Florida Stays Hot Against FSU; Gators Defeat Seminoles 45-15

Florida

kept their proverbial foot on the pedal and came out of Tallahassee with a 30-point win over

FSU

. When all was said and done,

Tim Tebow

was still good, the Gators were still fast, the defense was still at its best, and victory was had

Let’s start with the mini rants. I don’t ask for much. Okay, so that’s not true at all. I ask for a lot. But what I really want is no more stupid penalties. I won’t blame Janoris Jenkins for his helmet-to-helmet hit too much because he’s young and he’s learning. It wasn’t the smartest thing he could’ve done, but he’ll learn from it. I will however take away a helmet sticker from Brandon Spikes. What’s that? The Gators don’t use helmet stickers? They don’t need stupid decals placed on their lids to encourage them to play harder than they already should be doing because they are football players? Well in that case Brandon has to play Alabama with a plain orange helmet. That sounds like a sufficient punishment to me. His personal foul for a late hit out of bounds early in the game was inexcusable. There’s no need for plays like that. Especially from a junior who’s the leader of the defense.

My other black mark goes to the kickoff team and more specifically the kicker(s). Michael Ray Garvin has the speed of a thoroughbred, so like my free pass to Jenkins, I can’t get on the kick coverage team too much for letting him get a few good returns. However, I have to ask this question for the millionth time. HOW HARD IS IT TO FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN KICK THE BALL DEEP CONSISTENTLY? I don’t care if this game was in the middle of a hurricane. Kicks going out of bounds are not acceptable. Fire them all. Find me Matt Piotrowicz and figure out how we can get him another year of eligibility. Fast. And yes, I did spell his last name correctly the first time.

Let’s hope Percy Harvin was held out of the rest of the game because he wasn’t needed and not because his ankle injury was serious. The announcers kept saying Florida has plenty of weapons and while the loss of Harvin is a big one, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey can fill the void. That may be partially true, but I don’t want to find out. Harvin is my most favorite Gator ever. I man-crush him hard. While the Gators have a chance against the Crimson Tide with or without Harvin, I don’t want to find out. Please be okay Percy. It’s crunch time and your team needs you.

I asked my fiancée for a Tim Tebow bust for Christmas. We have a built-in shelf system in our living room and I can’t think of anything nicer than a bronze Tebow head next to the TV. This game only furthered the legend of Timothy Richard Tebow. Throwing across the field in the rain. Firing strikes left and right. Running over defenders. Clark Kent is dead. Tebow is Superman.

Jenkins and Spikes both made up for their boneheaded plays with interceptions in the second half. There was a Drew Weatherford sighting, but surprisingly enough, he wasn’t intercepted despite throwing up the ball 15 times. Spikes picked off Christian Ponder, effectively ending the quarterback’s night. And Jenkins took one away from D’Vontrey Richardson. A lot had to go FSU’s way in order for them to stay in this one, but with Florida winning the turnover battle 4-1 it just wasn’t in the cards for the Noles.

I think it’s time to unveil He Who Shall Not Be Named. This title has been bestowed upon two Gators in recent years. One is gone and I still refuse to mention him. One is still there. The reasoning behind the fact that I won’t mention his name is simple. Over the course of his first few years, he rarely saw the field. A player that seemed to be recruited incorrectly, he didn’t impress when he did get in the game. He was out of position at times and dropped balls at others. But over the last few months, something has happened. They say people don’t change, but maybe football players do. He will never be a star and probably won’t have a career beyond Florida, but his play is up to the level that it can now be recognized. In recent weeks, he has caught touchdowns, made tough grabs, recovered onside kicks, picked up muffed punts, and made great blocks on running plays. Ladies and gentlemen, David Nelson.

The Gators needed another big win to keep momentum going. No Florida fan wanted to see a grind out victory over FSU. They wanted to watch their team run over the Noles with everything they had. And they did. They didn’t give up and didn’t look ahead to Alabama. Now it’s on to the SEC Championship Game and a possible chance to play for the national title. As always, Go Gators!