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Gators Give Dawgs Emphatic Answer: A Stomping

Tribune photo by COLIN HACKLEY

Florida celebrates beating Georgia 49-10 Saturday at Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2008

JACKSONVILLE - The winning quarterback celebrated by circling Jacksonville Municipal Stadium early Saturday evening, high-fiving anyone in the Nation reaching down from the stands.

It wasn't excessive.

It was exultant.

"It was a special win," Florida's Tim Tebow said.

Georgia annihilated, the winning coach pumped his fist as he ran for the tunnel after a year of tunnel vision about the rout last season.

Urban Meyer had placed a Zook-like gag order on his Gators so they couldn't begin to talk this week about the Dawgs' premeditated mass celebration last season. Urby had hardly loosened his lips himself, unless you count that monologue in his biography, in which Urban Meyer referred to himself as "Urban Meyer." I'd have flagged him 15 yards for speaking in the third person. But Georgia was on his mind.

"So we'll handle it," Meyer told biographer Buddy Martin. "And it's going to be a big deal."

So they handled it.

Florida 49, Georgia 10.

"This is the best answer," Florida receiver Louis Murphy said.

"It's the only answer," Meyer said.

Enjoyed Every Minute Of It

In resounding, obliterating, ground-into-dust fashion, the Gators did all the talking, put Georgia behind them and put themselves in the SEC - and national championship - picture. They're Atlanta-bound if they keep winning. They might need some help nationally. They remain on the outside looking in. But, oh, how Meyer's bunch looked Saturday.

And there was ample time to look, especially after Meyer called two Rub-It-In timeouts (excessive?) against Georgia coach Mark Richt in the final minute of a game that had stopped being a game long before that.

Meyer, when pressed, said, "We tackled really well."

Tebow smiled.

"We wanted to enjoy the game," he said.

I never minded what good-guy Richt demanded of his players at last year's party.

He was looking for an edge, even a contrived one.

And so was Meyer.

He found it.

You knew by the second play from scrimmage. Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno went up the middle. Florida middle linebacker Brandon Spikes body-slammed him for no gain and stayed atop him to let it all sink in.

"I just told him he better get ready, because I'm going to be here all night," Spikes said.

General rule of thumb:

It's very hard to excessively celebrate a touchdown when you aren't scoring any.

Florida had three interceptions and forced a fumble.

Georgia finally scored a touchdown with three minutes left.

The Bulldogs' side of the stadium was mostly empty at that point.

What was there to cheer about?

Tebow Accounts For 5 TDs

Florida was that good Saturday. Florida has been that good its past four outings, practically unstoppable since Tebow was stuffed against Ole Miss, which reduced him to tears.

Who's crying now?

Florida has outscored Arkansas, LSU, Kentucky and now Georgia by a combined 201-43.

Hard to believe, but this game was close in the middle of the third quarter, with Georgia driving and down only 14-3. Then Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford hit Florida cornerback Joe Haden, who took it back 88 yards, setting up a short Tebow touchdown run.

Tebow ran for three scores (breaking Emmitt Smith's career record) and threw for two others before giving way to John Brantley, who threw one to give the Gators some breathing room at 49-3, you know, before Urby called the timeouts.

Did he mention they tackled really well?

So they'd handled it.

If Urban Meyer was running for office, he'd have said, "I'm Urban Meyer and I approved this message."

As for the BCS picture, Florida would need to win out, then get help, you know, like in 1996 and 2006. But they didn't hurt themselves Saturday. They hurt Georgia.

You have to go back to the Steve Spurrier days to find the only Gators' Dawg beating that was worse. That was when Excessive was full of fun, scored 50 and really stood for something. Saturday, Florida ran the last four plays instead of throwing. Yeah, excessive isn't what it used to be.

The answer will have to do.

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