Gators

Tim Tebow ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, Caleb Sturgis kicked three field goals and No. 1 Florida defeated Tennessee, 23-13, on Saturday. "It wasn't how we envisioned or hoped," said Tebow, whose streak of games with a touchdown pass ended at 30. "But it's a win and it's good enough for all of us." The Gators (3-0, 1-0 in Southeastern Conference play) won their fifth game in a row in the series and set a school record with their 13th consecutive victory. Florida started counting down the days for this one more than nine months ago, right after Tennessee's first-year Coach Lane Kiffin vowed to sing "Rocky Top" all night long after beating the Gators.

It was Pauley Pavilion. Yet hearing shouts of "Roll Tide Roll," of seeing a section of fans wearing Florida orange and doing the Gator "chomp," needing to plug one's ears to avoid the hollers of "Boomer Sooner," made it seem as if a series of football games had broken out in the basketball arena. Oh, yeah, and there was UCLA's eight-clap, louder than them all, even noisier than the exuberant Louisiana State fans and the intense supporters of the Georgia Bulldogs. But when the NCAA women's gymnastics team championship meet ended Saturday, it was the Florida Gators who had chomped away all the competition.

At the University of Florida, where people like their football talent home-grown in the Florida sunshine, not even a dozen players come from beyond the state's borders. Gator football is an institution that inspires a 34-district, statewide booster organization, which is founded on hometown pride in local-boys-done-good and evidenced by Gator bumper stickers that crop up everywhere, from the Panhandle to the Everglades.

NEW YORK -- The legendary alligators who once lurked in New York City's sewer system have moved to the suburbs. Five alligators have been found wandering Long Island communities in recent days, and unlike their mythical city-slicker brethren, nobody doubts their existence. The latest sighting occurred Sunday in the town of Shirley, sitting in a plastic container outside an Applebee's restaurant. The words “my gator” were written on top of the container. It was the fifth one found since Sept.

Freshman Emmitt Smith turned his first college start into a showpiece Saturday, rushing for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading Florida to a 23-14 upset of No. 11 Alabama. "Emmitt Smith was outstanding," Alabama Coach Bill Curry said after the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. "He had good blocking, but he made good things happen on his own," Curry said. "He has the uncanny knack of shrugging people off."

Fourth-ranked Alabama showed Coach Ray Perkins something Saturday. "I think we touched on greatness today," Perkins said after a strong second-half performance carried the Crimson Tide to a 21-7 victory over 13th-ranked Florida in a Southeastern Conference showdown. The Tide took control in the third quarter, when quarterback Mike Shula engineered two long scoring drives that erased a 7-0 halftime deficit. "We haven't had a better half since I've been here," Perkins said.

Florida's strategy Wednesday night against No. 3 Duke was to trade offensive blows. Bad move. The Blue Devils (8-1) scorched the previously unbeaten Gators (5-1) for 63 first-half points en route to a 116-86 victory behind William Avery's school-record eight three-pointers. Duke's point total matched the most ever against Florida. Tennessee also had 116 against the Gators on Jan. 11, 1979.

The last of the rain had fallen just before the University of Florida football team began its practice at Aloha Stadium Monday, making the warm morning air stifling and steamy. A long practice ended with wind sprints on the slippery artificial turf, so the Gators were heading for the showers exhausted and dripping with sweat. A couple of the players were asked to stop to talk to a small group of reporters. No time for chit-chat or life stories. Just highlights for the upcoming game.

TONIGHT'S GAME WOMEN'S MIDWEST REGIONAL USC (20-8) vs. FLORIDA (22-8) Gainesville, Fla. 5:08 p.m. * Having survived a storm-tossed flight, and then seeing her team bus decorated with anti-USC graffiti, Tina Thompson stood across from a 'gator. Yes, a real 'gator, not the kind that dribbles and shoots basketballs. There he was, maybe a seven-footer, soaking up some sun on a tiny man-made island in a lake on the University of Florida campus. "Move!"

Peyton Manning didn't have to put himself through this again. He could have been holding a clipboard for the New York Jets and investing his millions in mutual funds. He didn't need to come back to the scene of his collegiate crash, back to the jokes--"You can't spell Citrus Bowl without the 'U' or the 'T.' " Manning put his NFL career on layaway to return for his senior season, hoping this time things would be different against Florida. He was wrong. It was the same old sting.

Top-ranked Alabama rested at home as four other undefeated top-10 teams from the Southeastern Conference jumped straight to 2014 and staged their own four-team playoff. It's always pre-Copernicus down South, where the sun revolves around the SEC. Highlights from other games — West Virginia at Texas, Miami at Notre Dame, Nebraska at Ohio State — could be revisited on TV wrap-up shows. Geno who? Notre what? Florida State was where? The question we wanted answered Saturday was "Who is No. 2?"

