A casual glance at Saturday's stat sheet might lead a casual observer to think there was a typo.
In every Florida football game dating back to 1997 until the Tennessee game, one Gator had at least 30 receiving yards.
That streak - 156 games (and likely longer, but individual box scores from 1996 and earlier are not readily available) - came to an end against the Volunteers, when tight end Aaron Hernandez and wide receiver David Nelson led the Gators with four catches for 26 yards.
The closest UF previously came under coach Urban Meyer was Dallas Baker leading the Gators with 31 receiving yards in Florida's 21-17 loss at LSU in 2005.
"I'm not feeling good at receiver right now," Meyer said after Saturday's 23-13 victory. "I sit in my bed at the hotel room, and I watch this, and I'm thinking we're going to pull out eight blazing receivers. We're not doing that right now. We have to get better at receiver."
Injuries and illness may be partly to blame. Wide receiver Deonte Thompson did not play due to tightness in his hamstring, Riley Cooper was bothered by a pinched nerve for most of the game and Hernandez was battling the flu, which caused him to be put in isolation Friday. Receivers coach Billy Gonzales admitted Sunday that contingency plans had been drawn up in case Hernandez was forced to sit.
UF coaches and players also pointed to a Tennessee defensive game plan geared around not giving up the big play. Meyer said the Volunteers played zone the entire game, taking away the Gators' deep passing threat.
"A big part of what we do is we try to let [Riley] Cooper - Deonte couldn't play - run by a guy," Meyer said. "You're not going to run by a guy that's retreating.
"We like man coverage around here. You get us man coverage, it's a little easier to operate."
Quarterback Tim Tebow got a chance to review the film Sunday and said Monday that there were some plays in which he wished he would've thrown short to a running back rather than holding onto the ball hoping for a receiver to get open deep. He was sacked three times Saturday.
"Going back and looking at it, down the field I wouldn't have forced any balls," Tebow said. "They were giving us some of the checkdowns and we've just gotta be patient and take them."
Florida may also finally be feeling the departure of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, who are starting in the NFL this fall.
In the Gators' first Southeastern Conference game without the duo, they had no pass play longer than 18 yards. Gonzales grades his unit on "big plays" of 20 yards or more, and Saturday was the first time UF failed to have such a gain in the passing game since Nov. 5, 2005 against Vanderbilt - 47 games ago.
"Could we use Percy Harvin as a playmaker and everything? Absolutely," Tebow said. "But I think the other guys are doing a great job. There was games when Percy was here when we weren't just running 80-yard touchdown runs too."
There were no aerial trips to the end zone either Saturday. Tennessee held Tebow without a touchdown pass for the first time in his 30 starts at UF. The last time the Gators didn't record a passing touchdown was in 2005 against LSU.
"Players make plays, the play doesn't make the player," Gonzales said. "You've seen plenty of receivers over the last four or five years catch a hitch and take it the distance."
No one seemed ready to put the blame on a specific player or position Sunday night. Redshirt senior David Nelson said it's the receivers' job to get open but subsequently said UF wideouts were successful in getting open.
Gonzales pointed to UF's success on third down - 24/36 (67%) through three games - as a testament to his position group's contribution. Florida converted eight of 13 third-down opportunities against Tennessee. Half of those came through the passing game, the longest being a 18-yard screen pass to Hernandez on third and 14 in the second quarter.
"We're really damn good at it right now," Gonzales said. "We've gotta make sure that's a money down for us."
A big question is whether any young wide receivers will be able to develop in time to add depth this fall. The method to gaining the coaches' trust is production in Tuesday and Wednesday practices, players and coaches universally agreed.
Redshirt freshmen Frankie Hammond Jr., Omarius Hines and T.J. Lawrence have been mentioned as possible options, but none caught a pass against the Volunteers.
"We've never been (big on) the word gamer," Gonzales said. "You've gotta make the plays over and over in practice."
The upcoming game against Kentucky will give Florida wideouts their next chance to shine. The Wildcats are 45th in the nation in passing defense, allowing an average of 185.5 yards per game, including 245 yards against Louisville last week.
"I'll never say that we're not as explosive as we used to be or we're not as good as we used to be," Nelson said. "I think we're every bit as good as we were last year, we're just looking for an opportunity to prove that.
"Maybe we didn't show it this past weekend, but we won the game. That's all that matters."
