2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
The third quarter for the Gators saw their 10-point lead turn into a 7-point deficit. On the Gators first drive of the second half, Percy Harvin fumbled the ball while rushing up the middle. This set up the Rebels in excellent field position at the Florida 34-yard line. Ole Miss would capitalize on the turnover by scoring with a 33-yard field goal. Florida's turnover woes continued shortly after the Rebels' kickoff when Tim Tebow fumbled the ball at the Gators' 18-yard line. This positioned Ole Miss for the go ahead touchdown pass that only took 18 seconds to score.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
The game was then tied 17–17 at only the 10:30 mark in the third quarter. Florida's next two possessions on offense went only -3 yards and 19 yards, respectively, and required punts. After having obtained possession with 4:34 left in the third, Jevan Snead and Ole Miss put together a 3:42 drive that went 72 yards down the field resulting in a rushing touchdown by RB Dexter McCluster. This brought Ole Miss's lead back up to 7 as it was early in the 1st quarter.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
After a 25-yard kickoff return by Brandon James, Florida put together a 49-yard drive ending with touchdown off of a Tim Tebow rush, tying the game at 24 a piece. Florida's defense was unable to stop Ole Miss from scoring as they responded with an 86-yard touchdown reception by Shay Hodge giving the Rebels a 31–24 lead with only 5:26 left in the game. Starting 68 yards away from the end zone, Florida scored a touchdown in less than 2 minutes with Percy Harvin running in from 15 yards for the score.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
The Gators only needed an extra point after the touchdown to be made to tie the game at 31, but were unable to do so after Ole Miss's Kentrell Lockett blocked the attempt. Florida regained possession with 2:05 left in the game and were able to bring the ball to the Ole Miss 32-yard line. On 4th and 1 and 41 seconds left in the game, Tim Tebow rushed the ball and was stopped short of the first down marker—turning over the ball on downs. Ole Miss gained possession and ran the clock out upsetting the higher ranked Gators at home.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
The Gators would end the game with more yards, 443 to 325, as well as with more first downs, 24 to 10. The Gators, however, had three turnovers, which was uncharacteristic given that they had none in the first three games of the season. Ole Miss only had one turnover in the game as well as double the number of penalties (10 to 5). After the game, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow addressed the media on the loss to Ole Miss:


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry. 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 have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season. God Bless.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
The speech went on to be engraved on a plaque that was placed outside the entrance to the new Gators football facilities.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
The Gators traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on their second of three SEC West opponents in the regular season to face first year Razorback coach Bobby Petrino. Entering the game, the Gators held a 6–1 series lead over Arkansas with the Gators' last win coming in the 2006 SEC Championship Game that was coached by former Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt. This is the first of a two-game home-and-home series on the rotating SEC West opponent schedule with next year's meeting taking place in Gainesville, Florida. Arkansas entered the game coming off of a loss to then-#7 ranked Texas at Texas by a score of 52–10.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
Arkansas received the kickoff to start the game and put together a 44-yard drive before failing to convert a fourth and 4 with a sack by Gator defensive standout Carlos Dunlap. On the resulting Gator possession, a scoring drive was capped with a Tim Tebow 2-yard shuffle pass to Brandon James resulting in a touchdown. As with Arkansas' first drive, a failed fourth down attempt put the ball back in the Gators' hands, but the offense stuttered and was forced to punt.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
Arkansas continued to struggle on offense, but oet field position in their favor by punting the ball to the Florida one-yard line, giving the Gators difficult field position with which to work. Pinned back on their side of the field, the Gators' Chas Henry eventually punted the ball on a 4th and 11. Arkansas' Michael Smith fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Florida's Brandon James—the first of his career. The Gators capitalized on the Razorbacks' turnover and scored on a 36-yard rushing TD by true freshman Jeffery Demps, extending their lead to 14–0 halfway through the second quarter. With just 11 seconds remaining in the half and Arkansas deep in Florida's territory at the Florida 25-yard line, sophomore DB Joe Haden intercepted a Casey Dick pass closing out the half, 14–0.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
The Gators opened the second half on offense and got as far as the Arkansas 20-yard line, but not farther. The 5:43 drive finished with a 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Phillips, extending the Gators' lead to 17–0. The Gators' defense wasn't able to achieve a shutout with the Razorbacks' response on the next possession. Casey Dick and the Hogs put together a 7-play, 53-yard drive in 3:27, scoring a touchdown and narrowing the Gators' lead to 10 points.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
Tim Tebow threw his first interception of the season on the following drive, but the Razorbacks were unable to score on the turnover and were forced to punt. The fourth quarter featured three touchdowns by the Gators. Of the Gators' 512 total yards, 246 came in the fourth quarter. The first touchdown drive started with 14:41 in the fourth. The 6 play 83-yard drive took only 2:43 and finished with a 21-yard pass to Percy Harvin from Tim Tebow—extending Florida's lead 24–7.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Arkansas
Halfway through the fourth, the Gators initiated a 4 play 80-yard drive that ended with 75-yard rushing TD by redshirt freshman Chris Rainey. Florida's defense forced a quick 3 and out for the Hogs and the next Gator drive ended like the previous. True freshman Jeffery Demps ran 48 yards for a touchdown extending the Gators' lead, and final score, 38–7.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
This annual rivalry marked the 10th time in college football history that back-to-back champions played in the following regular season with the home team never losing. The last time this occurred was on October 20, 1990, when the 1989 champions University of Miami played the 1988 champions Notre Dame. Notre Dame beat Miami at South Bend with a score of 29–20. This game marked the 55th meeting between the Gators and Tigers with Florida leading the series 28-23-3 entering the game. Florida head coach Urban Meyer's record against LSU head coach Les Miles was 1-2 entering the game with the home team winning in each of those three games. This game marked the second of four regular season games where the Gators faced a coach that had won a national championship.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
The Gators opened the game on offense and set the pace early. The first drive of the game only took 1:38 for an early score with a Percy Harvin touchdown off a tipped pass on the third play of the game. Florida's defense stopped LSU on their first possession with a quick three and out and turned the change of possession into a Gator field goal extending their lead 10–0. Their momentum continued finishing the first quarter 17-0 after a second touchdown by Percy Harvin, which was a career first for receiving TDs in a game.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
The Gators defense continued to pressure LSU and forced LSU QB Jarrett Lee to have a pass picked off by Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes. Although Florida wasn't able to capitalize on the turnover, LSU turned the ball over on their next possession with a Charles Scott fumble recovered by Gator AJ Jones. Florida was unable to create points with their second gained turnover. After having scored 17 points in the first quarter, the Gators were only able to put 3 points on the board in the second quarter extending their lead 20–0. With less than a minute in the first half and down 20–0, LSU put together a 60-yard drive in less than one minute scoring a touchdown with 5 seconds remaining in the half, bringing the halftime score to 20–7.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
LSU opened the second half scoring a quick touchdown off of a 3-yard rush by backup QB Andrew Hatch creating a 14–0 run after a 20-0 Florida run. Florida quickly responded with a 67-yard drive taking only 8 plays capped with a Tim Tebow rushing touchdown, bringing the Gators' lead back to 13. The next offensive possession for Florida finished with another long touchdown run by true freshman Jeffery Demps. His 42-yard rushing touchdown was his fourth of the season with all four having been over 30 yards.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
The Gators scored on defense with a Brandon Spikes interception-returned touchdown 12 seconds into the fourth quarter building a 41–14 lead. Spikes then punted the ball into the southeast corner of the stands in celebration, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff. This was Spikes second interception of the game and of his career. After a failed fourth down attempt by LSU, Florida turned the ball over back to LSU on a forced fumble on Tim Tebow.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU
LSU scored a touchdown shortly thereafter cutting the lead to 20 with 11 minutes left in regulation and followed with a failed onside kickoff. The following Florida drive resulted in a made field goal from 25 yards. After another failed fourth down attempt on the following LSU drive, Florida marched down the field and scored their 50th point of the game with a touchdown by senior running back Kestahn Moore. The following made extra point brought the Gators lead, and final score, to 51–21. This was the first time since 1996 that the Gators scored over 50 points on LSU. The Gators ended the game with over 475 yards of offense.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
Homecoming for the Gators featured an early match up with division rival Kentucky. The Gators entered the game with a 21-game winning streak against the Wildcats. The second longest active streak against an annual opponent in the NCAA. Second only to Tennessee's streak over Kentucky as well. The last time the Wildcats defeated the Gators was in Lexington in a 10–3 loss during the 1986 season. The Gators last lost at home to the Wildcats on November 17, 1979, in a blowout fashion–31 to 3. These two teams met last in Gainesville during the 2006 season, where the Gators defeated the Wildcats 26–7. Florida enters the game leading the series 40-17-0 and the Wildcats have defeated the Gators only 3 times in the series when the Gators were ranked.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
The Gators opened the game strong with 28 points scored in the first quarter. The Gators' special teams blocked two punts on Kentucky's first and second drives of the game. The Gators scored touchdowns on each blocked punt with Tim Tebow running in the first touchdown and Brandon James for the second. The Gators' third scoring drive of the game only took four plays and 1:39 finishing with a 16-yard Percy Harvin rushing TD. Percy Harvin scored the fourth Florida TD of the quarter off of another 4-play drive, but this time through the air.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
Before the end of the first half, the Gators' special teams blocked a Wildcat field goal attempt, which was returned by the Gators' safety Major Wright to the Florida 40-yard line. Tim Tebow then threw his second TD shortly into the second quarter to Jeff Demps. Kentucky got on the board with a field goal with 5:03 left in the half. Florida responded quickly with a 3-yard TD rush by Tim Tebow, bringing the score at the half 42–3. This was his second rushing TD of the game, which tied former Florida Gator running back Emmitt Smith with a school-record 36 rushing touchdowns.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
Florida opened the second half on defense with Gator DB Ahmad Black scoring a TD on an interception 9 seconds into the half. Florida's defense continued to keep Kentucky out of scoring position allowing the Gators to pile on the points. The next Florida drive consumed over eight minutes resulting in senior RB Kestahn Moore running in a TD increasing the lead 56 to 3. After this drive, redshirt freshman John Brantley took over the reins as QB. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, John Brantley threw a 38-yard TD pass to David Nelson.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
This was John Brantley's first passing touchdown as a Gator as well as David Nelson's first reception of the year. Kentucky's following drive brought them within 5 yards of a touchdown. Florida's defense forced Kentucky into a fourth down attempt. With only a couple yards to gain, Florida Gator Lorenzo Edwards forced a turnover on downs stopping Kentucky half a yard short from the first down marker. On the following drive, Florida's Bobby Kane mishandled the punt snap sending the ball out of the endzone resulting in a safety. This was the last score of the game, bringing the final score to 63–5. Florida's winning streak over the Wildcats extended to 22 straight victories, tying Tennessee's record over Kentucky.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
The Gators faced off against the Bulldogs in the annual rivalry taking place in Jacksonville, Florida. Georgia led the series entering the game 45-38-2. Florida had won 15 of the last 18 meetings dating back to the 1990 season, which was Steve Spurrier's first season as head coach. Urban Meyer was 2–1 against Georgia before the game with his only loss coming the previous year in a 42–30 win over the Gators.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
In that win, Knowshon Moreno's one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter sparked a celebration by the entire Bulldogs team in the end zone, known as the "Gator Stomp." Georgia head coach Mark Richt defended his actions in having his team intentionally celebrate. He was quoted as saying "I wanted to make sure we left this game with our hearts on the field." He was later quoted in summer media presses: "In hindsight, I shouldn't have done it. I won't do anything like that again. It could have easily turned into a big, stupid brawl."


