2005 Florida Football Post-Game Notes Florida vs. Louisiana Tech September 10, 2005

Team Notes Florida's 73 points in the first two games of the season are the second highest total for the first two games for a team headed by . The highest was 92 through Bowling Green's first two games in 2002. Florida’s 251 yards rushing today is the most since gaining 262 yards on the ground against Kentucky last season. The Gators’ defense limited Louisiana Tech to 114 yards of total offense in the first half after allowing Wyoming 116 yards over the first two quarters last week. Florida’s second scoring drive of the third quarter took only three plays and 1:27 and was the quickest Florida scoring drive this season by both time and number of plays. Florida’s four rushing touchdowns today are the most since they ran seven TDs in against Florida A&M in 2003. Four players made their first career appearance for the Orange & Blue today. They were sophomore transfer Lutrell Alford, RS Freshman Jim Tartt, RS Freshman Jason Watkins and RS Freshman . Florida did not allow a Louisiana Tech touchdown today. The last time the Gators held an opponent without a touchdown was against Kentucky last season. With the win today, Florida has gone 2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2001 and for the seventh time in 10 years. Florida used four quarterbacks today: , Gavin Dickey, Josh Portis and Cornelius Ingram. The Quarterbacks threw to five different receivers and 10 different players had at least one carry. Florida already had 74 yards rushing with 3:30 left in the first quarter. The Gators did not have that many yards rushing last week against Wyoming until Josh Portis picked up a 23-yard gain on the last drive of the game. Forty-four different players saw action in the first quarter for the Gators. Florida’s which was recovered by Louisiana Tech in the second quarter was the first turnover by the Gators this season. With its field goal with 1:23 remaining in the first half, Louisiana Tech became the first team to score on the Gators in the first half this season. An opponent has yet to score a touchdown on the Gators in the first half. DeShawn Wynn’s 50-yard run in the first quarter is the longest since ’s 61-yard run against Arkansas in 2004. Wynn’s touchdown in the first quarter was Florida’s first fourth-down attempt and conversion under Coach Meyer. Wynn’s touchdown was the first by a running back this season. Tonight’s attendance was 90,099.

Individual Notes Wynn gained 101 yards rushing today and was the first Gator to rush for over 100 yards since Ciatrick Fason gained 103 yards against Florida State on November 20, 2004. Wynn’s 101 yards is a career-high. His previous high was 100 yards versus Miami in 2003. Chris Leak’s two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was his first since the Vanderbilt game in 2004. Leak also ran for a touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, marking the first time in his career he has ran for two touchdowns in a game. In his previous two seasons, Leak has only rushed for two touchdowns each season. Leak threw for 219 yards today, marking the 20th time in his career he has thrown for over 200 yards. That ties with Doug Johnson for the fifth-most 200 yards games in school history. Leak did not throw an for the second consecutive game. He has gone without an interception in 12 of 26 career games. Leak is the second starting quarterback under Urban Meyer to go through his first two games without an interception. Alex Smith also went without an interception in the first two games of 2004. Smith passed for 529 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games of the 2004 season, both were the highest by a Meyer coached quarterback. Leak surpassed Smith's yardage, with 539 yards through the first two games, and tied his touchdown total with five.

’s 80-yard touchdown reception from Chris Leak was the second longest of both their careers. The duo also connected on a 81-yard pass against Tennessee last season. The 80-yard pass from Leak to Jackson is the longest completion in Urban Meyer’s career has a head coach. The previous long was a 79-yard pass from Alex Smith to Ben Moa (Utah vs. UNLV) on October 18, 2003 . Jackson had 105 yards receiving today and also went caught for 138 yards last week against Wyoming. It is the first time a Gator receiver has back-to-back 100-plus yard games since Taylor Jacobs had 141 yards at Tennessee and 183 yards vs. Kentucky in 2002. Tony Joiner recovered the first fumble of his career today. The fumble was forced by Lutrell Alford, the first forced fumble of his career. Eric Nappy’s PAT in the third quarter was the first of his career. Todd McCullough’s interception in the third quarter was the first of his career and the fourth interception by Florida this season. Kestahn Moore became the first true freshman to start at running back for Florida since Robert Gillespie on Oct. 17, 1998, vs. Auburn. Including Moore, there have only been eight true freshman to start at running back for Florida since 1972. Chad Jackson has now caught a pass in 14-straight games. DeShawn Wynn’s touchdown in the first quarter was his first since scoring three against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 16, 2004. Kyle Jackson’s interception with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter was his first since picking off two passes against South Carolina on Nov. 13, 2004. The first time Chris Leak lined up under center this season was on Florida’s fourth-and-goal attempt in the first quarter. All other snaps, the Gators have been in shotgun formation. With Wynn’s second touchdown, he became the first Gator to score multiple rushing touchdowns in a game since Oct. 16, 2004 versus Middle Tennessee. Wynn also had multiple rushing TDs in that game with three. With his touchdown pass to DeShawn Wynn in the second quarter, Chris Leak has now thrown a touchdown pass in all 23 of his starts, the longest active streak in the nation. DeShawn Wynn’s touchdown reception in the second quarter was his first since catching one against Florida A&M in 2003. It was his second career touchdown reception. Wynn’s 24-yard touchdown catch was the first over 20 yards by a Florida running back since Ciatrick Fason caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Chris Leak against Arkansas in 2003. Chad Jackson’s 16-yard run was the longest of his career and came on his third career carry. Demetrice Webb’s interception in the second quarter was his first of this season.

2005 Florida Football Head Coach Urban Meyer Quotes Florida vs. Louisiana Tech September 10, 2005

On the game … “A win is a win, and I will always be happy with a win. The most discouraging thing is that we did have one turnover. But I want to focus on the positive; the defense continued to play really well. I thought DeShawn Wynn played hard, he had some nice runs.”

