November 14, 2009 Week 11 · Regular Season Belt defended

Florida defends the belt, 24–14, on the road at South Carolina.

Home · Challenger

South Carolina 14

Away · Defending Holder

Florida 24

AI-Written

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.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

South CarolinaFlorida

Total yards247339

Rushing yards61140

Passing yards231218

First downs1817

3rd down conv.3/125/14

Turnovers30

Penalties–yards5–253–20

Time of possession19:2117:19

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 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).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Stephen GarciaSouth Carolina	17/32	186	5.8	1	2	19.5
Tim TebowFlorida	14/25	199	8.0	1	0	32.2

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian MaddoxSouth Carolina	17	82	4.8	1	14
Patrick DiMarcoSouth Carolina	1	3	3.0	0	3
Bryce ShermanSouth Carolina	1	1	1.0	0	1
Stephen GarciaSouth Carolina	13	-21	-1.6	0	8
Chris RaineyFlorida	10	46	4.6	0	7
Emmanuel MoodyFlorida	3	35	11.7	1	17
Jeff DempsFlorida	9	32	3.6	0	9
Tim TebowFlorida	16	26	1.6	1	13
Brandon JamesFlorida	1	1	1.0	0	1

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Weslye SaundersSouth Carolina	5	62	12.4	1	15
Alshon JefferySouth Carolina	6	57	9.5	0	24
Jason BarnesSouth Carolina	2	37	18.5	0	20
Moe BrownSouth Carolina	2	21	10.5	0	14
Brian MaddoxSouth Carolina	2	9	4.5	0	7
Riley CooperFlorida	3	112	37.3	1	68
Aaron HernandezFlorida	3	30	10.0	0	12
Brandon JamesFlorida	4	24	6.0	0	11
Omarius HinesFlorida	2	20	10.0	0	12
Jeff DempsFlorida	2	13	6.5	0	8

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Justin TrattouFlorida	1	53	0
Joe HadenFlorida	1	20	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Bryce ShermanSouth Carolina	4	77	19.3	35	0
Brandon JamesFlorida	2	44	22.0	24	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Spencer LanningSouth Carolina	0/0	0.0	0	2/2	2
Caleb SturgisFlorida	1/4	25.0	32	3/3	6

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Stephon GilmoreSouth Carolina	3	0	0.0	0	0
Brandon JamesFlorida	6	85	14.2	49	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Spencer LanningSouth Carolina	6	268	44.7	0	0	55
Chas HenryFlorida	3	127	42.3	0	0	45

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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