Game Day, Part III

It took the Gators three quarters to warm up against the Hurricanes, but Team Tebow eventually found a way to beat Miami for the first time since 1985.

A competitive 9–3 game turned on a controversial instant replay review at the end of the third quarter. On 3rd-and-9, reigning Heisman Trophy winning Florida junior quarterback Tim Tebow threw a deep ball down the sideline to receiver Carl Moore.

Initially ruled as an incomplete pass, it appeared Moore was out of bounds before losing control of the football. Upon further review, it was ruled that Moore’s elbow landed inbounds and, evidently, he showed possession of the ball long enough for the 28-yard completion to stand.

“That was the play of the day and it changed the game’s momentum,” said Florida coach Urban Meyer, who improved his record at The Swamp to 21–1.
 
From there, the floodgates opened for the Gators in front of a record crowd of 90,833 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Coach Meyer’s team scored 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points for a 26–3 victory over in-state rival Miami.

Electric runner-receiver Percy Harvin scored on a two-yard option pitch from Tebow, giving the Gators a 16–3 edge early in the fourth quarter. Then, receiver Louis Murphy caught a 19-yard touchdown from Tebow roughly three minutes later, to give UF a 23–3 lead before kicker Jonathan Phillips tacked on a 29-yard field goal with less than one minute to play for the final 23-point margin.

Tebow completed 21-of-35 passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions through the air, while rushing for a game-high 55 yards on 13 carries. Tebow now has 130 pass attempts without an interception, breaking fellow Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel’s record of 121 pass attempts without throwing an interception.

The man Brent Musberger and many others call “Superman” also passed Steve Spurrier (5,290) for ninth on Florida’s all-time total yards list, with 5,473 yards and counting. But, as is usually the case with Tebow, it was all about the Gators’ 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,” said Tebow.

Florida’s special teams blocked a punt for a safety, while the Gators’ stop-unit held the Canes to just three points — the lowest total since a 28–3 loss vs. Florida in 1983 and the second-lowest since an 18–0 shutout to the Gators in 1960.

The Urban legend that is Coach Meyer continued, as the new ball coach improved to 6–0 against in-state opponents (outscoring them 227–56) and 30–3 against non-conference opponents (with a perfect 14–0 record at home).