No. 3 Gators Find Willing Volunteers

Peyton Manning didn’t have to put himself through this again. He could have been holding a clipboard for the New York Jets and investing his millions in mutual funds.

He didn’t need to come back to the scene of his collegiate crash, back to the jokes--”You can’t spell Citrus Bowl without the ‘U’ or the ‘T.’ ”

Manning put his NFL career on layaway to return for his senior season, hoping this time things would be different against Florida.

He was wrong.

It was the same old sting. The same old postgame mop to moistened eyes with a folded towel. Same old excuses, same old gory Gator story.

For the fifth consecutive year, the third with Manning behind center, Florida defeated Tennessee and ruined the Volunteers’ “No. 1 goal for the upcoming season.”

Saturday, before a record crowd of 85,714 at Florida Field, the No. 3 Gators deflated the No. 4 Volunteers, 33-20.

Only the score changes.

If not for Florida, Tennessee might be working on successive national titles. If not for Florida, Manning might be working on his second Heisman Trophy.

Someone asked Manning if he felt tortured.

“Tortured?” Manning replied. “I’ve got thick skin. I can bounce back. I’m disappointed, don’t get me wrong. But this is football, you’ve got to prepare for the good and the bad.”

Manning has known plenty of good against the rest of the country. But not against Florida, which improved to 3-0.

Manning has lost five games in 33 starts as Tennessee’s starting quarterback. Three of the five have been to Florida.

Tennessee (2-1) is 23-1 against the rest of the country the last two years, 0-2 against Florida.

“I wish I could describe it to you,” Volunteer Coach Phillip Fulmer said of the hurt.

Against Florida, Tennessee has committed 13 turnovers the last three seasons. Manning has thrown six interceptions, two more Saturday.

The Knoxville nightmare continues:

* In the first quarter, with Florida ahead, 7-0, Manning dropped back to pass and saw Elijah Williams coming like a train on a corner blitz. Manning’s rushed pass was intercepted by safety Tony George, who returned it 89 yards for a touchdown.

* After cutting the lead to 14-7 late in the second half on a 22-yard scoring pass, Manning to Jeremaine Copeland, Fulmer curiously ordered a “bloop” kick on the ensuing kickoff.

“Golly,” Florida Coach Steve Spurrier said later. “If they kick it down to the 20, we probably just run a draw play and go into the locker room up 14-7.”

Instead, Florida’s Thaddeaus Bullard called for a fair catch, then fell on his own fumble at the Gator 37 with 1:33 left.

Four plays later, quarterback Doug Johnson threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Jacquez Green, who beat corner Gerald Griffin with 45 seconds left in the half. The extra point failed, but Florida led, 20-7.

* After cutting the Florida lead to 26-14 late in the third quarter, on an eight-yard scoring pass from Manning to Copeland, the Tennessee defense held and forced a punt. The Volunteers took possession on their 20 with 13:24 left. It was a perfect time for Manning to build his Heisman campaign.

Instead, the drive fizzled at the Tennessee 40 after Manning’s pass on third and two fell incomplete.

Florida got the ball back on its 23 after a punt and drove 77 yards in nine plays for the deciding score, a 30-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to tight end Taras Ross on third and 25.

The key play on the drive was a 39-yard pass from Johnson to Green to the Tennessee 27. Green finished with eight catches for 185 yards.

Experience at quarterback was supposed to give Tennessee the edge. But Johnson, a sophomore making only his third start, played Manning to a draw.

Johnson completed 14 of 32 passes for 261 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Manning finished 29 for 51 for 353 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Johnson played with spunk.

After getting pushed violently out of bounds by Volunteer linebacker Al Wilson in the third quarter, Johnson quickly bounced up and pointed to the scoreboard: Gators 23, Volunteers 7.

“We said a lot of things before this game that we probably shouldn’t have,” Johnson said. “But fortunately we came out and backed it up.”

After gaining minus-23 yards rushing in the first half, Florida finished with 168, grinding off precious second-half minutes by handing off to Fred Taylor, who gained 135 of his 138 rushing yards in the second half.

Spurrier continued his Southeast Conference mastery, improving his record to 54-6 since arriving in 1990.

“Where do you rank it?” Spurrier said when asked of the victory. “I don’t have to rank them. It’s a crucial game. We were hugging after the game. We have three, four, five games a year that are huggers. This is one of them.”

On the other side, defeat seemed almost too hard to bear.

Manning left the field to derisive taunts of “Cit-rus Bowl, Cit-rus Bowl.”

He was sacked three times, beaten to a Florida pulp.

Once again, Manning was magnificent in defeat. Once again, he went over to pay respects to the players who have wrecked his legacy.

“I can’t stand to lose,” Manning said. “But I’m not going to start a fight with any of their players.”

Last year, Manning was a Heisman Trophy favorite entering the Florida game. He finished eighth in the balloting.

Saturday, Manning returned as prohibitive Heisman favorite.

But what is he now?

What does Tennessee do now? Regroup for a third consecutive Citrus Bowl run?

“We’ve been here before,” Fulmer said. “We’ve got to challenge the team again, suck it up. It’s not what we wanted, but these are the cards we were dealt.”

The cards are always Jokers against the Gators.

“I hate to lose,” Manning said. “I hate to lose more than I like to win, probably. I’m sure Coach Spurrier will make a few more jokes. That’s fine.”