Notebook: Murphy's Gator chomp draws penalty
OXFORD, Miss. — Soft-spoken UF wide receiver Louis Murphy is not one of the more animated players on the UF roster. When he made perhaps the move of the day to escape the Ole Miss secondary for a 37-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, Murphy responded with what could be called a low-key, almost polite Gator chomp.
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He barely clapped his hands together.
But it drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I was shocked," Murphy said. "All I did was a little Gator chomp. I didn't think you could get a penalty for that. When they told me, I couldn't believe it."
Florida coach Urban Meyer had a hard time believing it also.
"The big penalty was the unsportsmanlike penalty after the score that the guy got for clapping his hands," Meyer said. "I didn't know that was a penalty. I need some clarity on that one. I will find out (from the SEC office this week)."
Meyer was not ready to defend the other 13 penalties his team amassed in UF's 30-24 victory over Ole Miss.
"We have 13 other penalties we need to clean up," he said. "That's just awful."
Tebow on the go
Sophomore Tim Tebow became the first UF quarterback to break the 100-yard rushing mark in a game since Terry LeCount had 108 against Georgia in 1977.
Tebow has rushed for seven touchdowns this season and 15 touchdowns in his brief career. To put that in perspective, former Florida running back Tommy Durrance earned the nickname "Touchdown Tommy" for rushing for 18 touchdowns — during his career (1969-71).
Kicking and screaming
With the new kickoff rule from the 30-yard line, Meyer has been saying he wanted to take the ball if he won the coin toss. The Gators finally won it Saturday and Meyer got just what he was hoping for when return specialist Brandon James returned the opening kickoff 55 yards to the Ole Miss 32.
But the offense failed to convert the favorable starting position when the Gators couldn't make a first down and Joey Ijjas missed a 42-yard kickoff.
In the second quarter, a decision by Meyer on a kickoff backfired. After Ole Miss kicker Joshua Shene shanked a kickoff out of bounds, the Gators could have taken the ball at their own 40. Instead, Meyer took the 5-yard penalty and had the Rebels re-kick from the 25.
James mishandled a low, line-drive kick and finally fell on the ball on his own 2.
The mistake did not hurt the Gators. UF drove 98 yards in 14 plays to take a 14-6 lead on a 9-yard TD run by Tebow.
Jackson gets the start
After being replaced by true freshman Major Wright in the first half of last week's win over Tennessee, senior Kyle Jackson returned to the starting lineup at free safety.
Wright, who made six tackles in the 59-20 victory over UT, and Jackson battled for the starting role all week in practice and Jackson reclaimed the No. 1 spot.
Wright ended up seeing more playing time than Jackson in the second half Saturday.
Anderson, Cooper stay home
Starting cornerback Markihe Anderson did not make the trip to Oxford. UF's most experience cornerback reinjured his knee in last Saturday's game and was limited in practice all week. True sophomore Wondy Pierre-Louis once again started in his place.
Sophomore wide receiver Riley Cooper, who was limited all week in practice by a sprained ankle, made the trip but did not play.
Meyer said Anderson, Cooper, starting offensive guard Maurkice Pouncey and starting wide receiver Andre Caldwell (sprained knee) will play in Saturday's game against Auburn. Pouncey (ankle) played only a handful of plays Saturday.
Ijjas has a sore quadriceps muscle in his leg that prevented him from practicing much of last week. Following Murphy's touchdown reception in the third quarter, Jonathan Phillips relieved Ijjas and missed the extra point. Ijjas returned to kick a 25-yard field goal with 4:59 remaining in the game.
Caldwell made the trip to Oxford but did not dress. He served as UF's spokesman on the coin toss before the start of the game.
With Caldwell and Cooper out, the Gators were missing two key playmakers in the receiving corps. Meyer said he nearly played true freshman Deonte Thompson in Saturday's game.
"He's really close (to being ready to play)," Meyer said.
Kids on the road
Here's yet another illustration of just how young this Florida football is: Thirty-five of the 60 Gators who dressed for Saturday's game had never played in a college road game before. Also, 18 players were making their first collegiate road trip.
This and that
Offensive guard Maurice Hurt and wide receiver David Nelson made their first career starts Saturday. ... True freshman tight end Aaron Hernandez has his first collegiate reception in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. ... Strong safety Tony Joiner's interception in the fourth quarter was the fourth of his career. ... In back-to-back games, Tebow has led the Gators on scoring drives of 99 and 98 yards. ...Saturday's game was Ole Miss quarterback Seth Adams' second UF-UM experience in Oxford. Adams was among the hundreds of fans who stormed the field after the Rebels upset No. 6 Florida in 2002. While on the field, Adams grabbed a chunk of the turf and put it in his pocket. "This is why you play college football," Adams said earlier this week. ... Junior college transfer Bryan Waggener made the trip and was the Gators' No. 3 quarterback ahead of true freshman John Brantley, who did not make the trip. ... Some Ole Miss fans probably were viewing Saturday's game as an opportunity for the Rebels to get blown out. The Rebels were looking at it as an opportunity, period. "It's Florida and they're the national champions. It just makes it more fun, right? There's no reason not to be ready," Ole Miss offensive line coach Art Kehoe said earlier in the week. ... CBS announced during Saturday's LSU-South Carolina game that Florida's visit to Death Valley to face LSU on Oct. 6 will be televised on the network at 8 p.m.
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