By Angie Ledbetter

Not even many die hard Ole Miss Rebel fans would believe that the Rebel football team would travel to Gainesville, Fla. and defeat the No. 4 University of Florida Gators at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium before 90,106 fans, mostly Gators.

In the swamp in Gainesville on Saturday, the Rebels who were a 22-point underdog, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college football when they beat last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his Gators 31-30, putting a stop to the Rebel nine-game SEC losing streak.

The Rebels improved their overall record to 3-2 and 1-1 SEC.

The win was the 600th in school history. The Rebels have an overall record of 600-462-35.

It’s the first time the Rebels had beaten a team ranked in the top five since 1977 when they beat Notre Dame 20-13 in Jackson. The last time they beat a ranked team was in 2004 when they defeated South Carolina. This was Florida’s only second loss in Gainesville in 23 games under head coach Urban Meyer. The result came mostly from turnovers which included three fumbles. The Gator’s five fumbles, recovering two, was the first turnover of their season.

It all came down to an extra point. The Gators kicked a PAT to tie the game at 31 with 3:28 left.

But one Rebel player saw it differently. Defensive end Kentrell Lockett slipped past a Florida player, jumped in the air, and blocked the extra point.

The kick that could have and would have tied the game went to the right side of the goal post.  The players, coaches and fans of both teams were in shock.

The last extra point blocked by the Rebels was when former South Panola standout John Jerry blocked one in the 2006 LSU game in Baton Rouge.

The Rebel defense stood strong the entire game. Former South Panola standout Jamarca Sanford lead the defense with 11 tackles, four of which were solo.

That performance earned Sanford the SEC’s defensive player of the week honors.

Tony Fein followed Sanford with 10 tackles and Kendrick Lewis had nine. Peria Jerry, another former South Panola standout had three tackles. The Rebel “D” was all over the 2007 Heisman winner the entire game, handing him three sacks and hitting him several other times.

A few minutes into the game, the Rebels ran a fake punt and Lionel Breaux picked up 15 yards and a first down. It was a first off a fake punt since Jamarca Sanford’s five-yard run in the game with Vanderbilt last year.

Quarterback Jevan Snead scored his first rushing touchdown on a one-yard run in the first quarter.  This was the first time the Gators had trailed this season.

The Gators struck three times in the second quarter and held the Rebels. They scored on a 32-yard field goal and Tebow connected with Percy Harvin for 43 yards to take a 10-7 lead.

Tebow went to the endzone from one-yard out to put the Gators up 17-7 at the half.

The third quarter turned bad for the Gators and the Rebels capitalized on the turnovers.  Peria Jerry striped Harvin of the ball on the second play and Joshua Shene nailed a 33-yard field goal to put the Rebels within seven.

Tebow fumbled on the next play and Marcus Tillman recovered it for the Rebels. Snead found Cordera Eason for an 18-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 17.

Greg Hardy sacked Tebow on third down and forced a punt. Dexter McCluster scored on a 40-yard run to the to put the Rebels up 24-17 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was a nail biter to the very end.

Tebow scored on a one-yard run to tie the game at 24 after the PAT.

The Rebels answered on an 86-yard pass from Snead to Shay Hodge to put the Rebels back on top 31-24 with 5:26 left in the game. This pass was the longest in school history.

The Gators scored with 3:28 left in the game on a 15-yard run by Harvin but the PAT was blocked.

The Gators had one last chance to try to win.

They had a 4th and 1 on Rebel’s 32 with 41 seconds left in game. The Gators only needed one yard before attempting a 49-yard field goal.

Rebel Peria Jerry stopped Tebow for no gain.

The Rebels took a knee and the victory back to Oxford.

Florida dropped to No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in USA Today poll.  Ole Miss received 13 votes in the AP poll and one vote in the USA Today poll.

The Rebels will celebrate homecoming Saturday at 1 p.m. hosting South Carolina.