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
The Bulldogs started the game on offense after Florida deferred to the second half. Neither team was able to score on their opening possessions as both defenses force the teams to punt. Georgia was able to get into the red zone and attempted a field goal from the 20-yard line, which was missed by kicker Blair Walsh. On the change of possession, the Gators capitalized with a 5-minute 80-yard drive finished off with a Percy Harvin rushing touchdown. With this touchdown, Percy scored a TD in every game thus far in the season.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
Florida's defense shut out Georgia in the first quarter, but Georgia was able to put points on the board with a 35-yard field goal cutting Florida's lead to 4. Georgia attempted an onside kick following the score, but was unable to recover the ball setting up the Gators at the Georgia 41-yard line. It took only 7 plays for Tim Tebow to cap the drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 14–3. Florida's defense kept Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno out of the end zone after Georgia got to the Florida 10-yard line. After having to settle for another field goal attempt, Georgia kicker Blair Walsh missed his second of the game. Neither the Gators nor the Bulldogs were able to score anymore in the half, bringing the score to 14–3 at the half.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
After having to punt on the opening possession of the second half for the Gators, the Florida defense quickly gave the ball back into the hands of Tim Tebow. Florida sophomore DB Joe Haden intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass and returned it 88 yards to the Georgia 1-yard line. Tim Tebow scored a TD on the resulting run extending Florida's lead to 21–3. Georgia continued to struggle on offense and their next drive resulted in a punt.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
Tim Tebow connected with senior WR Louis Murphy on a 44-yard pass to bring the score to 28–3 with a little more than 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Turnovers continued with Georgia after Knowshon Moreno fumbled the ball, which was picked up by Florida DT Terron Sanders. Tim Tebow ran the ball in for a touchdown on the following change of possession—his third rushing TD of the game and 40th of his career. Matthew Stafford's turnovers continued with back-to-back interceptions by Gator linebacker Dustin Doe and Gator DB Ahmad Black.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
While unable to capitalize on the Dustin Doe interception, the Gators scored a TD off of Ahmad Black's interception with only one play, a 25-yard Tim Tebow pass to Percy Harvin. The lead extended to 42–3 at this point. Redshirt freshman quarterback John Brantley took over the offense in the fourth quarter for Tim Tebow. John Brantley and the Gators put together a 66-yard drive finishing with a touchdown pass to redshirt freshman WR Deonte Thompson. The Gators lead extended to a game high 46 points, 49–3, with still half of a quarter to play.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
After replacing Matthew Stafford with quarterback Joe Cox, the Bulldogs were able to score a touchdown with a little more than 3 minutes left in regulation. This would bring the final score to 49–10. Although the Gators finished the game with 25 less yards of offense (398 vs. 373), the Gators were able to force four turnovers (1 fumble, 3 interceptions) and capitalized off of them. Presumably as revenge for the 2007 Bulldog celebration, Meyer used up his timeouts in the last minute of the fourth quarter.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
This is the first time the Gators have returned to Nashville after winning the 2006 National Championship. The 2006 game in Nashville ended closely—25 to 19—and the last three games in Nashville were won by the Gators by an average of only 9 points. Entering the 2008 game, the Gators have outscored opponents an average of 50 to 10 since the Gators loss to Ole Miss earlier in the year. With a win in this game, the Gators would clinch the SEC East division title and a berth in the SEC championship game. Florida enters the game having won 17 straight games over Vanderbilt. Their last loss occurring in Nashville in 1988 where the Gators lost by a score of 24–9.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
The Gators opened strong on defense forcing an early three-and-out by Vanderbilt followed by a tipped punt. The Gators' first offensive drive only had to travel 60 yards resulting in a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to wide receiver Louis Murphy while in the red-zone. Coming into the game, the Gators had the #1 red-zone scoring offense in the nation with Vanderbilt ranked #2 in red-zone defense. The Gators defense forced another three-and-out on Vanderbilt's second offensive drive. Coming into the game, the Gators ranked #16 in the nation in total defense. The Gators' second offensive drive ended in another touchdown.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
This time, Tim Tebow carried the ball three consecutive times with the third, and final rush, resulting in a touchdown. This was Tim Tebow's 40th rushing touchdown of his career. Extending his school-record for rushing touchdowns in a career at the University of Florida. Vanderbilt's third possession resulted in an interception by Gator DB Ahmad Black. His 5th, and team-leading, interception of the season. Vanderbilt continued to struggle on offense as well as defense as Florida continued to put points on the scoreboard early in the game setting the tone.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Tim Tebow added his second rushing TD of the game after the interception after stiff arming a Vanderbilt defender to push his way into the endzone. After another failed drive for Vanderbilt on offense, their punt was blocked by Florida Gator Carlos Dunlap. The resulting field position yielded a quick scoring drive ending with a touchdown pass by Tim Tebow to Riley Cooper. The Gators fifth offensive possession ended with a questionable fumble call.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Percy Harvin rushed the ball for a touchdown with the ball appearing to have crossed the plane of the endzone and then coming loose and picked up by a Vanderbilt defender. After review, the fumble call was confirmed. This was the second redzone drive of the season the Gators did not score. The other being a taken-knee at the end of the Tennessee game. Even with the missed points on the possession, the Gators quickly scored on their sixth possession of the half with a touchdown pass by Tim Tebow.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
The Gators opened the second half on offense and continued to rack up the points. The drive ended with a touchdown run by WR Percy Harvin. In this game, Percy Harvin set a school record for rushing yards by a wide receiver. Chris Nickson took over as quarterback for Vanderbilt after Mackenzie Adams left the field due to injury at the end of the second quarter. With 1:04 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Vanderbilt prevented a shutout and scored a touchdown with a Nickson pass.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
With under a minute to go in the third, redshirt freshman Gator QB John Brantley took control of the offense. Tim Tebow finished three quarters with three passing TDs and two rushing TDs. His second week in a row with 5 total TDs. This win over Vanderbilt clinched the SEC East Division championship for the Gators sending them back to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta since the 2006 season. They will face the Alabama Crimson Tide after they clinched their division title earlier in the day against rival LSU.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
This game marked the 12th time the Gamecocks have traveled to Gainesville where they were winless on the road (0-11) coming into the game. The last time the two teams met in Gainesville, the Gamecocks nearly earned their first victory against the Gators in the Swamp, but fell short with a field goal attempt blocked by Jarvis Moss with only a few seconds left in the game. History was also made in this game with it being the first college football game where a Heisman-winning coach (Steve Spurrier) coached against a Heisman-winning player (Tim Tebow).


