Tebow Or No Tebow?: That Is the Question

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The 2009 Florida Gator football season will come down to one 90 degree turn of the wrist, lasting only about three-quarters of a second in duration.

Who performs this movement, is not as important.

The injury to Tim Tebow in last Saturday’s game undoubtedly caused a few aneurysms across the Gator nation, and rightfully so, as many people between Miami and Tallahassee swear allegiance to the Orange and Blue.

As Tebow lay in the Kentucky bluegrass, flayed out like a fresh caught mahi-mahi, minds began to race. Questions formed, hypotheses followed.

“Is he ok?”

This can be answered with a simple “No.” The answer was clear by the fact that Tebow let the ball drop, tumbling to the turf as he followed suit. Yes, he fumbled last week but it was in a diving effort over a player near the goal line.

This time was different. The ball was tucked tightly in his grasp when the Wildcat defender closed in, barreling his helmet into Tebow’s torso. Then as Tebow’s helmet jarred against his teammate’s knee, and the ball limped out…the question was answered.

“How bad is it?”

This would not be answered for an hour or so, but as Tim left the stadium in an ambulance, everyone knew it was bad. Bad, bad.

Finally, a day later, the results were confirmed the he had sustained a concussion. As the details are slowly leaked, it can be understood that this was not as catastrophic as once feared, but it is not good. The timetable on Tebow’s return is not clear yet, which leads to the next question:

“What happens without Tebow?”

This will be the title of many articles in the offseason, as the Gators try to rebuild after losing one of the all-time greatest players to suit up and step on Florida Field. But now the question must be asked today. The answer is complex, but the conclusion is the same: Florida needs to find someone with a great fake pitch.  

Watching the last two games against Tennessee and Kentucky, Tebow has not won the game with his throws, his runs, or even his passion. He has only attempted 19 and 10 passes in each of the SEC games.

The Gators haven’t needed much of that Tim Tebow passion and firing up to win late in the game as both were relatively in control by the third quarter. He has run for a lot of yards, totaling 76 and 123 rushing yards against Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively.

But those totals are not because of the line opening grand canyons or Tebow’s cat like agility. Many of those yards came after a brilliant fake pitch.  

The entire option play revolves around the pitch. Unless the defense has it perfectly mapped out and covered, there will often by one guy left out on an island to take both the current ballcarrier and the potential ballcarier, in this case the quarterback and the running back.

If the defender steps up to tackle the man with the ball, out pops the pigskin to the waiting pitch-man and a big gain ensues. If the defender cheats to the pitch-man, the current ballcarrier scoots upfield, again, for a big gain. It’s a thing of beauty.

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