ATLANTA — They take their hero worship seriously down here in the Southeastern Conference. This is the land where football legends’ names are learned before the alphabet.
Cannon and Stabler and Spurrier and Walker. They are among the SEC gods who have walked among the masses, their tall tales passed down like prized heirlooms.
On Saturday afternoon, in the biggest game in SEC championship history, a record Georgia Dome crowd bore witness to a quarterback who joined the immortals. Tim Tebow, showing that, yes, you can have a better year than a Heisman Trophy season, merely put his Florida Gators on his back and willed them into the BCS championship game.
Facing a 20-17 deficit entering the fourth quarter, against the top-ranked team in the country and the third-ranked defense, Tebow led two straight touchdown drives to lift the second-ranked Gators (fourth in the BCS) over Alabama 31-20.
Drives of 62 and 65 yards, punctuated by Tebow’s 5-of-5 passing for 73 yards and a touchdown, has Florida (12-1) headed to one of the BCS rankings’ top two spots today and a ticket to Miami. Many of the voting media had already changed their Heisman vote from Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford to Tebow by the time the game’s MVP high-fived Gator fans on a victory lap.
“His willpower is beyond anything you’ll ever see,” Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. “That’s him in life. That’s him in everything he does. He has to be the best. He demands it of himself. He demands it of the people around him.”
For most of the third quarter, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner couldn’t demand anything except a good view from the sideline. Alabama (12-1) was masterfully executing its game plan. With its massive offensive line and bruising tailback Glen Coffee on his way to a game-high 112 yards, Alabama controlled all but 4:27 of the period.
Mark Ingram’s 2-yard run up the middle and Leigh Tiffin’s 27-yard field goal gave the Crimson Tide a 20-17 lead. More important, it gave the Tide huge amounts of momentum. That all changed when Tebow got the ball to start the fourth quarter.
“We always look at Tebow,” receiver David Nelson said. “How Tebow goes, we go.”
The 240-pound Tebow’s shoulders are gigantic, but they had to be bigger Saturday. Percy Harvin, Florida’s most dangerous player, sat out with a sprained ankle. No matter. On the period’s first drive, Tebow took advantage of a face-mask penalty on Alabama that kept a drive alive to hit Nelson for 14 yards to the 14. Five plays later, Tebow pitched left to freshman Jeff Demps for a 1-yard TD and a 24-20 lead.
After Florida’s defense finally forced a three-and-out, Tebow put his name in Florida lore. He ignored a seething blitz to find Louis Murphy down the sideline for 33 yards to the 21 and a leaping Aaron Hernandez for 15 yards to the 6. A Tebow run took the ball to the 1.
Tebow then saved the hide of coach Urban Meyer, who frantically screamed at his offense, which mistakenly thought there was a timeout, and earned a 5-yard sideline infraction, moving the ball back to the 6. But two plays later, Tebow hit Riley Cooper on a 5-yard slant for the touchdown that iced the game with 4:37 left.
“That fourth quarter was vintage Tim Tebow,” said Meyer, in position to win his second national title in three years. “I don’t know the entire history of the University of Florida, but I can imagine that drive and that fourth quarter will go down as one of the greatest ever at the University of Florida.”
Tebow’s numbers weren’t really Heisman-like: 14-of-22 for 216 yards and three touchdowns plus 57 rushing yards. But against the No. 1 team in the land, on a neutral field, Tebow’s will is what people will remember.
“I don’t think it necessarily was just my will,” said Tebow, 0-for-5 on comebacks before Saturday. “I think it’s (God’s) will. I think it’s our team’s will and our relentlessness, and just our attitude and our focus that we don’t want to be denied in anything we do.”
Big 12 fans wouldn’t recognize this game. Tough defenses. Sound tackling. Massive lines grinding it out. Alabama relentlessly pounded the interior of Florida’s line. The Crimson Tide had 323 yards, with sensational freshman Julio Jones catching five passes for 124.
But the three-and-out, topped by Jermaine Cunningham’s 11-yard sack, set up Tebow’s further heroics.
“I’ve never had one like this, and I’ve been around this game a long time,” Meyer said. “There’s a special something inside of him, and I’m not talking about throwing. I’m not talking about running. I’m talking about the ability to make the level of play of everyone else around him better.”
Alabama 10 0 10 0 — 20
Florida 7 10 0 14 — 31
First quarter: Fla — C.Moore 3 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick), 8:17. Ala — Coffee 18 run (Tiffin kick), 7:23. Ala — FG Tiffin 30, 3:28. Second quarter: Fla — FG Phillips 19, 8:59. Fla — Nelson 5 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick), 2:59. Third quarter: Ala — Ingram 2 run (Tiffin kick), 6:20. Ala — FG Tiffin 27, :08. Fourth quarter: Fla — Demps 1 run (Phillips kick), 9:21. Fla — Cooper 5 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick), 2:50. A — 75,892. Ala Fla
First downs 18 19
Rushes-yards 33-136 42-142
Passing 187 216
Comp-att-int 12-25-1 14-22-0
Return yards 20 49
Punts-avg. 4-41.0 3-47.7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-31 6-45
Time of possession 27:56 32:04
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Alabama, Coffee 21-112, Ingram 8-21, Wilson 3-2, Fitzgerald 1-1. Florida, Tebow 17-57, Demps 14-53, Moody 4-23, James 3-7, Murphy 1-4, Rainey 1-1, Team 2-(minus 3).
PASSING — Alabama, Wilson 12-25-1-187. Florida, Tebow 14-22-0-216.
RECEIVING — Alabama, J.Jones 5-124, N.Walker 3-37, Hanks 3-19, Coffee 1-7. Florida, Murphy 4-86, Hernandez 3-43, Nelson 3-27, Cooper 2-56, C.Moore 1-3, K.Moore 1-1.
SEC title game
Star of the game
Tim Tebow: Forget his numbers. While going 14-of-22 for 216 yards and three touchdowns against the nation’s No. 3 defense is impressive enough, it was leading two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that will go down in Florida lore.
Key play
Ahead 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Alabama stopped tailback Jeff Demps short of a first down on third-and-3 at the Alabama 44. But a 15-yard face- mask penalty on linebacker Dont’a Hightower moved the ball to the 28, and six plays later Demps scored the eventual winning TD from the 1.
Oklahoma vs. Florida
It won’t be official until tonight, but The Post takes a quick look at an expected Sooners-Gators BCS championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.
How they match up
It’s a classic between one of the highest-scoring offenses in history against one of the top defenses in the nation. Florida’s speedy “D” must get to quarterback Sam Bradford.
Oklahoma pluses and minuses
Bradford has not been stopped all year, and the Sooners may have the nation’s best 1-2 running punch in 1,000-yard rushers DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. Oklahoma’s defense, however, is ranked only 66th.
Florida pluses and minuses
Gators may have the best leader in college sports in Tim Tebow and are probably the fastest team in football. They should also have their fastest player, Percy Harvin, back from a sprained ankle. Minuses? The interior of the defensive line is banged up. That’s about it.
Bottom line
If good defenses stop good offenses, Bradford and the Sooners may meet their match.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
