GATORS SURVIVE TOUGH TEST AGAINST RAZORBACKS

The University of Florida’s perfect season is still alive, but just barely.  Despite playing their worst game of the season on Saturday, the Gators held off a determined upset bid from the Arkansas Razorbacks and eventually kicked a game winning field goal in the final seconds to escape with a 23-20 victory.  The Gators won their sixteenth straight game despite losing four fumbles and improved to 6-0 on the year.  Arkansas dropped to 3-3 with the loss.

College football betting enthusiasts who took the Razorbacks as +24’ road underdogs were mentally counting their winnings by halftime as Florida never came close to covering—in fact, the Gators never led by more than three points.  Florida dropped to 3-2 against the spread in their lined games this season, while the Razorbacks improved to 3-2 versus the number.  The 43 points scored went UNDER the posted total of 50’—the fourth time in five lined games this season Florida has failed to exceed the total.  Arkansas has now gone UNDER in 3 of their 5 lined games.

Despite the substandard performance, Gators’ QB Ti m Tebow never gave up hope and was instrumental in leading the Gators on the final drive to get within field goal range.  He talked about his optimism after the game:

"I always knew we had a shot. We were just going to keep believing until the last second."

Florida coach Urban Meyer placed much of the blame for the difficulty on a subpar outing by his star quarterback:

"I think somebody held onto the ball too long. Six sacks and four turnovers? I'm going to get him in here and start yelling at him. We've got to get that fixed immediately."

Meyer called the first half the worst the team has played all year:

"The worst first half we've ever played. I'm not pleased with where we're at. But I understand the game and understand where we're at."

Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette took the loss hard:

"We played our hearts out all night. It hurts. Right there with No. 1 team in the nation. Take the positives from this: Can play anyone, anywhere, anytime. We had a chance to win against the No. 1 team in the country and we couldn't pull it out."

Still, Bequette wasn’t about to dismiss his team’s performance:

"I don't think they really missed a step. We just have a good offense. You've got to give us a little credit. They've never seen an offense like ours all year and probably won't for the rest of the year."

The Gators will play at Mississippi State next weekend before their annual rivalry contest versus the University of Georgia on October 31.  They’ll host Vanderbilt a week later.  Arkansas will visit Ole Miss next weekend before hosting Eastern Michigan on October 31.  They’ll host South Carolina the following Saturday.