Tebow dominates in Gators BCS win

Late in September, Tim Tebow made a promise. Standing in front of the TV lights, reporters and banks of cameras, his team upset by Ole Miss, he promised the room that no team was going to play as hard. That nobody was going to push their team as hard.

That nobody was going to play as hard for the rest of the season.

Thursday night, Tebow fulfilled his promise with one of the most dominating performances in recent BCS memory, the best since Vince Young’s rout of USC three years ago.

In what was primarily a defensive affair for the first three quarters, Tebow led the Gators to an upset win over number-one ranked Oklahoma, 24-14. He was a monster all over the field, throwing for over 200 yards and rushing for over 100 more. He directed two late Gator drives to put them in front and the Sooners just couldn’t retaliate.

How fast this game changed.

Early in the fourth, the Sooners had all the momentum. They had held down Florida’s offence, limiting them to just two majors, and had picked off Tebow twice. In just two and half minutes, the Sooners moved 76 yards and tied the game up at 14 on a Sam Bradford pass.

The Sooners QB was playing great so far, and finished the night with over 250 yards passing with two majors – and if not for a Gator interception at their three yard line, it would likely have been three.

The Heisman Trophy winner was cool in the pocket and completing his passes; on the drive that ended with the Gator pick, he completed seven passes in a row as the Sooners moved across the field. Oklahoma was looking good – mostly, anyway.

Because when it seemed to matter most, the Sooners just couldn’t convert. Twice in the second they were inside Florida’s 10 yard line with a first and goal. Twice nothing came of it.

That wasn’t the only time that Florida’s defence shut them down; they blocked a Sooner field goal in the third – their ninth block of the season.

In all, the Gators defence took a Sooner offence that had only scored less then 45 points once this season – 35, against TCU – and limited them to 14. They took a dominating quarterback, one who threw for over 350 yards per game, and held him to just over 250, taking the Sooners biggest weapon and all but muzzling it.

In all, the game was a slugfest, sloppy even, and most definitely not the shootout that all indications thought it would be. It didn’t matter. Florida was soundly the better team in Miami tonight – and Tebow, delivering on his promise, was definitely the better quarterback.

RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

324 days ago

Score 3

Fuck Tim Tebow. Florida's defense won this game. OU had been averaging 54 points per game until they met Florida. UFA held them 50 points below average. Tebow, on the other hand, threw 2 picks, and was slightly above average. But without SENSATIONAL defensive play, his performance would have been blown away by Oklahoma's offense.

24 points wouldn't have been enough to beat Oklahoma in any game this season... except this one.

Tim Tebow getting all the credit for this win is a facking travesty.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

324 days ago

Score 0

40 points below their average^

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PickemgeniusWaterboy

324 days ago

Score 4

1. Tebow played very poorly imo. 2 TDs/2INTs one INT being thrown in the gut of the OU defender doesn't necessarily scream dominant to me.

2. FLORIDA WAS THE FAVORITE (-5 is what I saw most) So this was NOT an upset. 3. You should go to a doctor to get that Tebowner checked out. 4. You should merry the FOX announcers today. Tebow this. Tebow that. Tebow is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Honestly? We know Tebow is a freak athlete and nobody is denying that... can we please get atleast a little OU talk during the game, I mean FFS Bradford won the Heisman this year(which they did mention!!!!) other then that the announcers were so in the bag for Florida it wasn't funny. WAS THE HIT ON PERCEY HARVIN A DIRTY PLAY? I mean cmon.... I hope to hell ESPN gets better announcers for the biggest CFB game of the year.

/endrant

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

324 days ago

Score 0

++++++++++++

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PickemgeniusWaterboy

324 days ago

Score 1

marry*

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Behbigben15All-Star

324 days ago

Score 0

Ok, so we got the point of the Florida defense. They absolutely dominated Oklahoma's high-powered offense. But, how are you going to take credit from Tebow?! Yes, he may have thrown 2 INT's, but he led his team on scoring drives when it counted and the Gator offense went 12 for 17 on third downs while averaging nearly 8 yards a pass. Not to mention Tebow's 2 passing touchdowns and 109 yards on the ground. Give credit to Florida's defense, they deserved it. But don't try to steal this one away from Tebow. He won this game fair and square. Don't give me the excuse that Bradford hadn't played a defense like this, because if he is a Heisman trophy winner, I think he should've been well-prepared for Brandon Spikes and Co.

