November 21, 2009 Week 12 · Regular Season Belt defended

Florida defends the belt, 62–3, at home over Florida International.

Home · Defending Holder

Florida 62

Away · Challenger

Florida International 3

AI-Written

Recap

Florida dominated Florida International from start to finish in a thoroughly lopsided affair, with the Gators' defense setting the tone immediately when Brandon Spikes returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown just 13 seconds into the game. Tim Tebow was surgical on offense, scoring on a 55-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter and adding passing touchdowns to Chris Rainey and Riley Cooper as Florida built a commanding lead by halftime. The Gators' relentless attack continued in the third quarter with another Tebow-to-Cooper touchdown pass, while Florida International's only answer was a 37-yard field goal late in the second quarter. Florida's defense held FIU to just 180 total yards and a single turnover, while the Gators racked up 584 yards of offense and converted 11 of 14 third-down attempts in a performance that was never competitive.

Brandon Spikes' 42-yard interception return touchdown on FIU's first drive set the tone for the game immediately
Tim Tebow's 55-yard rushing touchdown in Q1 extended Florida's lead and showcased the Gators' dominant ground game
Chris Rainey's two touchdown plays (27-yard pass and 22-yard rush) highlighted Florida's unstoppable offensive firepower
Florida International's lone score, a 37-yard field goal late in Q2, was symbolic of their inability to move the ball against Florida's 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.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

FloridaFlorida International

Total yards584180

Rushing yards22344

Passing yards361151

First downs3011

3rd down conv.11/144/15

Turnovers01

Penalties–yards8–815–40

Time of possession20:2016:20

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 13:10	Florida International	+42 yd	Paul McCall pass intercepted by Brandon Spikes at the FlaIn 42, returned for 42 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 13:10	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q1 13:10	Florida	+33 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 70 yards returned by T.Y. Hilton for 33 yards to the FlaIn 33.
Q1 11:00	Florida	+21 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 21 yards to the Fla 37 for a 1ST down.
Q1 9:18	Florida	+55 yd	Tim Tebow rush for 55 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 9:18	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q1 3:29	Florida	+53 yd	Caleb Sturgis 53 yard field goal MISSED.
Q2 13:39	Florida	+27 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Chris Rainey for 27 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 13:39	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q2 13:39	Florida	+27 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 70 yards returned by T.Y. Hilton for 27 yards to the FlaIn 27.
Q2 9:41	Florida	+22 yd	Chris Rainey rush for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 9:41	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q2 9:41	Florida	+47 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 67 yards returned by Wayne Times for 47 yards to the 50 yard line.
Q2 5:17	Florida International	+33 yd	Dustin Rivest 33 yard field goal MISSED.
Q2 3:32	Florida	+29 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Chris Rainey for 29 yards to the FlaIn 14 for a 1ST down.
Q2 4:07	Florida	+26 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 26 yards to the FlaIn 43 for a 1ST down.
Q2 1:38	Florida	+3 yd	Jeffery Demps rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 1:38	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q2 1:00	Florida International	+26 yd	Paul McCall pass complete to T.Y. Hilton for 26 yards to the Fla 10 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:29	Florida International	+37 yd	Dustin Rivest 37 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 15:00	Florida International	+34 yd	Dustin Rivest kickoff for 45 yards returned by Brandon James for 34 yards to the FlaIn 41.
Q3 13:38	Florida	+18 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 18 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 13:38	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q3 14:00	Florida	+20 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Deonte Thompson for 20 yards to the FlaIn 18 for a 1ST down.
Q3 5:00	Florida	+22 yd	John Brantley pass complete to Deonte Thompson for 22 yards to the FlaIn 25 for a 1ST down.
Q3 4:06	Florida	+20 yd	John Brantley pass complete to Omarius Hines for 20 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 4:06	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q4 11:10	Florida	+16 yd	John Brantley pass complete to Justin Williams for 16 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 12:30	Florida	+22 yd	John Brantley pass complete to Cade Holliday for 22 yards to the FlaIn 11 for a 1ST down.
Q4 11:10	Florida	+27 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 65 yards returned by Wayne Times for 27 yards to the FlaIn 47, FLORIDA penalty 15 yard Illegal Block accepted for a 1ST down.
Q4 11:10	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q4 10:51	Florida International	+31 yd	Paul McCall pass complete to T.Y. Hilton for 31 yards to the Fla 22 for a 1ST down.
Q4 2:28	Florida	+31 yd	John Brantley pass complete to Frankie Hammond Jr. for 31 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

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
Tim TebowFlorida	17/25	215	8.6	2	0	98.4
John BrantleyFlorida	9/13	146	11.2	3	0	97.0
Paul McCallFlorida International	9/21	134	6.4	0	1	0.7
Wayne YoungerFlorida International	1/5	2	0.4	0	0	2.0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tim TebowFlorida	7	102	14.6	1	55
Jeff DempsFlorida	9	46	5.1	1	11
Chris RaineyFlorida	4	30	7.5	1	22
Christopher ScottFlorida	9	26	2.9	0	13
John BrantleyFlorida	3	23	7.7	0	13
Vincent BrownFlorida	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Andrew BlaylockFlorida	3	-3	-1.0	0	0
Kendall BerryFlorida International	13	26	2.0	0	7
Wayne YoungerFlorida International	2	16	8.0	0	16
Daunte OwensFlorida International	8	15	1.9	0	6
Trenard TurnerFlorida International	3	12	4.0	0	5
Dustin RivestFlorida International	1	-11	-11.0	0	0
Paul McCallFlorida International	4	-14	-3.5	0	1

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Deonte ThompsonFlorida	5	66	13.2	0	22
Chris RaineyFlorida	3	61	20.3	1	29
Omarius HinesFlorida	4	50	12.5	1	20
Riley CooperFlorida	3	48	16.0	1	21
David NelsonFlorida	3	45	15.0	0	26
Frankie HammondFlorida	2	38	19.0	1	31
Cade HollidayFlorida	1	22	22.0	0	22
Justin WilliamsFlorida	1	16	16.0	1	16
Brandon JamesFlorida	4	15	3.8	0	12
T.Y. HiltonFlorida International	4	75	18.8	0	31
Daunte OwensFlorida International	1	18	18.0	0	18
Colt AndersonFlorida International	1	18	18.0	0	18
Jacob YoungerFlorida International	2	13	6.5	0	8
Wayne TimesFlorida International	1	10	10.0	0	10
Trenard TurnerFlorida International	1	2	2.0	0	2

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Brandon SpikesFlorida	1	41	1

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Brandon JamesFlorida	2	53	26.5	34
T.Y. HiltonFlorida International	4	92	23.0	33
Wayne TimesFlorida International	3	82	27.3	47

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Caleb SturgisFlorida	0/1	0.0	0	8/8	8
Jonathan PhillipsFlorida	0/0	0.0	0	0/1	0
Dustin RivestFlorida International	1/2	50.0	37	0/0	3

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon JamesFlorida	4	25	6.3	14	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Dustin RivestFlorida International	5	201	40.2	0	0	50

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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