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
Both Heisman winners also earned their Heisman trophies at the University of Florida. This was only the fourth time in college football history that two Heisman winners faced one another. South Carolina is the third team of the season the Gators have played against that was coached by a previous championship-winning head coach (Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee and Les Miles of LSU being the other two).


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
With afternoon showers rolling through Gainesville, field conditions weren't ideal for either team early on. The Gamecocks first drive ended after just four plays resulting in a punt. As Florida drove down the field on the following possession, true freshman Jeff Demps fumbled the ball near the South Carolina 40-yard line. Carolina's and Florida's offensives woes continued in each of their next drives, with a South Carolina QB Chris Smelley pass being intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Brandon Spikes.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
Similar to the prior week, South Carolina head coach and Florida alum Steve Spurrier rotated quarterbacks after nearly every offensive snap. On the following South Carolina offensive possession, Gator DB Ahmad Black intercepted another Chris Smelley pass after it was deflected by Gator linebacker Brandon Hicks. This was Black's sixth, and team-leading, interception of the season. It only took one offensive play for the Gators to capitalize on the Carolina turnover. Percy Harvin ran the ball for 26 yards resulting in a touchdown extending the Gators' lead 14-0 late in the first quarter. South Carolina continued to make mistakes.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
On the following kickoff, the South Carolina returner threw a lateral pass to his teammate who fumbled the catch. Florida senior long snapper James Smith collected the ball and ran it just one foot shy of the goal line. Tim Tebow ran the ball in for a touchdown on the resulting change of possession. Florida's 21 points were off of 3 South Carolina turnovers and only took 2:15 to score.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
After a South Carolina forced-fumble in the first quarter, their defense picked up their second fumble on a fumbled Tebow option-pass to Chris Rainey near the South Carolina redzone. Although South Carolina's defense had spent little time on the field, they were productive in collecting two early Florida fumbles. With South Carolina's offense struggling and unable to put points on the board, Florida regained possession after forcing a punt and quickly scored with a Tebow touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Deonte Thompson. After failed offensive drives for both teams, South Carolina was able to put together enough of an offense to attempt, and make, a field goal. This brought the score to 28–3 at the half.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
Florida received the ball in the second half and on the first offensive play for the Gators, Percy Harvin ran the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. This was Percy's second rushing TD of the game. The Gators crossed the 30-point mark on this score, which was the first time in Gator history that the Gators scored 30+ points in every regular season SEC game. On the following offensive drive for South Carolina, Steve Spurrier ditched the two-QB calls and left Chris Smelley in to take all snaps on the drive.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
South Carolina moved down the field effectively compared to the first half. After moving the ball down the field, South Carolina attempted, and made, a 44-yard field goal with 10:17 remaining in the third quarter. Florida responded with a drive that took less than four minutes and topped off with a 38-yard Jeff Demps rushing touchdown. This was Jeff Demps' fifth rushing touchdown of the season, all of which were runs of more than 35 yards.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Tim Tebow threw a TD pass to TE Aaron Hernandez, who controlled the catch with one hand, extending their lead 49–6. On the following Gator offensive possession, redshirt freshman QB John Brantley took over for Tim Tebow to close out the game. Florida's defense still did not let up. True freshman Gator Will Hill picked off a Stephen Garcia pass attempt making it the third Gator interception of the game.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
This turnover led to another Gator score when true freshman Chris Rainey put together two runs with the second being the touchdown score that put the Gators over the 50-point mark. The Gators finished the game holding South Carolina's offense to 173 yards while the Gator offense amassed over 519 yards with 346 of those yards coming on the ground.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
This game marked Senior day for the Gators as they played their final home game of the 2008 season in the Swamp. It also featured the retirement of Citadel graduate and UF legend George Edmondson better known as "Mr. Two Bits" to Gator fans. This was the only game of the season where the Gators faced a Division I-FCS opponent. The first meeting between these two teams took place in 1910 where the Gators defeated the Bulldogs 6–2 in Jacksonville. The most recent meeting between the two teams took place as the season opener for the 1998 season where the Gators remained undefeated against the Bulldogs, winning 49–10. Florida scored 42 points in six straight games, a record unmatched by a conference member since Vanderbilt in 1915.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
The Gators defense took control of the game early shortly after The Citadel received the opening kickoff. True freshman cornerback Janoris Jenkins picked off a Bart Blanchard pass and took it into Bulldogs territory. The Gators got on the board shortly thereafter with a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to senior WR Louis Murphy. After a 3 and out forced by the Gators' defense, the Gators put together a 61-yard drive in 1:25 capped off with a Chris Rainey touchdown run.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
The Gators third touchdown of the quarter came on the 5th play of their next offensive possession ending with a Tim Tebow 43-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper. With another 3 and out at the end of the first quarter, the Citadel was forced to punt. Starting at the Florida 11-yard line, the Gators managed to go 89 yards down the field and score a touchdown off of a Percy Harvin 11-yard run. Offensive struggles continued for the Bulldogs as true freshman DB Will Hill intercepted a pass by Cam Turner.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
Tim Tebow's final touchdown of the day was a 31-yard pass to redshirt freshman Deonte Thompson. This TD brought the score to 35–0 with over 13 minutes remaining in the half. Florida's next offensive possession ended like the previous five with a touchdown scored—this time by senior RB Kestahn Moore. The Gators' defense was unable to field a shutout when the Bulldogs responded with a 78-yard drive, finishing with a TD pass by Scott Flanagan—cutting the score 42-6 after a missed extra point. Shortly before the half, senior Kestahn Moore was able to rush for his second TD of the game, this time from 22 yards out. This brought the halftime score to 49–6.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
The Gators opened the second half with the ball, but weren't as dominant as they were in the first half. Redshirt freshman QB John Brantley took snaps in place of Tim Tebow and was able to put together a touchdown scoring drive. This one ended with a 1-yard rushing TD by Florida defensive tackle Javier Estopinan, extending the lead to 56–6. The Citadel's response mirrored the Gators' drive in that it, too, ended with a 1-yard rushing TD, bringing the score to 56-13 after the made extra point.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
The Gators broke the 60-point mark after quarterback John Brantley completed a 12-yard pass to redshirt junior WR David Nelson, extending the Gators' lead to 50. The Gator defense continued to perform well as defensive standout Carlos Dunlap, the season leader in sacks, sacked Citadel's Cam Turner, forcing the Bulldogs to punt. On the following drive, redshirt sophomore RB Emmanuel Moody, transfer from USC, would run the ball in 5 yards for the TD. This would be the Gators' last score of the game, eclipsing the 70-point mark.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, The Citadel
Turnovers continued for the Bulldogs with their next drive ending with a Cam Turner pass intercepted by Gator DB Wondy Pierre-Louis. The final score of the game came off of a Cam Turner pass to Taylor Cornett for a 15-yard touchdown reception, bringing the final score to 70-19 after the Citadel missed their second extra point of the game. The Gators' offense collected 705 total yards, with 394 coming on the ground. The Citadel had 3 turnovers in the game, all of which were interceptions. The Gators had 13 drives on offense, 10 of which ended with touchdowns. Two drives ended the first half and second half and the Gators punted the ball only once.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
The final game of the regular season for the Florida Gators featured a matchup against in-state rival Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. The last meeting between these two teams took place in the Swamp in 2007 with the Gators defeating the Seminoles 45–12. This game was the 53rd meeting between the two teams with the Gators leading the series 31-19-2 entering the game. This was Bobby Bowden's 36th game against the Gators. Coming into the game, Coach Bowden's record was 17-16-2. The Gators last loss to the Seminoles occurred during the 2003 season at home on senior day. This game marked the fourth and final regular season contest in which the Gators faced a team led by a national championship-winning head coach. (Though they would face two more in the SEC and BCS championship games.)


