BATON ROUGE, La. — So many times during his four-year, star-studded career at Florida, quarterback Tim Tebow has taken the Gators on his wide shoulders and driven them, willed them to victory.
Saturday night, the rest of the Gators returned the favor to their brave leader, who suffered a severe concussion in Florida’s last game on Sept. 26 and was questionable until just hours before kickoff here in the Southeastern Conference’s biggest game of the season thus far—No. 1 Florida against No. 4 Louisiana State.
With head coach Urban Meyer and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio keeping their head-butting quarterback on a leash in the early going until Tebow got his game legs under him, the Gators’ offensive line of center Maurkice Pouncey, guards Mike Pouncey and Mo Hurt and tackles Carl Johnson and Marcus Gilbert ground out several time-consuming drives.
Meanwhile, middle linebacker Brandon Spikes and the nation’s No. 1 defense hurried LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson with a maddening pass rush and big, big stops all evening long.
It all added up to a 13-3 victory by the Gators before a record crowd of 93,129 in Death Valley, which last experienced a Saturday night loss back in the 2002 season—32 games ago.
The victory was Florida’s 15th in a row and fifth of this season and left the Gators 3-0 in the SEC East coming back to Gainesville for a Homecoming clash with Arkansas, which ended Auburn’s undefeated season Saturday with a 44-23 victory in Fayetteville. Kickoff will be either 3:30 p.m. to accommodate CBS or 7:45 p.m. to accommodate ESPN.
Tebow, who accounted for 172 yards in total offense, only returned to practice on Tuesday. He split practice snaps with backup John Brantley, who as game time approached seemed to be the likely and the safe starting option for Meyer. But when Tebow passed his final tests Saturday morning at the team hotel, Meyer went with his steady hand and Tebow once again delivered—with a lot of help from his friends.
“It was a tough win, coming into this stadium with a great crowd, “ Tebow told CBS sidelines reporter Tracy Wolfson after the game. “I’m feeling great and our doctors and trainers did a great job. I want to thank all the people across the country who prayed for me. We won because we played hard on both sides of the line of scrimmage.”
Tebow completed 11 of 16 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown, a 24-yard strike to roommate Riley Cooper in the second quarter, and added 38 rushing yards on 17 carries. Jeff Demps had a game-high 86 yards on 16 carries and Emmanuel Moody had 42 on six rushes, while Aaron Hernandez caught six passes for 70 yards and had an important 16-yard carry on an option toss from Tebow.
Caleb Sturgis kicked field goals of 28 and 32 yards, the last one after missing a 20-yard chip shot wide left in the third quarter.
Spikes, meanwhile, ended a brilliant evening with 11 tackles (one more than teammate A.J. Jones) and 2.5 of Florida’s 5 sacks of Jefferson, who completed 11 of 17 passes for just 96 yards. Cornerback Joe Haden had an interception (the 17th straight game that Florida has made an interception) and broke up another two passes.
Florida outgained LSU 327-162, had the ball for 36:30 and held LSU to one third-down conversion in nine attempts and one fourth-down conversion in three tries. Two years ago when LSU rallied for a 28-24 victory of the Gators here, coach Les Myles gambled five times on fourth-down plays and his team converted each one.
During Florida’s off-week following its 41-7 victory at Kentucky on Sept. 26, defensive coordinator Charlie Strong had made sure his players remembered that evening two seasons ago. Strong’s Gators responded, holding LSU’s Charles Scott, the hero last week in LSU’s last-minute victory at Georgia, managed just 53 yards on 13 carries.The Gators allowed just 66 rushing yards on 30 carries.
Word gradually filtered out after Tebow passed his final tests from team doctors that he would not only play but start for the Gators. When the team bus arrived inside the bowels of Tiger Stadium, Tebow exited the bus, shook his teammates’ hands and then walked over to greet his parents Bob and Pam to give them the news that he was going to play.
Tebow warmed up before the game and looked like a youngster who was allowed loose in a playground. Except this playground was Tiger Stadium, better known as Death Valley.
Because he had not absorbed any kind of contact since the Taylor Wyndham sack at Kentucky that sent Tebow’s helmeted head into the knee of teammate Gilbert and caused the concussion, Meyer and Addazio had a very vanilla game plan early.
