ATLANTA – Back on Sept. 27, after the Florida Gators had dropped a 31-30 loss in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to Mississippi, reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow vowed while fighting back tears that no one would play harder, no team would play harder and that Florida would not lose again.
Saturday, Tebow and the Gators delivered. Thanks to a fourth-quarter rally for the ages, Tebow and the Gators are just one victory away, in all probability, from their second national title in three seasons during the remarkable four-year reign of coach Urban Meyer.
Tebow, playing without his dangerous partner Percy Harvin, engineered two long scoring drives in the final 15 minutes to lift the No. 4 Gators to a 31-20 victory over top-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game at the Georgia Dome.
For his efforts in leading Florida to its ninth straight victory since the loss to Ole Miss, Tebow was named the Most Valuable Player of the game after totaling 273 total yards and throwing for 216 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’ve had some great players and I have a bunch of good players on this team,” said Meyer, who is now 43-9 in his fourth season at Florida and 82-17 in 99 games during eight seasons as a head coach at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. “I’ve never had one like this (Tebow), and I’ve been around this game a long time. But Tim has got – 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. That fourth quarter was vintage Tim Tebow.”
Tebow completed 14 of 22 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Carl Moore, David Nelson and Riley Cooper. The 6-3, 240-pound quarterback also led the Gators in rushing with 57 yards on 17 carries.
Jeffrey Demps scored on a 1-yard run to culminate an 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive to put Florida back ahead, 24-20, with 9:21 left to play in the game which had four lead changes and will go down in history as one of the most exciting, well-fought games in college football history. Two plays before the touchdown, on third-and-5 from the Alabama 9, Tebow took off on what appeared to be an option right. Instead, he shoveled a pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez, who gained six yards and a first-and-goal at the Alabama 3.
Then after the Florida defense stopped the Crimson Tide when Jermaine Cunningham sacked quarterback John Parker Wilson for an 11-yard loss, Tebow and the Gators drove 65 yards on 8 plays, the last a 5-yard scoring pass from Tebow to his roommate, Riley Cooper, with 2:50 remaining that gave Florida its final margin of victory. Once again, Tebow kept the drive going when he rushed for two yards on a third-and-1 play at his own 44. He then completed a 33-yard pass to Murphy and a 15-yard pass to Hernandez on the next two plays. The TD pass came one play after Meyer and the Florida bench were penalized for sideline interference.
“Every time that they needed to make a play, Tim Tebow made plays in the game that made a difference,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He’s a great competitor, no doubt. I think he takes his team on his shoulders a lot. I think his leadership is something that really affects his teammates and they respect him tremendously. They have a lot of confidence that he’s going to make plays, and they played that way. A couple of big plays that they hit on us made a really big difference.”
Defensive back Joe Haden secured the victory when he intercepted a desperation pass by Wilson, who had led his team to 12 straight victories and the No. 1 ranking but couldn’t get the 13th that would have sent Alabama to the BCS National Championship Game in Miami on Jan. 8.
Instead, Florida likely will get the berth as long as the computers and two human polls that determine the final BCS rankings don’t somehow leave Florida on the outside looking in. The final rankings will be announced Sunday night at 8 p.m. on FOX, which televises the BCS championship game. Oklahoma, No. 2 in the BCS rankings, beat Missouri, 62-21, to win the Big 12 Championship Game in Kansas City Saturday night, while Texas, No. 3, waited at home.
As usual, after the game, