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By B.J. Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com Senior Editor
SouthernPigskin.com Senior Editor B.J. Bennett reflects on Florida’s 23-20 win over Arkansas. Follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.
*It wasn’t pretty, but the top-ranked Gators held off the upset bid from a very good Arkansas football team and were able to cling to victory on an afternoon where they didn’t have their best effort and their opponent did. Games like these are why college football is such a beautiful sport. Anything can happen, especially in conference play. This was just one of those days for the Gators; losing All-American Brandon Spikes to injury early on, a flailing foot causing a fumble plus an extraordinary effort by the Razorbacks. Florida was still able to win and those are the contests you have to survive when you are a top-ranked team. Every championship squad has their ugly, maybe even lucky, win. This was Urban Meyer’s. Remember, a win is a win.
*Give the Florida offense a lot of credit for their final fourth quarter drive, the game-winner. Against a defense that had their number all game long, Tim Tebow and the Gators stepped up and drove down the field to set up the winning field goal. Tebow escaped a fierce rush multiple times and Jeff Demps made some big runs. Florida stepped up when they had to and got enough yardage to set up kicker Caleb Sturgis from 35 yards. The Gators got it when they had to have it.
*Florida kicker Caleb Sturgis had a very good day. He did miss one field goal, but he defeated Arkansas with a 27-yard field goal and also set a new career long with a 51-yard field goal earlier in the day. He was three-of-four on field goal attempts total. Conversely, Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada struggled, missing two kicks including one late in the fourth quarter from 38 yards.
*The Gator secondary, with the exception of a 75-yard strike to Greg Childs, did a good job versus Ryan Mallett. The held the Razorback signal caller to just 12 of 27 passing for 223 yards. It was Arkansas reserve running back Dennis Johnson who gave Florida fits with 107 yards on 14 carries. It was pretty obvious UF missed senior Brandon Spikes in the middle of their defense.
*Not that moral victories are rewarded in SEC football, but you have to give Arkansas a ton of credit. The Razorbacks marched into The Swamp and went toe-for-toe for the top-ranked Florida Gators. This game laments Bobby Petrino as a dang good SEC football coach and shows just how close this Arkansas team is to being a major player in conference. It the last two weeks, Arkansas has crushed nationally-ranked and previously-unbeaten Auburn and fell three points shy of upsetting the mighty Gators.
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