KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With momentum on Tennessee’s side in the third quarter, one play swung it the other way.
After the Volunteers scored a touchdown to tie the game at 10, their defense stood up to the test and forced the Florida offense into a fourth down. But the effort wasn’t enough to take the ball back.
Instead, UF coach Urban Meyer decided it was time to take a chance and called a fake punt.
Thirty-six yards later, wide receiver Omarius Hines proved Meyer right.
Hines took the snap and used his 6-foot, 219-pound frame to rumble all the way to Tennessee’s 25-yard line and give his offense a new set of downs.
“He looked better than a fullback,” Meyer said. “We have been working on that since the beginning of the year, and we try to just get numbers and we had numbers. They executed well.”
Meyer called the play after a coach in the booth noticed a tendency in UT’s punt return formation. The Gators had an advantage with three blockers to the Vols’ two defenders on the left side of the line.
Jon Bostic, Terron Sanders and Omar Hunter were the three UF blockers who helped open the hole for the big run.
Hines didn’t flinch when he heard the play call.
“We’ve been practicing on it every day in practice, and that was my chance to get the first down,” he said. “That’s all I wanted to do — get the first down.”
Meyer has attempted eight fake punts in his time at UF, and all of them have resulted in a first down.
But this one — the longest of Meyer’s tenure — was one of the most important because of what the Gators’ offense did after Hines’ run.
Quarterback John Brantley connected with wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. for a seven-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone just six plays later to put Florida up 17-10 and gain a lead it would never relinquish.
“When momentum shifts, you have to get it back somehow,” Meyer said. “When you have experienced offensive players, you don’t have to do that stuff. But when you have inexperienced players, you have to somehow create a play. Somehow someone has to make a play and get it back.”
The Vols were never able to take that momentum back, as the Gators went on to outscore them 21-7 after the fake punt.
Not many people were happier after the play than defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who saw his defense allow a 49-yard touchdown pass one drive earlier.
“I was fired up,” Austin said. “It was great watching Omarius rumble through there … and it really got our side charged. It was a great call.”
