It seemed like the Gators had been here before.
Maybe that's because they had.
UF needed a single yard on fourth down against Mississippi on Sept. 27. Quarterback Tim Tebow ran up the middle. He didn't get it.
UF needed 3 yards Saturday on a crucial third down to keep a drive going after LSU had cut the lead to 20-14.
The chatter on the coaches' headsets began.
Offensive coordinator Dan Mullen thought the Tigers were going to blitz. Then they called timeout after there was some confusion over the defensive scheme.
"They changed their defense when they came back out," Mullen said. "They knew we saw what they were doing."
He decided to run Tebow up the middle anyway because UF had passed on every third down up to that point.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound junior rumbled through the line for 4 yards, giving the Gators a new set of downs.
"We knew they were probably going to expect some sort of underneath pass or a rub play or something like that," Tebow said. "So we just decided to go out there with five wide, motion [tight end] Tate [Casey] in, crash the end and try to wedge it in there for 3 yards."
He didn't stop there, however.
He ran for five yards on the next play. Two plays later, it was a scramble for 5 yards. Then the quarterback hit a streaking Louis Murphy down the right sideline for a 37-yard gain down to the LSU 2-yard line. Tebow finished it off by faking a handoff on the next play and rolled left into the end zone untouched.
The scoreboard read 27-14, and the Tigers never threatened again.
"That's the difference between this year and last year," Tebow said. "They scored, and they made it within 6 points, and we knew we had to put a drive together. That's where you see a difference now, a more mature team and a more poised team."
There's a different Tebow in town, too.
The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is well off the pace for the 55 total touchdowns he scored last season. Rumors have swirled over whether or not he's hurt. Tebow has smiled away any questions on the topic, and obviously the coaching staff has confidence in his ability to perform right now.
"He brought it (Saturday)," Meyer said of Tebow's play. "That was Tim Tebow, classic Tim Tebow. The whole team followed his lead."
His game management continues to shine at a high level. He ranks first in the Southeastern Conference in pass efficiency (152.8 rating) and has thrown only one interception in 149 attempts so far this season.
But Saturday was certainly a flashback to a Tebow who is more willing to run, even if he's not picking up the yards as easily as last year.
He finished the game 14 of 21 for 210 yards and two touchdowns and added 22 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Turns out playing loose was the key.
"We kind of told him, 'Hey, I think you're actually thinking too much on the field. Relax. Forget about some of the stuff you learned. Just go run around and be Tim Tebow, and play and play with some energy,'" Mullen said. "He did that (Saturday)."
Now Mullen's biggest focus is to ensure Tebow reaps the benefit of a weekend off.
"I'll ship him home to Mama Pam, and they'll make sure he doesn't leave the house and sits on the couch for the whole weekend," Mullen joked. "Thing is, he'll call me every 10 minutes because he'll be watching football all day long sitting on the couch seeing what everyone else is doing."
