Finally, after 24 years, the Florida Gators managed to steal one in the land of the cowbell.

Florida defeated Mississippi State 29-19 at Davis Wade Stadium on a Saturday night. It was yet another spotty performance by quarterback Tim Tebow and the Gators offense. For young fans of the University of Florida, it once again wasn't enough. For the old folks, it was about time.

Florida's win in Starkville was its first since 1985. Inexplicably, Florida had lost its previous four games at Scott Field before Saturday. The streak extended through the Ron Zook years, through the Steve Spurrier era and back to 1985.

For a time on Saturday, it appeared the Bulldogs' home-field dominance of the Gators might continue. Mississippi State tied the score at 13 with 9:32 left in the third quarter before UF scored 16 consecutive points to kill the suspense.

The knock on Florida entering Saturday was that it couldn't finish off an opponent. That argument will continue until at least Saturday, when the Gators play rival Georgia at 3:30 p.m. on Halloween at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

Tim Tebow had a difficult night despite rushing for the 49th touchdown of his career, which tied him in the Southeastern Conference record books with former Georgia running back Herschel Walker.

Tebow, who did not throw a touchdown pass Saturday, completed 12-of-22 passing attempts with two interceptions. He was sacked three times and rushed for 88 yards on 22 carries. After the game, Tebow refused to speak with reporters.

Asked after the game if he was satisfied with continuing ``to win ugly,'' Florida coach Urban Meyer said, ``That doesn't compute, winning ugly. You win. You win. You win.''

Florida's offense reached the red zone six times Saturday night but managed just one touchdown. The Gators entered the game converting red-zone opportunities into touchdowns just 30 percent of the time. Florida's first red-zone touchdown, an 8-yard run by Chris Rainey, came with 9:08 left in the game and put the Gators ahead by 22-13.

``I didn't coach very well,'' said Meyer, who declined to publicly name the Gators' assistant coach who calls play once UF reaches the red zone. ``I put [Tebow] into some tough situations in the red zone.'' Rainey's score came after Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, Florida's former offensive coordinator, attempted a fake punt on the Bulldogs' 25. In a game of mistakes, that was probably the worst.

On the very next play following Rainey's score, an interception return for a touchdown by UF linebacker Dustin Doe put the game away. Gators linebacker Brandon Hicks tipped a pass by Mississippi State quarterback Tyson Lee at the line of scrimmage, and Doe returned the deflection 23 yards to give UF a 29-13 lead with 8:25 to play.

Doe foolishly high stepped into the end zone and was stripped at the goal line by Mississippi State's Brandon McRae. Officials reviewed the play and determined the ball broke the plane of the end zone before the strip.

Doe's poor judgment pretty much summed up the night for the Gators (7-0, 5-0 SEC). It wasn't pretty. It wasn't convincing. But it was UF's 17 consecutive victory, a national best. Florida is 7-0 for the first time since 1996.

``The best football for the Florida Gators is still to come,'' said UF redshirt senior Ryan Stamper, who had a team-high 12 tackles and played middle linebacker for an injured Brandon Spikes. ``We haven't played our best football on both sides of the ball and we're still 7-0. I look as that as a plus.''

It was a banner day for proof that either the SEC is the deepest conference in the nation or the most overrated. Take your pick. Florida's closer-than-expected affair against Mississippi State (3-5, 1-3 SEC) came a few hours after No. 1 Alabama needed two blocked field goals in the fourth quarter, including one at the buzzer, to defeat Tennessee 12-10 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

After a late interception by Major Wright gave UF the ball on its own 2-yard line, Tebow tossed his second interception of the game to Mississippi State freshman Johnthan Banks, who returned both picks to the end zone. Banks' second interception cut Florida's late-game lead to 29-19. Banks' first interception return for a touchdown came at the end of the first half when he returned an errant Tebow throw 102 yards for a score.