COLUMBIA - When Missouri linebacker Darvin Ruise intercepted Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel in the third quarter of Saturday's game, Ruise knew only Driskel stood between him and the end zone.
"And I'll be doggone if I'm going to let him stop me from getting a touchdown, man," Ruise said. "As a defensive player, we love that."
Ruise's 46-yard score wasn't Missouri's only touchdown on a return Saturday - the Tigers scored on a kickoff, a punt and a fumble as well - but it might have been the most emotional.
Ruise, a native of Glen St. Mary, Fla., was a fan of both Florida and Florida State as a kid, and his family came to watch him play Saturday. Ruise didn't disappoint.
"It was huge," Ruise said of the moment. "Me growing up in Florida, growing up 45 minutes away from that stadium, always wanting to go to that school when I grew up and then being able to make a chance to make a huge play like that against that kind of caliber of team. It was nice, and it was important for me and my family to have that moment."
Ruise reserved 39 tickets for family and friends, and he said more than 50 came to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, including his 4-year-old son Dylan.
"(Ruise) didn't say much, but we knew it was a big moment for Darvin, being his senior year, playing in The Swamp," defensive lineman Lucas Vincent said. "He's from Florida. All his family was there. I saw he was holding his son after the game, so I feel like that was really a special moment for Darvin."
Safety Braylon Webb added: "It was big for him, man. Somebody said he almost started crying during the game. I didn't really see it, but I thought it was big for him."
Before the season, Ruise said having a son at a young age changed his perspective.
"One thing I think I had to do was grow up early, so that taught me a lot of perseverance, that taught me a lot of commitment, that taught me how to just work through some adversity," Ruise said in fall camp. "In the big spectrum of things, (football) is small. This is really, really small, so I just come out here and enjoy it while I have it."
Ruise put his perseverance to use earlier this year, when he was moved down the preseason depth chart until he got his weight down to 235 pounds.
"What kept me going was understanding that it's bigger than me, understanding that the team was bigger than me, doing the things that are necessary to put my team in a position to win," he said.
Saturday, it paid off.