Florida wins with Hail Mary

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tyrie Cleveland was one of the last players to leave Florida Field. He slapped hands, posed for pictures, and just before heading to the locker room tunnel, he turned and waved one final time.

He easily could have taken a bow. Cleveland hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Feleipe Franks as time expired Saturday, and No. 24 Florida stunned 23rd-ranked Tennessee 26-20 in a wild, wacky and sometimes unwatchable rivalry game.

Franks scrambled away from the rush on a firstand-10 play with 9 seconds remaining and found Cleveland behind safety Micah Abernathy for a Hail Mary that no one — especially the Volunteers — saw coming.

“Growing up, I always dreamed of making that game-winning touchdown,” Cleveland said. “To make it come true is undescribable.”

The final play capped a crazy fourth quarter in which the teams combined for 37 points and little, if any, defense.

After watching Florida’s offense sputter all afternoon, there surely were armchair quarterbacks everywhere thinking the Gators (1-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) should take a knee and head to overtime. Instead, they burned the Volunteers (2-1, 0-1) with a deep pass for the second time in as many visits to Gainesville.

Two years ago, Will Grier found Antonio Callaway for a 63-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-12 play with 1:26 remaining that propelled Florida to a 28-27 victory.

This time, the play gave the Gators a 12th win in the last 13 years against Tennessee and allowed them to avoid the program’s first 0-2 start since 1971.