Clear skies, the shadow of the stadium falling on the field, and a house full of that ugly not-real-Orange Orange was the greeting for the 2-0 Vols' first road game. Florida would win the toss and, surprise surprise, pick to go on offense first ;-)

The opening kick went to the goal line, and was returned to the 24. Tim Tebow would come out with Jeffery Demps in the backfield, with 3 receivers and his fullback lined up in the TE spot. Williams came up the middle on the drop-back, pressuring Tebow to try throwing it out wide to his FB, who was well covered by Reviez, and the pass was batted away, Nick had the best shot at it. Next play, the Gators came out in a split shotgun set, and the Florida O-Line picked up the Volunteer blitz well, giving Tebow time to find Riley Cooper over the middle for an 11 yard gain and a first down. An option play to the week side was busted up by Rico McCoy, netting the Gators only two yards. On second down, a playaction pass was thrown perfectly to Cooper, but Anthony Anderson came in and knocked the ball loose, ruled an incompletion. On third down Monte only rushed three, giving Tebow plenty of time to find David Nelson downfield for a big 21 yard gain up to the UT 42 yard line. Nelson caught another pass over the middle, picking up 14 next play. Nelson would catch the next pass as well, beating Marsalous Johnson in zone for a big 26 yard gain to the UT 2 yard line! Tebow lined up with 4 wide and a Tight End on First and goal, but the Vols defended beautifully and the pass was incomplete. On second Tebow came out in his power rush formation, and rolled right, looking for a pass, but Berry got right in his face, laying a smack to Tebow as he threw a pass for Carl Moore. Anderson was the only one to get two hands on the ball, but Moore managed to play good enough defense to break up the sure interception. 3rd down! Tebow would hand the ball of to Deonte Thompson on a sweep, but the UT Defense managed to hold him to a gain of just 1. 4th down from the UT 1 yard line, Urban Meyer decided to go for it. Tebow tried an option to the left side, and he made a great cut and walked in -- or not. Rico McCoy came up and "ain't no TD here!!" Tebow was stopped at the inch line and the Vols would get the ball!

Rico McCoy & co. stop Tim Tebow on a 4th down and goal from the 1 in the 1st Quarter.

So on trotter Crompton, inside his own 1 yard line, with 3:10 left to go in the quarter. The Vols lined up in a goalline set, and oh my goodness I can't believe it even as I type it. Montario Hardesty look the ball and went up the middle, slightly to the left, and it looked like Terron Sanders, a Florida DT, might be able to get him in the endzone, but Cody Sullens managed to block him to the side. Vladamir Richard took out Dustin Doe, ROLB, Chris Scott neutralized Janoris Jenkins, and all of a sudden Hardesty was in the clear. A lot of clear. 99 yards type of clear. Actually, it would go down as a 100 yard run. First play, and just like that it was 7-0 Tennessee with 2:57 left in the first.

The offensive line opens up a hole for Hardesty to race 100 yards through.

The ensuing kickoff would be downed in the endzone. A quick out to Moore would gain 6 yards on first down. On second down, a late blitz by Mike Edwards hit Tebow as he threw the ball, but Demps managed to catch the ball for a gain of 6. Next play went over the middle to Aaron Hernandez, who saw signs of Berry and dropped the pass. On second down Demps came out of the backfield, caught the pass, made Nick Reviez miss and was up to midfield, tackled by Eric Berry. Nelson would go for 9 yards over the middle, and I'd like to make a point that if Florida has this much time to throw, and the receivers run this good of routes, Tennessee is going to have a long, long day. On second down Tebow would hand off to Cooper, who found an opening on the right sight en route to a big 16 yard gain. A similiar play on the ensuing first down to Moore found nothing, as Eric Berry read the play and came across the field to make the stop. Demps went up the middle for 7 next play, which brought up a 3rd down and 3 from the UT 18. An option to the left gave 7 to Demps. From the 11, Tebow threw into the endzone to Cooper, but Berry was there to hit him as he tried to make the catch, incomplete. Florida would try .. something .. next play. I'm not sure what it was. Tebow looked to hand off to Cooper coming around the left side at snap, but kept the ball, and then got blown up by Dan Williams for a loss of 3. Stat page confirms that it is not a sack. 3rd down and 13 from the 14 yard line. Riley Cooper caught the ball, but Tennessee, playing a conservative zone, came up to stop him well short of endzone at the 7. Florida came out to kick a Field Goal. Jonathon Phillips was right down the middle from 25 yards out, and it was Tennessee 7 Florida 3 with 22 seconds left in the first.

