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A more diversified offense and an opportunistic defense helped the Florida Gator football team win its 18th straight game last Saturday against Georgia...and it also made Florida's record against Georgia in its last 20 meetings a stunning 17-3 in favor of the Gators.

Right from the start in this game the tone was set offensively. For those fans calling for more diversity in the offense, for more passing, or for better playcalling, you seemed to get all that in just the first drive. Of the first eight passes quarterback Tim Tebow threw, five were completed to different receivers. Florida moved crisply and cleanly down the field with a nice mix of run and pass to score and it did the same thing in their next drive.

In fact, in those two drives, Florida ran 17 plays and gained 172 yards with nine of the plays being pass with eight runs. You can't get much more balanced than that and the results were pretty good too.

Meanwhile the Gator defense did its part too. It wasn't necessarily a great statistical day for this unit, but it was certainly a good day as far as creating turnovers is concerned. Gator linebackers alone had four interceptions with one brought back to the house by Brandon Spikes. The one pick by A.J. Jones was as athletic a play as you'll see as he got the diving interception after he batted down the pass attempt.

And let me also mention the job the Gator special teams did, holding dangerous kick returner Brandon Boykin to less than 20 yards a kickoff return. Punter Chas Henry is an absolute weapon punting the ball and this unit has still not allowed a SINGLE YARD of punt return yardage all year long. Amazing.

I said this last week and I really believed it; I thought the best thing that could have happened to this team was to play Georgia, a natural rival. After struggling for a couple of weeks with things like turnovers, red zone issues and the like, maybe it was just good for Florida to go out and not think so much while playing a team that you naturally get up for to play and a team you and your fans love to beat in Georgia.

I don't exactly know why, but Florida looked looser, like it was having more fun and that was certainly nice to see. They went out and just attacked a rival and beat them; what more can you say?

In the past couple of wins, it seemed like the players and coaches were more relieved than anything else; in this win, there were a lot more smiles and high fives to go around. Florida's coaches, players and fans knew they went out and played like they are capable of and the result was a nice win.

The finish line to the season is getting nearer, and I think the players are starting to sense it; and that could mean some very good things in the weeks to come.