The College Football BeltThe CFB Belt
Belt / 2007 season / Reign #261 · Game 1,379 of 1,641
September 1, 2007 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

Florida defends the belt, 49–3, at home over Western Kentucky.

Home · Defending Holder
FloridaAP No. 6 49
AT
Away · Challenger
Western Kentucky 3

AP poll, week 1: Western Kentucky unranked at Florida No. 6 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Florida came in 235 days into reign #261, which began with a win over Ohio State, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Florida went on to defend it 3 more times before Auburn took it on September 29, 2007, 263 days after the reign began.

For Western Kentucky this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t; this remains its only belt game.

This is the only time Florida and Western Kentucky have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Florida's defense suffocated Western Kentucky from the opening kickoff, holding the Hilltoppers to just 204 total yards and forcing them into a scoreless first half. The Gators struck early and often, with Tim Tebow engineering a dominant offensive performance that included touchdown passes to Riley Cooper (59 yards in Q1, 42 yards in Q3) and Percy Harvin (19 yards in Q2), along with rushing scores from Kestahn Moore and a 1-yard plunge by Tebow himself in the first quarter. Western Kentucky managed only a late field goal from Chris James in the waning moments of the first half, and Florida continued their onslaught in the second half with additional scores to put the game completely out of reach. The Gators' relentless attack and ironclad defense never allowed the visitors a moment of momentum, as Florida's 510 total yards of offense and flawless turnover margin proved far too much for the overmatched Hilltoppers.

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score
 FloridaWestern Kentucky
Total yards510204
Rushing yards18548
Passing yards325186
First downs210
3rd down conv.4/80/0
Turnovers00
Penalties–yards8–510–0
Time of possession13:56—

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play
WhenTeamYardsPlay
Q1 15:00Western Kentucky+29 ydDavid Wolke pass complete to Jessie Quinn for 29 yards to the Fla 43 for a 1ST down.
Q1 11:03Florida+48 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Andre Caldwell for 48 yards to the WKent 19 for a 1ST down.
Q1 8:49Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q1 8:49Florida+1 ydTim Tebow rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 2:03Florida+59 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 59 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 2:03Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q2 13:36Florida+19 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 13:36Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q2 8:11Florida+22 ydJoey Ijjas kickoff for 52 yards returned by Bobby Mason for 22 yards to the WKent 40.
Q2 8:11Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q2 8:11Florida+3 ydKestahn Moore rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 3:53Florida+26 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 26 yards to the WKent 49 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:00Western Kentucky+26 ydChris James 26 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 4:08Florida+42 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 42 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 4:25Florida+43 ydTim Tebow pass complete to Andre Caldwell for 43 yards to the WKent 42 for a 1ST down.
Q3 4:08Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q4 14:57Florida+1 ydKestahn Moore rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 14:57Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.
Q4 8:55Western Kentucky+22 ydJeremy Moore punt for 39 yards, returned by Chris Rainey for 22 yards to the WKent 23.
Q4 8:23Florida+4 ydCameron Newton rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 8:23Florida+0 ydJoey Ijjas extra point GOOD.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Florida

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Tim Tebow13/1730017.63098.7
Cam Newton3/4256.30055.3

Western Kentucky

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
K.J. Black10/131027.8000.0
David Wolke3/44310.8000.0
Brandon Smith2/4112.8000.0

Rushing

Florida

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Kestahn Moore16915.7217
Tim Tebow8384.8118
Percy Harvin3258.3013
Jarred Fayson3217.008
Cam Newton252.514
Chevon Walker155.005

Western Kentucky

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Tyrell Hayden11322.908
Curtis Hamilton2126.007
David Wolke2115.509
Andrew McCloud5112.206
Brandon Smith1-5-5.000
K.J. Black11-13-1.2010

Receiving

Florida

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Riley Cooper412230.5259
Andre Jerome Caldwell310334.3048
Percy Harvin35317.7126
Louis Murphy3206.7010
David Nelson2168.0014
Cornelius Ingram11111.0011

Western Kentucky

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Jessie Quinn24824.0029
Jake Gaebler44310.8019
Quinterrance Cooper3299.7015
Curtis Hamilton3186.0010
Jared Johnson199.009
Jamar Jones155.005
Wenquel Graves144.004
Show more stats (3 more categories)

Kicking

Florida

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Joey Ijjas0/00.007/77

Western Kentucky

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Chris James1/1100.0260/03

Punt Returns

Florida

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Jarred Fayson5499.8170
Chris Rainey12222.0220

Western Kentucky

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Jake Gaebler200.000

Punting

Florida

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Chas Henry311538.30049

Western Kentucky

No recorded stats in this category.

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 272440057) · This game in the downloadable dataset