With everything he has accomplished for the Florida football program since 2006, Tim Tebow could afford some slack every once and a while.
Not from his coach, Urban Meyer, or his teammates but from Tebow himself. Superman, after all, didn’t always get there in time.
Whatever it was – a steady rain that began falling in the first quarter or another should-win game against a non-SEC opponent, Troy, with the big grudge match a week away – Florida and its field general played sloppily in the first quarter. But after beating himself up while Meyer and his staff did the same (somewhat) to his teammates, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner got himself and the top-ranked Gators going in a 28-point second quarter that euthanized Troy’s Trojan-horse upset hopes in a 56-6 victory Saturday afternoon in “The Swamp.”
Tebow threw four touchdown passes – his 30h straight game with a scoring pass, the longest current streak in the nation – and added his 45th career rushing touchdown, moving him into solo fourth place in conference history. His five-touchdown day gives him 117 touchdowns rushing and passing for his career. Statistically, he was 15-of-24 passing for 237 yards and the four touchdowns and gained another 71 yards on 13 carries before departing.
Behind his efforts and a 291-yard rushing attack paced by sophomores Jeffrey Demps (87 yards on 7 carries) and Chris Rainey (85 yards on 12), the Gators outgained the Trojans 663-139. It was the second straight week that Florida surpassed 600 yards in total offense. In last week’s 62-3 opening victory over Charleston Southern, the Gators had 624 yards. But Meyer will point to his team’s six fumbles (three of them lost) and 87 yards on 10 penalties as things that must be cleaned up before the Gators open their SEC season Saturday at home against Tennessee (1-1), which dropped a 19-15 decision at home to UCLA.
The victory was the 12th straight for Florida (2-0) since its 31-30 loss last September here to Mississippi after which Tebow made his famous “Promise” speech to the media about him and his teammates giving their best in every game that remained. A second national championship in Meyer’s short tenure would follow 10 victories later.
Saturday It wasn’t a case that Tebow and the Gators didn’t put forth the effort physically, but their mental edge produced enough miscues in the first 20 minutes to concern lesser teams. Florida had two turnovers in the first half, including one on a sack of Tebow, who also mishandled a center snap that Florida recovered.
The Gators, of course, can be forgiven if their collective mind wandered a bit to next Saturday’s SEC opener against the Volunteers and their first-year, trash-talking coach Lane Kiffin. Under Meyer, who was wrongly accused of cheating by Kiffin last National Signing Day in February, the Gators generally take such slights personally and deal out the punishment with vigor. CBS Sports will televise the civil war at 3:30 p.m.
Florida turned a sloppy 7-3 first-quarter lead (on Tebow’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson) into a 35-3 halftime lead after Tebow got himself (and surely his teammates) pumped up. After only enjoying a 73-47 edge in total offense and scoring on just one of five first-quarter drives, two of which ended with lost fumbles, the Gators outgained the Trojans (0-2) 292-49 yards in the second quarter and scored four touchdowns. Three of the scores came on plays in which Tebow had a direct hand – a 36-yard touchdown pass to roommate Riley Cooper, a 4-yard scoring run and a 33-yard scoring pass to Thompson, who came up limping after the catch and was helped off the field by Tebow.
Jeffrey Demps scored the final touchdown of the first half on a 24-yard run that opened up with Cooper losing his helmet on a downfield block, and it appeared the Gators would add another as Tebow got his team out of a hole at the Florida 1 and marched it 83 yards before throwing a completion to Cooper, who couldn’t get out of bounds and allowed the clock to run down to 0:00. Tebow had the football in his hands and feigned throwing it away in disgust before walking off the field to the locker room.
The Gators went up 42-3 when Tebow connected on a 32-yard scoring pass to Brandon James one play after James had fumbled the ball into the air and lineman Mike Pouncey was on the spot to make the jump-ball recovery. Following a 62-yard, six-play scoring drive that Chris Rainey ended with a 1-yard run, Tebow’s day ended. When the Gators got the ball back with 6:44 remaining in the quarter, he had the head phones on and was signaling plays to his redshirt sophomore quarterback John Brantley, who finished up.
Brantley would add a 6-yard scoring pass to freshman running back Mike Gillislee midway through the final quarter. He would finish 10-of-12 passing for 137 as Florida threw for 374 yards for offensive coordinator/line coach Steve Addazio.
UAB’s six points came on 45- and 42-yard field goals by Sam Glusman in the first and third quarters. Charlie Strong’s defense accounted for three turnovers, two fumble recoveries (Jermaine Cunningham forced the first that was recovered by Justin Trattou and recovered the second) and Jenkins’ interception.
RELATED STORIES
Buddy Martin: The Tebow Show. Click here: https://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/the_tebow_show/7090
Franz Beard: Cooper gives it the old college try. Click here: https://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/cooper_gives_it_the_old_college_try/7092
Statistics: Check out the statistics by clicking here: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=292550057
HOW THEY SCORED
No. 1 FLORIDA 56, TROY 6
At Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida Field, Gainesville
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4—Total
Troy Trojans 3 0 3 0—6
Florida Gators 7 28 14 7—56
FIRST QUARTER
FLA – Deonte Thompson 6 pass from Tim Tebow (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 6:39. Drive: 4 plays, 29 yards, 2 first downs, 1:23 time elapsed following Justin Trattou fumble recovery after Troy’s DuJuan Harris lost a yard and fumbled when hit by Jermaine Cunningham. Key plays: On first play, Tebow hooked up with Aaron Hernandez for 18 yards. Tebow accounted for all of the yardage with one rush for four yards and 3-for-3 passing for 25. Score: Florida 7, Troy 0.
