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Inside the boxscore: UF 45, UK 37

Florida's Louis Murphy hauls in a 66-yard touchdown pass in front of Kentucky defender Trevard Lindley during the first half.

The Associated Press
Published: Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 3:49 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 3:49 p.m.

FIRST QUARTER

The Gators opened the game with the ball, and Percy Harvin started at tailback. However, Florida was forced into a three-and-out.

Kentucky followed that up with a drive that led to the game's first score — a 33-yard touchdown pass from Andre' Woodson to a wide-open Dicky Lyons.

Undaunted, Florida responded with a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive of its own. The Gators tied the contest with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tim Tebow to Cornelius Ingram, who made a tremendous effort diving into the end zone. Tebow was 4-of-4 for 35 yards on the possession.

The Wildcats came close to answering back, but sacks on consecutive plays by Derrick Harvey and Jermaine Cunningham forced Lones Seiber to attempt a 48-yard field goal, which he missed with 1:01 remaining in the quarter.

The Gators came back quickly, as Tebow dropped a perfect pass into Louis Murphy's hands for a 66-yard touchdown.

Some bad news came for UF just prior to the touchdown, as cornerback Wondy Pierre-Louis was taken to the locker room to have his shoulder examined.

First quarter: Florida 14, Kentucky 7

UK - Andre' Woodson 33-yard pass to Dicky Lyons Jr. (Lones Seiber kick), 10:31. Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards, 2:51 Time of Possession (T.O.P.) Key play: Woodson 16-yard pass to Lyons. Kentucky 7, Florida 0

UF - Tim Tebow 10-yard pass to Cornelius Ingram (Ijjas kick), 4:41. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 5:50 T.O.P. Key play: Tebow 15-yard run. Kentucky 7, Florida 7

UF - Tebow 66-yard pass to Louis Murphy (Ijjas kick), :11. Drive: 2 plays 70 yards, :50 T.O.P. Florida 14, Kentucky 7

SECOND QUARTER

Kentucky had the ball to open the quarter and grounded out a few first downs, including one on a fourth down run by Derrick Locke. Suddenly, Gator fans were having bad Jacob Hester flashbacks.

However, four downs later instead of trying a 46-yard field goal, the Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-9, but Woodson's pass fell incomplete. Florida punted after an ineffective series.

During UK's next series Lyons caught a pass that initially was called a fumble, but was reversed on replay. The next play saw Woodson find Steve Johnson for a 24-yard completion on fourth-and-9 from the UF 36. That led to a 27-yard field goal by Lones Seiber, a Knoxville, Tn., native who somehow escaped the Tennessee Volunteers.

Florida ended the half on an up note, as Brandon James returned the kickoff deep into UK territory.

Freshman tight end Aaron Hernandez caught his first career touchdown on a short jump pass from Tim Tebow with 14 seconds left in the half. That was the same play Tate Casey caught for a touchdown last year against LSU.

The Gators then ended the quarter with a Justin Trattou sack of Andre' Woodson.

Second quarter: Florida 21, Kentucky 10

UK - Seiber 27-yard field goal, 2:38. Drive: 11 plays, 57 yards, 4:41 T.O.P. Key play: Woodson 24-yard pass to Steve Johnson on fourth-and-9 from the UF 36. Florida 14, Kentucky 10

UF - Tebow 1-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez (Ijjas kick), :14. Drive: 10 plays, 62 yards, 2:14 T.O.P. Key play: Brandon James 61-yard kickoff return. Florida 21, Kentucky 10

THIRD QUARTER

Kentucky hoped to pick up a little momentum to start the second half, but the UF defense forced a punt, which travelled just 25 yards.

Florida looked like it added another touchdown, but Tim Tebow's scoring pass to Andre Caldwell was called back after an illegal shift was called. No matter, as the next play saw Tebow find Caldwell for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 11:38 left in the quarter. It was Caldwell's first touchdown reception of the season and Tebow's fourth touchdown pass of the game (to four different players).

The Wildcats came back with a drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Woodson to tight end Jacob Tamme. On the play Tamme did a nifty spin move near the 10 yard line to elude two defenders. That cut the Gator lead to 28-17.

