BATON ROUGE, La. — Tim Tebow scrambled away from the rush, cut back to the middle of the field and finished the run by lowering a shoulder into a defender.
And with that 8-yard gain in the second quarter, Tebow looked like his old self again.
Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Florida’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback — with plenty of help from the top-ranked Gators’ swarming defense — silenced the largest crowd in the history of Tiger Stadium with a 13-3 victory against No. 4 LSU on Saturday night.
The day began with Tebow’s status uncertain for what was billed as the defending national champions’ toughest regular-season test.
By the time it was over, Tebow had thrown a touchdown pass and All-America linebacker Brandon Spikes had 2 1/2 of Florida’s five sacks of Jordan Jefferson.
“I tried to play smart,” Tebow said. “I told him, I said, when we were talking to Coach (Urban) Meyer, I said, ‘I’m not going to go out there and play tentative or scared. That’s not me.’ “
Most of the 93,129 fans who partied all day and roared like a jet engine after kickoff were heading for the exits with 2 1/2 minutes left, quiet and dejected.
“This place is one of my favorite stadiums to play in,” Tebow said. “It just gets your adrenaline going, then to play against a great defense like that.”
Florida (5-0, 3-0 SEC) has won 15 straight games, the best in the nation. LSU (5-1, 3-1) had its 32-game winning streak in Saturday night home games snapped.
Florida’s offense struggled to finish off drives and that kept LSU in the game. It was the fewest points the Gators have scored since Meyer took over in 2005, but Florida’s defense more than made up for the offense’s misfires.
The Tigers came in ranked last in the SEC in total offense and managed only 162 yards. They never even threatened to score in the second half.
