It's all business for Florida and it shows

Photo by Michael Patrick

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (15) joins his teammates and cheerleaders on the sidelines following their 30-6 victory over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

Photo by Michael Patrick

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (15) joins his teammates and cheerleaders on the sidelines following their 30-6 victory over Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

There was no trash talking in the Florida postgame press session, no discussion of owning Tennessee in football.

There was no need.

The Neyland Stadium scoreboard reflected a 30-6 Gators' victory Saturday, and the Florida players seemed content to exit Knoxville with the same businesslike approach they arrived with.

"You test someone's maturity level when you go on the road,'' Gators coach Urban Meyer said. "I made the comment to the guys at the hotel last night, I want them to conduct themselves as a professional athlete.

"This is SEC football, it's your job and it's really what your life is about. You're here to get a degree and play college football. ... We take it real serious.''

Meyer, 4-0 against UT, said Florida emphasized playing great defense and taking care of the football.

The Gators responded, not committing a turnover while forcing three UT turnovers and holding the Vols out of the end zone through three quarters.

"We really controlled the line of scrimmage,'' Meyer said. "I think 27 (Arian Foster) is one of the best backs in college football and we held him in check.

"We loaded the box pretty good; we wanted them to be one dimensional.''

Foster carried 14 times for 37 yards (2.6 yards per carry) while UT as a whole was held to 96 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

Meyer was the first to admit Florida's offense didn't necessarily earn any style points - the Vols actually outgained the Gators 258 yards to 243.

And, Meyer said, Florida wasn't holding anything back.

"We did everything we possibly could,'' he said. "We ran the ball for 147 yards, and Tim (Tebow) didn't throw very much ... 8-of-15, that's not very good. We'll have to work on that.''

Tebow passed for two touchdowns, but only 96 yards, as it was Gators' return man Brandon James did most of the damage.

James had two punt returns for 92 yards, including a 78-yarder for a TD, along with a 52-yard kickoff return to open the game.

James tied Florida's career record with Saturday's punt return for a TD, the fourth in his career. It was also James' second punt return for a TD against the Vols. Last year he had an 83-yarder.

"It (the punt return for a TD) was down the middle,'' James said. "I was like, 'Yeah, it's gonna be a good day.' "

Just to make sure of it, Meyer dropped speedster Percy Harvin back deep on the punts, too.

"Those two back there could be lethal,'' he said.

Tebow, who carried 12 times for 26 yards, said UT's plan to scheme toward him probably opened up some other elements of the Gators' run game.

"But I don't know if it mattered what we were running,'' he said. "Our offensive line was getting a surge, really getting that first two yards off the ball.''

Tebow, like Meyer, pointed to the Gators' businesslike approach as a key.

"Our team is 10 times more mature than we were last year in everything we do,'' Tebow said. "Off the field, in the classroom ... how we handle the pregame and how we handle the hype.''

As for himself, and his chances for a second Heisman Trophy, Tebow shrugged.

"The Heisman was great and awesome,'' he said, "but I'm focused on trying to win a championship, not statistics.''

Tebow said winning at Neyland Stadium was crucial in that respect.

"It was a huge step for us,'' he said. "For the last 12 to 15 years, the winner of this game has had a lot of success in the SEC and it gives you a lot of momentum.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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