No. 24 Florida beats No. 23 Tennessee 26-20 on 63-yard TD pass with no time left
The fourth quarter of No. 24 Florida’s win over No. 23 Tennessee made up for the awfulness that was the first three quarters.
A 6-3 game after 45 minutes turned into a 26-20 Florida victory when Feleipe Franks found Tyrie Cleveland behind Tennessee’s secondary for a 63-yard touchdown pass with no time left.
Florida appeared to be playing for overtime before the final play, which started with nine seconds left. On the play before that, Florida didn’t call timeout and ran the ball.
Tennessee had tied the game 20-20 on a field goal the possession before Florida’s deep pass. The Volunteers’ tying field goal came after Florida turned the ball over up 20-17 with a chance to ice away the game.
The first touchdown of the fourth quarter was Florida’s third pick-six of the season. The Gators looked poised to take a 20-3 lead when running back Malik Davis broke through for what appeared to be a 74-yard touchdown. But Tennessee defensive back Justin Martin chased Davis down and knocked the ball out of his hands just before he crossed the goal line.
Davis’ touchdown would have been the first offensive touchdown of 2017 for the Gators.
Tennessee scored on the next possession to cut Florida’s lead to 13-10. After that, Florida finally got that first offensive TD when Franks found Brandon Powell for a five-yard score. Following that TD, Tennessee responded with two plays that covered 75 yards — the last of which was a 28-yard touchdown pass from Quenten Dormady to tight end Ethan Wolf.
More college football coverage from Yahoo Sports:
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• UCLA tries crazy pre-snap lineup against Memphis
• Memphis establishes early presence with win over UCLA
• Texas A&M receiver’s rude gesture toward fans
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