The Wildcats then recovered an onside kick, but it was ruled UK touched the ball before it went the required 10 yards. Replay verified the call, giving UF the ball with outstanding field position.

The series didn't end with a touchdown, as Kestahn Moore and Ingram each dropped passes in the end zone. Joey Ijjas did kick a 21-yard field goal to give UF a two-touchdown lead.

Kentucky came right back, getting a 50-yard touchdown on a middle screen to Lyons, who outran the UF defense to the end zone.

Third quarter: Florida 31, Kentucky 24

UF - Tebow 8-yard pass to Andre Caldwell (Ijjas kick), 11:38. Drive: 7 plays, 46 yards, 2:31 T.O.P. Key play: Caldwell 25-yard run. Florida 28, Kentucky 10

UK - Woodson 28-yard pass to Jacob Tamme (Seiber kick), 8:08. Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards, 3:22 T.O.P. Key play: Derrick Locke 15-yard run. Florida 28, Kentucky 17

UF - Ijjas 21-yard field goal, 5:48. Drive: 7 plays, 35 yards, 2:19 T.O.P. Key play: Caldwell 24-yard run. Florida 31, Kentucky 17

UK - Woodson 50-yard pass to Lyons (Seiber kick), 3:05. Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 2:38 T.O.P. Key play: Woodson 16-yard pass to Johnson. Florida 31, Kentucky 24

FOURTH QUARTER

The excitement continued into the fourth quarter, as Florida concluded a 13-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown run by Percy Harvin.

The next series saw Jermaine Cunningham pick up UF's fifth and sixth sacks of the day, a remarkable contrast to then-No. 1 LSU's performance a week earlier, when the Tigers' vaunted defense recorded no sacks.

Florida was forced to punt after picking up no yards on the first three downs. Third down saw Andre Caldwell not pull in a catch after putting in his mouthpiece while running his route.

Kentucky refused to go away, and cut the Gator lead to seven with a short touchdown pass from Andre' Woodson to Dicky Lyons on fourth-and-5 with 3:35 remaining.

On the next series, with UK likely thinking Florida was trying to run the clock out, Tim Tebow found Harvin for a 40-yard completion to the Wildcat 2. One play later Tebow ran the ball in for a touchdown with 1:33 left. It was the sophomore quarterback's 10th rushing touchdown of the season.

Kentucky finished the game with a touchdown pass from Woodson to Keenan Burton. No extra point was attempted. The contest ended with no turnovers.

Fourth quarter: Florida 45, Kentucky 37

UF - Percy Harvin 24-yard run (Ijjas kick), 11:57. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:08 T.O.P. Key play: Tebow 13-yard pass to Caldwell. Florida 38, Kentucky 24

UK - Woodson 7-yard pass to Lyons (Seiber kick), 3:35. Drive: 11 plays, 57 yards, 2:59 T.O.P. Key play: Woodson 24-yard pass to Locke. Florida 38, Kentucky 31

UF - Tebow 2-yard run (Ijjas kick), 1:33. Drive: 5 plays, 57 yards, 1:55 T.O.P. Key play: Tebow 40-yard pass to Harvin. Florida 45, Kentucky 31

UK - Woodson 6-yard pass to Burton, :00. Drive: 9 plays, 58 yards, 1:21 T.O.P. Key play: Woodson 18-yard pass to Johnson. Florida 45, Kentucky 37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Florida - Tebow 20-78, Harvin 6-47, Caldwell 2-19, Moore 6-16, Fayson 3-11.

Kentucky - Locke 14-76, Dixon 13-59, Woodson 8-(minus 38).

PASSING

Florida - Tebow 18-26-0-256

Kentucky - Woodson 35-50-0-415

RECEIVING

Florida - Caldwell 6-73, Murphy 4-91, Harvin 2-50, Ingram 2-20, Moore 2-16, James 1-5, Hernandez 1-1.

Kentucky - S.Johnson 8-128, Lyons 8-124, Tamme 6-68, Burton 5-33, Locke 2-36, A.Smith 2-10, Dixon 2-5, Conner 1-8, Ford 1-3.

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