Adams: Tebow power drives Gators' show of force

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Looks as though Florida quarterback Tim Tebow isn't Superman after all. The stiff can't even tackle.

You saw him try Saturday afternoon in The Swamp. It was comical.

Why he looked as silly trying to tackle Tennessee's Eric Berry as all the Vols looked trying to tackle Florida's Percy Harvin. You probably laughed when Berry slipped past Tebow with ease on a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, tackling is all Tebow can't do on a football field.

He completed passes overhand and underhand. He threw fastballs and touch passes. He completed a 49-yard pass from his own end zone, and gouged a yard or two out of the UT defense almost every time a first down was hanging in the balance.

He didn't just beat the Vols. He toyed with them.

The statistics didn't reflect how easy Tebow often made it look in Florida's rousing 59-20 victory. Tebow completed 14 of 19 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 61 yards on 18 carries. Based on his first two starts this season, that's just an average Saturday.

After the Vols had been thoroughly Tebowed, Florida coach Urban Meyer said, "You witnessed one of the better players in college football (Saturday)."

And he wasn't talking about Tebow.

That was Meyer's opening reference to Harvin, who caught four passes for 120 yards, ran nine times for 75 yards and dizzied a third of the UT defense on a dazzling 19-yard touchdown run.

It wasn't just a touchdown. It was a spectacular reminder of what the Vols were up against. They don't have anyone as good as Tebow or Harvin. After Saturday, you might be wondering, "Who does?"

But Florida doesn't just have the playmakers. It has the plays.

Translation: UT is right back where it was in the mid-1990s when coach Steve Spurrier's Fun 'n' Gun offense was terrorizing the SEC and relegating even Peyton Manning's teams to second place in the East.

Spurrier beat the Vols and needled them. Meyer beat the Vols, then beat them down. Commentary wasn't necessary afterward. He made his statement early in the fourth quarter.

Leading 42-20, Meyer wasn't even thinking about playing it safe from his own 1-yard-line. Instead, he sent a message to one of Florida's three biggest rivals when he had Tebow throw from his own end zone.

The message: "You can't stop us."

Meyer sent another message a few minutes later. With a fourth-and-1 at Florida's 35, Meyer didn't call for his punter. He called on Tebow, who drove up the middle for another first down.

The message: Same as the last one.

It was as though Meyer were drawing the lines of separation for everyone to see. He hasn't been at Florida three full years, and he's already lapping UT's program. What happens in three more years?

I don't think UT coach Phillip Fulmer wants to think about that.

Florida lost nine defensive starters from last year's national championship team. Andre Caldwell, its most experienced wide receiver, missed the UT game with a leg injury. Two more Florida starters went out with injuries in the first quarter.

And the Gators beat UT by 39 points. How's that for a team trying to make ends meet?

Never mind how heavily the Gators must rely on freshmen and sophomores. Two of those sophomores are Harvin and Tebow.

Last season, when the Gators used Tebow mainly as a power runner, skeptics wondered how well he could pass, even though he threw for almost 10,000 yards in high school. Then, after he completed 73.8 percent of his passes and threw for three touchdowns apiece against Western Kentucky and Troy in his first two starts, doubters wondered how he would fare against an SEC defense.

They got the answer in vivid Florida orange and blue Saturday. Bottom line: The power "T" was no match for the power of Tebow.

His only really bad play - the interception by Berry - wasn't Tebow's fault. Wide receiver Riley Cooper ran the wrong route, Meyer said.

Tebow took the blame anyway.

But don't feel too bad for the kid. He's only a sophomore.

He'll get better.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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