After the Gators’ defense forced LSU to punt on the game’s first possession, Tebow and the offense started at their own 7 where the partisan crowd made things difficult for Tebow and his teammates to communicate. After Chris Rainey gained four yards on a dive, Florida was penalized 5 yards for a false start. After Meyer averted another penalty by calling a sideline timeout as the play clock was running out, Tebow pitched on the option to tight end Hernandez, who rumbled 16 yards for a first down at the 22.
That play seemed to relax the Gators, who got runs of 2 and 25 yards by Demps for a first down at the 49. A Tebow completion to Hernandez for 8 and two Moody runs totaling 19 yards gave Florida a first down at the LSU 23. The Tigers then were called twice for being offsides, moving the ball to the 13 where the drive stalled after the Gators got just two yards on three carries, two of them by Tebow for no gain.
So Sturgis came in and booted his sixth field goal of the season and Florida, after taking 8:11 off the clock, led 3-0 with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Again, the Gators’ defense forced a punt – this an 18-yard shank by Derek Helton – and Florida was back in business at its 35 with 51 seconds left in the quarter. The drive carried over into the second quarter and was aided by a Moody 9-yard run and two penalties by the Tigers.
When Rainey gained nothing on a third-and-3 run at the LSU 22, Sturgis came in to attempt a field goal but the Gators then used a timeout and elected to go for a first down on the fourth-and-3. On the play, Tebow faked a carry right and pitched back to Brandon James, who was going left. James, however, couldn’t get the corner turned quick enough and gained just a yard, giving the ball to the Tigers 12 minutes before halftime.
Jefferson guided LSU 77 yards in 12 plays, making big plays with his feet and his arm. He ran 8 yards for a first down on the second play of the drive at his own 23. He then found Brandon LaFell ahead of Markihe Anderson and the pair hooked up for 26 yards and a first down to the Florida 43. Four plays later, Jefferson gained 2 yards on a fourth-and-inches play and the Tigers got another 15 yards when Carlos Dunlap was penalized for a personal foul to the Florida 17. On the next play, the Gators stopped Keiland Williams for a loss of 3, but another personal foul, this a late hit by Spikes, gave LSU a first-and-goal at the Florida 10.
Williams got two yards and Scott got six more, leaving LSU with a third-and-goal at the Florida 2. Scott got the call but Florida stopped him for no gain, so Josh Jasper kicked an 18-yard field goal with 5:16 left before halftime to tie the game 3-3.
Jasper’s kickoff went through the end zone, and Florida started at its 20. Meyer and Addazio gave Tebow a little more freedom on the drive, and like his pre-game warmup, the Florida quarterback was like a kid again. He started with an 8-yard gain after scrambling around about 40 yards to elude tacklers.
After a Moody 4-yard run for a first down, Tebow then rolled left and threw a strike to Brandon James for 20 yards and another first. Demps ran for 13 for another first to the LSU 35 and the Gators were moving and eating the clock.
Moody gained 6 and Tebow got 2 more before Tebow bulled his way for another first down at the LSU 24. After LSU took a timeout to stop the clock with 57 seconds left, Tebow hit a wide-open Cooper for 24 yards and a touchdown and Sturgis’ kick gave Florida a 10-3 lead.
Haden then intercepted a Jefferson pass at the Florida 34 and Tebow took a knee to end the first half.
The Gators got the ball to start the second half at their own 16 and it looked as if they would give the ball back to the Tigers when Tebow threw incomplete on third down from his own 19. But LSU lineman Laz Levingston tugged on his face mask, giving Florida 15 yards and a first down at the 34.
On first down, Tebow found Deonte Thompson for 7 yards. He then rushed four straight times into the teeth of the LSU defense and gained 16 yards, giving Florida a first down at the LSU 43.
Two Tebow completions of 26 and 13 yards to Hernandez gave Florida a first-and-goal at the LSU 4. On third-and-goal at the LSU 3, Tebow was rushed and got off a weak pass to Hernandez, who couldn’t keep the ball from scraping the ground before going into the end zone.
So on fourth down, Sturgis came in to kick a 25-yard field goal – and he hooked it high and left.
A 13-play, 76-6ard drive that consumed 6:30 of the clock ended with LSU’s players jubilantly running off the field and no more points on the Florida side of the scoreboard.
