Interception in second OT saves Gators

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• No. 13 Florida Survives Big Time Scare from Vandy

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Florida cornerback Reggie Lewis picked off Vandy's Jay Cutler in the second overtime. Gameball goes to... Cutler, who threw for 361 yards and 4 touchdowns to give the Commodores a chance to win. Stat of the game... 15: The Gators have won 15 straight games against Vanderbilt. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	22	29
Total Yards	419	448
Passing	361	257
Rushing	58	191
Penalties	5-37	11-78
3rd Down Conversions	9-13	9-16
4th Down Conversions	0-0	2-2
Turnovers	4	0
Possession	25:12	34:48

Individual Leaders

Vanderbilt Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Cutler 28/42 361 4 2	Florida Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Leak 32/41 257 3 0
Vanderbilt Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Jennings 8 50 1 21 Jackson-... 8 10 1 7 Bright 1 2 0 2	Florida Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Leak 12 67 2 15 Manson 18 61 1 16 Moore 3 28 0 13
Vanderbilt Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Davis 8 127 1 33 Bennett 6 75 2 22 Dunning 5 40 0 16 Bright 4 44 0 17	Florida Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Jackson 8 53 1 11 Manson 6 48 0 16 Tookes Jr. 4 36 0 13 Cornelius 4 34 1 16

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				VAN	FLA
	TD	12:44	EARL BENNETT 14 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 70 yards.	7	0
	TD	5:08	CHRIS LEAK 1 YD RUN (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 13 plays, 79 yards.	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				VAN	FLA
	TD	13:36	KESTAHN MOORE 9 YD PASS FROM CHRIS LEAK (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 38 yards.	7	14
	TD	6:26	CASSEN JACKSON-GARRISON 1 YD RUN (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 86 yards.	14	14
THIRD QUARTER				VAN	FLA
	TD	12:57	CHAD JACKSON 9 YD RUN (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 2 plays, 14 yards.	14	21
	TD	3:51	CHRIS LEAK 1 YD RUN (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 12 plays, 46 yards.	14	28
FOURTH QUARTER				VAN	FLA
	TD	12:49	ERIK DAVIS 14 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 68 yards.	21	28
	TD	4:11	MARKUS MANSON 2 YD RUN (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 16 plays, 80 yards.	21	35
	TD	2:17	GEORGE SMITH 2 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 61 yards.	28	35
	TD	0:54	EARL BENNETT 6 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 57 yards.	35	35
OVERTIME				VAN	FLA
	TD	0:00	JEFF JENNINGS 8 YD RUN (BRYANT HAHNFELDT KICK) Drive info: 12 plays, 0 yards.	42	35
	TD	0:00	CHAD JACKSON 9 YD PASS FROM CHRIS LEAK (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 12 plays, 0 yards.	42	42
	TD	0:00	JEMALLE CORNELIUS 16 YD PASS FROM CHRIS LEAK (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 12 plays, 0 yards.	42	49

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Backup cornerback Reggie Lewis had been targeted, picked on and consistently abused for most of the night.

By the second overtime, he did something about it.

Lewis stepped in front of Jay Cutler's first pass in the extra period and gave No. 13 Florida a 49-42 victory over pesky Vanderbilt on Saturday night.

Lewis may have saved his reputation. He also might have saved Florida's season.

"It felt great," said Lewis, a 5-foot-10 junior who moved from receiver to defense last spring. "Our season was on the line. I knew I had to make a play somehow, someway."

The Gators certainly needed a savior to extend their winning streak over Vandy to 15 games.

Cutler threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the final 2:17 of regulation to send the game into overtime.

"We are very disappointed," Commodores coach Bobby Johnson said. "We had an opportunity to win the football game and we didn't take advantage of it."

Vanderbilt and Florida exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime. Jeff Jennings ran 8 yards for a score for the Commodores, then Chris Leak answered with a 9-yard TD pass to Chad Jackson.

Jemalle Cornelius made a leaping, 16-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone that put the Gators ahead in the second overtime.

"I just threw the ball up and gave him a chance," Leak said. "He did a heck of a job making a play."

Cutler -- whose interception and fumble in regulation led to 14 points for the Gators -- tried to throw an out pass on the ensuing play. But Lewis stepped in front of the receiver and picked it off.

"We didn't play great, but we did what we had to do to win," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "A win is a win."

Florida (7-2, 5-2) now can win the Eastern Division and advance to the conference title game in Atlanta by beating South Carolina next week and having No. 11 Georgia lose either of its final league games against Auburn and Kentucky.

Vanderbilt (4-5, 2-4) needs to beat Kentucky and Tennessee to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982.

Leak finished 32-of-41 for 257 yards with three touchdowns. He also ran for a career-high 67 yards and two scores -- though most of it came on broken-down passing plays and not running the option.

"He had probably the best running game of his career," Meyer said. "We did a little more to get him on the edge. He did great for us tonight."

But Cutler was clearly the better quarterback Saturday night -- doing more with less surrounding talent. He finished 28-of-42 with two interceptions.

"Jay Cutler is a big-time quarterback," Meyer said. "That's an NFL quarterback."

The Gators seemingly had the game wrapped up with 4:11 to play when Markus Manson's 2-yard TD run made it 35-21.

Cutler, however, had other plans. He directed a 61-yard scoring drive in 1:54 and capped it with a 2-yard pass to George Smith with 2:17 to play.

Andrew Pace recovered the onside kick for Vandy, and Cutler went to work again. He sliced up Florida's secondary -- most of it against Lewis, who replaced injured starter Vernell Brown -- and found Earl Bennett wide open in the end zone for a 6-yard score with 54 seconds remaining.

Johnson was ready to go for a 2-point conversion, but a celebration penalty against Bennett forced the Commodores to kick the extra point. Johnson called the penalty "stupid."

The Gators managed to regroup in overtime.

Florida might not have had a lead had it not been for Cutler's two turnovers in regulation.

He had a pass bounce off Marlon White's chest in the first quarter and picked off by Brown, who later broke his left leg on a punt return.

The Gators scored on the ensuing possession to make it 14-7 in the second quarter.

Cutler botched a snap on Vandy's second play of the third quarter, and two plays later, Chad Jackson scored on an end around from 9 yards out to make it 21-14.

But Cutler's biggest gaffe came in overtime -- trying once again to pick on Lewis.

"It's unfortunate that I made the mistake," Cutler said. "I let the team down."