Colleges

Super sophs spur Gators' escape

Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin help Florida hold off pesky Ole Miss at a familiar haunt.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published September 23, 2007

Tim Tebow's 166 rushing yards on 27 carries set a Florida record for a quarterback. He also was 20-of-34 for 261 yards.
	[Getty Images]

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Percy Harvin caught a career-high 11 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown, the first Gator with double-digit catches since Dallas Baker's 10 in the Outback Bowl in 2006. It was Harvin's second straight game with more than 100 receiving yards.

OXFORD, Miss. - Early on, it had all the trappings of past failures.

The No. 3 Gators on the road against an unranked Mississippi team - their defense struggling and offense sputtering. They hoped not to end up like the last ranked Gator team that went to Oxford, which lost in 2003. Or the teams that hadn't won there since 1994.

But Saturday, in front of 55,032 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Gators had something they didn't in their previous trips.

Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.

And the sophomores made all the difference in the world.

Tebow rushed for 166 yards and Harvin had 121 receiving yards Saturday to help Florida hang on for a 30-24 win.

"This is huge, getting a win in your first start on the road," Tebow said. "I've still got a lot to learn, but you can do that a lot better when you're coming off a win."

Just how big was Tebow?

His 166 rushing yards on 27 carries set a Florida record for a quarterback. He also was 20-of-34 for 261 yards.

Simply put, the Rebels couldn't stop him. On the Gators' final two drives, Tebow carried the ball 11 times, picking up five first downs. Facing third and 3 at the Ole Miss 19, the Gators again turned to Tebow.

And his 3-yard runallowed Florida to run out the clock.

"I saw what you saw, and it was let's not make our defense go out there again," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "It was let your offensive line and your quarterback go win that game and let your young secondary go sit on the bench and try not to play them."

That strategy was sound.

After a stellar game against Tennessee last week, the Gator defense struggled. For the second week in a row, it stopped the run, holding Ole Miss to 80 yards and BenJarvus Green-Ellis, All-SEC last season, to 37 on 11 carries.

But Seth Adams, nursing a sprained shoulder, went 18-of-31 for 302 yards, showing the weakness of the Gator secondary. His biggest pass was a 77-yarder to Mike Wallace, which flew perfectly over the defenders, to pull the Rebels to within 27-24 (after a two-point conversion) with seven seconds left in the third quarter.

The Gator offense, which had been so dominant in the first three games, wasn't on Saturday. Ole Miss was determined not to give up the big play.

"(Tim) did not play his best game throwing the ball," Meyer said. "There were a bunch of incomplete passes that should have been completed. Part of that is Tim, and also part of that is their defense. They did a nice job against us."

With receivers Andre Caldwell and Riley Cooper out with injuries, Harvin took up the slack. He caught a career-high 11 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown, the first Gator with double-digit catches since Dallas Baker's 10 in the Outback Bowl on Jan 2, 2006. It was Harvin's second straight game with more than 100 receiving yards.

"We knew we were going to have to nickel-and-dime them," said Harvin, who caught a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter. "So we just had to run 5-yard stops, end routes and some of the little things."

For all of Tebow's runs, Meyer said he doesn't want this team to get used to riding him like a championship racehorse; even if it does seem to work.

"That's a crutch," Meyer said. "That's something that when it gets tough, let's give it to the horse and let him go. He had 27 carries, and that's far too many."

[Last modified September 23, 2007, 00:43:09]