I hesitate to even broach this topic.
However, when the reigning Heisman trophy winner is returning for his JUNIOR season and has pretty much become the face of college football, it's hard to avoid.
His picture is everywhere, and we all know about his love of Jesus Christ and have heard about the missionary trips he makes to the Phillippines while most of his classmates from the No. 1 party school in the country are on Spring Break, making a mess out of Daytona Beach, Panama City, and Cozumel.
Combine this with the fact that he already has a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy, eats his vegetables, and answers "yes ma'am, no ma'am" to Erin Andrews during interviews...and truth be told, Tim Tebow is a little bit boring.
The real drama lies in the question, "Can he become the first player since Archie Griffin to win the Heisman trophy twice?" After watching all that I could stomach of the UF vs. Hawai'i game, the drama is gone from that as well.
Seeing the style of football that it looks like Florida is going to play, as well as some changes in attitude and skill on the defensive side of the ball, Tebow's drive for 55 (the amount of touchdowns he scored last year) will fall well short, probably by about 25 TDs.
We all knew some things were going to change this year, but after watching that game and thinking about it for a bit, it may be a fairly dramatic change—and some of it unintentional.
Here's why Tebow's numbers and Heisman drive died a quiet death in a rain-drenched Swamp on Saturday.
1. 264
That's the number of "hits" Tim Tebow took last year on rushes, option pitches, sacks, and knockdowns when he threw. This one is obvious: Coach Urban Meyer wants to reduce some of the wear and tear on his young QB. If you're keeping score at home, that's about 20 hits per game.
Tebow is a large hulk of a kid, but one season as a battering ram and two more as a battering ram that can throw is a bit much to take.
One second-quarter play from Saturday's game made it very evident that his hits will be reduced. Florida had the ball on the Hawai'i two-centimeter line, and Tebow lined up under center (very rare) and handed off to Brandon James for an untouched TD run.
2. Emmanuel Moody, Brandon James, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
The stable of running backs Florida trotted out there against Hawai'i is exactly what Urban Meyer has been looking for and was unable to find in previous backs Kestahn Moore, Mon Williams, and poor Markus Manson, who was relegated to defensive back last spring.
This is why Percy Harvin took so many handoffs between the tackles and Tebow ran an inhumane amount of sprint-draws in 2007.
Moody didn't look great on Saturday, but he'll be useful when we get in a real fistfight with someone (think: LSU, Arkansas, Georgia) down the road. Rainey and James seem to have the playbook down and are ready to make a difference.
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3 months ago
One game does not make or brake a heisman winner or loser... lets wate to the end of this season when he his holding the beloved crystal above his head before you make your Gator hating comments.
from 3 months ago
Gator hating comments?? Who??
That's the point of the article is that he'd rather be holding the crystal football up than the Heisman. Did you not see the last three paragraphs? I finished just short of naming my first born after him.
There's plenty of football left to play, but if Meyer has it his way we'll be undefeated and Tebow will take about 100 less hits so he can with the thing his senior year (yes... i think he's staying).
3 months ago
*break
*wait
3 months ago
1. His carries will be limited, but Tebow will still score some goal line TDs. Probably somewhere around 10-12 rushing TDs can be expected. He is still the Gators best goal line rusher.
2. Agree. Florida went from having one of the weakest RB groups in the country to having one of the best. That is pretty scary when you consider that they were 23rd nationally in rushing with a QB and WR leading the way.
3. Harvin can hurt and help Tebow's Heisman stats. He can hurt him by taking away carries and scores. But he helps Tebow by being his best receiver. Harvin will turn a lot of 5 yard Tebow passes into 50 yard TD scores.
4. Agaio, defense cuts both ways. The defense will put Tebow in position to score a lot, but it may eat up his yardage and take away some scores. Still, Tebow should get more possessions and more time of possession if the defense can forces turnovers or 3 and outs. Also, a good defense = a better record = more likely to win a Heisman. (Remember: the biggest knock on Tebow in 2007 was the Gators record)
5. Special teams can help and hurt just as defense. It can take away yardage, but add easy TD scores by giving great field position.
3 months ago
Great article... and agree with a lot of it. Also agree with the comments from NICK as well.
Question for the 1st comment, from Gatorz... What the hell did you read, anyway? Are you sure you read the same article everyone else did? Check it out... its called "Five Reasons Tim Tebow Is No Longer 'Defending' His Heisman." I mean, how do you comment on something without even reading it?
Tim still has a shot at the Heisman! But, the main thing is an SEC and Nation Champ!
3 months ago
By the way... its only one game so far - but did you see my boy, MARK SANCHEZ??? (Friend of mine from Mission Viejo, CA) He's now thrown his name in the Heisman Hat as well.
3 months ago
Mark my words -- Tim Tebow will be going to New York at the end of the year. I'm a die hard UF fan. I'm on all the Gator boards across the net. Us Gator fans had our share of worries after the UH game. We saw a differen't Tebow, a Tebow that wasn't himself. We feared that this new Tebow would take over, but to no avail -- Ubran Meyer assured us "Tebow would be Tebow." It makes sense. UF did not need Tim Tebow to make big plays against UH-- IT'S HAWAII!! Urban Meyer said he wanted to see what we had on the ground in that game, and we certainly saw some good stuff. Tebow, however, had average numbers -- and no rushing TD's. Meyer got asked at his press conference if he's going to conserve Tebow this entire season -- Meyer simply said - "No" He went on to say that he will do what he needs to do to win. He's not going to stop Tebow from doing what he does best. Which is making big plays, and doing them effectively. If you can recall, Tebow had average numbers against last seasons opener of Western Kentucky. Overall, I don't think Tebow will meet the standards of last season. I just don't. But I don't think he falls very far from last season. I truely believe that Tim Tebow will be back in bronze in this Heisman race.
from 2 months ago
Hey Nathan,
I agree, and after seeing Coach Meyer on Gameday this morning where he said, "If we're in a close game and we need Tim to carry it 30 times, he'll carry it 30 times". I'm sure he'll end up in NYC, being in the title hunt as the QB will usually get you there.
I was quick to write this after one week, which makes me come up with Reason #6 he's not "defending" his Heisman: We know what we've got.
Last year he played most of the "cupcake" games to get some work in the offense and as many reps as possible in his first year as a starter. So he won't be piling up numbers against the likes Western Carolina, Troy (not really a cupcake), and the Citadel this year. Hopefully he can run them up against Miami, Tennessee and for goodness sakes... against the Dawgs!!
Go Gators!
2 months ago
Francis has captured the true spirit of Tebow. The spirit of Tebow's heart is what is making last year's Gator team and this year's a true "TEAM" and I thankfully believe Tebow's spirit will continue to permeate this year's team as well. And yes, let's not destroy this young man's superman-like body too soon. He deserves better and I believe just that will happen. Many thanks to Francis for his thoughtful article!
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