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Florida received the ball the start the game and was able to score on their opening drive. Ending the 65-yard drive, WR Percy Harvin ran the ball from 11 yards out to score a touchdown—this completed his streak of scoring a TD in every game of the regular season. Florida State was able to establish excellent field position by returning a Caleb Sturgis kickoff to the Florida 24-yard line. Florida's defense was able to prevent the Seminoles from scoring a TD and forced them to settle for a field goal; cutting the Gators' lead 7–3.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
After forcing a punt, the Seminoles regained possession, but put the ball back in Florida's hands. Florida safety Major Wright grabbed his third interception of the season picking off FSU QB Christian Ponder. Florida was able to capitalize on the turnover and score with a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to TE Aaron Hernandez. This completed the first quarter scoring with the Gators leading 14–3. After forcing Florida State to punt the ball early in the second quarter, true freshman RB Jeffery Demps of the Gators fumbled the ball during a run play, which was collected by Florida State's Neefy Moffett.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
This set the Seminoles in the red zone having the ball at the Florida 14-yard line. Just as in the first quarter, the Gators defense was able to prevent the Seminoles from scoring a touchdown and forced them to settle for another field goal—cutting the lead to 14–6. In response, the Gators put together a 10 play drive consuming 86 yards of the field ending with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Tim Tebow over a pile of FSU defenders, bringing the score to 21–6 in favor of the Gators.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
With little working on offense, the Seminoles once again settled for a field goal on their following possession, their third of the game. With only 2:04 left in the half, Florida's offense was able to connect on 5 consecutive pass plays, ending with a 24-yard touchdown pass to TE Aaron Hernandez in only 1:07. This brought the score at the half to 28–9. The Gators amassed 284 yards of offense in the first half.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
The second half opened with a Florida State turnover as their woes continued on offense with Florida's defense continuing to force mistakes. Florida middle linebacker intercepted a Christian Ponder pass on the first play of the half and set up the Gators' offense at the Florida State 20-yard line. With just three plays in 40 seconds, the Gators tacked on another touchdown with a Tim Tebow 23-yard touchdown pass to senior WR Louis Murphy. This brought the Gators' lead to 26 with a score of 35 to 9.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
After a three and out forced by the Florida defense, the Gators were able to score again, but only with their first field goal of the game. On the ensuing Florida State drive, former starting FSU QB Drew Weatherford stood in for Christian Ponder and led his team on a touchdown drive capped off with a Jermaine Thomas 4-yard touchdown run. The blocked extra point left the score at 38–15. Neither team was able to score any additional points in the third quarter and the Gators took their 23-point lead to the final quarter.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, Gators' true freshman Janoris Jenkins picked off his third interception of the season by reading a D'Vontrey Richardson pass intended for Bert Reed at the FSU 38-yard line. As done earlier in the game, the Gators capitalized off the turnover and scored a TD—this time in only three plays ending with a Jeffery Demps two-yard touchdown run. This would be the final score of the game with the Gators leading 45–15 with a little less than 12 minutes remaining.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Redshirt freshman QB John Brantley took snaps for Tim Tebow to close out the game and the Florida defense continued to stop Florida State with sacks on the final two FSU offensive possessions by Carlos Dunlap and Jaye Howard. The final sack of the game by Jaye Howard also caused a fumble by Drew Weatherford, which Jaye Howard was able to recover. The Gators finished with over 502 yards of offense; more than double FSU's 242 yards. The Gator defense had 4 turnovers gained with three of them being interceptions. This win extending Florida's winning streak over the Seminoles to five dating back to the 2004 win in Tallahassee. In this game, Gator WR Percy Harvin suffered an injury that would prevent him from playing the SEC Championship Game the following week.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Tebow's "Bloody" JerseyIn this game, Tim Tebow also created an iconic image of himself and the Gators for 2008. Because of the rainy conditions in Tallahassee that day, the field was extremely wet and slippery, affecting play on both sides. On a 4-yard TD run into the endzone, Tebow slid in on the wet turf, causing the front of his white Away jersey to get wet red paint on it. The paint also got on his face and helmet and stayed on for the majority of the game.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
The red paint resembled blood to many people which provided Tebow with a bravado of bravery and passion, which also highlighted his intense sideline celebrations and enthusiasm. The image of Tebow's paint-stained Jersey became one of the lasting and memorable images in sports for 2008 and for the decade at large.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
The Florida Gators returned to the Georgia Dome after two years to play against #1 Alabama for the SEC title. This was the Gators' second visit to the SEC Championship Game since the 2006 game where they faced the SEC West champion Arkansas. The 2007 season SEC East representative in the title game was the Tennessee Volunteers. Alabama returns to the SEC Championship Game after a nine-year appearance drought.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
In the 1999 SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide defeated the Gators with a score of 34 to 7. Florida's last win over the Tide in the title game occurred in the 1996 SEC Championship Game where the Gators would end up playing Florida State in the Sugar Bowl and go on to win their first national championship. This game is Florida's ninth appearance in the game and have a record of 6-2 before kickoff. Alabama is 2-3 entering the game with their two wins over the Florida Gators in 1992—the first year of the championship game—and 1999.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
Alabama entered the game having been ranked #1 in the AP and USA Today Coaches poll for five consecutive weeks while the Gators entered the game ranked #2 in the AP Poll. This was the first time that the AP #1 and #2 teams have faced in the SEC title game. This was Urban Meyer's first time coaching against Nick Saban as well as the first meeting between the two programs since their regular season meeting in 2006 season where the Gators defeated the Tide and then went on to win the BCS National Championship. This was the fifth game of the season where the Gators faced a team coached by a national championship winning head coach. Alabama entered the game with a 21–13 series lead over the Gators.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
After winning the coin toss, the Gators elected to defer to the second half and the Alabama offense took the field after the touchback kickoff. With just three plays and one net yard, the Gators defense forced Alabama to punt early. Although without leading Gator WR Percy Harvin, who sustained an injury during the Florida State game, the Gators acted quickly and put together a nine play drive that finished with a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to first year Gator WR Carl Moore. This was Carl Moore's first career touchdown reception as a Gator.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
The Florida defense wasn't as effective on the second Alabama possession as Alabama true freshman WR Julio Jones made a 64-yard reception ending at the Florida 18-yard line. The next play resulted in a touchdown after an 18-yard run by Tide RB Glen Coffee. It only took two plays and 54 seconds for the Tide to tie the game at 7-7.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
After the Crimson Tide forced a 3 and out on the Florida offense, Alabama's offense led by senior QB John Parker Wilson were unable to score another touchdown, but settled for a field goal after getting into Florida territory with Javier Arenas' punt return. This gave the Tide the first lead of the game, 10–7, and this was the Gators' first time trailing in the first quarter since their loss at home to Ole Miss earlier in the season.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
After another 3 and out for the Florida offense, the first quarter came to a close with the Tide maintaining their lead. Alabama opened the second quarter on offense and were able to move the ball 40 yards to the Florida 32 and elected to go for the first down on 4th and 9. Alabama's P.J. Fitzgerald was only able to gain one yard and the Gators gained possession of the ball with the turnover on downs. On the ensuing drive, Florida tied the game with a 19-yard field goal after getting as close as the 2-yard line.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
This tied the game at 10-10. Florida's defense was able to stop Alabama on the following drive after only three plays and the Gators regained possession a little less than half of the quarter remaining. The Gators were able to regain the lead after a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to junior WR David Nelson. This brought the score at halftime to 17–10.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
The Gators received the ball to start the second half and were unable to move the ball having to punt after just three plays on offense. The third quarter would turn out to be difficult for the Gator defense and the Tide scored on their first two possessions on offense in the half. Their first offensive possession totaled 91 yards and consumed nearly 7 minutes off of the game clock. John Parker Wilson was 4 of 6 passing in the drive with 3 of his passes connecting with freshman WR Julio Jones.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
Alabama RB Mark Ingram finished the drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown tying the game at 17-17. Florida's offense struggled on their next possession as they were forced to attempt a field goal. Florida kicker Jonathan Phillips had the opportunity to give the lead back to the Gators, but missed a 42-yard field goal. To close out the third quarter, Alabama was able to get the ball into Florida territory where they attempted, and made, a 27-yard field goal. This gave the Tide a three-point lead—20–17—entering the fourth quarter.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
The Gators started on offense in the fourth quarter and drive deep into Alabama territory. Florida ran the ball 8 times out of 11 plays, with the final rush being a touchdown from 1 yard out run in by true freshman Jeffery Demps. The Gators would take the lead following the extra point and would not give it back. Florida's defense proved to be more effective in the fourth quarter than they were in the third. Florida defensive lineman Jermaine Cunningham sacked Alabama's John Parker Wilson for 11 yards forcing Alabama to punt the ball.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
With the ball in the hands of the Florida offense, the Gators had the opportunity to take a two-score lead with a touchdown. They were able to get to the 1-yard line setting a 2nd and Goal situation, but Florida received a 5-yard penalty for sideline interference. On the second play following the penalty, Tim Tebow threw a touchdown pass to Riley Cooper to extend the Gators' lead and final score margin by 11–31 to 20. Alabama's response on the following drive was quickly quieted. On a 1st and 10, senior QB John Parker Wilson was intercepted by sophomore DB Joe Haden. The Gators ran out the clock after regaining possession and defeated the Crimson Tide by a score of 31-20 for the SEC Championship.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, SEC Championship
This was the Gators' seventh victory in the SEC championship game and Urban Meyer's second SEC title since becoming the head coach of the team in 2005. This was the Florida Gator's eighth officially recognized title with the first occurring in 1991 before the formation of the Championship Game. With the win over #1 Alabama, the Gators were selected to play in the BCS National Championship Game the following day where they would face against the Oklahoma Sooners.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Gators closed out the 2008 season against the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2008 BCS National Championship in Miami, Florida. Although this was the first time the two teams had played one another, there was familiarity between the two programs. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops played a critical role as defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators during the first national championship run in 1996. In addition, Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford met the previous month in New York for the Heisman Award ceremony where Sam Bradford took home the honors.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
Even though Tim Tebow received the most first-place votes, 309, to Sam Bradford's 300, he finished third in the final balloting, being surpassed by both Sam Bradford and Texas' quarterback Colt McCoy. Florida's staff also suffered an employment change when offensive coordinator Dan Mullen accepted the head coaching position at Mississippi State University replacing Sylvester Croom who resigned. Urban Meyer named Steve Addazio as the offensive coordinator shortly thereafter, but Dan Mullen would still coach in the game.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
Entering the game, Florida head coach Urban Meyer was 2–0 in BCS bowl games with his win as head coach at Utah in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and his second win coming two years ago to the day against Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops made his fourth appearance in the BCS national championship game. His first visit was to the same stadium where his Sooners defeated the Florida State Seminoles 13–2 in the 2001 Orange Bowl.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
However, the Sooners' last two appearances in the title game ended in defeat, losing at the hands of LSU in the 2004 Sugar Bowl and USC in the 2005 Orange Bowl. In addition, the Sooners lost two more BCS bowl games following their loss to USC. Those were to the Boise State Broncos in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. Bob Stoops and the Sooners looked to snap a four-game BCS bowl losing streak and Urban Meyer and the Gators aimed to add their third national championship in school history, and their second in three years.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
After winning the coin toss, the Oklahoma Sooners elected to receive the ball and put the Gators on defense to start the game. Oklahoma started the game at the Sooner 24-yard line and was only able to gain 31 yards on 8 plays before having to punt the ball to the Gators. This was a rare punt by the Sooners this season, with the team breaking an NCAA record for most points scored in a season with over 700.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Gators' first offensive possession ended in just 8 plays similar to the Sooners', but this one finishing on a Tim Tebow interception. Coming into the game, Tim Tebow only had thrown two interceptions all year. Fortunately for the Gators, the Sooners were unable to capitalize off of the rare Florida turnover. Before the start of the game, the Sooners led the NCAA FBS with the fewest turnovers in a game with 9. The Gators were tied for second with only 11 turnovers.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
Florida's second offensive possession was more productive with the Gators getting to the Oklahoma 21-yard line by the end of the first quarter. This brought the score at the end of the quarter to 0–0. This was the first time in the Sooners' season where they were unable to score in the first quarter.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Sooners had scored an average of over 50 points per game and the Gators over 40 points per game, but neither was able to put points on the board. However, needing only three plays in the second quarter, the Gators scored a touchdown with a pass from Tim Tebow to senior WR Louis Murphy, who managed to get the ball over the goal line with his right hand prior to fumbling. This gave the Gators the lead, 7–0. In response, the Sooners put together a drive initiated with three running plays by RB Chris Brown totaling 45 yards.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The next two plays capped off the drive with a Sooner touchdown tying the game at 7-7 and taking only 2:13 to respond. The Gators received the ball with 11:49 left in the half and were able to move the ball 21 yards to the Florida 36 where Tim Tebow threw his second interception of the game and this one to Sooners' defensive standout Gerald McCoy—Big 12 defensive player of the year.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Sooners' ensuing drive called for four running plays by RB Chris Brown who was able to take the ball one yard shy of the goal line on a 4th and goal. The Sooners elected to go for the touchdown, but were stopped at the 3-yard line by Florida DT Torrey Davis. Florida's offense stuttered on their next possession and eventually punted the ball back to Oklahoma who had 2:32 left in the first half. Sam Bradford led his team down the field and in scoring position with a 1st and Goal at the Florida 6-yard line. Sam Bradford's following pass was tipped by Florida DB Joe Haden and intercepted by Florida safety Major Wright. This was the third interception of the game; the first for Sam Bradford in the game. The Gators took a knee to close out the half tied 7–7.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Gators opened the second half on offense, but struggled to move the ball and were forced to punt back to Oklahoma after a 3 and out. The Sooners didn't fare much better on their opening possession of the half. After just nine plays, Oklahoma punted the ball back to Florida where the Gators would start a drive taking over 5 minutes. Starting at the Florida 25-yard line, the Gators moved the ball effectively, needing only three plays to get to midfield.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
On a 2nd and 4 at the Oklahoma 13, true freshman RB Jeffery Demps ran the ball to the 2-yard line before Oklahoma was called for a facemask while tackling Demps. This put the ball at the 1-yard line and the Gators had a fresh set of downs on which to score. After failing to run the ball in from one yard, Tim Tebow attempted a pass to TE Aaron Hernandez, which was nearly caught.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The next play called was a direct snap to WR Percy Harvin, who made his first appearance since getting injured against Florida State two games earlier. Harvin was able to rush from two yards out and score a TD, putting the Gators up 14–7. Oklahoma's following drive did not move as much down the field as their previous drives. On the first play of the drive, Dustin Doe and Carlos Dunlap sacked Sam Bradford, dropping him for a four-yard loss. After getting to the Florida 32-yard line, the Sooners attempted a field goal, which was blocked by the Gators. After the change of possession, the Gators went 3 and out to close the third quarter. The Gators entered the fourth quarter with a lead of 14–7. Florida's defense was able to shut out Oklahoma's offense in two of the three quarters played up to that point.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Sooners received the ball to open the fourth quarter after forcing a punt by Florida at the end of the third quarter. Oklahoma was able to put together another quick scoring drive. This one took only 2:36 off the clock and 8 plays to go 77 yards down the field. The Sooners tied the game at 14–14 after a Sam Bradford pass to Jermaine Gresham, who lost his shoe after catching the ball on the play.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
With 12:13 left in the game and the score tied at 14-14, the Gators' first play of their next possession was a hand-off to Percy Harvin who ran the ball 52 yards before being pushed out of bounds. Although the Gators were able to get into the red zone—the Oklahoma 10-yard line—they were unable to score a TD and settled for a 27-yard made field goal, putting the Gators back in the lead. The Sooners started their drive after the kickoff at the Oklahoma 35-yard line with 10:45 remaining.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
On the fourth play of the drive from midfield, Sam Bradford threw a deep pass intended for teammate Juaquin Iglesias, but just as Iglesias got his hands on the ball, Gator DB Ahmad Black pulled it away for the interception. This was Black's seventh interception of the season; tying him for first in the NCAA with most interceptions. At this point, both starting quarterbacks had thrown for two interceptions each. The Gators capitalized off the turnover and formed a drive taking nearly 7 minutes off the game clock.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
On a 2nd and Goal at the Oklahoma 4-yard line, Tim Tebow threw for his second TD pass of the game—this time on a jump pass to junior WR David Nelson. This extended the Gators' lead to 10 and brought the score to 24–14. Oklahoma tried to respond on their following drive, but when faced with a 4th and 4, Gator DB Joe Haden broke up a pass that would have been for a first down. After the turnover on downs, the Gators ran out the clock, thus winning the BCS Championship.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
The Gators ended the game with 480 yards of offense to Oklahoma's 363. Percy Harvin led the Gators on the ground with 122 rushing yards followed by Tim Tebow with 109. The Gators used seven wide receivers to complete 18 passes for a total of 231 yards. Florida defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap was named defensive player of the game and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was named offensive player of the game. This was the Gators' third national championship in school history and their second in the last three seasons.


