After a sluggish start the Gators beat a decent Southern Miss team 34-7. Chris Leak is intercepted on the third play of the game at the 28 yard line and Southern Miss scores in three plays. That was the only Gator turnover of the game but it took us until late in the 1st quarter to score our first TD. The defense gave up some yards on S. Miss's second posession then got very stingy until late in the game. But in spite of Leak being 21/30 for 3 TD's and 1 int scoring did not come easy. Our running game was not much except for freshman Percy Harvin who started at WR and ran the ball 4 times on end arounds for 58 yards to be the leading ball carrier for the Gators. Two of our first three running backs went out with injuries, not serious but may linger a few weeks. We will likely use true freshman Mon Williams as a running back next year. Quite a number of true freshmen played and the recruiting class of 2006 looks good. Tebow played two series and scored a touchdown. He came in on a first and goal from the 8 after an interception and ended up running the ball in for a TD, only a 1 yard run, but he had to use his strength, which is considerable, to get into the endzone. While Leak will be the QB this year, and rightfully so, Tebow will eventually bring a new dimension to the offense with his ability to run. The Gators played without both DT starters from a year ago who were both out for violating team rules, and it wasn't drugs but Meyer's standards for the team. One of them, Marcus Thomas, will be back next week, but Stephen Harris is not sure next week or for the season. The backups got a lot of playing time. There were three interceptions for the Gators, a lot of QB hurries, but no sacks. All in all it was a servicable, but not sparkling, first effort against a pretty decent opening opponent.
Here's an article about the freshman I mentioned above, Percy Harvin. He looks like a special talent. Percy Harvin
congrats on the win guys <t>SoMiss is a quality opponent. You guys walked away looking good. A nice start to the year.</t>
Thanks for the honest acknowledgement re: SMiss, IC. They cannot be taken lightly by anyone or upset is a possibility. I'm sure when they went up 7-0 a few lumps formed in a few Gator fan's throats.