• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Florida crushes Georgia, takes lead in SEC East

Nov 2, 2008 - 1:35 AM JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- There were no end zone dances or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for Florida.

Tim Tebow and the seventh-ranked Gators simply channeled a year's worth of brewing animosity into a one-sided thrashing of rival Georgia.

Tebow ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more Saturday as Florida crushed the eighth-ranked Bulldogs, 49-10, in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to claim sole possession of first place in the SEC East Division.

"It means we're first place in the SEC East right now," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "It's a rivalry game. We've done very well against our rivals. I can't go on about how big this was."

In last year's edition of "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," the Bulldogs enraged the Gators by holding a team-wide celebration in the end zone following an early TD run by Georgia's Knowshon Moreno.

The end zone dance, a move orchestrated by Georgia coach Mark Richt, energized the Bulldogs to a 42-30 triumph in this annual rivalry game.

Throughout this past offseason, Meyer and several Florida players expressed their anger toward Georgia's excessive celebration and indicated their desire for revenge.

But after Meyer issued a team-wide gag order to his players this past week, the Gators let their play do the talking for them.

"Was this motivation for the summer? Yeah, it was," Meyer said. "It was the only rivalry game we lost a year ago, and losing doesn't sit well with our players."

"We came out with a great amount of focus and energy," added Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, who finished with seven tackles. "We really wanted to get this game. We needed to win this game."

The Gators (7-1, 5-1 SEC East) did not commit a turnover, intercepted Matthew Stafford three times and also recovered a fumble en route to their 16th win in the last 19 meetings with the Bulldogs (7-2, 4-2).

It was Florida's second-most lopsided victory in the history of this 93-year-old rivalry. The Gators' biggest win against the Bulldogs was a 47-7 rout in 1996.

"I want to give credit where credit is due," Richt said. "Florida did a good job today, no doubt. We really played better than the score indicates, I think. I don't think there is as much difference in the two teams as the score."

"It just didn't happen for us today," added Stafford, who battled a nagging left leg injury throughout the contest. "The best way to get over this is get back to practice and get a chance to play again. But things didn't go our way in this one, and you have to take your hat off to them."

While Stafford struggled, Tebow was nearly perfect in this one, completing 10-of-13 passes for 154 yards without an interception. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner also gained 36 yards on the ground.

"(Tebow is) relaxed, he's playing and he's having a lot of fun," Meyer said. "Tim Tebow loves the game o of football and loves the University of Florida. He's contagious. When he plays well, the whole offense plays well."

Tebow gave Florida a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter with his first TD run of the game, a 2-yarder.

It was the 37th career rushing score for Tebow, who passed Emmitt Smith for first on Florida's all-time list. Georgia had a chance to narrow its deficit on its first possession of the second half.

But after the Bulldogs advanced to Florida's 30-yard line, the momentum swung back in favor of the Gators when Stafford was intercepted by Joe Haden, who reeled off an 88-yard interception return to the Georgia 1.

Tebow scored on a 1-yard run on the following play to make it 21-3, and the rout was on.

"It was a great win for us," Tebow said. "We knew we needed this one and we were focused all week. The defense made plays and the offense finished drives."

The Gators reached the end zone on each of their next two drives, as Tebow found Louis Murphy for a 44-yard scoring strike before rushing for an 8-yard TD to make it 35-3.

Tebow capped his day with a 25-yard TD pass to Percy Harvin with 11:30 remaining.

"The first pass to Louis Murphy was big because it put us ahead by a good margin," the junior said. "The second pass to Percy Harvin basically sealed the game for us."

Stafford finished 18-of-33 for 265 yards while Moreno was held to just 65 yards on 17 carries.

"Our turnovers, execution and some other things didn't go our way," Moreno said. "They just played better than us today.

"We need to look at film, see what mistakes we made and get better. (Richt) said we kept fighting until the end tonight and that we still have some games to play."