January 8, 2009 Postseason Neutral site Belt changed hands

Florida takes the belt, 24–14, at a neutral site over Oklahoma.

Home · Defending Holder

OklahomaAP No. 4 14

Away · New Holder

FloridaAP No. 2 24

AP poll, week 15: Florida No. 2 at Oklahoma No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Florida took the belt here, ending Oklahoma’s run of 47 days and 2 defenses (reign #269) and starting reign #270. It lasted 331 days and 12 defenses, until Alabama took it on December 5, 2009.

For Florida this was its 17th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 3 times before — and it took it back here.

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

AI-Written

Recap

Florida's defense forced four interceptions of Sam Bradford to wrest the belt from Oklahoma in a defensive struggle played in the Gators' favor. After Louis Murphy's 20-yard touchdown reception gave Florida an early 7-0 lead, Oklahoma answered with Jermaine Gresham's 6-yard score to tie it at 7-7, but the Sooners' offense sputtered from there, turning the ball over three more times. Percy Harvin's bruising ground game—including a 2-yard rushing touchdown and a crucial 52-yard run late in the fourth quarter—powered Florida's methodical attack, while the Gators' pass defense repeatedly shut down Bradford's deep attempts. Florida's 21:37 time of possession and 12 conversions on 17 third-down attempts controlled the tempo throughout, and Jonathan Phillips' 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter sealed the title for the Gators.

Louis Murphy's 20-yard touchdown reception in Q2 gave Florida an early 7-0 lead and set the tone for Florida's offensive aggression
Four Bradford interceptions, including Major Wright's crucial pick at the Florida 3-yard line with 0:03 left in Q2, prevented Oklahoma from maintaining offensive momentum
Percy Harvin's 2-yard rushing touchdown in Q3 extended Florida's lead to 21-7 and effectively put the game out of reach
Harvin's 52-yard gain in Q4 to the Oklahoma 26 provided the field position needed for Phillips' insurance field goal that clinched the belt

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

OklahomaFlorida

Total yards363479

Rushing yards107248

Passing yards274231

First downs2524

3rd down conv.6/1312/17

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards4–318–81

Time of possession15:0321:37

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

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 13:36	Oklahoma	+22 yd	Sam Bradford pass complete to Juaquin Iglesias for 22 yards to the Fla 38 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q1 9:20	Florida	+8 yd	Tim Tebow pass intercepted by Nic Harris at the Okla 38, returned for 8 yards to the Okla 46.
Q2 14:02	Florida	+20 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Louis Murphy for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 0:30	Florida	+21 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 21 yards to the Okla 21 for a 1ST down.
Q2 14:02	Florida	+0 yd	Jonathan Phillips extra point GOOD.
Q2 14:02	Florida	+29 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 64 yards returned by Juaquin Iglesias for 29 yards to the Okla 35.
Q2 11:49	Oklahoma	+6 yd	Sam Bradford pass complete to Jermaine Gresham for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 11:49	Oklahoma	+0 yd	Jimmy Stevens extra point GOOD.
Q2 7:29	Florida	+12 yd	Tim Tebow pass intercepted by Gerald McCoy at the Fla 38, returned for 12 yards to the Fla 26.
Q2 10:58	Florida	+24 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Louis Murphy for 24 yards to the Fla 35 for a 1ST down.
Q2 5:05	Florida	+45 yd	Percy Harvin rush for 45 yards to the Fla 48 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:03	Oklahoma	+0 yd	Sam Bradford pass intercepted by Major Wright at the Fla 3, returned for no gain to the Fla 3.
Q3 15:00	Oklahoma	+22 yd	Matthew Moreland kickoff for 63 yards returned by Brandon James for 22 yards to the Fla 29.
Q3 4:21	Florida	+2 yd	Percy Harvin rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 4:21	Florida	+24 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 65 yards returned by Juaquin Iglesias for 24 yards to the Okla 29 out-of-bounds.
Q3 4:21	Florida	+0 yd	Jonathan Phillips extra point GOOD.
Q3 3:44	Oklahoma	+25 yd	Sam Bradford pass complete to Quentin Chaney for 25 yards to the 50 yard line out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q3 1:30	Oklahoma	+49 yd	Jimmy Stevens 49 yard field goal BLOCKED, Team for no gain, to the Fla 32.
Q4 13:08	Oklahoma	+25 yd	Sam Bradford pass complete to Chris Brown for 25 yards to the Fla 22 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:13	Oklahoma	+11 yd	Sam Bradford pass complete to Jermaine Gresham for 11 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 12:13	Oklahoma	+0 yd	Jimmy Stevens extra point GOOD.
Q4 10:45	Florida	+27 yd	Jonathan Phillips 27 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 11:53	Florida	+52 yd	Percy Harvin rush for 52 yards to the Okla 26 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q4 10:45	Florida	+28 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 63 yards returned by Juaquin Iglesias for 28 yards to the Okla 35.
Q4 9:59	Oklahoma	+0 yd	Sam Bradford pass intercepted by Ahmad Black at the Fla 24, returned for no gain to the Fla 24.
Q4 3:07	Florida	+4 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 6:25	Florida	+29 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 29 yards to the Okla 20 for a 1ST down.
Q4 3:07	Florida	+0 yd	Jonathan Phillips extra point GOOD.
Q4 3:07	Florida	+21 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 61 yards returned by Juaquin Iglesias for 21 yards to the Okla 30.

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

Oklahoma

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Sam Bradford	26/41	256	6.2	2	2	50.2

Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Tim Tebow	18/30	231	7.7	2	2	65.8

Rushing

Oklahoma

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Chris Brown	22	110	5.0	17
Mossis Madu	4	12	3.0	11
Ryan Broyles	1	3	3.0	3
Sam Bradford	2	-18	-9.0	0

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Percy Harvin	9	121	13.4	1	52
Tim Tebow	22	109	5.0	0	15
Jeff Demps	9	23	2.6	0	11
Emmanuel Moody	1	0	0.0	0	0
Chris Rainey	1	-3	-3.0	0	0

Receiving

Oklahoma

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jermaine Gresham	8	62	7.8	2	11
Juaquin Iglesias	5	58	11.6	0	22
Quentin Chaney	2	37	18.5	0	25
Chris Brown	2	37	18.5	0	25
Manuel Johnson	4	29	7.3	0	13
Ryan Broyles	4	26	6.5	0	12
Mossis Madu	1	7	7.0	0	7

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Aaron Hernandez	5	57	11.4	0	21
Percy Harvin	5	49	9.8	0	19
Louis Murphy	2	44	22.0	1	24
David Nelson	2	33	16.5	1	29
Riley Cooper	2	28	14.0	0	17
Chris Rainey	1	11	11.0	0	11
Brandon James	1	9	9.0	0	9

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Oklahoma

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Gerald McCoy	1	12	0
Nic Harris	1	8	0

Florida

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Ahmad Black	1	0	0
Major Wright	1	0	0

Kicking

Oklahoma

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jimmy Stevens	0/1	0.0	0	2/2	2

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jonathan Phillips	1/1	100.0	27	3/3	6

Punt Returns

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ryan Broyles	2	15	7.5	15	0

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon James	2	1	0.5	1	0

Punting

Oklahoma

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Mike Knall	3	116	38.7	0	0	45

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chas Henry	3	155	51.7	0	0	55

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 290080201) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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