Safeties Stewart, Stiner get job done
UF safety Brad Stewart knew it. More than 90,000 fans packed into the Swamp knew it.
His 25-yard interception return for a touchdown — capped with a dive that nudged the front pylon — essentially sealed LSU’s fate Saturday.
What the New Orleans native didn’t know probably would’ve saved him another trip onto the field after that pick-six.
“What I should’ve done is take a knee so we didn’t have to be back on the field,” he admitted after the game.
UF coach Dan Mullen let Stewart know he made a mistake the moment the defensive back reached the sideline. Stewart knows the talk will stick with him.
“Next time, I will [take a knee],” he said, barely containing a wry smile.
Fellow safety Donovan Stiner doesn’t blame Stewart for the faux pas. He can’t say for certain whether he’d have done the same thing.
“I can see why he did it,” Stiner said. “There was nothing but green grass in front of him.”
Stewart, Stiner and the rest of the Gators’ defense needed one more stop. The Tigers had 1:37 left to tie the game. Stiner would have none of it. On fourth-and-10 from the LSU 41, he jumped in front of receiver Stephen Sullivan and snatched the pass from his grasp.
“I read it the whole way,” Stiner said. “I knew they needed to get to the sticks, so I was just reading the quarterback’s eyes.”
Stiner should be used to the fourth-quarter heroics by now. His game-winning sack on Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald earned the Gators their first win against a ranked team on the road since a goal-line stand against LSU in 2016.
Stewart was at that game as a high-school recruit. The energy of that play — combined with his childhood love of the Tim Tebowled UF championship teams — convinced him to join what the Gators have proclaimed is DBU — Defensive Back University. He watched in awe as a teen when Joe Haden, Janoris Jenkins, Keanu Neal and Reggie Nelson made outstanding plays for the Gators.
“That’s when Florida Gators [were] giving relentless effort and being dominant week in, week out, every day,” Stewart said. “When I got all my offers, I really knew where I wanted to go. … This is DBU, you feel me?”
The Gators’ safety positions were anything but settled before the start of the season.
Junior Jaewon Taylor started the first three games over Stewart. Sophomore Shawn Davis had been pushing Stiner throughout the offseason for more playing time.
Stewart and Stiner have started just two games next to each other for the No. 14 Gators (5-1, 3-1 SEC) ahead of their trip to Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-2 SEC). Kickoff is at noon and the game will air on ESPN.
Stewart cashed in his chance to start against Tennessee, delivering seven tackles and a diving interception near his own goal line.
“He’s been working really hard, extremely hard in practice and in the training room,” Stiner said of Stewart. “He definitely deserves it, and he’s only gonna keep going.”
Stiner earned a new nickname from his most famous play. He is now known as “The Waterboy” among teammates after a Twitter user combined video of his sack with audio from Adam Sandler’s 1998 football comedy of the same name.
“I kinda brush it off,” Stiner said. “It’s funny though, it’s funny.”
As for Stewart, the experience he has gained during the past few weeks reflects the confidence of a man who isn’t afraid to lose his starting job.
“All we need is seven points,” he said. “The defense, we should do the rest.”