2008 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, BCS National Championship
Bob Stoops and the Sooners extended their BCS bowl losing streak to five games and have lost two national championships at Dolphin Stadium after winning his only championship in the same stadium in 2001. Urban Meyer's BCS bowl record extended to 3–0 with the first won as head coach of the Utah Utes. He has a bowl game record at Florida of 3–1 with his only bowl loss coming in the previous season. During the championship celebration three days after the game, quarterback Tim Tebow announced he would return to the University of Florida for his senior season. This game was also determined by FOX to be their most-watched BCS bowl game since televising BCS games in January 2007. It was viewed by 26.8 million viewers, and at least 50 million viewers tuned in at some point of the game.


2008 Florida Gators softball team
The 2008 Gators went 70-5 overall and 27-1 in SEC play. The 70 wins set an NCAA single season record and Florida, named the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, advanced to the semifinals of the Women's College World Series. They also were the SEC regular season and tournament champions. Five Gators were named All-Americans (Stacey Nelson, Kim Waleszonia, Aja Paculba, Francesca Enea, and Ali Gardiner) and Junior pitcher Stacey Nelson was the SEC Pitcher of the Year.


2008 Florida Gators softball team, Previous Season
The 2007 Florida Gators finished second in the SEC East and made it to the SEC Tournament title game before losing to LSU. They were also invited to host Regionals of the NCAA Tournament. After breezing through the Gainesville Regional, the Gators lost the three-game series to Texas A&M 2-1.


2008 Florida Gators softball team, Pre-season
The 2008 Gators started the season ranked No. 13 in the NFCA/ USA Today poll. They returned All-Americans Stacey Nelson and Kim Waleszonia as well as six other starters from the 2007 team.


2008 Florida Gators softball team, Roster
The 2008 Florida Gators softball team had 1 senior, 8 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 8 freshmen.


