Ohio gave 13th-ranked Florida all it could handle for over a half before succumbing 34-6 Saturday night in Gainesville. Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, known as The Swamp, became one as tropical storm Hannah dropped buckets of rain. Dontrell Jackson ran for 118 yards on 29 carries as the Bobcats (0-3) returned to an option-oriented offensive attack. The Gators' (2-1) Heisman hopeful, Rex Grossman, completed 18 of 31 passes for 202 yards with one TD and one interception.

The game got off to an almost surreal start. On the game's first possession, Bop White intercepted Rex Grossman on the Florida 37-yard line. The Ohio offense stalled but Kevin Kerr converted from 48 yards out and Ohio led 3-0. But the football gods would intercede. With Florida facing a 4th-and-12 on the Ohio 42 and 9:41 left in the first, officials stopped play for 46 minutes due to lightning in the area.

Florida finally got on the scoreboard with a 2-yard TD run by Earnest Graham and the Gators were up 7-3 with :53 left in the first. The Cats answered with a 20-play 63 yard drive that took 9:45 off the clock and ended with a Kevin Kerr 20-yard FG that cut the deficit to 7-6. Dontrell Jackson (9) and fullback Tony Rozzoni (7) combined for 16 carries during the drive in which Ohio converted on two fourth downs. Just before half, a 41-yard punt return by Florida's Kiewan Ratliff put the Gators in business at the Ohio 45. Rex Grossman hooked up with Aaron Walker on an 18-yard TD pass with :51 left and UF went into half leading 14-6.

The Florida defense made adjustments at half and stacked the line to stop the run. It proved successful as OU had just one first down in the 3rd quarter and didn't pick up its second until late in the fourth. After an exchange of punts, the Gators would score on three straight possessions. Ran Carthon started the second half scoring with a 5-yard touchdown dash to put his team up 21-6 with 3:07 left in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Graham took an option pitch from Grossman and went 40 yards to extend Florida's lead to 28-6 at the 13:34 mark in the 4th quarter. Willie Green's 1-yard plunge with 7:21 left made the final 34-6.

Despite the outcome, there were some bright spots for Brian Knorr's Bobcats. The offense went back to the option outgaining the Gators on the ground by 178-163. The run game kept the dangerous Florida offense off the field by controlling the ball for almost 38 minutes. Ohio also took care of the ball not committing a turnover after coughing it upp 11 times in the first two games. The defense continues to be stingy with yardage only giving up 365 to Florida and forcing two turnovers. So far in the Knorr era, his teams have played to the level of their competition but have been unable to come up with plays that lead to victory. Another opportunity comes next weekend as OU travels to Storrs, Connecticut for a matchup with the UConn Huskies.