Florida defends the belt, 27–3, at home over Vanderbilt.
AP poll, week 10: Vanderbilt unranked at Florida No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Florida came in 303 days into reign #270, which began with a win over Oklahoma, with 8 defenses already behind it; this was its 9th defense. Florida went on to defend it 3 more times before Alabama took it on December 5, 2009, 331 days after the reign began.
For Vanderbilt this was its 17th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.
It was the 3rd of 4 belt games between the two; going in, the series stood 1–1; all-time Florida leads 3–1. Every meeting →
Recap
Florida's defense set the tone early, with Ryan Stamper picking off a Mackenzi Adams pass in the first quarter to thwart Vanderbilt's opening drive. The Gators methodically built their lead through the first half, starting with Caleb Sturgis's 27-yard field goal before Jeffery Demps punched in a rushing touchdown in the second quarter. Vanderbilt managed only a field goal response in the third quarter as Florida's defense remained stifling throughout. Tim Tebow put the game away with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a 64-yard completion to Aaron Hernandez that set up yet another scoring drive, sealing Florida's dominant 27-3 victory and belt defense.
- Ryan Stamper's first-quarter interception of Mackenzi Adams that halted Vanderbilt's opening drive and gave Florida prime field position
- Jeffery Demps's rushing touchdown in the second quarter that extended Florida's lead to 10-0 and established control
- Vanderbilt's third-quarter field goal representing their only score of the game against Florida's suffocating defense
- Tim Tebow's two fourth-quarter touchdown passes that put the game completely out of reach and sealed the belt defense
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 3:48 | Florida | +21 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 21 yards to the Vandy 18 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 1:00 | Florida | +27 yd | Caleb Sturgis 27 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q1 0:22 | Vanderbilt | +18 yd | Mackenzi Adams pass intercepted by Ryan Stamper at the Fla 48, returned for 18 yards to the Vandy 34. |
| Q2 12:43 | Florida | +25 yd | Jeffery Demps rush for 25 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 12:43 | Florida | +23 yd | Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 70 yards returned by Warren Norman for 23 yards to the Vandy 23. |
| Q2 12:43 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 6:08 | Florida | +45 yd | Caleb Sturgis 45 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q3 15:00 | Vanderbilt | +21 yd | Ryan Fowler kickoff for 68 yards returned by Brandon James for 21 yards to the Fla 23. |
| Q3 8:40 | Vanderbilt | +32 yd | Ryan Fowler 32 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q3 10:00 | Vanderbilt | +30 yd | Warren Norman rush for 30 yards to the Fla 15 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 8:40 | Vanderbilt | +24 yd | Ryan Fowler kickoff for 58 yards returned by Brandon James for 24 yards to the Fla 36. |
| Q3 1:52 | Florida | +1 yd | Tim Tebow rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 1:52 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 1:52 | Florida | +24 yd | Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 60 yards returned by Warren Norman for 24 yards to the Vandy 34. |
| Q4 9:22 | Florida | +8 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 9:22 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 6:11 | Florida | +64 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 64 yards to the Vandy 17 for a 1ST down. |
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
Florida
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 15/20 | 208 | 10.4 | 1 | 0 | 43.0 |
| John Brantley | 3/3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 79.2 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mackenzi Adams | 13/29 | 100 | 3.4 | 0 | 1 | 19.6 |
Rushing
Florida
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Demps | 7 | 57 | 8.1 | 1 | 25 |
| Emmanuel Moody | 8 | 34 | 4.3 | 0 | 12 |
| Tim Tebow | 16 | 27 | 1.7 | 1 | 12 |
| Brandon James | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Chris Rainey | 4 | 12 | 3.0 | 0 | 4 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Norman | 12 | 65 | 5.4 | 0 | 30 |
| Zac Stacy | 10 | 32 | 3.2 | 0 | 17 |
| Mackenzi Adams | 4 | 16 | 4.0 | 0 | 9 |
Receiving
Florida
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Hernandez | 7 | 120 | 17.1 | 0 | 64 |
| Brandon James | 4 | 44 | 11.0 | 0 | 17 |
| David Nelson | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 1 | 14 |
| Deonte Thompson | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| Riley Cooper | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Chris Rainey | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Frankie Hammond | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Cole | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Brandon Barden | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 | 11 |
| Jamie Graham | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Akeem Dunham | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Turner Wimberly | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Chris Reinert | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Warren Norman | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 12 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
Florida
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Stamper | 1 | 18 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
No recorded stats in this category.
Kick Returns
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 24 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Norman | 5 | 99 | 19.8 | 24 | 0 |
Kicking
Florida
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Sturgis | 2/2 | 100.0 | 45 | 3/3 | 9 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fowler | 1/1 | 100.0 | 32 | 0/0 | 3 |
Punt Returns
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 4 | 21 | 5.3 | 19 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Washington | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 7 | 0 |
Punting
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chas Henry | 4 | 211 | 52.8 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Upson | 7 | 297 | 42.4 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
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 293110057) · This game in the downloadable dataset