Richardson returned the ball up to the 27 yard line, where Crompton would take over. Florida showed blitz, and Crompton checked down into a quick pass to the Kevin Cooper, who picked up 13 up to the 40 yard line. Hardesty would gain 6 on a run to the left next play, bringing up a 2nd down and 4 going into the 2nd quarter. The Vols lined up in an I formation, and Crompton found Bryce Brown over the middle on a quick route for a nice gain of 9 yards to the Florida 46. Next play, Brown went power-running to the right and found a nice hole for an 11 yard run to the 35. Hardesty went a bit of Iso up the middle for a gain of 8, and the Tennessee O-line was really winning the battle in the trenches. On second down, the Orange came out with 3 wide in an I-formation, and Crompton found Jones on a not-Cromptonesque pass over the Strong Safety, in front of the free safety, and actually on target more than 10 yards downfield to the Florida 8 yard line. First and goal, and a stretch play by Brown found a ton of room and he would get into the endzone. 14-3 Vols, 3:58 to go, and get this: Tennessee had 5 rushes for 133 yards, 4 for 33 if you're taking out the 100 yard scamper by Hardesty.

Bryce Brown goes in from 8 yards out to give the Vols a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.

The kickoff was returned up to the 25 yard line, where Tebow came out with 2 TEs but threw to .. nobody. Moore gained 4 over the middle quickly next play, and it would be 3rd down and 6. Next play, Superman found Moore over the middle, splitting the cover-2 for a big gain up to midfield. Demps gained 3 up the middle next play. On second down the Vols brought pressure, but Tebow found Thompson beating the man coverage over the middle on a beautiful pass. If Berry didn't get back on defense (his assignment was to cover the HB) this would have gone for a touchdown. As it was, it took the Gators up to the 23. A screen pass to Demps gained 2, Berry coming up to make the tacle at the 20. Next play, the Gators sent 5 receivers out, but great defense forced Tebow to keep the ball in his hands. He knows what to do with it, too: he started running, but in full Tebow form forgot the art of sliding, and Nick Reviez and Berry came up to pop him, and the ball came out, bouncing right to Gerald Williams at the 18 yard line! UT ball with 2:32 left.

Nick Reviez comes up to jar the ball loose from Tebow. The Vols would recover at their own 18 yard line.

A stretch play by Hardesty gained only 2 to the right side, followed by Crompton dropping to pass (gulp) and throwing a bad pass over the middle that the real Brandon Spikes probably would have intercepted. As it was, only an incompletion but it brought up 3rd down and 8. The Vols came out in shotgun, and Crompton looked to find Quinton Hancock over the middle, up at the UF 35 yard line, but the pass went, uh, through his _shoulder_ and into the arms of #21 Major Wright, who caught the ball and returned it up to the 16 yard line, where Tebow would take over with 2:01 left in the half.

Crompton's pass ninja'd through Hancock into the arms of Major Wright.

It would not take long for Tebow to take advantage. Cooper, left side of the end-zone, touchdown. 14-10 tennessee with 1:57 left in the half.

Tim Tebow hooks up with Cooper the first play after the pick for a 16 yard score.

Richardson took the kickoff from the 7, and had a nice return up to the 35 yard line of Tennessee. Brown would immediately run for 10 yards off the left side. Hardesty gained 5 next play, to midfield. On second down Crompton tried to throw, but got hit as he threw and the pass sailed on him, over Florida too (thankfully!). On third down, Tennessee tried a screen, but Florida was all over it, tackling Hardesty for a loss of 4. Chad Cunningham came out to punt, and it was a doozey, angled great towards the sideline, and Brandon James didn't even try to return it. It bounced out at the 4 yard line, where Florida took over with 1:11 left.

