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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Back from broken leg, Brown sparks Gators

Fred Goodall Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. – When Urban Meyer talks about Florida football, he singles out Vernell Brown.

“If there’s a poster or something out there that says ‘Florida Gators,’ I want his mug right there,” Meyer said after Brown, who broke his leg two months ago, came back Monday and scored on an interception to help Florida beat No. 25 Iowa 31-24 in the Outback Bowl.

“I want people to see Vernell Brown,” the coach said of his cornerback. “He’s what we stand for.”

Chris Leak threw for 277 yards, while Dallas Baker scored on passes of 24 and 38 yards and finished with 10 catches for 147 yards for the 16th-ranked Gators (9-3). With the victory, Meyer matched Ray Graves (1960) and Steve Spurrier (1990) for most victories for a coach in his first season at Florida.

Brown, who broke his left leg against Vanderbilt on Nov. 5 and missed the last two games of the season, picked off an overthrown pass and returned it 60 yards. Tremaine McCollum ran 6 yards with a blocked punt for another TD to help the Gators build a 24-7 halftime lead.

“Vernell Brown’s a guy who was told ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ Broke his leg. Told he won’t be back,” Meyer said. “He looked them in the eyes, and with tears in his eyes, said ‘I’ll be back for the bowl game.’ He was back … and played his heart out.”

Meyer also singled out the senior in making the point that he wants players who are committed to staying in Gainesville, not those who come to Florida to spiff up their NFL resumes.

“We don’t stand for five stars,” Meyer said. “We don’t stand for highly recruited guys that maybe get too much credit. We don’t stand for the guys who come out early.”

Drew Tate and the Iowa offense had success moving the ball, but the blocked punt on the fifth play of the game, Brown’s interception and two costly penalties during an 80-yard touchdown drive Florida put together just before the half left the Hawkeyes (7-5) in a hole too deep to escape.

“We did a lot of stuff that didn’t look like us in the first half,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Tate completed 32 of 55 passes for 346 yards and three TDs. He rallied his team from a 31-7 deficit in the fourth quarter with TD throws of 4 and 14 yards to Ed Hinkel, then moved Iowa into position for a 45-yard field goal to pull within a touchdown with 1:24 remaining.

The Hawkeyes tried an on-side kick, and recovered it, but were flagged for being offsides. Florida got the re-kick and ran out the clock.

“You can’t ask anything more from our defense. They played extremely well against that offense,” Tate said. “I gave them a touchdown, special teams gave them a touchdown. If we just take care of business, those two touchdowns are off the board, and it’s a totally different game.”

The Gators, making their third Outback appearance in four years, had not ended a season with a victory since beating Maryland in the Orange Bowl in 2002.

Iowa salvaged its season by rebounding from losses to Michigan and Northwestern to beat Wisconsin and Minnesota to receive its school-record fourth straight trip to a January bowl – a huge boon for recruiting.