Florida defends the belt, 24–14, on the road at South Carolina.
AP poll, week 11: Florida No. 1 at South Carolina unranked · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Florida came in 310 days into reign #270, which began with a win over Oklahoma, with 9 defenses already behind it; this was its 10th defense. Florida went on to defend it 2 more times before Alabama took it on December 5, 2009, 331 days after the reign began.
For South Carolina this was its 10th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.
It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time it is 1–1.
Recap
Florida's defense dominated the turnover battle, forcing three interceptions while committing none, as the Gators successfully defended their belt against South Carolina in Columbia. The Gamecocks struck first with Brian Maddox's 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but Tim Tebow answered immediately with a 68-yard scoring strike to Riley Cooper on Florida's next possession. Florida extended their lead to 17-7 by halftime with Emmanuel Moody's 17-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, weathering South Carolina's response touchdown pass to Weslye Saunders. The critical blow came in the fourth quarter when Justin Trattou returned a Garcia interception 53 yards to set up Tebow's 1-yard rushing touchdown, effectively putting the game out of reach at 24-14 and sealing Florida's belt retention despite being outgained in total yards.
- Tim Tebow's 68-yard TD pass to Riley Cooper in Q1 established Florida's early offensive rhythm and answered South Carolina's opening score
- Emmanuel Moody's 17-yard rushing touchdown in Q2 extended Florida's lead to 17-7 and proved to be the decisive scoring drive
- Justin Trattou's 53-yard interception return in Q4 set up Tebow's go-ahead rushing touchdown that secured the belt for Florida
- Florida's three takeaways versus zero turnovers was the decisive statistical advantage in a defensive battle
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 12:04 | Florida | +68 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 68 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 12:04 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 5:51 | South Carolina | +1 yd | Brian Maddox rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 6:33 | South Carolina | +24 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Alshon Jeffery for 24 yards to the Fla 18 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 5:51 | South Carolina | +0 yd | Spencer Lanning extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 5:51 | South Carolina | +24 yd | Adam Yates kickoff for 70 yards returned by Brandon James for 24 yards to the Fla 24. |
| Q1 5:14 | Florida | +30 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 30 yards to the SCaro 48 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 1:18 | Florida | +32 yd | Caleb Sturgis 32 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q2 10:28 | Florida | +17 yd | Emmanuel Moody rush for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 10:28 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 6:04 | Florida | +52 yd | Caleb Sturgis 52 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q2 2:10 | South Carolina | +9 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Weslye Saunders for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 4:42 | South Carolina | +20 yd | Stephen Garcia pass complete to Jason Barnes for 20 yards to the Fla 12 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 2:10 | South Carolina | +20 yd | Adam Yates kickoff for 64 yards returned by Brandon James for 20 yards to the Fla 26. |
| Q2 2:10 | South Carolina | +0 yd | Spencer Lanning extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 8:48 | Florida | +54 yd | Caleb Sturgis 54 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q3 6:29 | South Carolina | +49 yd | Spencer Lanning punt for 43 yards, returned by Brandon James for 49 yards to the SCaro 37. |
| Q4 15:00 | South Carolina | +53 yd | Stephen Garcia pass intercepted by Justin Trattou at the Fla 21, returned for 53 yards to the SCaro 26. |
| Q4 13:25 | Florida | +1 yd | Tim Tebow rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 13:25 | Florida | +0 yd | Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 4:01 | Florida | +29 yd | Caleb Sturgis 29 yard field goal MISSED. |
| Q4 3:19 | South Carolina | +20 yd | Stephen Garcia pass intercepted by Joe Haden at the SCaro 40, returned for 20 yards to the SCaro 20. |
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
South Carolina
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Garcia | 17/32 | 186 | 5.8 | 1 | 2 | 19.5 |
Florida
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 14/25 | 199 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 32.2 |
Rushing
South Carolina
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Maddox | 17 | 82 | 4.8 | 1 | 14 |
| Patrick DiMarco | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Bryce Sherman | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Stephen Garcia | 13 | -21 | -1.6 | 0 | 8 |
Florida
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Rainey | 10 | 46 | 4.6 | 0 | 7 |
| Emmanuel Moody | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 1 | 17 |
| Jeff Demps | 9 | 32 | 3.6 | 0 | 9 |
| Tim Tebow | 16 | 26 | 1.6 | 1 | 13 |
| Brandon James | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Receiving
South Carolina
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weslye Saunders | 5 | 62 | 12.4 | 1 | 15 |
| Alshon Jeffery | 6 | 57 | 9.5 | 0 | 24 |
| Jason Barnes | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 20 |
| Moe Brown | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 14 |
| Brian Maddox | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 7 |
Florida
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Cooper | 3 | 112 | 37.3 | 1 | 68 |
| Aaron Hernandez | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Brandon James | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Omarius Hines | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Jeff Demps | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 8 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
South Carolina
No recorded stats in this category.
Florida
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Trattou | 1 | 53 | 0 |
| Joe Haden | 1 | 20 | 0 |
Kick Returns
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce Sherman | 4 | 77 | 19.3 | 35 | 0 |
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 2 | 44 | 22.0 | 24 | 0 |
Kicking
South Carolina
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Lanning | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2/2 | 2 |
Florida
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Sturgis | 1/4 | 25.0 | 32 | 3/3 | 6 |
Punt Returns
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephon Gilmore | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 6 | 85 | 14.2 | 49 | 0 |
Punting
South Carolina
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Lanning | 6 | 268 | 44.7 | 0 | 0 | 55 |
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chas Henry | 3 | 127 | 42.3 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
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 293182579) · This game in the downloadable dataset