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Tebow, Florida pound Kentucky

Oct 25, 2008 - 10:30 PM GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Tim Tebow tossed two touchdowns and rushed for two others as seventh-ranked Florida cruised to a 63-5 victory over Kentucky in a Southeastern Conference beatdown.

The Gators blocked a punt on each of the Wildcats' first two possessions, setting up a pair of short rushing scores by Tebow and Brandon James. Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps blocked the punts and Major Wright blocked a field goal later in the contest.

"We are a punt block team," Gators coach Urban Meyer said. "We have one of the best punt returners in the country. We had some really good personnel going after them."

"I didn't think I'd be up here after a game where we had it go as badly as this again," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. "Obviously, I did a very poor job of preparing this team schematically and mentally in every phase. Our kicking game was a disaster."

Florida, which racked up 446 total yards, defeated Kentucky for the 22nd consecutive time.

"I am very pleased with our effort today," Meyer said. "We dominated on offense, defense and special teams. I can't say enough about our players today."

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Tebow completed 11-of-15 passes for 178 yards with an interception. He added 48 rushing yards on nine carries.

"It was a great day for us," Tebow said. "Offense, defense and special teams all came ready to play. We were firing on all cylinders."

The junior found Percy Harvin for a 33-yard TD strike and connected with Demps on a 62-yard catch-and-run for a score to open up a 35-0 advantage early in the second quarter.

James, Harvin and Kestahn Moore each had a rushing score for Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC East), which took a 42-3 lead into the break.

Gators cornerback Ahmad Black had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown on the first play of the second half to continue the onslaught.

"We were blitzing in nickle back, so I knew the quarterback wanted to throw the ball quickly," Black said. "They motioned the back out of the backfield and tried to throw it to him. I was there to catch it and run it back."

Demps led Florida in both rushing and receiving. He rushed for 50 yards on seven carries, while hauling in four catches for 66 yards.

"We saw the same thing you did. He's a fast dude," Meyer said of his running back. "Jeff Demps is a made man. He works so darn hard at everything he does. He'll be around here for a long time."

Kentucky's Mike Hartline passed for 33 yards before being replaced by freshman Randall Cobb, who completed 9-of-19 passes for 78 yards.

The Wildcats (5-3, 1-3) have lost three of their last four contests.

"I think we played one of the best teams in the country," Brooks said. "They've got speed, talent, size, playmakers at a lot of positions and we've got to give them a lot of credit.

"It shouldn't have been the magnitude of the loss that it was. They went out and took it from us and executed and we did not."