But the Tigers could do nothing with the small momentum change because Spikes and the defense wouldn’t allow them. Justin Trattou sacked Jefferson on the first play and then Spikes sacked him for a loss of six on third and 16. Helton punted the ball 51 yards, but the Gators had their best field position of the night, starting at the own 41.
The Gators started well enough, Demps scooting 7 yards on an option pitch from Tebow and Moody following with a first-down rush of 4 yards. On first and 10 at the LSU 48, Tebow connected with Cooper for 9 yards. But two Tebow runs gained no yardage, and Tebow got under center to take a direct snap from Maurkice Pouncey. What he was really trying to do was draw LSU offsides on a hard count, but the Tigers didn’t bite and Florida was assessed a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty and eventually punted.
LSU took over at its own 14 with 2:37 remaining in the quarter and got a first down but then two false start penalties had the partisans booing and the clock running out to end the third quarter.
Even though the Gators came up empty in points during the quarter, they succeeded by eating up precious time on the clock. The Gators controlled the clock for 10 minutes and outgained the Tigers 91-4 in the quarter.
Sturgis eventually atoned for his hook by kicking a 32-yard field goal with 7:27 remaining in the fourth quarter for a 13-3 lead that made things safer.
Spikes and Co. then made the lead stand up.
HOW THEY SCORED
No. 1 FLORIDA 13, No. 4 LOUISIANA STATE 3
At Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La.
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4—Total
Florida (FLA) 3 7 0 3–13
Louisiana State (LSU) 0 3 0 0–3
FIRST QUARTER
FLA— FG Caleb Sturgis 28 good (out of Chas Henry hold) at 3:50. Drive: 13 plays, 82 yards, 8:11 time elapsed following LSU punt to Florida 7. Key plays: Aaron Hernandez rushed for 16 yards and first down on option pitch from Tim Tebow; Jeff Demps’ 26-yard scamper to the Florida 49; Emmanuel Moody’s runs for 6 and 13 yards to get Florida into field-goal range. Score: Florida 3, Louisiana State 0.
SECOND QUARTER
LSU—FG Josh Jasper 18 FG good (out of Derek Helton hold) at 5:16. Drive: 12 plays, 77 yards, 6:44 time elapsed following failed Florida fourth-down conversion attempt. Key plays: Jordan Jefferson’s 26-yard pass to Brandon LaFell; Jefferson’s keeper on fourth-and-1 for first down and a personal foul penalty on Carlos Dunlap; Another personal foul call against Florida for a late hit against Brandon Spikes that gives LSU a first-and-goal at the Florida 10; Florida holds on third-and-goal from 2 when Charles Scott is stopped for no gain. Score: Louisiana State 3, Florida 3.
FLA—Riley Cooper 24 pass from Tim Tebow (Sturgis kick good) at 0:50. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards in 4:26 following LSU kickoff through end zone. Key plays: Tebow ran three times for 13 yards, the last time converting a third-and-2 with a 3-yard run to the LSU 24; Moody ran two times for 10 yards and Tebow was 2-for-2 passing for 44 yards. Score: Florida 10, Louisiana State 3.
THIRD QUARTER
No scoring.
FOURTH QUARTER
FLA—FG Sturgis 32 good (out of Henry’s hold) at 7:27. Drive: 11 plays, 44 yards in 6:09 following LSU punt to the Florida 41. Key plays: Demps ran three times for 25 and Tebow and Hernandez connected for 7 yards on a shovel pass for a first down at the LSU 17. Score: Florida 13, Louisiana State 3.
GAME SUMMARY
Attendance: 93,129 (new stadium record).
Officials: Hubert Owens, referee; Daniel R. Pulley III, umpire; Jay Vines, head linesman; Terry Walters, line judge; Dale Keneipp, back judge; Grant Jackson, field judge; Chuck Russ, side judge; Matt Moore, alternate; Ben Oldham, replay official.
Weather: Cloudy with a chance of showers. Temperature of 69 degrees. Winds from the NNE at 6 miles per hour.
Time: 3:03. Start of game: 7:10 p.m. End of Game: 10:13 p.m.
Records: Florida 5-0, 3-0 in SEC East; Louisiana State 5-1, 3-1 in SEC West.
Next games: Arkansas at Florida, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) or 7:45 p.m. (ESPN) next Saturday; Auburn at Louisiana State, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24.