The defending national champion Florida Gators took a trip to Oxford today to take on the Rebels. Everyone thought the game would be a major blowout, as the #3 ranked Gators destroyed Tennessee last week 59-20. But, things turned out much different than anticipated…
The pre-game festivities were wrapped up with a fly-over from a pair of fighter jets. If you have never experienced this in person, I must say, it is quite awesome… and LOUD!
Former Ole Miss linebacker (and now starting linebacker for the NFL’s 49ers) Patrick Willis led the opening “Are You Ready”.
Attendance for the game was just over 55,000. Not too bad, but I expected more for such a high profile team like Florida.
Kiwi and I decided to get some Corkys BBQ Nachos… delicious, as always.
Florida QB Tim Tebow running around the edge for a touchdown.
Ole Miss wide receiver Michael Hicks making a nice grab close to the endzone.
As mentioned earlier, everyone expected this game to be a huge blowout, but that was not the case. Ole Miss took the lead early, but gave it back to Florida, and things stayed that way until late in the 3rd quarter. With Florida leading 27-9, Seth Adams completed a pass to Shay Hodge for a 19-yard touchdown, bringing it to 27-16. Then, with 17 seconds left in the 3rd, Adams throws a 77-yard BOMB to Mike Wallace for a touchdown strike. Ole Miss goes for the 2-point conversion and scores; the score is now 27-24 with a full quarter of football left to play.
The entire 4th quarter was a back-and-forth struggle. Florida scored a field goal to bring it to 30-24, and with a last ditch effort on 4th down, Ole Miss goes for a very obvious punt fake and comes up short with 3 minutes left… and that was the ball game.
Despite the loss, I think Ole Miss really showed people a lot today, taking the # 3 team in the nation to within a touchdown of winning. Either way, a great game!
