GAINESVILLE -- For one team, a streak finally ended. For another team, a streak of hope is beginning.

Florida beat Miami 26-3 on Saturday in front of a record crowd of 90,833. Those who watched the first regular-season game between these rivals since 2002 will remember a far more exciting game than what the final score indicated. No. 5 Florida (2-0), a 22 ½-point favorite, only led Miami (1-1) by six points at the end of the third quarter.

Miami did something on Saturday against a meaningful opponent that it hasn't done in a while -- play with the same passion that made it one of the nation's premier football programs. Florida did something Saturday it didn't do much in 2007 -- manhandle a meaningful opponent in the fourth quarter.

''I thought we executed really well at the end,'' UF coach Urban Meyer said. ``At the start of the game [Miami] pressured us.''

LAST-QUARTER SURGE

Florida led 9-3 at the end of the third quarter but pulled away when it mattered, getting 17 unanswered points in the fourth. Miami's offense, behind freshmen quarterbacks Robert Marve and Jacory Harris, couldn't keep pace.

Marve showed his grit and toughness in his first career start, but not much else. Miami finished with just 140 yards on offense.

Quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, led the Gators' fourth-quarter offensive onslaught. Miami's defensive line rattled Tebow early in the game, but Tebow completed 8 of 11 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tebow finished with 256 passing yards and two touchdowns and 55 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Florida's victory broke Miami's six-game winning streak in this instate rivalry, a streak that began in 1984. Contrary to most predictions, it wasn't easy. Miami still leads the all-time series 28-26. Saturday's outcome reminded everyone that it is unfortunate this game still isn't played every year.

Meyer became the first coach in UF history to beat Miami in Gainesville on his first try. Meyer is 6-0 against instate football teams. The loss to Florida was UM coach Randy Shannon's first to an instate school.

''[Defensive coordinator Bill] Young had a great game plan, and the guys did a great job executing it,'' Shannon said. ``We had them pinned deep but we let them go. For us to be in the game 9-3 in the fourth quarter against the fifth-ranked team in the country, we can take away some positives.''

The stream of long gains that helped Florida breeze past its season-opening opponent, Hawaii, were limited Saturday against Miami, but big gains nonetheless put the Gators in position to win.

A 28-yard pass from Tebow to junior Carl Moore placed the Gators 5 yards from the goal line with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Moore, a junior college transfer from northern California, elevated above UM cornerback Randy Phillips to make the play. Phillips appeared to knock the ball away but officials overturned the call after reviewing the video.

''That was the play of the day,'' Meyer said. ``It really changed momentum.''

Phillips was victimized again by a UF receiver a few plays later, when he received a pass-interference penalty while covering Harvin in the end zone. The penalty came on third down and gave Florida a fresh set of downs at the 2-yard line. Harvin scored from there three plays later to give Florida a 16-3 lead with 13:19 left in the game.

Miami's offense, led by the combined rushing efforts of running backs Graig Cooper (31 yards) and Derron Thomas (22 yards), led in time of possession by nearly four minutes entering the fourth quarter. But for all of the good that Miami's defense did in the first three quarters, UF showed in the final quarter why it is a contender for a national title.

Florida put the game away with a five-play, 95-yard drive that lasted just 1:31 and ended with a 19-yard pass from Tebow to receiver Louis Murphy.

SPECIAL TEAMS WOES

In the first half, the Gators' only noticeable edge over the Hurricanes was on special teams. Poor punting by UM led to all nine of the Gators' first-half points.

UM's Matt Bosher shanked a punt on the Canes' first offensive possession, giving the Gators the ball at their 35. Florida scored five plays later, when Tebow found sophomore tight end Aaron Hernandez open in the back of the end zone.

Miami's second punting blunder came with 46 seconds left in the half, when Florida freshman Jeffrey Demps blocked Bosher's punt in the end zone for a safety. Demps ran through the heart of Miami's line untouched and blocked the punt without diving.

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