Trey Burton and the Florida offense finally gave the rest of the SEC something to fear.
And suddenly, after a 48-14 thumping of Kentucky, the Gators have legitimate confidence heading into Saturday’s trip to face No. 1 Alabama.
Burton, who plays four positions and special teams, broke Tim Tebow’s record by scoring six touchdowns and totaled 119 yards on 11 touches to lead No. 9 Florida (4-0, 2-0 in the SEC) to its most thorough and convincing victory of the season.
Florida beat Kentucky for the 24th consecutive time and Urban Meyer became the fastest coach in modern football to win his 100th. Meyer, in his 10th season, is now 100-18. Only five coaches have accomplished that in fewer games.
The Gators move on to an SEC Championship rematch with Alabama, which rallied from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to win 24-20 at Arkansas. The Gators beat Alabama in the 2008 conference title game, then the Crimson Tide got its revenge 32-13 in Atlanta last December. Each time, the winner went on to capture the national championship.
Burton scored on runs of 11, 10 9, 3 and 7 yards, and caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from John Brantley. He is the fourth player in SEC history to score six touchdowns in a game.
He took over for Brantley with 7:48 remaining and Florida ahead 41-14 and immediately completed a 42-yard pass to tight end Omarius Hines.
Brantley came through with a career day as well. He eclipsed the 200-yard mark for the first time in his career and finished 24 of 35 for 248 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Florida had three scoring drives of at least 80 yards against Kentucky, compared to one in the first three weeks.
Burton, a freshman, added a 10-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat with 9:56 left in the third quarter and has eight touchdowns this season. The school record for a freshman is 14 by Jabar Gaffney in 2000.
Brantley’s only major mistake was an interception, ending a streak of 156 attempts without one, that gave Kentucky the ball at the Gators’ 37-yard line. Linebacker Jon Bostic, a first-year starter from Palm Beach Central, quickly corrected the turnover by intercepting Kentucky’s Mike Hartline two plays later.
Bostic has three interceptions in his first four starts as Florida’s middle linebacker.
The Gators’ offense went quiet in the second quarter, but cornerback Jeremy Brown grabbed his third interception of the season and returned it 52 yards for his first career touchdown.
Florida held the SEC’s most productive offense (497.3 yards per game) to two touchdowns and intercepted Hartline twice. The Gators lead the nation with 12 interceptions in four games.
The Wildcats scored one touchdown on a fake field goal late in the first half and another at the end of a 77-yard drive in the third quarter. On the trick play, Kentucky receiver Chris Matthews sprinted out of the huddle as though he was heading to the sidelines, but stayed in bounds and was alone near the goal line for an uncontested 27-yard touchdown pass from Randall Cobb.
