STARKVILLE, Miss. - The final score didn't reflect the performance of the Florida defense Saturday night at Mississippi State.
The Gators held the Bulldogs' offense to two field goals, marking the fourth game this season that an opponent has not been able to score an offensive touchdown.
The other 13 points scored by MSU in UF's 29-19 win came as a result of two interception returns for touchdowns by cornerback Johnthan Banks - something that fired up Florida's defense. MSU's offense finished with 237 total yards on the game and only scored three second-half points.
"Guys are emotional, especially when you get interceptions for touchdowns," senior linebacker Ryan Stamper said. "They get 19 points, it looks like - if I would've just turned on my TV - it would've looked like the defense wasn't playing well, but you know we're playing pretty good. We got turnovers tonight, too."
Three of them to be exact.
Linebackers A.J. Jones and Dustin Doe each intercepted MSU quarterback Tyson Lee, with Doe returning his 23 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Gators up 29-13.
Safety Major Wright added the final interception with 4:01 remaining in the game and appeared to clinch the win.
On the next play, however, UF quarterback Tim Tebow dropped back to pass in his own end zone and threw one of those interceptions for touchdowns that Stamper was talking about, making the game a lot closer than perhaps it should have been.
"I was just thinking about how I messed it up," coach Urban Meyer said of the play call to throw the ball rather than run it. "And a lot of confidence in our defense."
The defense earned at least that after holding MSU running back Anthony Dixon to 53 yards on the ground, less than half of his season average of 116.
His previous low was 92 rushing yards against Auburn.
UF thwarted MSU's running game even with four regulars held out with injury.
"There's a lot of experience. There's some grown men on that defense, and they played well together and they support each other," Meyer said. "It's a good football team. With four starters out on defense, that's something."
Among those held out with injury was All-America middle linebacker Brandon Spikes, who came out for pregame warmups but couldn't play when the whistle was blown.
Defensive tackles Lawrence Marsh and Jaye Howard and defensive end Justin Trattou were the other three prominent defensive players sidelined for the Gators.
Stamper, who had 13 tackles, filled in for Spikes in the middle and led a stingy first-half performance that set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Bulldogs picked up 74 yards of total offense in the first half and went three-and-out on each of their last four possessions before the break.
On those final four possessions, MSU totaled 8 combined yards, moving backward on two of those drives.
Yet, UF took a slim 13-10 lead into halftime due to the offense's inability to cap off drives with touchdowns in the red zone.
"Our defense is playing well enough that that score should have been different at halftime," Meyer said.
The score was close, however, thanks to red-zone ineptitude and a couple errant passes. The offense's inability to convert put more pressure on the defense, but that's just the way the nation's No. 1 team in total defense likes it.
"We try to not worry about what the offense is doing because - to be honest with you - we pretty much control the game," Stamper said. "If they don't score, they don't win. We control the game, and that's how we see it. If they don't score, they don't win, and they didn't score tonight."