Talk about adding insult to injury: A Florida tour boat captain whose left hand was eaten by an alligator has been charged with illegally feeding the reptiles. Wallace Weatherholt, 63, now faces a misdemeanor charge of unlawful feeding of an alligator, and is slated to return to court on Aug. 22 to face the charges, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. He faces a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time, the paper reported. The defendant was working for Captain Doug's Everglades Tours last month when he took six tourists out on the water and paused to give them a thrill -- and a photo op. Witnesses say he began slapping the water to attract alligators, using marshmallows and fish as bait.

The 4th of July must be celebrated with a bit of patriotic music, right? But we can do better than the 1812 Overture or John Philip Sousa: Let's watch alligators singing patriotic music! This video comes to us from reptile expert and conservationist Jim Nesci . It features Nesci's gators bellowing along to country artist Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA. " We just had to call Nesci and ask: How did you train the alligators to do that? Turns out, the gators just did it on their own. Here's the back story to the video: "I happened to be down in the basement one day and I had the radio on. I cranked up 'God Bless the USA,' just because I happen to like that song," Nesci told the Los Angeles Times.

The return of every starting linebacker and defensive back already figured to make USC's back seven formidable this season. The Trojans got potentially stronger Thursday when the NCAA granted Josh Shaw's hardship waiver, making the Florida transfer immediately eligible. "This is like the happiest day of my life," said Shaw, a third-year sophomore defensive back. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Shaw played in 10 games at Florida last season, starting once. Florida granted the Palmdale High graduate his release to transfer because of his grandfather's and father's health issues, and he enrolled at USC in January.

Reporting from Phoenix -- Rick Pitino coached Louisville past Florida and then, up the ladder, all the way through the net-cutting ceremony. He coached Louisville back from 11 points down, in the second half, and then shouted out the post-victory assignments. After Louisville's 72-68 victory over Florida on Saturday to clinch the NCAA West regional, Cardinals players took turns cutting snips of net at US Airways Center. It came down to one last strand. "All right, Chris," Pitino barked to senior guard Chris Smith, "take it down.

Reporting from Phoenix -- The NCAA West Regional got an unexpected bonus Thursday night with Florida's 68-58 victory over Marquette at US Airways Center. The second semifinal upset of the night sets up a Saturday regional final pitting Florida Coach Billy Donovan against Louisville's Rick Pitino. The pupil vs. mentor matchup was made possible when both lower-seeded schools in the West prevailed. Not long after No. 4 Louisville knocked top-seeded Michigan State out, No. 7 Florida eliminated No. 3 Marquette.

The toughest man at the Super Bowl has teeth marks on his head, chunks missing from his fingers, and sometimes forgets the name of his children. "I've got back problems, ankle problems, and mental problems," says Kenny Cypress. The toughest man at the Super Bowl doesn't play for the Denver Broncos or the Atlanta Falcons. Other than John Elway, he can't even name any of the players. "Football guys are tough," he says. "But how many of them get their hands bit off?" The toughest guy at the Super Bowl will not go to the game, but he is part of its scene, a diverse and sometimes untamed South Florida swirl that makes this the greatest place for America's greatest single sports event.

Top-ranked Florida didn't score 70 points again, but the Gators' 31-0 victory over No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday night was even more impressive than their first two blowout victories. Terry Dean passed for 303 yards and two touchdowns as the Gators beat a ranked opponent on the road for the first time in eight tries under Coach Steve Spurrier. Playing before 96,656, Florida took a 24-0 halftime lead and went on to hand Tennessee its first shutout in 13 years.

— No. 3 Alabama showed it can run and stop the run better than 12th-ranked Florida, maybe better than anyone in the country. Trent Richardson had 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns, breaking tackles and carrying defenders along the way, and the Crimson Tide rolled the Gators, 38-10, Saturday night in an early-season matchup of Southeastern Conference heavyweights. Richardson finished with his fourth consecutive 100-yard game, and the latest one should solidify his position as one the Heisman Trophy front-runners.

Some people have already moved this season's Bowl Championship Series title game from Jan. 9 to Nov. 5, and from New Orleans to Tuscaloosa, Ala. It's invitation-only, of course, hosted by the Southeastern Conference. Louisiana State and Alabama, the nation's No.1- and No. 3-ranked teams, seem to be headed for an epic showdown in Bear Bryant's football playpen. Not…so…fast. There's another SEC team out there, not ranked in the preseason top 20, not ranked in the top 10 now, that will be No. 1 on Nov. 6 if it can get to 9-0. It's a program that, just like its mascot, lurks below the surface.