GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida can make a case that the third quarter of last season's game at Mississippi cost the Gators a shot at the Southeastern Conference East Division title.
The Rebels rallied from a 12-point deficit, scoring two touchdowns in a five-minute span, to upset Florida, 17-14, before a record crowd at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The loss took a toll as the Gators were blown out at home by Louisiana State, 36-7, the following week. Florida handed Georgia its only loss of the season in November but it was not enough to prevent the Bulldogs from capturing the SEC East title.
The 24th-ranked Gators will be primed for revenge Saturday when they welcome Mississippi to "The Swamp." Florida has not lost two in a row to the Rebels since dropping four in a row from 1946-1958.
"You can't linger on a game," Florida coach Ron Zook said. "Once the game's over with you've got to move on. It's a lesson that in the Southeastern Conference, you'd better be ready to play every single game. Everybody in this league can beat each other and we've got to be ready to play."
Florida (3-2, 1-1) was in danger of falling under .500 for the first time in 11 years last week against Kentucky, but rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to post the biggest road comeback in school history.
Freshman quarterback Chris Leak made his first career start a memorable one, directing three touchdown drives in the final period as the Gators escaped with a 24-20 victory.
Just the fourth true freshman to start a game for Florida, Leak completed 20-of-35 passes for 268 yards, throwing two TD passes to Carlos Perez in the fourth quarter. The Gators capped the comeback on Ron Carthon's one-yard TD run with 3:11 left.
Leak could have a field day against a Mississippi team that allowed 713 yards in last week's 49-45 loss to Texas Tech.
Mississippi's Eli Manning has passed for 1,054 yards in the last three games, the highest three-game total in school history. He completed 29-of-49 for 409 yards and three touchdowns last week, but the Rebels (2-2, 1-0 SEC West) had to settle for field goals on two long drives in the fourth quarter as Texas Tech rallied from a 45-34 deficit in the final five minutes.
Manning was overshadowed by Texas Tech's B.J. Symons, who passed for 661 yards, the third-highest total in NCAA history.
"Hopefully, we can control him (Manning) a little bit by keeping him off the field," Zook said. "He's a great player and he's got a lot of great players around him. They're a well-oiled machine right now."
Florida leads the all-time series, 10-9-1.
