2007 Florida Gators football team

On the 1st possession of the game in the steamy Swamp, the Tennessee Volunteers went three and out. On the ensuing punt, Brandon James took the return 83 yards for Gator touchdown. Things never did get much better for the visitors, as Florida rolled to an impressive 59-20 victory in the SEC opener for both teams.

There was, however, a brief period when it seemed that the contest would be much closer. The Gators ran out to a 28-6 lead by late in the 2nd quarter on two Tim Tebow touchdown passes and a Tebow touchdown run, along with the opening punt return. But then Tennessee QB Erik Ainge got his team's offense moving, throwing a touchdown pass just before halftime to cut the lead to 28-13 at intermission.

The Gators mounted a long drive to start the second half, but freshman Volunteer cornerback Eric Berry picked off a Tim Tebow pass (his first interception thrown in 2007) and returned it 93 yards for another Tennessee touchdown. When Florida's next drive ended in a punt, UT had the ball down only eight, 28-20.

But on the first play of the possession, Erik Ainge's handoff to running back Arian Foster was mishandled, and Gator linebacker Dustin Doe scooped up the loose ball and took it into the endzone for a Florida touchdown. Tennessee's momentum was washed away by the roar of 90,000 Gator fans, and the home team never looked back. Florida would end the game with 31 straight points, turning a close contest into a runaway.

Several Gators had excellent afternoons. Tim Tebow finished 14-19 passing for 299 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT and rushed for 62 yards and 2 more TDs, and was awarded as the Walter Camp Foundation national offensive player of the week. Brandon James was the SEC special teams player of the week for his 193 yards and a touchdown on kick returns [http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/colleges/uf/story/241529.html] . And receiver Percy Harvin excelled as well, leading all players in rushing (9 attempts for 75 yards and 1 TD) and receiving (4 catches for 120 yards).

The Florida offense rolled up 556 yards of total offense, 255 on the ground. Meanwhile, the Gator defense also did its part, holding Tennessee to just 38 yards rushing with no first downs on the ground and 293 yards total offense. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/boxscore;_ylt=AiAc2iWdSMn9BeKRE6cSIbnyvbYF?gid=200709150067 NCAA Football - Tennessee Volunteers/Florida Gators Box Score Saturday September 15, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

Overall, the Gators put together a historically dominating performance. Their 59 points scored was the second-highest total in the history of the series (behind only UF's 62 in the 1995 contest), and the 39 point margin of defeat was the Vols' most lopsided loss to any opponent since 1981. [ [http://www.volstothewall.net/vttw/VolsAllTime.html Vols All Time ] ] Tennessee still leads the overall series by a narrow 19-18 margin.In one of the most anticipated games of the season, the Florida Gators traveled to Tiger Stadium to take on the LSU Tigers in a game that had conference and national title implications.

The Gators took an early lead by kicking a field goal on their first drive. Two drives later, the Gators mounted a 12-play drive that culminated in a Tim Tebow two-yard pass to Kestahn Moore to put the Gators up by ten. LSU immediately countered with a long drive of their own, going 80 yards in 16 plays, scoring on a Ryan Perrilloux option play to cut the Gator lead to 10-7. The Gators marched down the field again and scored on a Tebow run to put their lead back at 10 with 2:23 to play in the first half. LSU moved the ball right before the half, but kicker Colt David missed a 43-yard field goal.

In the second half, LSU took the ensuing drive but were stopped by the Gator defense. Appearing to kick another long field goal, LSU instead ran a brilliant fake with the holder—quarterback Matt Flynn—who scooted eight yards for the first down. The Tigers scored on a Keiland Williams run shortly thereafter.

The Gators answered the LSU drive with a quick 3-play drive to score on a 37-yard Tebow pass to Cornelius Ingram. Craig Steltz missed an assignment on the play which left Ingram wide open on the post pattern. Florida started the fourth quarter with a 24-14 lead.

However, the Tigers were not to be denied. After missing another relatively short field goal, LSU took advantage of an errant pass by Tim Tebow which hit Ingram in the helmet. The Tigers drove down the field, and Flynn hit Demetrius Byrd for a 3 yard touchdown to cut the Gator lead to 3.

On the final LSU drive, the Tigers converted several fourth down plays, including one by runningback Jacob Hester where he made a great second effort to surge ahead to just get the first down. Hester scored a short touchdown with 1:06 to play in the game, giving the Tigers a 28-24 lead.

On the final drive, Florida gained 30 yards, but Tebow's hail mary pass as time expired was batted down by Chad Jones, sealing the LSU victory.