TROY – FG Sam Glusman 45 good at 0:51. Drive: 9 plays, 34 yards, 3 first downs, 3:48 time elapsed following Emmanuel Moody’s 12-yard run and fumble and David McDowell’s recovery at the Troy 39-yard line. Key plays: Troy had three straight runs for a first down: a 2-yard run by Maurice Greer on third-and-2 from Troy 47, Shawn Southward’s 14-yard run to the Florida 37 and Levi Brown’s 11-yard scramble for a first down to the Florida 26. Score: Florida 7, Troy 3.
SECOND QUARTER
FLA – Riley Cooper 36 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 11:33. Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 2 first downs, 1:31 time elapsed following botched field-goal attempt by Troy when holder Austin Silvoy fumbled snap and was tackled by Janoris Jenkins for loss of 15 yards. Key plays: Tebow was 3-of-4 on the drive for 56 yards and rushed once for 9 yards; touchdown came on second-and-1 play on which Tebow froze the secondary with a play-action fake to Brandon James, who had come in motion. Score: Florida 14, Troy 3.
FLA – Tebow 4 run (Phillips kick good) at 8:04. Drive: 5 plays, 71 yards, 2 first downs, 2:00 time elapsed following Troy punt. Key plays: All the yardage came on runs; on third play, Demps scampered 38 yards after lining up behind Tebow, who was in the shotgun; Rainey then juked and jived for 17 yards to the Troy 4. Score: Florida 21, Troy 3.
FLA – Thompson 33 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 7:44. Drive: 1 play, 33 yards, 1 first down, 0:07 following Janoris Jenkins’ interception of Levi Brown on first scrimmage play following Florida kickoff. Key plays: Once again, Tebow fooled the Troy secondary with play action and then hit Thompson in stride behind two defenders. Score: Florida 28, Troy 3.
FLA – Jeff Demps 24 run (Phillips kick good) at 4:03. Drive: 5 plays, 40 yards, 2 first downs, 1:46 time elapsed following fumble recovery by Jermaine Cunningham after Troy tried some trickery on fourth-and-1 at Troy 47, Troy quarterback signaling like he needed players and the snap hitting a surprised DuJuan Harris in the hands. Key plays: Tebow bowled over Troy defender on 11-yard third-down run; Demps broke clear on his sweep run when Riley Cooper threw a downfield block. Score: Florida 35, Troy 3.
THIRD QUARTER
FLA – Brandon James 32 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 12:27. Drive: 6 plays, 60 yards, 3 first downs, 2:33 after second-half kickoff. Key plays: Following James’ 27-yard return of the kickoff to the Florida 40, Tebow picked up 13 yards with a first-down completion to Cooper; Rainey gained another 11 yards for a first down to the Troy 33; on second down, James took a pitch from Tebow, gained a yard, fumbled and teammates Mike Pouncey recovered the ball in mid-air to keep the drive alive; the touchdown pass came on the following play. Score: Florida 42, Troy 3.
FLA – Chris Rainey 1 run (Phillips kick good) at 8:38. Drive: 6 plays, 62 yards, 4 first downs, 2:20 time elapsed following Troy punt. Key plays: After Cooper ran 14 yards on an end-around and Tebow completed a 23-yard pass to Omarius Hines in the next play, Rainey did the rest, picking up 25 yards on three carries. Score: Florida 49, Troy 3.
TROY – FG Glusman 42 at 0:38. Drive: 9 plays, 29 yards, 2 first downs, 4:05 time elapsed following Florida punt. Key plays: Levi Brown completed passes of 24 to Tebiarus Gill and 10 yards to Zack Marcum for first downs. Score: Florida 49, Troy 6.
FOURTH QUARTER
FLA – Mike Gillislee 6 pass from John Brantley (Caleb Sturgis kick good) at 6:19. Drive: 7 plays, 77 yards, 3 first downs in 3:14 time elapsed. Key plays: Brantley accounted for all of the yardage with four completions totaling 75 yards and two runs totaling 2 yards; Omarius Hines had two receptions for 36 yards and Cade Holliday had one for 33. Score: Florida 56, Troy 6.
SUMMARY
Attendance: 90,349.
Officials: Tom Ritter, referee; Ronnie Jones, umpire; Johnny Crawford, head linesman; Dirk Bell, line judge; Timothy Smith, back judge; Bobby Allen Jr., field judge; Dean Waite, side judge; Bob Patrick, replay official.
Weather: Overcast, chance of rain 100 percent, temperature at kickoff 81 degrees. Winds from the SW at 8-10 miles per hour. Rain began falling in the first quarter but quit before halftime.
Start of game: 12:23 p.m. EDT. End of game: 3:47 p.m. EDT. Elapsed time: 3:24.
Records: Troy 0-2, Florida 2-0.
Next games: Troy vs. UAB Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m. (Troy/ISP Network); Florida vs. Tennessee Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m. (CBS).