The College Football BeltThe CFB Belt
Belt / 2009 season / Reign #270 · Game 1,408 of 1,643
September 19, 2009 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Florida defends the belt, 23–13, at home over Tennessee.

Home · Defending Holder
FloridaAP No. 1 23
AT
Away · Challenger
Tennessee 13

AP poll, week 3: Tennessee unranked at Florida No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Michigan. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Florida came in 254 days into reign #270, which began with a win over Oklahoma, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Florida went on to defend it 9 more times before Alabama took it on December 5, 2009, 331 days after the reign began.

For Tennessee this was its 20th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, Florida led the belt series 1–0; all-time Florida leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Florida's defense dominated Tennessee throughout the contest, intercepting three passes to consistently stall the Volunteers' offensive drives. The Gators struck first with a Caleb Sturgis field goal, then built momentum with Tim Tebow's 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, extending their lead to 13-3 by halftime. Tennessee managed field goals from Daniel Lincoln in the first and second quarters but struggled to generate sustained offensive pressure, gaining just 210 total yards. Florida put the game away with a Jeffery Demps 7-yard rushing touchdown early in the third quarter and a Caleb Sturgis field goal, reaching 23 points and effectively putting the contest out of reach despite a late Montario Hardesty touchdown run by Tennessee. The Gators' dominant time of possession advantage of nearly four minutes and superior third-down efficiency sealed their control of 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
 FloridaTennessee
Total yards323210
Rushing yards208117
Passing yards13895
First downs2013
3rd down conv.8/135/12
Turnovers22
Penalties–yards4–253–40
Time of possession20:0016:40

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 11:33Florida+37 ydCaleb Sturgis 37 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 11:33Florida+22 ydCaleb Sturgis kickoff for 65 yards returned by David Oku for 22 yards to the Tenn 27.
Q1 10:18Tennessee+20 ydMontario Hardesty rush for 20 yards to the Tenn 45 for a 1ST down.
Q1 3:00Tennessee+24 ydDaniel Lincoln 24 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 12:48Florida+1 ydTim Tebow rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 11:52Florida+22 ydCaleb Sturgis kickoff for 68 yards returned by David Oku for 22 yards to the Tenn 24.
Q2 12:48Florida+0 ydCaleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q1 2:46Florida+23 ydEmmanuel Moody rush for 23 yards to the Tenn 49 for a 1ST down.
Q2 8:04Florida+0 ydTim Tebow pass intercepted by Eric Berry at the Fla 20, returned for no gain to the Fla 20.
Q2 5:56Tennessee+20 ydDaniel Lincoln 20 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 5:56Tennessee+30 ydChad Cunningham kickoff for 63 yards returned by Brandon James for 30 yards to the Fla 37.
Q2 5:37Florida+21 ydJeffery Demps rush for 21 yards to the Tenn 42 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:51Florida+29 ydCaleb Sturgis 29 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 13:52Tennessee+0 ydJonathan Crompton pass intercepted by Joe Haden at the Fla 35, returned for no gain to the Fla 35.
Q3 9:33Florida+35 ydCaleb Sturgis 35 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 0:07Florida+7 ydJeffery Demps rush for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 0:07Florida+0 ydCaleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q4 8:11Tennessee+0 ydDaniel Lincoln extra point GOOD.
Q4 10:02Tennessee+21 ydJonathan Crompton pass complete to Bryce Brown for 21 yards to the Fla 42 for a 1ST down.
Q4 8:11Tennessee+17 ydMontario Hardesty rush for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:51Tennessee+0 ydJonathan Crompton pass intercepted by Ahmad Black at the Fla 26, returned for no gain to the Fla 26.

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 Tebow14/191156.10145.3

Tennessee

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Jonathan Crompton11/19934.90242.6

Rushing

Florida

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Tim Tebow24763.2115
Chris Rainey9647.1013
Emmanuel Moody33311.0023
Jeff Demps4317.8121
Brandon James341.302

Tennessee

PlayerCARYDSAVGTDLONG
Montario Hardesty20964.8120
Bryce Brown8212.6013
Jonathan Crompton362.006
Denarius Moore1-6-6.000

Receiving

Florida

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
David Nelson22613.0014
Aaron Hernandez4266.5018
Riley Cooper3258.309
Brandon James3237.7010
Jeff Demps2157.5010

Tennessee

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Bryce Brown33411.3021
Gerald Jones22512.5017
Kevin Cooper2168.0015
Quintin Hancock155.005
David Oku155.005
Jeff Cottam144.004
Montario Hardesty144.004
Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Florida

PlayerINTYDSTD
Ahmad Black100
Joe Haden100

Tennessee

PlayerINTYDSTD
Eric Berry100

Kick Returns

Florida

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Brandon James39732.3500

Tennessee

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
David Oku57915.8220
Dennis Rogan12424.0240

Kicking

Florida

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Caleb Sturgis3/3100.0372/211

Tennessee

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Daniel Lincoln2/2100.0241/17

Punting

Florida

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Chas Henry15555.00055

Tennessee

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Chad Cunningham311839.30044

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 292620057) · This game in the downloadable dataset