2008 Florida Football Post-Game Notes Florida vs. LSU October 11, 2008
Florida is now a perfect 5-0 at home against ranked opponents under head coach Urban Meyer. Coach Meyer is 4-1 all-time versus top-five opponents while at Florida and he improved to 14-5 all-time against ranked opponents (12-5 at UF). He has led the Gatorsto wins over six of the last eight ranked opponents and 11 of the last 14.
The Plan to Win The following four items outline Coach Meyer’s Plan to Win:
Play Great Defense Counting LSU’s touchdown at the end of the second stanza, the Gators have only given up 17 points to their six opponents in the first half. LSU tailbacks had 385 consecutive carries without a fumble before Christopher Scott fumbled with 9:46 to play in the first half. The Gators held running back Charles Scott to only 17 yards, marking the first time this season he has not rushed for 100 yards.
Turnovers UF recovered one fumble and caught two interceptions for a +2 turnover margin in the game. The Gators have a +10 in turnover margin this year. Florida already has more interception return yards this year (199) than all of last season (104). The total is already a season high under head coach Urban Meyer.
Score in the Red Zone UF has scored on 23-of-24 trips inside the red zone this season and has been perfect in five (6-of-6 today) of six games. The one time UF did not score was at the end of the Tennessee game, when the Gators ran on fourth and nine from the UT 12-yard line. There was less than five minutes remaining in the game and UF led, 30-6.
Win the Kicking Game The Gators did not allow the Tigers to start a drive on the UF side of the field for the first three quarters.
Team Notes Florida now has a 29-23-3 lead over LSU in all-time meetings and 14-10-3 at home. The Gators are now 10-1 at home at night under Coach Meyer. They broke LSU’s winning streak of 19 straight night games. UF is won its fourth game against defending national champions and 15th against defending SEC Champions. UF has won seven of the last nine against teams that won the SEC the previous year and nine of the last 13. This was the first time in nearly two decades and the 10th time in history the last two national champions met the year after they both won it. The last time this happened was in 1990. The home team is now 8-0-1 and the defending champions have lost four years in a row and are 4-5-1 in these games. Florida stopped LSU’s streak of 23 consecutive regulation wins. Before tonight, the last time LSU lost in regulation was to Florida in The Swamp on Oct. 7, 2005, 23-10. The last time LSU gave up more than 30 points in regulation under head coach Les Miles was 35-31 win over Arizona State on Sept. 10, 2005. Florida tallied 186 yards of total offense in the first quarter, more than doubling the previous first-quarter season high of 78 yards against Ole Miss. Florida has now scored on its first drive in four of six games this year. Junior running back/wide receiver Percy Harvin caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Tim Tebow with 13:22 in the first quarter. The other three games the Gators scored on the first drive were Miami, Tennessee and Arkansas. UF recorded 13 plays of 10 or more yards in the game. Attendance:90,684 Game Captains: 9 Louis Murphy, 41 Ryan Stamper, 51 Brandon Spikes and 75 Phil Trautwein. LSU won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Weather: 76ºF; winds out of NNE at 6 mph with clear skies (Humidity: 73%) The 1998 National Champions Florida Gator soccer team was honored at the end of the first quarter. 2008 Olympians with Florida ties were honored during halftime. Gator student-athletes are sponsoring the season-long “Gators Canned Goods Challenge for Kids,” a canned food drive to benefit the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank in Gainesville. Fans are asked to bring cans to every home football game in 2008.
Individual Notes Junior quarterback Tim Tebow’s two-yard touchdown rush with 4:16 to play in the third quarter tied Errict Rhett for second on the UF career list with 34 rushing TDs. He also moved into the eighth spot on the career yards list with 4,879 all-time yards, surpassing Steve Spurrier (4,848). Junior running back/wide receiver Percy Harvin has scored a touchdown in each of the last eight games. His two touchdown receptions in the first quarter, a single-game career high, brought his season total to five. In 2007, he recorded four TD receptions all year. Harvin recorded 102 receiving yards in the first quarter, marking the second game he tallied over 100 yards this season and the sixth time in his career. He ended the game with 112 yards. Tebow threw a career-long 70-yard touchdown pass to Harvin with 13:22 remaining in the first quarter. Freshman athlete Jeff Demps recorded his fourth rushing touchdown on a 42-yard run at the end of the third quarter. All of Demps’s touchdowns have been for over 30 yards as he is averaging 47-yard TD carries. Demps rushed for 129 yards in tonight’s game and 103 yards in last week’s win over Arkansas. The last time a true freshman ran for over 100 yards in back-to-back games was in 1999 when Earnest Graham rushed for 124 yards versus Vanderbilt and 105 yards at South Carolina. Junior linebacker Brandon Spikes recorded his first two career interceptions with 25 seconds to go in the first quarter and with 14:48 to play in the game, recording his first-ever touchdown. Senior running back Kestahn Moore recorded his first touchdown of the season on a two-yard run with 2:03 to play in the game. He has 10 in his career. Senior kicker Jonathan Phillips is now 9-for-9 in field goal attempts for the season and his career. In the first half, he kicked 37- and 34-yard field goals and nailed a 25-yarder in the fourth quarter. Redshirt sophomore linebacker A.J. Jones recovered his first career fumble at the 9:46 mark in the first half. Freshman cornerback Janoris Jenkins recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Brandon Antwine played for the first time in 2008.
