Lexington, Ky. -- Moments after then-No. 1 LSU stumbled last week at Kentucky, Urban Meyer began dialing his Florida players.

"He wanted us to know how excited he was about the rest of the regular season," Gators quarterback Tim Tebow recalled Saturday. "He said we had a chance to win a championship and it was time for us to go out and get it."

AP

Percy Harvin and the Gators offense were unstoppable against Kentucky.

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With two losses, Florida may not get a chance to defend its national title, but the Gators took a big step toward defending their SEC crown Saturday by beating No. 7 Kentucky 45-37 before 71,024, the largest crowd in the history of Commonwealth Stadium.

Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) now controls its own destiny in the SEC East. If the Gators win their final three conference games -- against Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina -- they'll be back in Atlanta on Dec. 1 for the SEC championship game.

"It's all on us now," wide receiver Percy Harvin said. "We beat the team we had to beat today and now we know what we have to do. We can get to Atlanta and we can win the championship."

Florida's win -- combined with Saturday losses by Tennessee (to Alabama) and South Carolina (to Vanderbilt) -- gives the SEC East five two-loss teams heading into the final Saturday of October.

"I've never seen anything like what you see in this league," Meyer said. "There is nothing else like it in college football."

Tebow said Florida's players learned during Saturday's game that both Tennessee and South Carolina had lost. "Shocking," the quarterback called it, "but it just shows you how competitive this league really is.

"Every week, you've got to be ready or you can lose," Tebow said. "And we have another tough game coming up this week with Georgia."

Tebow goes into Saturday's "World's Largest Cocktail Party" as a hot name in the midseason Heisman Trophy race. Against the 'Cats, he completed 18 of 26 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for another 78 yards and was unstoppable in the second half when Kentucky desperately needed a defensive stop.

With the Gators ahead 38-31 late, Tebow threw a perfect 40-yard strike to Harvin at the Kentucky 2-yard line. Tebow then ran for the touchdown with 1:33 left to put the game away.

"He's as competitive a human being as I've been around," Meyer said.

Kentucky's Andre Woodson was spectacular in defeat. The senior completed 35 of 50 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns. His last touchdown pass went for 7 yards on the game's final play.

"I think he is one of the best quarterbacks in America," Meyer said.

A win by Kentucky (6-2, 2-2) would have given the Wildcats sole possession of first place in the East. But they had no answer on defense for all of Florida's weapons. The Gators piled up 421 total yards — Kentucky actually had more, 512 — and didn't commit a turnover.

But while the Wildcats were riding the emotion of last week's triple-overtime upset of LSU, Florida was resting. Saturday's game was the Gators' first since Oct. 6. It showed, UK coach Rich Brooks said.

"They were probably fresher than we were," Brooks said. "But you play as the schedule falls. We missed too many chances, and you just can't miss scoring chances against Florida and get a win."

Someone asked Meyer afterward if, given this crazy season, it would be possible for a team with two losses to get back into the national championship race.

"Georgia," Meyer said. "You go look at those young guys in our locker room and if you're worrying about anything other than going to Jacksonville next weekend against Georgia, then we're mistaken.

"Yes, [the SEC] is wide-open. It was wide-open last week. Just take care of your business."