After not winning in the state of Mississippi since the 1980s, the Florida Gators finally pulled one out, and yes they are now 7-0 but it wasn’t pretty at all.

Florida did stretch their winning streak to 17, but the Bulldogs didn’t let them without a fight. Didn’t this game kind of remind you of last weeks Arkansas game? The horrible offensive play calling and the game changing turnovers. This Gator defense pretty much saved them from dropping from that No. 1 spot.

There were a few offensive miscues throughout the game that included both of Tebow’s interceptions that were returned all the way back for a touchdown. Florida had a 13-3 lead before Tebow’s pass was deflected then intercepted by Johnthan Banks in the end zone and returned for a 100 yard touchdown that cut the score down 13-10 going into the half. His other interception had to do with bad play calling late in the game. Florida was leading by 16 and took over after a Major Wright interception at the 1 yard line with several minutes left in the game. Instead of trying to run the ball to open some space up, Tebow dropped back into the end zone and was hit which led to a wobbly throw that was picked off and returned for a Bulldog touchdown. Chris Rainey was having a heck of a game, why not try and find a hole when your up by 16. If they don’t try to eliminate these silly turnovers, then I do find them struggling if they face a tough Alabama team for the SEC championship. After the game, Meyer said that he put Tim in some situations that he shouldn’t have been in. I think Tebow and Meyer tried to out smart Mullen but didn’t work out to well a couple times.

I think Florida had Tebow running way too much, dispute his 26 yard rushing touchdown. There were a few plays when Tim tried running the ball up the middle that I thought should have been handed off to Rainey. And while Florida was lined up by the goal line and stopped by the Mississippi State defense, they should have tried Moody or Rainey around the outside. But instead it led to some short field goals that could have been easy touchdowns. The Gators continued to struggle in the red zone yet again, only scoring seven times out of a total of 25 trips. There are still a lot of tweaks to be made.

A few big offensive plays did help but it was this Gator defense who came up big, even with the absence of Brandon Spikes. Along with the Major Wright interception, linebacker Dustin Doe grabbed an interception that was deflected and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. Or was it? Doe made a really bonehead decision. As he was heading into the endzone, Doe started to hold the ball with one hand behind him and was knocked out by a Bulldog as he was about to cross the goal line. The play was reviewed and stood as a touchdown. It was too close to say whether he was in or not but I’m just glad it wasn’t the other way around. Doe will get an ear full from Meyer next week in practice.

On a positive note, Chris Rainey surprised me a lot tonight. He stepped up big when Demps got hurt and Brandon James was suffering from a banged up ankle. He has had some slow starts the past few games but this kid should see a lot more snaps the rest of the season. You haven’t seen much of him lately but I think Meyer will change that. Rainey finished up with 92 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.

The Gators only allowed the Bulldogs to rush for 92 yards. Their rushing defense was pretty affective but not so much with the passing. They allowed 145 yards through the air and too many extra yards after the catch.

I don’t know what was up with Sturgis, but one missed field goal and a extra point that was unsuccessful just isn’t going to cut it.

It was a physical game. There was a awful lot of jawing back and forth between them both but it’s football. Before the game I thought there was going to be some brawl when every single player was on the field for both teams, exchanging words back and forth. The same thing repeated going into the locker rooms at halftime and they had to be separated by coaches, police, and other staff.

Florida has a nice long week of practice coming up to work on all the mistakes that were made and hopefully correct them before they head to Jacksonville to face Georgia. You can’t under estimate any team on their schedule. No matter what ranking or record they have.

Doug Finger/Staff photographer