Tebow's SEC starting debut lives up to expectations

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RELATED • No. 4 Florida blows out Vols at the Swamp

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- When Florida's players made their procession toward Ben Hill Griffin Stadium two hours before game-time Saturday -- as part a suit-and-tie affair they call the "Gator Walk" -- the biggest attraction was saved for last. The crowd had seen coach Urban Meyer, star wideout Percy Harvin, and feared defensive end Derrick Harvey, and it cheered them appreciatively, but wasn't whipped into a frenzy until the end: That was where Tim Tebow was, flanked by a TV camera and trailed by a large herd of police.

Fans surged forward to better position their digital cameras for a shot of the Lefty Legend. He had yet to start an SEC game and already, among the jerseys they were wearing, his number 15 was the most prevalent. A homemade, beat-Tennessee sign read "T-Bow: "Don't blink" -- a reference to a Kenny Chesney song of the same name. It was not, incidentally, the song that Tebow's celebrity had provided him with the opportunity to sing on-stage with the country star earlier this year. That one was called "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" -- too long to fit on a posterboard, and less appropriate for the occasion. For Tebow, a sophomore who was rushed into the spotlight from Day 1 at Florida, this was the beginning of a potentially huge, three-year era as the Gators' starting QB; something he'd want to savor. A countrified fan figured he could use a line from "Don't Blink" as guidance: I've been tryna slow it down/I've been tryna take it in.

But something strange happened when Tebow did, finally, get the ball in his hands as a No. 1 QB against a top-flight SEC team: He started too slow for everyone's liking. With Florida up 7-0 after a Brandon James punt return for a touchdown, Tebow ran three straight times -- for a weak five yards total -- on his first series. Florida punted. On his second series, he ran twice for two yards and misfired on a pass. Florida punted again. Meyer called the drives "horrible." One started wondering: Was the hype for Tebow's SEC debut going to greatly exceed the results?

By the end of the afternoon, with the scoreboard reading Florida 59, Tennessee 20, and Tebow running a victory lap around The Swamp high-fiving fans, we had a resounding answer to that question: No. He had accounted for 360 total yards (299 passing, 61 rushing) and four touchdowns (two on the air, two on the ground) -- and been a surprised participant in what will go down as the game's most indelible image: That of his roommate, defensive back Tony Joiner, planting a wet kiss on Tebow's neck after the QB had put the Gators up 21-7 on a seven-yard scramble in the second quarter.

Asked how many men he had kissed in his life, Joiner said: "My dad and Tebow."

Thanks to Joiner, the love affair with Tebow has spilled out of the stands and onto the sidelines, manifesting itself in the form of public displays of affection. Not that the kiss wasn't justified: On a day where the Gators' No. 1 wideout, Andre Caldwell, was injured, and running back Keystahn Moore only had 48 yards on the ground, The Tebow Experiment -- the nation's most respected offensive coach using a single-wing QB to power his spread attack -- was a stunning success. Not only did Tebow demoralize the Vols, he emerged from the weekend looking like a potential frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy -- that is, if voters weren't more impressed with wideout Percy Harvin, who had 75 rushing yards and 120 more receiving.

It's still questionable whether we should anoint the Gators' offense as the nation's best; they just scored more points on a ranked team than anyone has this season, but recall that this was the same Tennessee defense that was shredded by Cal in Week 1. The Vols' D pales in comparison to LSU, whom the Gators will need to overcome to repeat as SEC champs and get back to the national title game. And Meyer, who would probably prefer to limit the deification of his quarterback in Gainesville, made an effort not to load up Tebow with superlatives.

"[Tebow] managed the game very well," Meyer said in a statement far more conservative than his play-calling. "He passed his first test, He's got 40 left in his career."

For Tebow, a childhood Gator fan and admitted historian of the Florida-Tennessee series, this had to be bigger than merely one of 40-some starts he could have at UF. He was aware that a first-year Florida starter hadn't beating the Vols in 10 years, with Chris Leak, Rex Grossman and Jesse Palmer all failing in their original experience against Phil Fulmer's boys. Earlier in the week, Tebow spoke reverently about his idol, Danny Wuerffel, making big statements against the Vols: Of the '95 win, Tebow said, "I remember that game pretty well. Right after that was when Danny Wuerfful got his cover on Sports Illustrated." Of '96, he said, "we came back and beat Tennessee at Tennessee. ... Danny Wuerfful, four touchdowns. Peyton Manning four [interceptions]. That was a lot of fun."

While Tebow may not get on the cover of SI this week -- I'm not in a position to reveal that -- he did give Florida fans a Saturday to remember. And he did it mainly by answering the biggest question about his quarterbacking skills: whether he could thrive as a drop-back passer. Whereas Tebow's first moment in the sun against Tennessee, his clutch, 4th-and-1 sneak in the fourth quarter of the '06 game -- came on the ground, nearly all of his biggest plays in '07 were made with his arm.

The day's defining play came with five minutes left in the third quarter, with the Gators pinned at their own one after James fumbled a punt return, and the score 35-20. Rather than do the expected -- run Tebow up the middle a few times to create breathing room for a punt -- Florida opted for the home run. "We got an opportunity as an offense to put this thing out of reach," Tebow said in response to seeing the Vols' defensive backs in man coverage close to the line of scrimmage. "We were going to take a chance, and be aggressive."

Tebow faked run, drew Tennessee's safety toward the box, and hit Harvin in stride for a 49-yard completion. Eight plays later, Harvin scored to cap a 99-yard march and put Florida up 42-20. The drive's initial bomb was one of three 40-plus yard completions Tebow had on the day. When Fulmer had remarked earlier in the week that the Gators' offense was more explosive this year than it was in '06, he sounded like a coach heaping a tad too much praise on his next opponent. As it turned out, that statement was one of the few things Phil got right this week.

It's worth noting that Tebow was not all perfect against the Vols, even if the 39-point win was the biggest ever by a Florida QB starting his first SEC game. On the Gators' first drive of the second half, Tebow was picked off in the red zone by a freshman cornerback -- Eric Berry -- who took the interception 96 yards to the house and cut the lead to 28-20. The throw wasn't where Tebow looked human, though; in the post-game interview, Meyer said that the pick was the fault of sophomore wideout Riley Cooper, who made a "major error" by failing to cut in front of Berry on his route.

Where Tebow went wrong was when he tried to make a tackle during the return. He rumbled toward the sideline, where Berry was racing upfield, and was burned -- badly -- by a simple cutback move. It was the kind of olé! move usually made by punters, and in that moment, Tebow looked far less than legendary.