2008 Florida Gators softball team, Coaching staff
Head Coach: Tim Walton (3rd season)Assistant Coaches: Jennifer Rocha (3rd season), Jenny Gladding (2nd season)Athletic Trainer: Scott SchenkerStudent Trainer: Arielle GavdoshStrength & Conditioning Coordinator: Steven OrrisAcademic Counselor: Tony MeachamStaff Assistant: Brittany SouilliardManagers: Crystal Sleeman and Kip Collins


2008 Florida Marlins season
The Florida Marlins' 2008 season was the 16th season for the Major League Baseball franchise. Fredi González returned for his second season as manager. Despite having the lowest payroll in the Major Leagues, the Marlins finished with a record of 84–77, the 4th best record in franchise history, however, they failed to make the playoffs for the 5th consecutive season.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, April
The season started off well for the Marlins even though they lost the opening series to the New York Mets. They go on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, sweep the Washington Nationals in their series, and take the first game of the series vs. Houston Astros while earning their 4th straight victory and leading their division with a 7–3 record by 1 ½ games the first week. They tied the franchise record for the most victories in April, with 15.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, May
The Marlins started the month with a loss to the Dodgers, but after taking two of three from the Padres they swept the Brewers and the Nationals back-to-back to eventually improve to a Major League best record on May 11, before the Reds took three in a row in Cincinnati. After a rainout the Royals handed the Marlins their fourth consecutive loss, the last two of the interleague series were split.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, May
They went on to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks, whom at that time had the National League's best record, and in that process stopped Brandon Webb from starting the season with a 10–0 record, a feat not accomplished since World War I. After winning the homes series against the Giants and losing to the Mets at Shea Stadium the Marlins split the first two of three in Philadelphia to finish May atop their division with a half-game edge over the Phillies. They were in first place or tied for first all through the month except for May 30.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, June
After a loss in Philadelphia, the Marlins fell back to second place in the division, but they could hold the second spot despite losing three of four in Atlanta. Back in Dolphin Stadium, they split a four-game series against the Reds. In the last game of the series on June 9, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his 600th career home run off Mark Hendrickson in a 9–4 loss. The Marlins finished their home stand winning two of three against the Phillies, and narrowed the gap to their division rival to three games.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, June
An interleague road swing starting in St. Petersburg saw both teams of the Citrus Series sporting records above .500 for the first time ever. Tampa Bay took the first two games, but an outstanding performance by Ricky Nolasco earned him the win and a shared NL Player of the Week award, and let the series finish on a high note for the Fish.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, June
For the first time in Seattle at Safeco Field, they took two of three on solid outings by youngsters Andrew Miller and Ryan Tucker, before heading after a day off to another new ballpark for a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. Despite a Marlins' long ball attack with four home runs in the first encounter, the A's won it in extra innings to take two of three. After a day off the Marlins were swept in three games by their state rival Tampa Bay Rays to finish 2008 interleague play with a 5–10 record. The first loss to the D-Backs in 2008 was the only blemish in the last four games in June. Throughout the month in second place they trailed the Phillies only half a game in the division standings on June 30.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, July
The Marlins stayed in the top three of the NL East division throughout the month. They won or split all but two — against the Rockies and the Braves — of their series in July. Though they never held first place, they neither were back more than three games and finished the month seven games over .500, trailing the first place Phillies only by 1½ games. Remarkable was a game at Coors Field on July 4, where the Marlins were vanquished after blowing a nine run lead to finally lose 18–17.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, July
Ironically, the Marlins led the NL with 32 come-from-behind wins as of the end of the month. The rotation was shaken up with the call-up of Chris Volstad on July 6. He earned his first win that same night in two innings of relief at Colorado, then earning his first win as a starter five days later at the Dodgers with a brilliant 8⅔ inning performance, helping the Marlins take three of four in L.A. Right before the All-Star break, Josh Johnson made it back to the line-up, only eleven months after having undergone Tommy John surgery.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, July
On July 31, Aníbal Sánchez also had his comeback after shoulder surgery. Both of them boosted the rotation like the acquisition of top pitchers. Before the July 31 trade deadline, there were major rumors of the Fish acquiring Manny Ramírez for the rest of the season, but he eventually was traded to the Dodgers. The multiple rumors did not impact the squad, having beaten both the Cubs at Wrigley and their division rivals Mets at home twice, before taking the first game of a four-game series against the Rockies at Dolphin Stadium.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, July
Hanley Ramírez was elected to start at shortstop for the NL in the All-Star Game, and finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Fellow Marlin All-Star Dan Uggla competed in a memorable Home Run Derby, and became the first player with three errors in a single All-Star Game, a not so favorable distinction, along with three strikeouts in the longest MLB All-Star Game in history.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, August
August became a rough month for the Marlins, and for the first time in the season, the team significantly lost ground in the divisional race to the Mets and the Phillies. While the Fish started the month only one and a half games back, they fell to seven games behind the then first place New York Mets on August 31. The offense struggled, as did the bullpen. The solid rotation with Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad and an outstanding Ricky Nolasco was not enough to carry the team with a lack of production at the plate.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, August
After blowing a few late leads, closer Kevin Gregg was limited in his appearances while allowing his tender knee to heal. Matt Lindstrom took over as closer. The only series wins came on the road at the Phillies and the Diamondbacks, but without any back-to-back wins in the entirety of August, the Marlins could not keep pace with the division leading teams. Highlights in August were the first complete games since September 16, 2006, thrown by Ricky Nolasco on August 19 against the Giants, and followed up by Johnson's complete game on August 27 against the Braves. Nolasco's complete game ended an MLB record set by the Marlins for most games between complete games.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, September
The hopes of climbing back to first place in the National League East were low, but the Marlins kept battling in the month of September. In the process, they accomplished an MLB-first feat. With Jorge Cantú's 25th home run of the season, the Marlins' infielders became the first starting infielder foursome in MLB history to each hit 25 or more home runs. Additionally, Hanley Ramírez's decisive home run on September 13 made him the second Marlin ever to join the 30–30 club. During the month, the Marlins tied a franchise record of nine straight wins.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Regular season, September
This put them at 4 games back in the East division and 3.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race. That late surge wasn't enough though, as the Marlins lost the next four games. In the final season series, the Marlins played spoiler, ruining the Mets playoff chances by winning two of three in New York. The Marlins ended the season with an 84–77 record. This was their best non-playoff season record in franchise history, and third best season record overall.


2008 Florida Marlins season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2008 Florida Marlins season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2008 Florida Republican presidential primary
The 2008 Florida Republican presidential primary was held on January 29, 2008, with 57 delegates at stake on a winner-take-all basis. The Republican National Committee removed half of Florida's delegates because the state committee moved its Republican primary before February 5. Arizona Senator John McCain was the winner of the primary. Third-place finisher Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the race the following day.


2008 Florida Republican presidential primary, Campaign
Rudy Giuliani campaigned quite heavily in Florida, which he expected to use as his "launch pad" for a "strong showing" on Super Tuesday. He campaigned almost entirely in Florida, and largely ignored South Carolina and other states voting before February 5. Polls taken before the primary showed that John McCain was the slight front runner over Mitt Romney. Giuliani had been campaigning with virtually no opposition; however, following the South Carolina Republican primary, 2008, several candidates flew down to Florida to begin campaigning up to January 29 when the primary occurred.


2008 Florida Republican presidential primary, Pre-primary polls
As of January 29, RealClearPolitics reported that the average support from polls taken in the days immediately prior to primary day placed McCain slightly in the lead with 30.7%, followed by Romney with 30.1%, Giuliani with 14.7%, Huckabee with 12.9%, and Paul with 3.6%. Fmr . Sen. Fred Thompson and Rep. Duncan Hunter, though already out of the race, still remained on the ballot in the Florida primary.


2008 Florida Republican presidential primary, Results
On January 29, 2008, McCain prevailed in Florida's Republican presidential primary.


