In our first road game of the year, the Gators managed to squeeze by Ole Miss with a final score of 30-24. The Rebels came out strong and were able to hold us scoreless in the 1st quarter. Their defense was all over us for much of the first half. They must have done some good preparation this week because they had us scouted pretty well. For the first time all year the offense wasn’t able to execute at will. Even though we managed to end the first half leading 14-6, the Rebels were feeling pretty good about the way they were playing. And who could blame them?
We bounced back in the second half though, with Tebow willing the boys to a 27-6 lead. It felt like we finally had the ball rolling and we were on our way to another big victory. Then, all of a sudden the Rebels just turned it on. Quarterback Seth Adams quickly threw 2 touchdowns, including a 71 yard pass to receiver Mike Wallace. I don’t know about you guys, but I started to get a little worried. They had all the momentum and the advantage of playing in front of their home fans. Luckily, senior Tony Joiner was able to come up with a huge interception for us. Tebow took over again, driving down the field and setting us up for a field goal which made the score 30-24. That is where it would stay.
I’d say 3 things led to this game being so close
1. Our young defense
2. 1st road trip of the year, and 1st ever for our 18 freshman
3. Ole Miss just plain came out to play
After the game Derrick Harvey said, “We were nervous for a while, but thank goodness we’ve got Tim Tebow on our team”. Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. Tebow carried us the whole game. He threw for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rushed for a Gator quarterback record of 166 yards with 2 more touchdowns. It was another strong showing for the Heisman hopeful. I think it’s great that he is living up to expectations and playing so well, but we really need some more guys to step up, especially on defense. I’m starting to feel like I’m writing a Tim Tebow blog. Maybe Major Wright can be that guy.
The Gators remain undefeated at 4-0, but after this close call we dropped to #4 in the AP Poll, switching places with Oklahoma. Not a big deal as long as we keep winning. Next week we return to the Swamp to take on Auburn at 8PM. The game coincidentally falls on my birthday which has to be good luck. I’ll be partying hard to celebrate so next weeks post might be a little detail-lacking and I’m apologizing for that in advance. I was way off with my prediction last week, so let’s see if I can rebound. Here’s my prediction for the Auburn game:
Gators - 38
Auburn - 24