GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007, Tim Tebow's encore performance was overshadowed by his supporting cast as the Florida Gators routed the Hawai'i Warriors, 56-10, in front of 90,575 at The Swamp yesterday.

Hawai'i limited Tebow to 46 passing yards in the opening quarter, and kept the Gators off the scoreboard.

"For the most part we just didn't execute," Tebow said.

Junior Brandon James stole the show early in the second quarter with his first career rushing touchdown to give Florida a 7-0 lead with 11:39 remaining. Later in the quarter, following an interception returned for a touchdown by safety Major Wright, James put the Gators ahead 21-0 with a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown.

"Brandon James, I think, is the player of the game," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "We have some very good running backs. We have a very good offensive line. We wanted to establish the run early."

With 5:35 remaining in the half, the Gators had scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams for the first time since they beat visiting Tennessee, 59-20, on Sept. 15, 2007.

Redshirt freshman running back Chris Rainey dissected the Hawai'i defense for a 33-yard scoring run as the Gators padded their lead to 28-0 at halftime.

"They (Hawai'i) were playing something we call 'two high,' which basically means they're doubling our receivers and daring you to run the ball," Meyer said. "You go to sleep at night and dream of ways to hand the ball (off) and be creative."

On their first possession of the second half, special teams played a critical role in another scoring drive for the Gators. Florida lined up in a punt formation on fourth-and-16. Punter Chas Henry took the snap and ran for 17 yards around the right side for a first down. On the next play, freshman running back Jeffrey Demps weaved his way through the Warriors' defense for a 62-yard touchdown run to make it 35-0.

Meyer did not take credit for Henry's decision to run the ball. "That was not a called fake punt," Meyer said. "He (Henry) won't do that again. Don't worry."

Tebow notched his first touchdown of the season with a 48-yard strike to senior wide receiver Louis Murphy. Tebow finished the afternoon 9 of 14 for 137 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards on nine carries and was only sacked once.

"They (Hawai'i's defense) brought a few nice blitzes," Tebow said. "They're coached up pretty well and they did some nice odd blitzes. For the most part it's six men in the box and you should be able to run it every play and we were able to. We pretty much knew the different things they were going to come into the game with."

Tebow was told by a reporter that he was off his 2007 pace.

"Aw, shucks," he said, after the curtains went down on Act I of his Heisman encore performance.