2008 Florida Republican presidential primary, Results
* Candidate dropped out of the race prior to primary.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 2008 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. It was Florida State's 17th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team
The Seminoles were without as many as 12 scholarship players for the first three games of the season because of suspensions carrying over from the previous season for violating team rules, although it has not been disclosed how many of those were involved with an academic cheating scandal at the school. Junior wide receiver Preston Parker was suspended for the first two games of the season, after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, Western Carolina
Pregame Line: Lines are not released when an FCS team plays an FBS team.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, Western Carolina
The start of the game was delayed almost an hour and a half due to lightning in the area, and then almost another hour during the 1st quarter. The first player to touch the ball for FSU, to start the 2008 season, was Tony Carter who promptly returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown and the game's first score. Sophomore Christian Ponder started his first game at quarterback. Ponder completed 11 of 17 passes for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, Western Carolina
At the start of the second drive in the second half (when FSU was up 35–0), sophomore D'Vontrey Richardson came into the game. Richardson went 5 for 6 through the air with one touchdown and also had two rushing touchdowns, one for over 50 yards. With several players serving suspensions due to the school wide "academic scandal" (several students and athletes were caught sharing answers in an online music class), the Seminoles had 28 freshman play in the game. Two of those freshman had touchdowns in the victory over the Catamounts.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Pregame Line: Lines are not released when an FCS team plays an FBS team.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
In his second start as a collegiate athlete, Christian Ponder threw for 183 yards and three first-half touchdowns before being relieved by D'vontrey Richardson in the 3rd quarter. Richardson threw for 117 yards with one touchdown. Richardson also had a 55-yard rushing touchdown, the longest scoring run for a quarterback in the school's history. The previous record was held by Richardson himself, set in the previous week with a 52-yard touchdown run. Junior Wide Receiver, Corey Surrency, led Florida State in receiving with 87 yards and two touchdowns on just three receptions.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Florida State's defense allowed their first score of the season after a 62-yard passing touchdown thrown by Chattanooga quarterback Tony Pastore. This was also the first score by Chattanooga against Florida State all-time, dating back to 1984, the only previous meeting between the two schools in which the Seminoles won in a shutout by 37 points.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, Colorado
This game was played in Jacksonville, Florida with Florida State as the home team. This was Bobby Bowden's 500th Career Game.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, Boston College
One day prior to the game, Florida State suspended Wide Receivers Taiwan Easterling, Bert Reed, Corey Surrency, Cameron Wade and Richard Goodman for their roles in an on-campus altercation with members of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at Florida State's student union.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, @ #25 Maryland
Myron Rolle, Florida State's starting safety, was interviewed in Birmingham, Alabama at noon for the Rhodes Scholarship. At 5:00, he received the call that he was accepted. He flew in a private jet to Washington, D.C. and had a police escort take him to the game in College Park, Maryland. He arrived at the stadium around 8:30pm (with 11:55 left in the 2nd quarter). He dressed out in the locker room and walked onto the field to the roar of the Florida State visitor section with 6:23 left in the 2nd quarter.


2008 Florida State Seminoles football team, Game capsules, @ #25 Maryland
After stretching out, he made his game debut with 1:30 left in the 1st half. At the end of the game, his teammates showered him with a bucket of ice water in 26 degree weather, an act usually reserved for the head coach. He is the first Florida State player to ever have the "ice water shower".


2008 Fluminense Football Club season
The 2008 Fluminense Football Club season was the 94th season in Fluminense's existence, and their 92nd in Brazil's first division. They spent 1 season in Brazil's second division in 1998 & another season in Brazil's third division in 1999.


2008 Fluminense Football Club season, League table, Results summary
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;


2008 Food City 500
The 2008 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and it was held on Sunday, March 16, 2008 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This race aired on Fox starting at 1:30 PM US EDT with radio coverage handled by Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio with programming starting at 1 PM US EDT. The race marked the last race utilizing the 2007 Top 35 owners points exemption. Starting with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on March 30 each week's Top 35 teams will be exempt.


2008 Food City 500
The race marked the 676th and final career points start for Dale Jarrett, who made one final start in the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV. Dale's father, Ned, himself a former series champion and television commentator, waved the green flag for his son's final race. Starting on March 30 David Reutimann became the new driver of the #44 car, while Michael McDowell made his debut in the #00 car.


2008 Food City 500, Qualifying
Qualifying was canceled due to rain on March 14 so the field was set by the rulebook for the second (and final) time this year using the 2007 Owners' points. As a result, Jimmie Johnson was on the pole.


2008 Food City 500, Race
Jarrett started deep in the field and fell one lap down to the leader just before the first competition caution on lap 50. That caution was brought out because the track surface had been washed clean by a rain the previous night. He finished 37th.


2008 Food City 500, Race
Drivers that spun out include Kyle Busch (while in the lead) and Robby Gordon. The only car in the 43 car field that wasn't running at the end was driven by Brian Vickers.


2008 Food City 500, Race
With two laps left, Kevin Harvick bobbled entering a turn and pushed up into second place Tony Stewart. Stewart hit the wall, bringing out a caution, and finished as the last car on the lead lap in 14th. Denny Hamlin was leading at the time but he suddenly slowed after he had fuel pickup problems and quickly faded to finish eighth. The race went six laps past its scheduled length due to the green-white-checker finish rule, and was won by Jeff Burton. Richard Childress Racing finished 1-2-3 for the first time in team history, with Harvick finishing second and Clint Bowyer third.


2008 Food City 500, Results
Failed to make race due to cancellation of qualifying: Patrick Carpentier (#10), Jeff Green (#21), John Andretti (#34).


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final
The 2008 Football League Championship play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Hull City and Bristol City. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final
The top two teams of the 2007–08 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Hull City ended the season in third position while Bristol City finished fourth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2008–09 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to £60 million to the successful team.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final
The 2008 final, refereed by Alan Wiley, was watched by a crowd of more than 86,000 people, in sunny and bright conditions. The match was won by Hull City 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Dean Windass in the first half. It was the first time that Hull City would play in the top tier of English football in their club's 104-year history.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final
Hull City ended the next season in 17th place in the Premier League, one point above relegation. Bristol City finished the following season in 10th place, thirteen points outside the play-offs.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Hull City finished the regular 2007–08 season in third place in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, one point and one place ahead of Bristol City. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Hull City finished four points behind Stoke City (who were promoted in second place) and six behind league winners West Bromwich Albion.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Bristol City faced Crystal Palace in their play-off semi-final, the first leg of which took place at Selhurst Park on 10 May 2008. After a goalless first half, Louis Carey put City into the lead before he fouled José Fonte to concede a late penalty which was converted by Ben Watson. In injury time, David Noble's strike from 30 yards (27 m) beat Julián Speroni in the Palace goal, and the match ended 2–1 to City. The second leg, played at Ashton Gate, took place three days later.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Palace took the lead and levelled the tie on aggregate through a Watson goal midway through the first half. His second-half penalty struck the post and no further goals were scored in regular time, taking the match into  extra time. Lee Trundle scored towards the end of the first half and Michael McIndoe doubled City's advantage in the second half. The match finished 2–1 to City and they progressed to the final with a 4–2 aggregate victory.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
In the other play-off semi-final, Hull City's opponents were Watford, with the first leg being played at Vicarage Road on 11 May 2008. Watford's Danny Shittu had an early goal disallowed and shortly after, Nick Barmby put Hull City ahead, with a sidefooted shot from a Fraizer Campbell pass. Campbell then hit the post from an Andy Dawson cross, but the rebound was picked up and guided into an empty net by Dean Windass, doubling Hull's lead.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
With thirty minutes of the match remaining, the referee Kevin Friend showed John Eustace a straight red card for an infraction after a tackle. Shittu was then substituted with an unspecified injury and the match ended 2–0. The second leg was played at the KC Stadium three days later. Darius Henderson opened the scoring on 12 minutes to halve Watford's deficit across the legs, but Barmby equalised before half time. Second-half goals from Caleb Folan, Richard Garcia and Nathan Doyle ensured a dominant win for Hull, 4–1 on the day and 6–1 on aggregate.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
This was Bristol City's first Championship play-off final, but they had been losing finalists in the 1988 Football League Third Division play-off Final, contested over two legs, and the 2004 Football League Second Division play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium. Hull's only play-off experience came in the 2001 Third Division playoffs where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Leyton Orient. During the regular season, the two sides played out a goalless draw at the KC Stadium in November 2007, while Bristol City won their home game 2–1. Bristol City had not lost a competitive match against Hull since 1985.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Hull City had never played in the highest tier of English football, while Bristol City last featured in the top division during the 1979–80 Football League First Division season. Campbell was Hull's highest scorer with fifteen goals during the regular season, followed by Windass on eleven, while Dele Adebola was Bristol City's top marksman with ten. The match  was reported to be worth around £60 million to the winning team.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
The referee for the game was Alan Wiley of the Staffordshire Football Association. Before kick-off, both teams were presented to former Conservative Member of Parliament and Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney. Hull City's starting line-up remained  unchanged from their semi-final second leg, while Bristol City's Jamie McCombe was ill and had to be replaced by Liam Fontaine.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, First half
Hull City kicked the game off around 3 p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 86,703, in bright, sunny conditions. Their first attack saw Richard Garcia's shot fly high and wide of the Bristol City goal. At the other end, Adebola's shot was saved by Hull's goalkeeper Boaz Myhill. Bristol City were more dominant in the early stages and in the 17th minute, Adebola's pass found Nick Carle on the edge of the penalty area but his shot went narrowly wide. Garcia then headed a Sam Ricketts cross over Adriano Basso's goal.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, First half
Midway through the half, Windass' chip from a Dawson cross landed on the roof of the net. In the 38th minute, Hull City took the lead. Adebola lost possession allowing Hull to counter attack, with Campbell's accurate cross being volleyed into the Bristol City goal from the edge of the area. A clash of head between Barmby and Bradley Orr resulted in a prolonged stop in play while the latter received treatment, including oxygen, for a suspected fractured cheekbone. Unable to continue, Orr was stretchered off with a neck brace in place, and substituted by Lee Johnson. After ten minutes of additional time, the referee Alan Wiley blew his whistle to signify the end of the first half, with Hull holding a 1–0 lead.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
Bristol City got the second half underway and almost immediately, Carle's shot went wide. Soon after, Ricketts was adjudged to have handled the ball, allowing Noble a chance with a direct free kick but it was saved by Myhill. At the other end, a Garcia free kick was gathered by Bosso. McIndoe's free kick was deflected wide and the resulting corner was headed past the post by Trundle. In the 63rd minute, Bristol City made their second substitution of the afternoon, with Ivan Sproule coming on for Noble.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
Four minutes later, Hull made their first change of the match as Barmby was replaced by Craig Fagan and soon after Windass was substituted for Caleb Folan. In the 74th minute, Trundle's shot was saved by Myhill before a long-range strike from McIndoe was also stopped by the Hull goalkeeper. With 14 minutes of regular time remaining, Bristol City made their final change, with Darren Byfield replacing Carle. Sproule's foul on Fagan drew the first yellow card of the game in the 78th minute. Garcia's half-volley was struck straight at Bosso before Folan's shot was deflected.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
On 85 minutes, Myhill's weak punch allowed Trundle an opportunity to level the match but his shot was blocked by Michael Turner. Byfield then went close twice, but his header was over the Hull bar and his shot wide of the post. There were four minutes of additional time indicated, and with a minute remaining, Campbell received a booking for a foul on Fontain, before being replaced by Dean Marney. The game ended 1–0 to Hull who were promoted the top tier of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history.


