair of bowl games and a home-and-home regular-season series earlier this century had been on hiatus since Miami’s 23-15 victory in Gainesville to start the 1986 season. It was Florida’s first victory since a 35-23 victory in Miami in 1985 and the Gators’ first at home since a 28-3 victory that opened the 1983 season for both teams. Miami then went undefeated the rest of the way and won the first of five national championships in the last quarter century.
More important, however, was the victory put coach Urban Meyer’s Gators, ranked fifth in the Associated Press media and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls, at 2-0 going into a bye week before the Southeastern Conference season begins on Sept. 20 at East Division rival Tennessee. Miami, which fell to 1-1, also is off until Sept. 20 when it travels to Texas A&M.
Tebow, who was barely touched last Saturday during the Gators’ 56-10 season-opening victory over Hawaii, was certain to sleep well Sunday morning after he had a direct hand in 48 of Florida’s 62 plays. He finished with 311 total yards, 256 of them coming through the air on a 21-for-35 passing evening. He threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to tight end Aaron Hernandez in the first quarter and 19 yards to Louis Murphy in the fourth quarter. Tebow also figured in Florida’s other touchdown, running option left before dealing a pitch to Percy Harvin, who was playing for the first time this season.
Florida was leading only 9-3 after three quarters, but Harvin’s 2-yard touchdown run with 13:19 remaining in regulation gave the Gators some breathing room at 16-3 to complete a 12-play, 86-yard scoring drive that took almost six minutes.
The Gators’ next possession and touchdown drive was even longer – 95 yards – and it was much quicker – 1:44 time elapsed – and ended with Tebow hitting Murphy in the end zone. That gave Tebow 124 pass attempts without an interception, breaking the school record of 121 held by Tebow’s fellow Heisman Trophy winner (from 1996) Danny Wuerffel. Tebow finished the game with 130.
That made it 23-3 and Florida later added a 29-yard field goal by placekicker Jonathan Phillips, who converted on all three of his PATs, in the final minute to end the evening.
The Gators also had a late second-quarter safety after blocking a punt to go with their three touchdowns and field goal. Miami, which was outgained 345-142 by the Gators, got its only points on a 50-yard field goal by punter-placekicker Matt Bosher. Redshirt freshman Robert Marve was 10-of-18 passing for 69 yards and gained six yards on nine carries but proved to be elusive.
Still, the Florida defense held Miami to just 61 yards on 37 carries, with Graig Cooper leading the way with 31 yards on 15 carries in the game that featured no turnovers but plenty of hard hitting.
Miami coach Randy Shannon shouldn’t be unhappy with his young team’s effort. The Hurricanes, who still lead the series 28-26, held Florida to 243 yards through three quarters before the offensive eruption in the final 15 minutes.
The Hurricanes, 5-7 a year ago and coming off a season-opening 52-7 victory over Division I-AA opponent Charleston Southern, certainly didn’t play like a three-touchdown underdog, battling toe-to-toe with the Gators over the first 30 minutes.
Florida took a 9-3 lead to the locker room at halftime as Miami, though outgained 123-81 by the Gators, kept the ball for 17:21, including 8:42 during a 16-play drive that ended with a 50-yard field goal by Bosher.
Florida opened the scoring just 2:36 into the game when Tebow, pressured by a Hurricane defender, threw while backpedaling into the corner of the end zone where tight end Hernandez, who missed last week’s opener because of a one-game suspension, outleaped a surprised Miami defender for a 14-yard touchdown reception. Phillips PAT made it 7-0 after the 5-play, 35-yard drive that was set up by a shanked punt of 14 yards by Bosher.
Florida was moving the football on its next possession and had a first-and-10 near midfield when tackle Phil Trautwein was penalized for a personal foul and the Gators eventually had to punt.
Miami got the ball with 6:33 left in the first quarter and didn’t give it up until 12:51 were left in the half following a 16-play drive on which Marve converted twice on third downs and finally on a fourth-and-5 at the Gators’ 33-yard line. Bosher’s kick never was in doubt to cut the Gators’ lead to 7-3.
The Gators got into Miami territory late in the second quarter, reaching the 34-yard line before a motion penalty took them out of field-goal range. So Chas Henry came in to drop a 38-yard punt out of bounds at the Miami 1.
The Hurricanes got an immediate first down on a 12-yard pass from Jacory Harris to Kayne Farquharson and Miami got another first down at the 24 on three carries by Cooper. But the drive bogged down when Harris’ screen pass to Cooper went incomplete and guard Orlando Franklin was penalized for a personal foul, leaving Miami with a fourth-and-24 punt situation at its own 10.
