Nowhere to run
Gators eat up Vols down the stretch
By MIKE STRANGE, strange2@knews.com
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Rushing bottom line for UT: 23 attempts, negative 11 yards.
In the end, those numbers were too much to overcome.
The No. 7 Gators rallied for a 21-20 victory over No. 13 Tennessee in a game that goes a long way toward defining the terms of the SEC Eastern Division race.
A Neyland Stadium crowd of 106,818 watched the Vols creep to a 17-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
But following a pattern from the California and Air Force games, they were outscored down the stretch.
"I don’t think we let our foot off the gas pedal,’’ said UT coach Phillip Fulmer. "Florida just rose to the occasion.’’
The Gators (3-0, 1-0 SEC) rose thanks to two touchdown passes from Chris Leak to Dallas Baker to give second-year coach Urban Meyer the biggest road win of his career.
The second Leak-to-Baker connection, a 21-yard TD pass, put Florida up 21-20 with 6:30 to play.
"This win shows our toughness, our composure and our senior leadership,’’ said Leak. "It’s great to be able to play in a hostile environment.’’
Fulmer, who fell to 5-10 against Florida, had praise for the Vols’ effort, but not so much for their execution.
"There were a lot of plays that could have and should have been made,’’ said Fulmer.
A couple of them might have saved the evening yet for the Vols (2-1, 0-1) as they tried to stage a rally of their own.
However, a one-dimensional offense was one dimension too few against Florida’s defense.
Relying strictly on Erik Ainge’s passing — 17-of-32 for 183 yards — Tennessee moved for a first down at the Florida 39 with 3:24 to play.
That’s as close as the Vols got.
Blitzing linebacker Brandon Siler forced Ainge into an intentional-grounding penalty to avoid a sack.
The results were disastrous for UT — a 14-yard reversal and loss of down.
After an 8-yard completion to Bret Smith, Ainge misfired while looking for Robert Meachem to bring up 4th-and-16 at the Florida 45.
Not close enough to try a game-winning field goal by James Wilhoit, Tennessee had to risk it all.
"We needed about 8 yards for him to have another shot,’’ Fulmer said.
Ainge’s pass was intercepted by Florida’s Reggie Nelson with 2:47 left and the Gators ran out the clock.
Florida, winning in Knoxville for the fifth time in its past seven tries, outgained UT 330 yards to 220.
Tennessee resorted to trickery to get its first touchdown — a 48-yard pass from receiver Lucas Taylor to running back LaMarcus Coker.
The other was a 1-yard dive by Montario Hardesty.
Florida dominated the stats more than it did the scoreboard.
DeShawn Wynn rushed for 104 yards and Leak passed for 199 and three touchdowns.
The Gators got on the scoreboard on their second possession, moving 63 yards in seven plays for a 21-yard touchdown pass from Leak to Jemalle Cornelius.
It took a defensive play to spark UT’s sputtering offense.
Jonathan Wade’s interception and 20-yard return gave the Ainge & Co. field position at the Florida 49.
Consecutive completions to Meachem reached the Florida 22, but Ainge tripped coming away from center and fell for a 5-yard loss.
Consequently, UT had to settle for a 36-yard Wilhoit field goal and a 7-3 deficit.
After Florida’s Chris Hetland missed a 52-yard field-goal try, Tennessee forged into the lead.
The Vols took over at their 36 and a pass to Smith gave Tennessee a rare third-down conversion and a foothold at the Florida 48.
Enter Taylor and Coker.
Taylor lined up wide, swung around for a handoff from Ainge and fired to a wide-open Coker at the Florida 25 on the other side of the field.
Coker beat the pursuit to the goal line and UT led 10-7.
The only other memorable sequence of the second quarter was back-to-back touchdowns being wiped out by penalties.
First, Florida’s Brandon James took a Britton Colquitt punt 89 yards for an apparent score, only to be nullified by an illegal-block penalty.
On Florida’s first snap, from the Florida 22, UT linebacker Marvin Mitchell picked off a poorly thrown Leak pass and raced to the end zone.
All for nothing. A roughing-the-passer flag against Tennessee’s J.T. Mapu negated the score and gave Florida a first down.
The Gators advanced far enough for Hetland to attempt a 47-yard field goal but he was off the mark again.
In the third quarter, Tennessee broke through with a 29-yard Ainge completion to Jayson Swain for first-and-goal at the 1.
Scoring from there was no gimme, considering Tennessee’s AWOL rushing game.
It took Hardesty three tries, but he found a sliver of an opening on the third and UT led 17-7.
Hardesty finished with 14 yards on 17 attempts in his first start.
Florida cut it to 17-14 when Leak hit Baker from 4 yards out with 1:16 left in the third quarter.
Wilhoit connected on his second field goal, a 51-yarder, to give the Vols a 20-14 lead with 10:49 to play.
The Gators answered by reeling off another sustained drive against a wilting Tennessee defense.
Leak found Baker again for the 21-yard touchdown to make it 20-20. Hetland’s PAT was the game-deciding point.
"This will give us a good film study,’’ said Fulmer, "and this is not the only good defense we’re going to play.’’
Florida gets a good film study and a definitive victory.
"I’m not sure you can call (the team) not-tough more than we have,’’ said Meyer. "We challenged them and they answered it.
"I’d have to say we’re a fairly tough football team.’’
Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.
© 2009 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online