Florida Spreads the Wealth in Win

Maybe Urban Meyer’s defense and special teams should have been getting all the hype.

Sixth-ranked Florida held fifth-ranked Tennessee scoreless in the second half, took advantage of three special teams errors and won, 16-7, on Saturday night to give Meyer a resounding victory in his Southeastern Conference debut.

“That was two sledgehammers swinging at each other all night,” Meyer said of a game controlled by the defenses.

The Gators had lost three of their last four games against the Volunteers, including two in a row at Florida Field. They ended that streak and got an early edge in the SEC’s Eastern Division race.

Since the SEC adopted its 12-team, two-division format in 1992, the winner of the Tennessee-Florida game has won the East nine times and advanced to the conference championship game.

For the Gators to get there, they probably will need to get more production from their offense.

Meyer’s spread-option offense was the biggest story line entering the game: Could it work against one of the nation’s top defenses?

The answer was not very well Saturday, but Florida was able to overcome its offensive shortcomings.

“Our offensive line is not playing well,” Meyer said. “We’ve got to get that taken care of. It’s nonsense.

“We’ve got to get better.”

The Gators (3-0, 1-0) did prove to be strong on defense, a unit that experienced several late collapses during the last three seasons under former coach Ron Zook.

But the Florida special teams turned out to be the deciding factor.

“We are not a great football team,” Meyer said. “That was a big win by a good defense and good special teams.”

Florida got three second-half field goals from Chris Hetland, a walk-on kicker who was benched after missing an extra-point kick last week against Louisiana Tech. Each of his kicks followed a special teams blunder by Tennessee (1-1, 0-1).

“We are a team, and we are all on the same ship,” Volunteer linebacker Kevin Simon said. “If special teams break down, it hurts me too. I appreciate their effort, but it wasn’t good enough tonight.”