2008 Florida Football Post-Game Quotes Urban Meyer Florida Head Coach Florida vs. LSU October 11, 2008
Opening Statement “First off, I want to thank the crowd tonight. That was as fine of a crowd as I have ever seen. I think that our team had the most well-rounded performance of the season. We were able to jump out to an early start against a great team with great football players. They’re the reigning national champions.”
On the touchdown in the third quarter to answer LSU’s score : “That was a classic Tim Tebow performance on that drive. We had a lot of discussions in the headsets about which way we wanted to go. We usually pass on third down and it kind of gets predictable. That was a great call by Dan Mullen. That was one of the biggest drives of the game.”
On the team going into the second half: “Our coaches did a great job getting into our guys’ ears at halftime. We came out with lots of juice in the third quarter which was important. The score was 20-7 going into the locker room and all a sudden it’s a two-score game. That first touchdown drive was a pivotal play for our momentum.”
2008 Florida Football Post-Game Quotes Florida Players Florida vs. LSU October 11, 2008
Junior Quarterback Tim Tebow On the game: “It was a great win for us. We knew it was a big game coming in. LSU is a very good team. We wanted to start strong and we did that. They rallied back and made it a game, but we responded with maturity and took over at the end.”
On the success running the ball: “This game we had to pass to set up the run. Usually we run to set up the pass. It was a great job by all our guys, especially our little backs who came in and ran well.”
Redshirt Sophomore Defensive Tackle Lawrence Marsh On the defense stopping the run: “We knew they wanted to come in and play physical. They have a couple good running backs, and a strong offensive line, but our game plan was to stuff the run and we stuck with it. We focused on penetration and getting off blocks, and that disrupted their running plays.”
On the crowd at the Swamp: “We fed off the crowd. It fired us up to hear the roar.”
2008 Florida Football
Post-Game Quotes
Les Miles
LSU Head Coach
Florida vs. LSU
October 11, 2008
Opening Statement: “We played a very talented team today at Florida. They executed extremely well. We spotted them 20 points in the first half. We never got out of that hole. I thought our effort was good, but we made too many mistakes in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams. Certainly when you play quality football teams you can’t afford to make those mistakes. When you make those mistakes, you give your opponent the short field. They’re very talented as it is, so they get the opportunity to score. They did a good job on defense bottling up our run. We did not have the run early on. They were getting first downs and were scoring. That’s how it started. We never really got momentum in that game and never got in-tune except for a few drives on offense. That’s what happens; You play quality teams, make mistakes and you give up easy scores.”
On cutting the deficit to six in the second half: “We turned the ball over enough on offense. We did not control the ball in the first half. In the second half when they needed to score, they came down there. When we closed the game and made it a six point game, they (UF) turned it around and got seven.”
On not having Ricky Jean-Francois: “I don’t know if it hurt us at all to be honest with you. I know if Ricky Jean would’ve played he would’ve played and played well. That’s not the reason (LSU lost).” 2008 Florida Football Post-Game Quotes LSU Players Florida vs. LSU October 11, 2008
Jr. WR Chris Mitchell On Florida’s defense… : “Their defense took us out of the game. We couldn’t execute the things we wanted to. They made us pay for all of our mistakes.”
On rebounding from the loss to Florida… : “We’re going to regroup one day at a time. Luckily we play next week and can put this game behind us.”
FR. QB Jarrett Lee On playing in The Swamp… : “It was a great environment to play in. The crowd was so rowdy; they made us have a lot of communication problems”
On the game versus Florida… : “UF played a great game. I made some misreads and their defense took advantage of them. They are an outstanding team on both sides of the ball. I thought we fought back well, but they were just too much in the end.”