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Behbigben15All-Star

324 days ago

Score 0

P.S. Percy Harvin kicked ass, too. They said every time he changed directions, he felt pain in his leg. I think it's pretty amazing that he manged to gain 171 total yards on just 14 touches plus the third quarter TD run which gave UF the 14-7 lead. He gets my respect for that dominating performance.

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MegECass110AAA-er

324 days ago

Score 2

Harvin was amazing. Tebow did not win the game, the Gators won the game. He did not win it by himself. The receivers were fantastic...on the last touchdown drive...twice on third down...there was a huge catch by Riley Cooper (it was a hell of a throw) and a Tebow-esque catch-and-run by Aaron Hernandez. Can we please remember that football is a team sport?

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MegECass110AAA-er

324 days ago

Score 1

Bradford hadn't played a defense like the Gators because he played in the Big 12.

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Behbigben15All-Star

324 days ago

Score 0

I'm certainly not giving Tebow all the credit, I'm just pointing out that Tebow does deserve some. Rawb seemed to believe that none of it was Tebow when, like you just said, it's a team sport and he certainly does deserve a lot of credit, he is their motivation, they took advantage of having him on and off the field. But the offense belonged to Harvin last night.

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MegECass110AAA-er

324 days ago

Score 4

Tebow played well when it mattered, but it was by no means a dominating performance. OU had him bottled up, running and passing, throughout the entire first half.

I agree with Raw, the Gator defense won the game. Oklahoma had scored touchdowns on 76 of 80 drives in the red zone this season, and they stopped them twice. They made Sam Bradford relatively uncomfortable.

Also, Tebow is a "monster all over the field, throwing for more than 200 yards" and Bradford was "held to just over 250"? Take off the Tebow glasses Kirk Herbstreit gave you, please.

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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

324 days ago

Score 1

"Tim Tebow getting all the credit for this win is a facking travesty."

Tebow deserves some credit... SOME credit. Not all the credit, as he's getting. Not most of the credit, as you're giving. And certainly less credit than Harvin, who was the best player on the field.

There's no way in hell that he dominated that game. OU had two scoring drives stopped at the goal line by Florida's defense. Bradford threw that pick that shouldv'e been caught by his own receiver. Florida rushed Bradford's throws (NOBODY had done that all season to Oklahoma).

Tim Tebow had a slightly above average game. The defense won it, along with great play from Tebow's supporting cast.

Tim Tebow is becoming the Brett Favre of college football. I've had enough Tim Tebow.

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SSreportersLegend

324 days ago

Score 0

Who is Tim Tebow? The only thing I know is that he's a good football player who will never make it as a QB in the NFL (has any Florida QB made it?) and was getting his testes sucked by the FOX announcers last night.

I think Barkingclam has a furious Tebowner.

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BarkingclamVarsity

324 days ago

Score 0

After how well he played last night - admittedly the first time I've ever seen him play - I do. He was throwing well, running all over the field and when the game went into crunch time he played as well as anybody I've seen. Remember, this was the BCS title game - it's not like he was playing against Citadel or North Carolina or whomever. On the big stage, in a tough game, Tebow delivered.

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SSreportersLegend

324 days ago

Score 2

2 interceptions against a defense that was getting shredded by Texas.

He had 2 INTs all year against some tough defenses in the SEC.

I can't see where he dominated in any part of the game, he was bottled up in the first half.

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MegECass110AAA-er

324 days ago

Score 2

Did you only watch the second half, Barkingclam?

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BarkingclamVarsity

324 days ago

Score 0

How about throughout the second half, when his passing spread out the linebackers and he was able to dash into the secondary and keep Florida drives alive? Another, less mobile quarterback - Sam Bradford - wouldn't have been able to do that.

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SSreportersLegend

324 days ago

Score 0

Come on man, he did okay in the passing game, he's not an NFL caliber QB. He did not dominate them with the passing game. Percy Harvin just gashed the Oklahoma defense on a bum ankle and used the run to set up the pass.

You're starting to sound like Thom Brennaman, and today he had his Wikipedia page protected.

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Behbigben15All-Star

324 days ago

Score 1

Why don't I just come out and say that Colt McCoy should be the Heisman winner and Utah deserved to play in the National Championship! That's what I think. Agree or disagree, I don't care.

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