Tim Tebow played the role of Achilles when the Gators improved to 2-0 after defeating the Troy Trojans last Saturday in Gainesville. The Gators had a pretty amazing first half. They scored on all seven first-half possessions and brought the score to 49-7 as they entered the tunnel. It was quite an impressive performance. The gators were so big they hardly knew what to do with themselves.
However, it scared me a bit when the Trojans came out strong in the third quarter. They outscored the Gators 17-0 to bring the score to 49-24. As I warned last week, Trojans are stronger than many people think. They played tough in Arkansas last week and nearly stole a victory from FSU last year. You have to respect the philosophy of the Trojans to improve. They are a small school, but they schedule games against some of the best soccer schools in the country. If you want to be up there with the greats, then you have to play with the greats. Omar Haugabook played the role of Hector, opposite Tebow, passing for 283 yards including 2 touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown. Troy catcher Austin Silvoy caught both touchdown passes for the Trojans.
Despite their respectable comeback, the Trojans were no match for the No. 4-ranked Gators. The Gators didn’t need the deception of the Trojan horse to put the last nail in Troy’s coffin. In the fourth quarter, Joey Ijjas hit a 32-yard field goal, and Tebow followed with a 16-yard touchdown run. The final score ended up being 59-31 in favor of the Gators. Tebow’s final numbers were impressive leading the Gators not only in passing but also in runs. He passed for 236 yards with 3 touchdowns and rushed for 93 yards with 2 touchdowns. Yesterday he was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
Urban Meyer said after the game that he was not at all disappointed with the Gators’ performance. I quite agree with him. Our offense was excellent even with Percy Harvin limited due to tendonitis in his ankle. The defense still needs to improve, but hopefully with another game under their belt we will start to see results soon. One of the bad things that came out of the game was the injury bug attack. Andre Caldwell tightened his MCL, and it is now reported that he will not play Tennessee. While I’d definitely rather have him there, hopefully the other receivers will be able to step up and I think the offense should be fine. Caldwell will have to bring his top leadership from the sidelines.
As most of you already know, the Gators will host the Tennessee Volunteers this weekend at the Swamp. Now that we are entering our SEC calendar, we should be able to get a much better idea of what the team is made of, especially the defense. With superior talent and home-court advantage on our side, I think we should be able to take care of business and bring a tear to Peyton Manning in the process.
I decided to start a new blog feature and will be making predictions about the next game from now on. Here’s this week’s.
Florida – 38
Tennessee – 21
Thanks for reading and I appreciate each and every comment.
Tim aka T. keys
