College Football: 25 most unforgettable games of the 21st century
By Phil Poling
No. 14: Ole Miss at Florida, Sept. 27, 2008
The 2008 matchup between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Florida Gators was an SEC bout early in the season with little perceived postseason influence. The Rebels were just 2-2 and the Gators were ranked No. 4 in the country, fresh off a 24-point road win in Knoxville. Plus, they had Tim Tebow.
Through the first three games of the season, Florida failed to turn the ball over a single time. But against Ole Miss, it happened three times. Florida held a 17-7 lead at the half but fumbled on its first two possessions of the third quarter – once by Percy Harvin, the other by Tebow. The Rebels turned those two turnovers into 10 straight points. Just like that, it was a new ball game.
The speedy Dexter McCluster scored on a 40-yard run before the end of the third to give the Rebels a seven-point cushion, but Tebow would answer with a classic goal-line score.
After each team punted, the Rebels scored once more to take the lead. Tebow marched the Gators right down the field for a potentially game-tying PAT, but it was blocked. Ole Miss led 31-30 with three minutes to go and the Rebels escaped. The game itself was a beauty, but what immediately followed for Florida would ultimately define the 2008 NCAA season.
"“To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation, I’m sorry, extremely sorry,” said an emotional Tebow in his post-game press conference. “We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida’s never done here. But I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season, and you will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season, and you will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.”"
Although this specific game will always have an “L” beside it in the Florida history books, following Tebow’s speech – and Florida’s SEC Championship and BCS National Championship that year – it’ll always be remembered for Tebow’s speech and the dominant run that it sparked.