The Top Ten Moments in the Gator Season

A look back at how the Gators made it to the BCS championship game.

1. The Drive Against Alabama
Alabama dominates the third quarter, holding the ball for 10 minutes, and scoring 10 points. The Gators begin the 4th quarter trailing 20-17, but embark on an 11 play, 47 yard drive, consuming nine minutes and regaining the momentum and the lead for good.

2. The Loss to Ole Miss
The painful upset galvanized the Gators in a way that a sloppy victory might not have. Tim Tebow has made good on his now-famous pledge to play hard and push the team. Since then, the Gators have outscored their opponents 445-110.

3. Brandon Spikes Hits Knowshon Moreno
The Georgia running back takes a handoff on the second play from scrimmage, but Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes levels Moreno, who usually pops right up after being tackled, but not this time. Spikes lingers on top of him for several seconds to deliver a message: Not today. After gashing the Gators for 188 yards last year, Moreno is held to 65 yards.

4. The Fourth Quarter of the Arkansas Game
Florida looked out of synch at Arkansas until, leading 17-7 heading into the fourth quarter, things started clicking. A 21 yard touchdown pass from Tebow to Harvin caps an 83 yard drive. Then Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps and break off scoring runs of 75 and 48 yards, respectively. The Gators win 38-7, and, establish Rainey and Demps as trusted weapons.

5. Joe Haden's Interception Against Georgia
With eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Gators leading 14-3, and Georgia driving to the Florida 30, Joe Haden steps in front of a Stafford pass and returns it 86 yards to the Georgia one yard line. Tebow chases Haden on the sidelines, and tells him, “That’s how you change a game!” Tebow scores on a one yard run on the next play. Game over.

6. The Scoring Flurry Against South Carolina
After a shaky opening that saw the Gators sputter and fumble, they scored three touchdowns in less than three minutes, starting with a Brandon Spikes pick six, taking a quick 21-0 lead on the way to a 56-6 drubbing of the Gamecocks.

7. Brandon James Returns Kicks Against Tennessee
Florida sends a message: Beware of our special teams. Brandon James returns the opening kickoff 52 yards to set up the Gators’ first score, but a few minutes later he returns a punt 78 yards for a touchdown. This performance causes Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist John Adams to write,” What does Florida's Brandon James have to do for UT to stop kicking him the ball? Score twice on one play?”

8. The First Touchdown Against LSU
On Florida’s opening possession, with the Gators facing a third and twelve from their own thirty, Tebow’s pass, intended for Percy Harvin, is underthrown. LSU safety Danny McCray tips the ball into the hands of the waiting Harvin who then sprints into the endzone with the 70 yard completion. A bad pass becomes the game’s first touchdown, and, from that point forward, the Gators were off to the races.

9. Consecutive Blocked Punts Against Kentucky
In the seventh game of the year, Florida continues to terrify opponents with their special teams play. In a span of less than five minutes in the first quarter, the Gators block back-to-back Kentucky punts resulting in touchdown drives of four yards and one yard.

10. Tebow's Touchdown in Tallahassee
In the pouring rain, with 7:32 remaining in the first half and Florida leading 14-6, Percy Harvin is injured on a 5 yard carry. Florida State fans cheer. Tebow is furious, and asks for the ball. Two plays later, he completes a four yard touchdown run, carrying a pile of about ten players into the endzone with him. Message to opponents: Don’t make Tebow angry.