Much of the hype during game week concerned the fate of starting safety and captain, Tony Joiner, who was arrested earlier in the week for what was later termed a "misunderstanding." The owner of the towing company where Joiner was arrested was quoted as having received over 200 calls from Florida fans, several of them death threats to him and his family.

The Commodores traveled to Gainesville for the first time since 2005 where they nearly came away with a win in overtime. In the 41st meeting between the two, Florida came out early with a 35-7 lead by the half. The Gators finished with 498 yards on offense against what had been the 14th best defense in the nation. Tim Tebow completed 22 of 27 passes for 281 yards passing and also ran for 35 yards on 6 carries. Percy Harvin carried the ball 11 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns and also caught 9 passes for 110 yards receiving, becoming the first player in school history to have over 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. Florida leads with a lopsided 30-9-2 record and has won the last 17 games in a row.

outh Carolina

four FGs was a school record 60-yard effort on the last play of the 1st half to cut his team's deficit to 24-12 at intermission. However, the momentum was short-lived, as Florida went on an 6-play, 81-yard scoring drive without throwing a pass to open the 2nd half and cruised from then on.

That 3rd quarter touchdown was the second rushing TD of the contest for Gator QB Tim Tebow and his 22nd of the year, tying the NCAA Division I-FBS record for most rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback. Despite suffering a fractured hand on that run [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3127002 ESPN - Gators' Tebow to have cast on right (non-throwing) hand for at least two weeks - College Football ] ] , he remained in the game and threw his third touchdown pass of the game in the 4th quarter, giving him 5 total TDs in the contest and 51 for the season. With his 262 passing yards and 89 rushing, Tebow set a new school record for most yards of total offense in a season with 3,970, surpassing Rex Grossman's 2001 total.

Gator RB/WR Percy Harvin did his part as well, returning from a 2-game absence to rush 16 times for a game-high 157 yards and a touchdown and catch 5 passes for another 67 yards.

The Gators' winning streak versus FSU grew to four games with this victory, including a 21-14 triumph in Tallahassee in 2006. Florida leads the all-time series 31-19-2. It also marked the fourth win of the season in which the Gators defeated a team led by a former national championship winning coach (Bobby Bowden, Howard Schnellenberger, Phil Fulmer, and Steve Spurrier being those coaches).

Michigan

The Florida Gators closed out the 2007 season against the Michigan Wolverines on New Years Day in the Capital One Bowl. This was only the second meeting between the two storied programs with the first having taken place a short five seasons ago in the Outback Bowl. Lloyd Carr coached his Wolverines for the final time with the announcement of his retirement shortly after his final regular season game against rival Ohio State.

Urban Meyer and the Gators were looking to carry their momentum from the second half of the season with Heisman-winning sophomore Tim Tebow into the bowl game. Coming off of two consecutive regular season losses, the Wolverines were attempting to break their four bowl game losing streak. Ironically, their last bowl game win came against the Ron Zook coached Gators following the 2002 season. This was the fifth game of the season where the Gators played a team led by a former national championship winning head coach.

The Gators lost the game 41-35 as Michigan barraged the Gator defense for over 500 yards of offense. Chad Henne finished his career at the University of Michigan with a victory in a bowl game, the first in five seasons, and finished with a career high in passing yards. The newly named Michigan head coach, Rich Rodriguez, could be seen during the game along the Michigan sidelines.

Personnel

Depth Chart

Pre-season Unofficial Depth Chart: http://www.gatorcountry.com/page/gator_football_depth_chart/

Roster

Coaching Staff

* Urban Meyer - Head Coach - 2 years at UF
* Steve Addazio - Tackles/Tight Ends - 2 years
* Stan Drayton - Running Backs - 2 years
* Billy Gonzales - Wide Receivers - 2 years
* Chuck Heater - Recruiting Coordinator/Cornerbacks - 2 years
* John Hevesy - Centers/Guards - 2 years
* John "Doc" Holliday - Associate Head Coach/Safeties - 2 years
* Greg Mattison - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line - 2 years
* Dan Mullen - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks - 2 years
* Charlie Strong - Assistant Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers - 7 years

Awards and Honors

* Tim Tebow, Heisman Trophy
* Tim Tebow, Davey O'Brien Award
* Tim Tebow, Maxwell Award
* Tim Tebow, Sullivan Award
* Tim Tebow, Associated Press Player of the Year

References

ee also

*2007 NCAA Division I-BS football season
*2007 Auburn Tigers football team
*2007 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
*2007 Florida State Seminoles football team
*2007 Georgia Bulldogs football team
*2007 LSU Tigers football team
*2007 Michigan Wolverines football team
*2007 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
*2007 Tennessee Volunteers football team