On the defense … “There has never been a point in the last two games when I thought we were being threatened. At no time today did I feel like we were in trouble on defense, and that has to continue. I think we created three turn- overs on defense”

On the offense … “The issue on offense was that one turnover. We were more balanced in this game than in the last. I felt like Wyoming made an extra effort to stop our run so that game was unbalanced. We try to keep our offense at 50-50. Tonight at one point I think we had around 200 yards rushing and few passing. I thought the running game was a C- to a B. I thought DeShawn, Kestahn and Markus all ran well. We have to have a downhill running game in place and I think you saw that tonight … we’re getting there.”

On Florida quarterback Chris Leak … “I was disappointed in Chris Leak’s play early. For us to move up and down the field he has to hit his targets. He didn’t do that early on, but he’s a very good thrower and later on he did hit the targets. He would be the first to say it wasn’t his best early on, but I feel confident saying that the things he missed tonight, you won’t see him miss those very often.”

On Florida running back DeShawn Wynn … “I think DeShawn practiced well this week and deserved the opportunity to play. He ran hard tonight, he has good speed and I was impressed with his abilities tonight. Do I trust him yet? I’m starting to.”

On the Florida receivers … “Bubba Caldwell is a dynamic player, and I think everyone really got to see that last week. Chad Jackson played well tonight and had a decent outing as well.”

On playing Tennessee next week … “I know how you prepare for rivalries and that is to prepare like you’ve never prepared before. You don’t get game tough during practice, it’s either there or it isn’t, and we’ll really find out if it’s there next week. We have some things to work on, some things to clean up and a lot of work to do in practice this week. Our routine is in place now, the guys know what’s going on during game day”

On the instant replay … “I’m a big fan of the instant replay. You’re either right or you’re wrong and I think the proper steps should be taken to ensure that a fumble is called a fumble.” 2005 Florida Football Louisiana Tech Head Coach Jack Bicknell Quotes Florida vs. Louisiana Tech September 10, 2005

On the game “It was an interesting game. I thought it was a game of us not making the big plays that we needed. We had a couple of , a couple of on the ground. I felt offensively we didn’t make the receptions that we needed and it seemed like there were big plays that we didn’t make and then we’d turn it over to an excellent football team. But I saw some good things for us on both sides of the ball. Hopefully we’ll go through it all and hopefully we can make some changes.”

On Florida’s defense “They did a great job. They are a very good football team. They’re smart with what they do. They do a good job mixing it up with zone blitz. I was concerned that it was one of those situations where we didn’t have enough time at all but I didn’t have that feeling during the game.”

On the situation in Louisiana “It’s been a life changing experience for a lot of people. You realize what’s really important to you in life. If you have a meal, some water, and a bed to lay down in at night then you have it good. But for some people they don’t even have that. It’s been a positive thing too. I’m proud of our town, our country for everything they’ve done.”

On Florida’s game “I’ve had nightmares of them flying through the game. Chris Leak is an excellent quarterback, one thing about Chris is he’s going to put it on the money. He won’t throw it over or under. They have some extremely fast receivers, I felt like there was no way to stop these guys.”

2005 Florida Football Florida Player Quotes Florida vs. Louisiana Tech

September 10, 2005

DE JEREMY MINCEY On persistence in a game: “That’s what you have to do. It’s what Coach (Urban Meyer) wants us to do. He expects the best from us, so we give him the best. We keep getting better and better.”

On the key difference for success: “It’s definitely maturity. We are high on maturity, especially the older guys in the game. The older guys are playing well, and you expect it from your team. We’ve been getting the job done, and it’s going pretty well.”

QB CHRIS LEAK On the win: “It’s always a big thing when you win. We’re 2-0, and that’s the most important part. We’re just trying to prepare for next week. We’re more comfortable out there. We have to correct a few things, but we keep getting better. Everyone is getting more comfortable and we’re excited to get things going. Of course, you want to be perfect every game. It’s about making smart plays and making the right plays.”

On the Tennessee rivalry: “I have no words for it. It’s amazing – the atmosphere and listening to the crowd. It’s a nationally-televised game, and it’s really special for the coaches, players and the families.”

WR CHAD JACKSON On offensive improvements: “We’re trying to get the bugs out. We keep improving, but different teams have different defenses. Everyone has to open up. We can’t have too many bugs. Coach calls us checkers. He said tonight, the red checkers were better, but the red checkers and the black checkers are going to be even next week.”

On preparation for Tennessee: “We’ll be ready. We have to go out and practice hard. If we mess up, we have to start again. It’s more emotional next week, especially for Coach Meyer. He’s hyped up already. He doesn’t want any bull this week. He’s fired up.”

2005 Florida Football Louisiana Tech Player Quotes Florida vs. Louisiana Tech September 10, 2005

Dez Abrams, junior safety On the final score: “41-3 doesn’t tell the whole story. They weren’t running up and down the field on us. Everyone will turn on ESPN and say, ‘Wow, Tech got crushed.’”

On Florida’s offense: “They had some pretty good trick plays and misdirections. We knew about some of them from watching film, but we couldn’t prepare for all of them. They got some big yards off of those plays.”

Marcus Lindsey, junior offensive lineman On playing in front of more than 90,000 fans: “I missed five games at the end of last season, so I was eager to get back on the field. Playing in front of such a large crowd is priceless. The energy of the crowd carried over to the play on the field. I’m grateful for this opportunity. I hope we can learn something positive from the experience.”

On Florida’s defense: “Those guys are big and physical up front. Overall, it was a tremendous challenge for our offensive line. I felt like we were able to make some penetration up front, but it wasn’t nearly enough.”