On the snap, several Gators got free coming up the middle and freshman Jeffrey Demps got his hands on the Bosher kick. The ball rolled to the right side of the Miami end zone where Louis Murphy fell on it but couldn’t control it as player from both sides crashed into him. The ensuing rugby scrum ended up over the end line, giving Florida a two-point safety and a 9-3 lead with 47 seconds remaining in the half.
On the free kick, Brandon James returned the ball 31 yards to the Florida 47. But Tebow had no time to find a receiver on three pass plays and Henry punted the ball away 45 yards. Marve took a 2-yard loss to end the half, with Florida up 9-3.
HOW THEY SCORED
FLORIDA 26, MIAMI 3
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
At Gainesville, Fla.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida Field
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Total
Miami 0 3 0 0 — 3
Florida 7 2 0 17 — 26
First Quarter
UF—Aaron Hernandez 14 pass from Tim Tebow (Jonathan Phillips kick) at 12:24. Drive: 5 plays, 35 yards, 2 first downs, 1:44 time elapsed following shanked Miami punt. Key plays: Tebow scrambled 11 yards for a first down on 3-and-9 from Miami 34; Percy Harvin’s 9-yard run following play; Tebow threw off the back foot into the end zone where Hernandez outjumped a Miami defender for the touchdown. Score: Florida 7, Miami 0.
Second Quarter
UM—FG Matt Bosher 50 at 12:51. Drive: 16 plays, 41 yards, 4 first downs, 8:42 time elapsed following 50-yard punt by Florida’s Chas Henry and Graig Cooper’s 16-yard return. Key plays: Marve converted two third-down and one fourth-down plays to keep the drive alive. His scramble for 7 yards on fourth-and-5 gave Miami a first down at the Florida 26. Score: Florida 7, Miami 3.
UF—Safety, Jeff Demps blocks Bosher punt out of end zone at 0:47. Key plays: After Miami incompletion on third and 14 at Miami 20, Hurricane offensive guard Orlando Franklin was penalized for a personal foul. On fourth-and-24 from the 10, Florida came up the middle with two men and Jeff Demps blocked the punt. Louis Murphy attempted to fall on it for a touchdown, but his momentum and a rugby scrum moved the ball over the end line for a safety. Score: Florida 9, Miami 3.
Third Quarter
No scoring.
Fourth Quarter
UF—Percy Harvin 2 run (Phillips kick) at 13:19. Drive: 12 plays, 86 yards, 4 first downs, 5:50 time elapsed following Miami punt. Key plays: Tebow’s short completion over the middle to Hernandez, who ran downfield to completed a 38-yard play to the Miami 34. Then on third-and-9 from the 33, Tebow’s pass to Carl Moore, who was covered by Randy Phillips, was completed at the 5-yard line but was ruled incomplete after Moore came down with the ball out of bounds. But on review, Moore’s elbow hit inbounds to give the Gators a first-and-goal at the Miami 5. Florida needed a third-down pass interference call against Phillips, who was guarding Harvin, to get another first down at the 2, where on third down Harvin came in motion, took a pitch from Tebow and scored. Score: Florida 16, Miami 3.
UF—Louis Murphy 19 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick) at 8:59. Drive: 5 plays, 95 yards, 3 first downs, 1:44 time elapsed following Miami punt. Key plays: After an incompletion on first down, Tebow connected on four straight passes for 80 yards, setting a new school record for consecutive completions without an interception (124 and counting; old record of 121 held by Danny Wuerffel). The last two receptions went to Murphy and totaled 51 yards. Brandon James’ 22-yard scamper on a third-and-3 swing pass from Tebow had kept the drive alive. Score: Florida 23, Miami 3.
UF—FG Phillips 29 at 0:25. Drive: 4 plays, 5 yards, 0 first downs, 1:31 time elapsed following Brandon James’ 31-yard punt return. Score: Florida 26, Miami 3.
Game summary
Officials (from the Southeastern Conference): Penn Wagers, referee; Thomas Floyd, umpire; Lane Thomas, head linesman; Paul Petrisko, line judge; Brad Freeman, field judge; Richard Rooker, side judge; Stan Murray, back judge; Steve Landis, replay official.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 86 degrees, 63 percent humidity, WSW winds at 5 miles per hour.
Attendance: 90,833, a new Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium record.
Records: Florida 2-0, Miami 1-1.
Next game: Florida at Tennessee, Sept. 20, CBS