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Thursday, March 28, 2024

With four minutes remaining in a scoreless first quarter, quarterback Tim Tebow dropped back on the first play of Florida's third offensive drive and fired a deep ball down the left side of the field for wide receiver Riley Cooper.

Cooper got behind the Arkansas defense and ran under the well-thrown ball for an easy would-be touchdown, but the football hit him in the hands and fell to the ground.

The Gators went three and out on that drive, and failed to capitalize on numerous chances before heading into the locker room down 10-3 at halftime.

"Tebow came up and gave a speech, it's good to see us bounce back in the second half like we did, but at the same time it's a gut check and a reality check for us," said wide receiver David Nelson, who caught one pass for 13 yards. "We can't ever prepare like we did this week. From now on we're going to remember this game and ride this feeling for the rest of the season."

UF was forced to bounce back from one of its worst offensive first halves in recent memory.

The Gators gained 129 total yards and turned the ball over three times in the first 30 minutes. Tebow fumbled on UF's third drive, setting up an Arkansas touchdown and a 7-0 deficit.

The 1-yard touchdown run by Broderick Green marked the first time Florida has trailed this season.

It only got worse from there.

Tebow fumbled again on the next possession, this time on a botched exchange with Brandon James inside the Arkansas 10-yard line.

After the Gators' defense forced a three and out, Tebow completed a shovel pass to Aaron Hernandez on second and 8 from the Razorbacks' 8-yard line, and the big tight end promptly coughed the ball up for the third consecutive series.

Even senior linebacker Ryan Stamper was upset with the offense.

"I was mad," Stamper said. "I was on the sideline like, this cant be happening. We cant be getting in bad field position like that. That's going to make a defense a little depressed."

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Running back Chris Rainey would make if four fumbles for the game when he put the ball on the ground in the third quarter.

With UF unable to force a turnover of its own against Arkansas, the Gators are now -2 on turnover differential for the season.

"One of these days, and I'm glad it wasn't today, these turnovers and not executing are going to hurt us and set us back with a loss," Tebow said. "But thank God, it wasn't today."

In addition to forcing four turnovers, the Razorbacks sacked Tebow six times - the most since Georgia sacked the senior six times in 2007.

Arkansas did a good job keeping UF receivers from running free, and Tebow admitted to holding the ball too long on multiple occasions.

After the game, both coaches said most of the sacks were coverage sacks and not necessarily the fault of the offensive line.

"I mean, do you tell a playmaker not to make plays?" UF left tackle Carl Johnson said. "If he holds on to the ball too long, everybody's saying, 'Oh no.' If he holds on to the ball and someone gets open, everyone says, 'Hooray.' I'd just let Tim Tebow do Tim Tebow."

Tebow and the offense turned it around on their way to 262 yards in the second half and a fourth-quarter comeback victory.

Florida's biggest play of the game came with three minutes remaining in the third quarter and on the first play of the drive.

Sophomore wide receiver Deonte Thompson ran free behind the defense on a skinny post and Tebow hit him in stride after freezing the defense with a play-action fake.

Thompson was in the end zone 77 yards laters and the Gators had their first lead of the game at 13-10.

That was the only ball Thompson would catch all game, though Tebow did finish with 255 yards through the air.

Hernandez and Cooper were Tebow's security blankets, catching seven passes for 92 yards and six passes for 58 yards, respectively.

In the end, Tebow led his team down the field on a 14-play, 69-yard drive to set up sophomore Caleb Sturgis for the game-winning 27-yard field goal, but the offense was far from dynamic on Saturday night.

"We're not playing perfect football," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "Matter of fact, there are times we don't look very good at all, but we're finding a way to feed off each other a little bit."

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