Florida defends the belt, 30–24, on the road at Ole Miss.
AP poll, week 4: Florida No. 3 at Ole Miss unranked · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Florida came in 256 days into reign #261, which began with a win over Ohio State, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. It was the last defense: Auburn took the belt in the very next belt game, on September 29, 2007.
For Ole Miss this was its 11th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before.
It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Florida leads 2–0.
Recap
Florida's defense and ground game proved too much for Ole Miss in Gainesville as the Gators dominated the second and third quarters to keep hold of the belt. After Ole Miss kicked a field goal to open the scoring, Tim Tebow took over, connecting with Percy Harvin for a touchdown and then rushing for two more scores to give Florida a commanding 24-3 lead by the end of the third quarter. Ole Miss mounted a late comeback with Seth Adams leading a scoring drive capped by a touchdown pass to Shay Hodge, but the Rebels' late tally came too little and too late, as Florida's superior execution on third downs (8-15 vs 2-11) and time of possession advantage proved decisive in the belt defense.
- Tim Tebow's TD pass to Percy Harvin in Q2 opened Florida's scoring onslaught
- Tebow's two rushing touchdowns in Q2 and Q3 extended Florida's lead to 24-3
- Ole Miss's Shay Hodge TD reception in Q3 provided late drama but came after the game was decided
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.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull 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.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 13:20 | Florida | +42 yd | Joey Ijjas 42 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q1 8:30 | Ole Miss | +20 yd | Seth Adams pass complete to Michael Hicks for 20 yards to the Fla 34 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 5:02 | Ole Miss | +40 yd | Joshua Shene 40 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q1 4:53 | Ole Miss | +20 yd | Joshua Shene kickoff for 57 yards returned by Brandon James for 20 yards to the Fla 23, Florida penalty 10 yard holding on Javier Estopinan accepted. |
| Q2 14:52 | Florida | +19 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 14:43 | Florida | +42 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 65 yards returned by Marshay Green for 42 yards to the Miss 47. |
| Q2 14:52 | Florida | +0 yd | Joey Ijjas extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 11:57 | Ole Miss | +32 yd | Joshua Shene 32 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 7:08 | Florida | +9 yd | Tim Tebow rush for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 7:08 | Florida | +0 yd | Joey Ijjas extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 7:01 | Florida | +24 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 68 yards returned by Marshay Green for 24 yards to the Miss 26. |
| Q2 1:21 | Ole Miss | +48 yd | Joshua Shene 48 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q2 0:08 | Florida | +24 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 24 yards to the Miss 37. |
| Q3 14:54 | Florida | +26 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 66 yards returned by Marshay Green for 26 yards to the Miss 30. |
| Q3 10:05 | Florida | +0 yd | Joey Ijjas extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 11:37 | Florida | +20 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Louis Murphy for 20 yards to the Miss 24 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 10:05 | Florida | +6 yd | Tim Tebow rush for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 9:58 | Florida | +23 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 64 yards returned by Marshay Green for 23 yards to the Miss 29. |
| Q3 9:40 | Ole Miss | +51 yd | Seth Adams pass complete to Michael Hicks for 51 yards to the Fla 5 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 8:03 | Ole Miss | +22 yd | Joshua Shene 22 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q3 5:17 | Florida | +37 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Louis Murphy for 37 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 5:35 | Florida | +25 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Cornelius Ingram for 25 yards to the Miss 37 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 5:06 | Florida | +20 yd | Jonathan Phillips kickoff for 64 yards returned by Marshay Green for 20 yards to the Miss 41. |
| Q3 3:30 | Ole Miss | +21 yd | Seth Adams pass complete to Shay Hodge for 21 yards to the Fla 27 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 2:47 | Ole Miss | +19 yd | Seth Adams pass complete to Shay Hodge for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 2:47 | Ole Miss | +0 yd | Joshua Shene extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 0:07 | Ole Miss | +77 yd | Seth Adams pass complete to Mike Wallace for 77 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 0:07 | Ole Miss | +0 yd | Two-point conversion attempt, Seth Adams pass to Marshay Green GOOD. |
| Q4 11:01 | Ole Miss | +0 yd | Seth Adams pass intercepted by Tony Joiner at the Fla 39, returned for no gain to the Fla 39. |
| Q4 4:59 | Florida | +25 yd | Joey Ijjas 25 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q4 4:54 | Florida | +24 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 60 yards returned by Marshay Green for 24 yards to the Miss 34. |
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).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Ole Miss
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Sparks | 1/1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Seth Adams | 18/31 | 302 | 9.7 | 2 | 1 | 47.8 |
Florida
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 20/34 | 261 | 7.7 | 2 | 0 | 81.8 |
Rushing
Ole Miss
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BenJarvus Green-Ellis | 11 | 37 | 3.4 | 0 | 9 |
| Bruce Hall | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 | 19 |
| Marshay Green | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Seth Adams | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0 | 8 |
Florida
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 27 | 166 | 6.1 | 2 | 13 |
| Kestahn Moore | 11 | 62 | 5.6 | 0 | 18 |
| Brandon James | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 13 |
| Percy Harvin | 4 | -1 | -0.3 | 0 | 6 |
Receiving
Ole Miss
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Hicks | 3 | 89 | 29.7 | 0 | 51 |
| Shay Hodge | 7 | 81 | 11.6 | 1 | 21 |
| Mike Wallace | 1 | 77 | 77.0 | 1 | 77 |
| Marshay Green | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 0 | 11 |
| Robert Lane | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 8 |
| Jason Cook | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
Florida
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percy Harvin | 11 | 121 | 11.0 | 1 | 23 |
| Louis Murphy | 2 | 57 | 28.5 | 1 | 37 |
| Cornelius Ingram | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 0 | 25 |
| Kestahn Moore | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Brandon James | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Aaron Hernandez | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| David Nelson | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Ole Miss
No recorded stats in this category.
Florida
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Joiner | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Kicking
Ole Miss
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Shene | 3/4 | 75.0 | 40 | 1/1 | 10 |
Florida
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Ijjas | 1/2 | 50.0 | 25 | 3/3 | 6 |
| Jonathan Phillips | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0 |
Punt Returns
Ole Miss
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshay Green | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Ole Miss
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Sparks | 3 | 125 | 41.7 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chas Henry | 4 | 158 | 39.5 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
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 272650145) · This game in the downloadable dataset