Thompson took a sweep handoff for a gain of just 3 yards. The next play, a screen, looked to be a great call -- if Dan Williams didn't exist. But, he does, and Tebow's pass to Demps went for a loss of 3, bringing up 3rd down and 10. Tennessee used a timeout. Florida would line up in the Tebow Dive formation, but changed to a pass, picking up the Berry Blitz wonderfully. Tebow found a wide open Chris Rainey on the left side -- but the pass took him out of bounds for a gain of 9! Florida would have to punt, and the Vols would come after 'em. While they didn't get close to blocking the punt, they did force Florida to not send anyone to challenge Richardson immediately, and he took the ball up to the Florida 38 yard line, with 37 seconds left.

Brown would gain 3 on a run to the right, and Hardesty would pick up just 2 on a run to the left, bringing up a 3rd and 5 with 17 seconds left, when Tennessee used their second timeout. Hardesty was given the handoff up the middle, and he had a nice gain up to the Florida 21 yard line. Lincoln hit a 38 yard field goal at the end of the half, giving Tennessee a 17-10 lead.. with 8 seconds left in the half.

James took the ensuing kickoff up to the Florida 31, with 3 seconds left. Tebow heaved the ball downfield, and it was picked off by Mike Edwards with a neglible return. Halftime!!

Play of the Half: a no brainer, Hardesty's 100 yard run on the first play set the tone of the Half. A close second would be McCoy's stop on 4th and goal from the one on Tebow immediately preceeding that.

Stat comparisson: Tennessee's rushing had 11 carries for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, Florida's passing was 16 of 24 for 192 yards and 1 Touchdown.

Oku would open up the second half with a return up to the 29 yard line. Hardesty would go for 13 on the next play, a toss to the left side up to the Tennessee 42 yard line. Crompton tried to throw next play, and showed why he wasn't; the ball should have been intercepted by Doe. So, the running game kept going for Tennessee: on second down Brown took a handoff to the right side for a huge gain, up to the Florida 40 yard line. Hardesty gained 4 up the middle on the next play, repeating the gain on the next play to bring up a 3rd and 2. Brown would gain a hard 3 yards up the middle to move the chains, then gained 2 off the right side. Hardesty came back in and picked up 6 yards on the next play, and another 3rd and 2 came up from the Florida 20, and Montario gained 4 on the play. The Vols kept the power running game _rolling,_ Hardesty broke free on the next play for a big gain to the 2 yard line. Crompton again tried to throw, swinging the ball out to Brown for a loss of 2. Brown picked up 3 on second down, bringing the ball to 3rd down and goal from the 1. Tennessee decided to burn a timeout to give Hardesty in, and it would pay off, Hardesty went in untouched off the left side. This drive was epic, 3:16 (almost a third of the second half), for 71 yards and the score. 24-10 Vols with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Montario Hardesty would walk into the endzone to give the Vols a 24-10 lead in the 3rd.

Florida would down the kickoff, and the Gators took over from their own 20. Demps tried to take the ball on first down, but McCoy made a great tackle for no gain. A pass to Moore would gain 6 yards, bringing up a 3rd down and 6. Florida tried to run, and it went for nothing. forcing Florida to punt. Richardson took the ball to his own 41, where the Vols would take over with 55 seconds left in the quarter.

Stoker gained 3 on an underneath pass on first down, and the Vols lined up in a split-back shotgun next play, handing the ball to Hardesty up the middle for a gain of 6 on that play to bring up a 3rd down and 1. It was obviously a rushing down, and Bryce Brown came in to handle it, taking the ball to the left side. Florida couldn't stop it. Doe missed a tackle, as did Jenkins, before he was tackled at the Florida 28 to end the third quarter. A stretch play to start up the third quarter had huge results: Brown went untouched off the right side, into the endzone, for the 28 yard score. 31-10 Vols, 4:55 left in the game.

Bryce Brown outruns Florida DB Major Wright en route to his second score of the day in the 4th Quarter.

