Sunday, September 24, 2000
Florida 59, Kentucky 31
Lorenzen stands up to Gators but turnovers doom Wildcats
The Associated Press
Jared Lorenzen runs for a third-quarter TD.
(AP photo)
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — While Florida was beating Kentucky for the 14th straight time, freshman quarterback Jared Lorenzen and the Wildcat offense were serving notice that they weren't going to be pushovers any more.
The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) never led, but they never quit.
Lorenzen had his fourth straight 300-yard passing game of the year, and Kentucky piled up 504 yards, the most by an SEC team against the Gators since Steve Spurrier took over as coach in 1990.
But two late first-half turnovers led to two quick Florida touchdowns and turned a close game (24-17 at the time) into a rout.
The Gators scored touchdowns off all four Kentucky turnovers.
“Even with as poor as we played on defense, without the turnovers we're still in the game,” Kentucky coach Hal Mumme said.
The Kentucky offense held the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game.
“They hogged the ball and we struggled getting them off the field,” Florida coach Steve Spurrier said.
Lorenzen, the 275-pounder from Highlands High School, was 35-of-59 for 363 yards.
Earnest Graham scored on a 57-yard run and finished with 128 yards on 14 carries.
Artose Pinner had 125 yards for the Wildcats, but he also fumbled twice.
The Wildcats lost the game in a 49-second span late in the first half.
Desperate to match Florida touchdown for touchdown, Lorenzen directed an 17-play, 76-yard scoring drive in which the Wildcats twice converted on fourth down and three times on third down, the last one an 8-yard TD pass to tight end and Highlands teammate Derek Smith.
That trimmed Florida's lead to 24-17 and sent a strong message that the Wildcats would be tough to stop — unless they stopped themselves. Which is just what happened.
After the Wildcats forced Florida to punt for the first time in the game, they took over on their own 32 with 1:52 left and a chance to go into halftime with a tie. But Lito Sheppard picked off Lorenzen and returned it to the 16.
Quarterback David Palmer ran an inside bootleg to the 1 and scored on the next play.
Spurrier said he thought about taking time off the clock, but changed his mind and told one of his assistants, “Maybe we'll get another turnover.”
Sure enough, they did.
On Kentucky's next play from scrimmage, Alex Brown stripped the ball from Pinner at the end of a run and recovered the fumble.
One play later, Palmer hit Kirk Wells for a 32-yard touchdown pass for a 38-17 lead.
“It was the turning point in the game,” Mumme said. “With a team as good as Florida, you have to be able to hang in there with them for the whole game.”
Kentucky ....... 3 14 7 7—31
Florida ....... 10 28 14 7—59
First Quarter
Fla—FG Chandler 34, 10:44.
Ken—FG Hanson 20, 8:41.
Fla—Palmer 1 run (Chandler kick), 4:48.
Second Quarter
Fla—Palmer 14 run (Chandler kick), 13:40.
Ken—Scott 2 run (Hanson kick), 12:16.
Fla—Gillespie 4 run (Chandler kick), 10:02.
Ken—Smith 8 pass from Lorenzen (Hanson kick), 3:51.
Fla—Palmer 1 run (Chandler kick), 1:28.
Fla—Wells 32 pass from Palmer (Chandler kick), 1:03.
Third Quarter
Fla—Graham 57 run (Chandler kick), 14:00.
Fla—Palmer 13 run (Chandler kick), 8:34.
Ken—Lorenzen 5 run (Hanson kick), 1:01.
Fourth Quarter
Ken—Smith 3 pass from Lorenzen (Hanson kick), 3:58.
Fla—Gaffney 43 pass from Grossman (Chandler kick), :05.
A—85,319.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Kentucky, Pinner 17-125, Scott 4-17, Lorenzen 6-8, Johnson 1-(minus 4), Homer 1-(minus 5). Florida, Graham 14-128, Palmer 7-38, Gillespie 6-26, Jonsson 2-16, Frazier 1-7, Caldwell 1-4, Jacobs 1-(minus 1), Grossman 3-(minus 28).
PASSING—Kentucky, Lorenzen 35-59-2-363, Team 0-1-0-0. Florida, Palmer 12-19-0-190, Grossman 3-8-0-72.
RECEIVING—Kentucky, Homer 8-80, Smith 8-76, McCord 5-115, Scott 3-29, Abney 3-25, Pinner 3-12, Harp 1-10, Arling 1-10, Allen 1-3, Brown 1-3, Blizzard 1-0. Florida, Gaffney 2-54, Haugabrook 2-43, Wells 2-39, Jacobs 2-15, Caldwell 1-44, Kight 1-23, Carthon 1-18, Gillespie 1-11, Walker 1-8, Frazer 1-4, Graham 1-3.
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