Final: Florida 29, Mississippi State 19
October, 24, 2009
10/24/09
10:47
PM ET
By
Chris Low | ESPN.com
Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- On a night when Florida wasn’t particularly sharp on offense, the No. 1 Gators leaned on their defense to pull away from Mississippi State for a 29-19 victory at Scott Field.
The Gators (7-0, 5-0) extended their winning streak to 17 straight games, but were pretty helter-skelter at times before finally shaking loose from the Bulldogs, who weren’t about to make it easy on the defending national champions.
Florida was clinging to a 16-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter, before capitalizing on a failed fake punt by Mississippi State and then getting a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown by Dustin Doe.
If the Gators were looking for style points, they didn’t get any. Tim Tebow threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, the final one from his own end zone in the waning minutes and with the Gators leading by 16 points at the time.
Florida also struggled in the red zone offensively, but got another stellar effort from its defense.
The Bulldogs (3-5, 1-3) didn’t score an offensive touchdown and really only threatened one time when they got to the Gators’ 9-yard line in the third quarter, but bogged down and had to kick a field goal.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- On a night when Florida wasn’t particularly sharp on offense, the No. 1 Gators leaned on their defense to pull away from Mississippi State for a 29-19 victory at Scott Field.
The Gators (7-0, 5-0) extended their winning streak to 17 straight games, but were pretty helter-skelter at times before finally shaking loose from the Bulldogs, who weren’t about to make it easy on the defending national champions.
Florida was clinging to a 16-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter, before capitalizing on a failed fake punt by Mississippi State and then getting a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown by Dustin Doe.
If the Gators were looking for style points, they didn’t get any. Tim Tebow threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, the final one from his own end zone in the waning minutes and with the Gators leading by 16 points at the time.
Florida also struggled in the red zone offensively, but got another stellar effort from its defense.
The Bulldogs (3-5, 1-3) didn’t score an offensive touchdown and really only threatened one time when they got to the Gators’ 9-yard line in the third quarter, but bogged down and had to kick a field goal.
- ESPN.com SEC blogger
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Wrote for The (Nashville) Tennessean
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Chris Low
Low joined ESPN.com in 2007 after 10 years with The (Nashville) Tennessean covering the University of Tennessee and SEC. The Rock Hill, S.C., native lives with his wife in Knoxville and has three sons.
Edward Aschoff
Aschoff joined ESPN.com in 2011 after spending four years covering the University of Florida for The Gainesville Sun. He grew up in Oxford, Miss., before attending UF, graduating with a B.S. in journalism.
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