The Great Escape

Hats off to the Arkansas Razorbacks this evening. They really gave the boys in Orange and Blue a run for their money up at The Swamp this evening.

With just 7 seconds left on the clock, kicker Caleb Sturgis put the #1 Gators ahead 23-20, preventing the type of embarassment Mississippi State dealt them last season (much less the disaster that the guys from Little Rock dealt Auburn just last week).

This was a real nail-biter of a game, ye socks--especially if you were a Florida fan.

Coach Meyer's squad trailed by 10-3 at the half, and things were looking pretty grim.

Brandon Spikes was out after only the 2nd series with an injured hamstring. Tim Tebow was getting sacked left and right. And, the Gator O suffered fumble after fumble in the red zone.

Yours truly had to take a walk at half time to cool off, or risk serious damage to the television set.

Fortunately, the reigning national champions eventually got their collective act together.

Some will say a win is a win, even if it's ugly. Unfortunately, style points still count in some polls, and I think this lackluster performance will sway a few waivering votes toward the Crimson Tide. (Probably not enough to actually topple the Gators, though . . . )

On the other hand, our Heisman contender did pad his already outrageous resume tonight by surpassing the combined rushing/passing TD record of another Gator great: Danny Wuerffel. Tebow now can boast 123 in that stat column, just one shy of tying the all-time leading Herschel Walker. If . . . nay, WHEN . . . he racks-up 125, I don't think anyone could deny him the second Heisman trophy he so richly deserves.

Orange and Blue!

Geaux Gators!

The excitement was palpable tonight, and not just in this little corner of heaven.

As the beloved boys in Orange and Blue returned from their bye week to confront the LSU Tigers, everyone in the Gator Nation was sitting on the edge of their seats to see how our star quarterback Tim Tebow would look following his recent concussion.

We were not alone.

Some 90,000-plus obnoxious Cajuns showed up to demonstrate their collective lung capacity within the reverberating confines of Death Valley.

If the Nielsen's are accurate, some 10 million more were glued to their boob-tubes to catch the CBS broadcast.

Truth be told, the Gator O looked about as trepidatious as yours truly has ever seen them . . . at least since the Era of Meyer began. They made so many dive plays that the commentators were speculating about Greg Lougainis having drawn up the game plan.

That being said, though, Florida controlled the game from kick-off to the bitter end--much more so than the 13-3 final score reveals. In my humble (!) opinion, the majority of the credit for said control belongs to Brandon Spikes and the Gator D.

A win is a win.

A win over the #4 team in the nation is much more than that.

How sweet it is!