COLUMBIA, S.C. — It has rarely been pretty, but the victory meals keep on coming for Florida.
Urban Meyer won’t let his team forget it.
No. 1 UF’s 24-14 win over South Carolina on Saturday gave the Gators 20 straight wins, good for sixth in Southeastern Conference history, as well as their first perfect league record since 1996.
“Our team, we have victory meals on Sunday nights,” said Meyer, whose .800 winning percentage in SEC games is now tops all-time among coaches of at least five years. “I can’t tell you what we eat, but when I hear 'victory meal' it’s all good.
“We did not play perfect, obviously. I’m not sure we’ve played perfect in quite a while.”
The offense left plenty of points on the field — three missed field goals and two would-be touchdowns dropped by Riley Cooper were the most obvious. The defense struggled in the first half, allowing 206 yards to South Carolina. The Gators had allowed 210 yards or less in the entirety of four conference games (Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and Vanderbilt).
That was a big reason why UF (10-0, 8-0 SEC) held only a three-point advantage at halftime — tied with the Mississippi State game for its slimmest lead at intermission this season.
“Seeing what the score was after the first half of this game was pretty much like, ‘Man, the season’s on the line. We’re only up by three points. We’re not used to this. We need to come out firing on all cylinders,’” linebacker Ryan Stamper said, “and we did.”
South Carolina (6-5, 3-5 SEC) had only 41 total yards after the break, although the game’s outcome may have been altered by a single play. After three quarters, the Gamecocks trailed by just three points and faced a third and 3 at the UF 22-yard-line.
Stephen Garcia dropped back and threw a pass intended for Moe Brown, but the pass hit off Brown’s facemask and went up in the air.
Florida defensive end Justin Trattou grabbed it and ran it back 53 yards. Tim Tebow ran it in from 1 yard out four plays later, and UF had a 10-point lead with 13:25 to go.
“That was huge. The whole field was tilting,” Meyer said. “The field shifted back. Momentum completely swung. You felt it in the stadium. That’ll go down in history as one of the great plays.”
Now, UF looks to polish itself with three weeks left until a SEC Championship Game date with No. 2 Alabama (10-0, 7-0 SEC) on Dec. 5.
The offense came out rolling, scoring 17 points on its first three drives, including a 68-yard catch-and-run from Tebow to Cooper. But Florida struggled in the second half, scoring only on the short field after Trattou’s interception. The Gators’ average second-half starting field position was the Gamecocks’ 40-yard-line, and UF had four scoreless possessions that started in South Carolina territory.
Two would-be touchdowns that hit off of Cooper's fingertips didn’t help.
“We took the shots down the field,” Meyer said. “I’m so tired of seeing balls go off fingertips. We have to (make those). We all know what’s coming down the road.”
There is, however, something to be said for Florida’s ability to find a way to win. Players and coaches alike said after the game that they have come to expect a game-changing play like Trattou’s.
So despite the continuing red-zone struggles (UF ranks 94th in the country) and although Caleb Sturgis missed three of four field goals including a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter, the Gators were singing with the band for the 20th straight time Saturday night.
And they feel all these close games — UF has won half of its games by 10 points or less — leave them better off.
“To be battle-tested, to find a way to win that game, as opposed to finding a way not to win that game,” Meyer said. “In ‘07, we found a way to lose several of those games. In ‘08, we found a way to win them, and ‘09 we have found a way to win a couple.”
