GAINESVILLE — Before there was “Feleipe to Tyrie,” a play Gators and Vols will remember forever, Florida and Tennessee played 59 minutes and 51 seconds of mostly forgettable football on a sticky, gloomy September day in The Swamp.

Worst of all — and remind me if you’ve heard this before — the game delivered a particularly ignominious performance from the Gators offense, who collected four first downs and 65 yards on a crowd-pleasing opening drive before settling for an Eddy Pineiro field goal.

That wouldn’t be so bad, except Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier’s offense managed only 5 first downs over the next 2 1/2 quarters. For the second consecutive game, Florida opened with a promising drive for points and did little thereafter, until the wild fourth quarter.

But there was one shining light despite all the gloom.

True freshman wide receiver Kadarius Toney was marvelous, showing playmaking ability and lateral quickness the likes of which Florida has seen little of since the departure of All-American Percy Harvin following the 2008 national championship season.

Toney, who hails from Eight Mile, Ala., was one of those late-bloomers who only garnered 3 stars in consensus recruiting rankings but garnered late offers from various SEC programs, including Alabama and Auburn. Florida offered first, however, and Toney committed and stayed. Gators fans saw reason to rejoice in that decision today.

Toney’s elusiveness and speed were the key to Florida’s only other scoring drive in the first three quarters, as he gained 24 yards on two touches, and showed his wiggles on this pitch and catch.

Florida gained at least one first down on every subsequent possession where Toney had a touch. For an offense that spent most the day stuck in the mud, the ability to get a player on the edge the football and trust him to make a play had to be refreshing for a coaching staff searching for answers.

Toney also nearly made a spectacular diving catch for a touchdown as well, beating double coverage over the top on a seam route but failing to bring the ball in despite a herculean effort. In fact, Toney was targeted two other times, which suggests the Gators staff wanted to involve the freshmen even more, but Franks couldn’t execute the throws.

A total of eight attempted touches and five actual touches for the freshman is good, but the coaching staff would do well to have Toney in the 9-10 touch a night range — about where Harvin was as a freshman at 9.4.

When he saw the football today, good things happened for an offense that, quite frankly, is in dire need of good things to happen.

One would imagine at some point this season Florida will get Antonio Callaway and Jordan Scarlett back from their extended suspensions. And for all the offense did poorly on Saturday offensively — and there was a lot that went wrong — the Gators young quarterback won a football game and the Gators coaches found an explosive playmaker.