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GAINESVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida might need some work on defense, but its offense is in mid-season form. Doug Johnson threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns and freshman Earnest Graham ran for 158 yards and two scores as the fifth-ranked Gators routed Western Michigan, 55-26, in the season opener for both schools. The Gators have the nation's longest home winning streak at 28 games. They set a school record with 37 first downs, bettering by one their mark from the LSU game in 1996. Florida has nine new starters and a new defensive coordinator in Jon Hoke, who came aboard when Bob Stoops accepted the top job at Oklahoma. But its offense was too prolific for the Broncos, who hung around thanks to Tim Lester's 405 yards and two touchdowns through the air. "The defense wasn't near as bad as the final score came out," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. "We've got some work to do on defense, but I thought Coach Hoke called a heck of a game." Florida has made a habit of beginning its season against overmatched opponents. Last season, the Gators crushed The Citadel, 49-10, and Southwestern Louisiana, 42-10. The 1997 season saw an 82-6 humiliation of Central Michigan and early in their 1996 national championship campaign there was a 55-21 beating of Northeast Lousiana and a 62-14 pounding of Georgia Southern. Florida improved 69-24 in season openers, including a 51-6 mark when starting in Gainesville. Johnson completed 21-of-39 passes and was intercepted twice, while Travis Taylor caught six passes for 105 yards as Florida piled up 629 yards of total offense. "They had a lot of defensive backs in there and that was their game plan," Johnson said. "They were going to sit in a deep zone and pretty much force us to run the ball. We got some pass plays off, but we concentrated on running the ball." Lester was 24-of-38 without an interception, spreading his passes to three receivers totaling over 100 yards apiece. Steve Neal had 166 yards on eight catches, Micah Zuhl had 110 on six and Corey Alston had 105 on four. "It was the experience you expect when you come to the University of Florida," said Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell. "We expect success on our offense. We're one of the top-ranked offenses in America and we expect it. "Tim's poise was unique tonight. He didn't throw an interception and in the past in a game of this caliber he's usually had one or two. That was one of the prominent successes we had tonight. Tim's performance was truly outstanding." Johnson started the scorefest 6:14 into the game with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson and doubled the lead 4:33 later with a nine-yard scoring strike to Taylor. Lester threw a 66-yard scoring strike to Neal 29 seconds into the second quarter and a missed conversion kick left the score 14-6. Johnson responded 2:20 later with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Taylor and Graham tacked on an 11-yard run for a score for a 28-6 lead with 4:38 left in the half. "I think I played OK," said Graham, making his first start. "I missed a few reads here and there. As far as running the ball, I think the linemen stepped on people and knew their assignments. I played in two games last year and I had not been in the red zone since high school. It was cool to get that tonight in front of the fans and it was a great feeling." The feisty Broncos bounced back within 28-20 when Lester found Neal for a 17-yard score and Eric Nunlee returned a pickoff of Johnson 60 yards into the end zone. Jeff Chandler hit a 22-yard field goal with nine seconds left as Florida assumed a 31-20 lead. Robert Sanford, who carried 13 times for 49 yards, got Western Michigan within 31-26 just 54 seconds into the third quarter on a one-yard scoring plunge. But the Gators scored three touchdowns in an 8:32 span to put away the game. Johnson threw a pass to Alex Willis on the right sideline and Willis broke a tackle and raced 47 yards for a touchdown. Graham scored on a four-yard run and Robert Gillespie on a 10-yarder for a 52-26 advantage with 3:16 left in the period. Chandler's 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.
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