Antonio Callaway took off for the endzone and sprinted 63 yards down the field into the arms of his mother, Sabrina.
The freshman from Miami had just scored one of the unlikeliest, game-changing touchdowns Ben Hill Griffin Stadium had ever seen.
Florida’s comeback victory over Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) was improbable, and seemingly everyone in attendance knew it. The fans grew cautiously optimistic when redshirt freshman quarterback Will Grier hit wide receiver Brandon Powell for a 5-yard touchdown to pull the Gators within just a touchdown.
But it was Callaway’s catch on fourth down and 14 yards to go with 1:26 remaining that brought the crowd to a roar and gave first-year Florida coach Jim McElwain his first statement victory in Gainesville.
Unsure after the game whether the Gators (4-0, 2-0 SEC) deserved to win or not, McElwain said the victory surmises a sentiment the team holds to be true, deservedly or not.
"You just don’t lose to Tennessee," McElwain said. "And they didn’t."
However, in staying true to McElwain’s mentality, it’s on to the next game.
Now, the Gators must face a No. 3 Ole Miss team that is arguably the best to ever emerge out of Oxford, Mississippi.
"We got a lot of things to work on, going into next week, a lot of things to build off of," Grier said. "Got this win, now we’re onto Ole Miss. Gotta prepare and be better next week to beat that team."
Grier is correct that Florida must be better to beat the Rebels, because a performance similar to Saturday’s against the Vols won’t be enough to beat a Mississippi team that comes into Gainesville averaging 54.8 points per game while allowing just 19.3.
The Rebels went into Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Sept. 19 and handed then-No. 2 Alabama a shocking 43-37 defeat in front of a stunned crowd of 101,821, most of them Alabamians who couldn’t believe Ole Miss had just beat the Crimson Tide for the second time in as many seasons.
While nowhere near the high the Rebels are riding, the Gators can relish in knowing the victory over Tennessee was the second largest fourth quarter comeback in Florida football history.
You would have to go back to 1986, when former Gators quarterback Kerwin Bell led a fourth-quarter comeback to turn a 17-0 UF deficit into an 18-17 victory over Auburn, to find a greater deficit overcome by Florida.
Like Bell’s ’86 unit, the 2015 Gators wouldn’t have won without the poise of Grier. The Davidson, North Carolina, native had felt the pressure from the Volunteers’ front seven through 50 minutes of play, and it showed. He took hit after hit, yet repeatedly picked himself up and prepared for the next play.
"He was sore," McElwain said of Grier. "You’re playing in the SEC. You’re going to get sore. I love his courage. He played with some bruises, but really in this league, if you’re playing that position, you’re going to get some bumps and bruises."
The team watched as its young quarterback grew more confident in the pocket, and it all culminated in the final series.
Despite his second and third down passes falling incomplete, Grier stayed collected and went through his progressions. The pressure of a fourth-and-14 didn’t get to him.
Grier grew up.
With the winning streak in the rear-view mirror and at a series-high 11 wins, Grier must carry the lessons over into Florida’s game against the Rebels.
While it would seem Grier has a hold on the starting quarterback role, McElwain has been adamant he won’t rule out Treon Harris upon his return from suspension.
But if Grier proved anything in leading the Gators to victory, it was that he had the mental fortitude to rally his team and keep playing until time on the clock expires.
"You’ve got to battle," Grier said. "You deal with adversity and you’ve got to respond. ... We fought until the end and that’s what you’ve got to do to win games like that."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
UF quarterback Will Grier passes during Florida's 28-27 win against Tennessee on Sept. 26, 2015, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
