Superman Not So Super? Why Tim Tebow Is Overrated

Justin Dowling — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:15:45 -0400

This past weekend in college football, we got a real glimpse at the first set of movers and shakers in the big upset column for the 2008 season.

USC set the tone on Thursday night with a flat and unmotivated performance against an overmatched Oregon State side that was ready to play at home in Corvallis, where they had won the last two meetings on their home turf.

This was the upset of the week and maybe upset of the year for some, but what came as more of a shock to me was Florida—the team that was loaded on both sides of the ball with big name recruits and speed, led by Superman himself, Tim Tebow.

Leading up to the game last weekend, the Gators had been lacking something. It was hard to put your finger on it, but something was just missing.

They weren't coming out guns blazing or running through opponents like Texas, Mizzou, Oklahoma, Alabama, or Penn State. They were merely running their offense and not clicking on all cylinders, still searching for that running game that hasn't been there since Fred Taylor or Emmitt Smith.

It's no surprise to spectators that Tebow's workload has lightened this year, partly because he's an asset to the team who they cannot afford to have injured, and also for his draft stock, because Urban Meyer knows his gimmicky offensive scheme would not translate well for NFL scouts.

Heading into the Ole Miss game last weekend, Florida ranked second to last in the NCAA in plays run, which is shocking because running plays leads to game experience for young players. Tebow had looked to assume the role of "game-manager" and not "game-changer"—which leads me to my point.

I'm not one to throw around the term overrated or hype, especially for someone who won a Heisman trophy (even though he plays the role of a leader, and that leader led his team to three losses and a bowl loss to Michigan in his Heisman winning year—four losses for a Heisman-winning QB?), but in this circumstance I reserve the right to.

Tim Tebow has not been able to win the big game for a while now, even back in high school where I played with him. He never led us to victory over our archrival St. Augustine, not once—it always ended in controversy or was someone else's fault.

Even now, where last year he won the Heisman while leading his team to four losses, or last Saturday where he failed to hit wide-open receivers downfield by overthrowing them, or when he just needed to get one yard doing what he's best at—he lets his team down.

What seals the deal for me is this stat: Tim Tebow has never led the Gators to victory while trailing heading into the fourth quarter!

If that's super, I don't know what is.

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Superman Not So Super? Why Tim Tebow Is Overrated