Florida thumps Miami to end six game series losing streak

The last time the University of Florida beat the Miami Hurricanes, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States.  It was 1985, and though the series wasn’t renewed every year in the meantime it did add up to a six loss streak for the Gators.  That came to an end in Gainesville, FL on Saturday night as the home team used an efficient offense and stout defense to defeat Miami 26-3. 

It wasn’t as easy as the final score would suggest, and the rebuilding Miami team hung around and didn’t trail by more than a TD until the 4th quarter.  Florida led 7-0 after the 1st, 9-3 at halftime and by an identical score at the end of three quarters.  The Gators added a field goal in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and two TDs in the final six minutes blew the game open and accounted for the final margin of victory.

The defense was the deciding factor, as the Gators completely shut down Miami’s offense.  The Hurricanes were limited to 11 first downs and 140 total yards (79 passing, 61 rushing).  Florida’s offense, meanwhile, was efficiently productive behind defending Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.  The Gators racked up 345 yards of total offense, including 256 through the air as Tebow threw for two TDs. 

Tebow’s poise under pressure was impressive, as the Hurricanes pass rush pressured him all night.  Despite having to scramble and improvise on a number of occasions, he handled it in stride as he wound up with productive yardage numbers and no interceptions—and most importantly, a victory.  The loss overshadowed what had been a solid performance for Miami’s defense as well.  The ‘canes stop unit looked impressive for most of the game in completely bottling up an explosive and deep Florida offense holding the Gators to a single digit point output in every quarter but the 4th.  Unfortunately, their own offense could do little against their Florida counterparts.

Florida will now have a week off before traveling to Knoxville for a big SEC conference showdown with the University of Tennessee.  Miami has a trip to the Lone Star state on deck in two weeks as they play Texas A&M—a team that is something of a question mark right now and is certainly a “beatable” opponent for the rebuilding Hurricanes.