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Hull City manager Phil Brown said "It is very fitting that Dean Windass got the winning goal, I think it was written in the Gods that it would be Dean Windass or Nicky Barmby who would get the winner today.". Goalscorer Windass said that "It feels unbelievable. I don't think there is anyone left in Hull today looking at how many supporters we've got here." Hull City chairman Paul Duffen said "This is fantastic, I think it's amazing. It is something which means a lot to the city of Hull."


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Bristol City manager Gary Johnson congratulated Hull, and said that Bristol City would "bounce back" in the following years. Bristol City chairman Stephen Lansdown said that "It's been a great day out for Bristol City football club – it doesn't feel like it at the moment but the future's there and I think we've shown over the last few weeks what this football club can achieve."


2008 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Hull City ended the next season in 17th place in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone. Bristol City finished the following season in 10th place, thirteen points outside the play-offs.


2008 Football League Cup Final
The 2008 Football League Cup Final was a football match played on 24 February 2008. It was the first League Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium, and the first to be played in England since the old Wembley was demolished in 2000. The defending champions were Chelsea, who beat Arsenal in the 2007 Final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The final was contested by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Arsenal 6–2 on aggregate in the semi-final, and Chelsea, who beat Everton 3–1 on aggregate. Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 2–1, after extra time, winning their first trophy in nine years.


2008 Football League Cup Final
Chelsea took the lead in the 39th minute through a Didier Drogba free kick. This goal made Drogba the first player to score in three League Cup Finals, having also done so in 2005 and 2007. A Wayne Bridge handball gave Tottenham a 68th-minute penalty, and Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov converted from the spot. Three minutes into extra time, Jonathan Woodgate headed a Jermaine Jenas free kick onto Petr Čech, who in turn pushed it straight back onto Woodgate's head to score the winning goal.


2008 Football League Cup Final
The win was an important one for Tottenham as they secured UEFA Cup qualification for the following season, something they would not have achieved in the Premier League, as they finished 11th. For Chelsea, it was the second of four competitions in which they would finish as runners-up that season, after they lost to Manchester United in the Community Shield and ended up finishing as runners-up to the same team in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.


2008 Football League Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Andrew Garratt (West Midlands)Martin Yerby (Kent)Fourth official:Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)Reserve assistant referee:David Bryan (Lincolnshire)


2008 Football League One play-off Final
The 2008 Football League One play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 25 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship. The top two teams of the 2007–08 Football League One season, Swansea City and Nottingham Forest, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while those placed from third to sixth in the table took part in play-off semi-finals. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2008–09 season in the Championship. The losing semi-finalists were Carlisle United and Southend United.


2008 Football League One play-off Final
The game was played in front of 75,132 spectators and was refereed by Andy D'Urso. After a goalless first half, Doncaster's James Hayter scored with a header from a Brian Stock corner. The match ended 1–0 to Doncaster, who were thus promoted to the Championship after four seasons in League One.


2008 Football League One play-off Final
Leeds finished the following season in fourth place in League One and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-finals to Millwall. Doncaster's next season ended with them in fourteenth position in the Championship.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Doncaster Rovers finished the regular 2007–08 season in third place in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system, two positions ahead of Leeds United. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Football League Championship and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Doncaster Rovers finished two points behind Nottingham Forest (who were promoted in second place) and twelve behind league winners Swansea City.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Leeds United ended the season four points behind Doncaster Rovers;  before the start of the season, Leeds had been given a fifteen point deduction for "breaching rules on insolvency". Their manager, Dennis Wise, resigned in January 2008 and was replaced by Gary McAllister who confirmed that "the job brief is promotion."


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Leeds United faced Carlisle United in their play-off semi-final with the first match of the two-legged tie being played at Elland Road in Leeds on 12 May 2008. The visitors took the lead on 32 minutes when a volley from Simon Hackney was deflected off Danny Graham into the Leeds net. Five minutes into the second half Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, the Carlisle midfielder, sidefooted in Evan Horwood's low cross to make it 2–0. Keiren Westwood, the Carlisle goalkeeper, made a number of saves in a performance which the BBC's Mandeep Sanghera called "heroic".


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
However, he was beaten five minutes into stoppage time when Jermaine Beckford scored from a free kick to make the final score 2–1. The second leg of the play-off semi-final took place three days later at Brunton Park in Carlisle. Jonny Howson opened the scoring on 10 minutes for the away side to level the aggregate score at 2–2. Carlisle had a number  of chances in the second half but could not convert any, and in the 90th minute, Howson scored his and Leeds' second from 18 yards (16 m): the game ended 2–0 to Leeds who progressed to the Wembley play-off final with a 3–2 aggregate victory.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
In the other play-off semi-final, Doncaster Rovers faced Southend United and the first leg took place at Roots Hall in Southend-on-Sea on 9 May 2008. The home side dominated the first half but after the break, Doncaster's Jason Price missed several chances. Paul Heffernan was sent off for headbutting Southend's Peter Clarke after they tangled in a tackle with three minutes to go and the match finished goalless. The second leg was held a week later at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
The visitors hit the crossbar in the opening minutes through a James Walker strike but Doncaster took the lead on 11 minutes with a penalty from Brian Stock. Adam Barrett scored an own goal ten minutes later before James Coppinger struck a third to see the home side leading 3–0 at half-time. Coppinger completed his hat-trick with two more goals after the interval and with a consolation goal from Southend's Nicky Bailey made it 5–1 to Doncaster at the final whistle.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
Doncaster had played in the third tier of English football since gaining promotion from the Third Division as champions in the 2003–04 season. They had not featured in a league play-off final, although they won the 2003 Football Conference play-off Final to secure their place back in the Football League. Doncaster had also never played a competitive match at Wembley Stadium. Leeds were relegated to League One the previous season, having also been deducted ten points for entering administration.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The club had featured in two play-off finals prior to 2008:  they lost the 1987 Football League Second Division play-off Final to Charlton Athletic and were defeated by Watford in the 2006 Football League Championship play-off Final. The last visit Leeds had paid to the national stadium was for the 1996 Football League Cup Final which they lost 3–0 against Aston Villa. During the regular season, both games between the sides resulted in away wins:  Doncaster won 1–0 at Elland Road in January 2008 while Leeds secured a 1–0 victory at the Keepmoat Stadium the following April. Doncaster's top scorer going into the play-offs was Hayter with nine goals (seven in the league and two in the FA Cup). Beckford was leading scorer for Leeds with twenty goals, followed by Trésor Kandol with eleven.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The referee for the match was Andy D'Urso representing the Essex County Football Association. Both teams started the final with line-ups unchanged from their respective semi-final second leg matches. The BBC reported that Leeds had sold their full ticket allocation of 36,000 while Doncaster had sold 24,000. According to author Daniel Chapman, Leeds fans queued overnight for the chance to buy tickets, and that "by dawn there were 7,000 in a tired, hungry and angry scrum". Doncaster played in red-and-white hooped shirts while Leeds wore white kit.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. on 25 May 2008 in front of 75,132 spectators. Within a minute, the Leeds defender Bradley Johnson's shot cleared the Doncaster crossbar. On six minutes, Price's shot from 6 yards (5.5 m) was blocked by Leeds before Richie Wellens struck the ball into the side netting. Casper Ankergren then made a save at Coppinger's feet before denying Hayter after Doncaster had beaten the offside trap. On 15 minutes, Matt Mills became the first player of the afternoon to be shown a yellow card for a foul on Beckford.


2008 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
In the 17th minute, Beckford's 20-yard (18 m) strike was saved in the Doncaster goal by Neil Sullivan. Ten minutes later, David Prutton was booked for a late tackle. Leeds increased the pressure and in the 31st minute Beckford's weak shot was saved by Sullivan. Five minutes before half time, Hayter's strike flew over the Leeds crossbar before Howson's curling shot passed narrowly outside the Doncaster post. The half was brought to a close with the score at 0–0.