The Gators, now _really_ in a bit of a spot, would take over from their own 25 yard line. Tebow quickly went to work, finding Thompson over the middle for a big gain to the Tennessee 47. Next play, Tebow delivered a blow to Lamarus Thompson before pitching the ball to Demps. A lot of dancing went for only 2 yards. 2nd down and 8. A screen play was blown up by a blitz to that side, and the pass went incomplete. 3rd down. Great coverage sent Tebow to try to run for it, and he gained the first down. Demps again would take a sweep play, gaining only 2 yards before he was tackled. Demps was thrown to next, gaining 7 yards to bring up a 3rd down and 1 from the UT 29 yard line. Florida would try a quick toss, but the Tennessee rush defense continued to shut it down, Berry and Anderson came up to stuff the play for a loss of 1, bringing up 4th and 2. Tebow would do his FB impression, but Chris Walker would do his Eric Berry impression, knocking the crap out of Tebow, forcing the ball out (short of the first down) and Rico McCoy would pick it up at the 30 yard line. He then went on 70 yards to give the Vols a Touchdown, and I think the 5th defensive/special teams Touchdown in 3 games. 37-10 Vols with 3:05 left in the game.

Chris Walker forces Tebow to imitate Superman flying, and Tebow is found lacking. 70 yards later, McCoy is given a nod from the Gods of Football.

The kick went into the endzone, where it would stay, and the Vols would stuff Demps on first down for a gain of just 1. Nelson would have a nice gain up to the 35. Demps had a gain of 6 up the middle next play, bringing up a second and 4. Cooper would take a handoff to the right side for a loss of one, and given how much Florida is running the ball I guess Urban Meyer has resigned himself to hearing Rocky Top all night long. A handoff to Demps provided evidence of that. No gain, 4th down, and the Gators would punt. Tennessee took over with 1:55 left in the game, up 4 touchdowns (28 point spread, anyone?) from their own 30.

Brown would gain 15 yards up the middle, up to the 45 yard line. Hardesty gained 12 off the right side next play, then 15 off the left side next play. Suffice it to say, Florida defenders have given up in this game. They'd give up another big play to Hardesty again, allowing him to go 28 yards untouched into the end zone. 45-10 Vols, 69 seconds left.

Hardesty follows a good block by Cooper into the endzone late in the 4th.

Florida took over from the 20 yard line, and on first down Tebow lofted a pass over the middle that was pretty bad towards Hernandez. An incompletion was his best hope, and that's what he got. Next play, Dan Williams sacked Tebow as he tried to escape the pocket, bringing up a 3rd down and 14. Tebow would convert, though, to Cooper over the middle for a gain of about 16. Cooper would then gain 4 yards up the middle. Berry would come up the middle on a blitz untouched next play, and Tebow got hammered for a biiig loss on an attempted screen play, and that would do it for the game.

Bobo's Play of the Game: Still the first one for the Vols, the 100 yard scamper by Hardesty. Hardesty was a giant in this game, taking 19 carried for 243 yards, with a 12.7 YPC average and 3 touchdowns. Yeah, he's the player of the game too.

Crompton was 6 of 10 for just 39 yards and 1 interception, though that INT was definately not his fault, as it _went through someone's shoulder!!_ Adding to Hardesty's numbers, Brown had 10 carries for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. On defense, Berry had 14 tackles, 3 for a loss, and the 1 late sack. Rico McCoy added 12 tackles and returned that Tebow fumble 70 yards. Chris Walker and Nick Reviez were creditted with forced fumbles.

For Florida, Tebow had a very bad game, for him. 21 of 31 for 262 yards seems great, but he only had 1 touchdown and the last-second interception to end the first half. He also ended with -4 yards rushing on 7 attempts with 2 fumbles. Demps had only 29 yards on 12 carries (2.4average) and Cooper had 3 runs for 19 yards. david Nelson had 5 catches for 84 yards, Demps had 5 for 30, and Cooper had 4 for 50 and Florida's only touchdown. Major Wright led Florida with 8 tackles and the interception. Carlos Dunlap and Brandon Spikes had only 4 tackles apiece, none for a loss.

Final Stats - Tennessee - Florida
Score - 45 - 10
First Downs - 15 - 14
Total Offense - 402 - 310
Rushing Yards (attemps) - 363(29) - 48(25)
Passing Yards (Comp/Att) - 39(6/10) - 262(21/31)
3rd Downs - 5/7 - 5/11
4th Downs - 0/0 - 0/2
Turnovers(Fumbles) - 1 - 3(2)
T.O.P. - 8:48 - 11:12

To prove it happened, by the way: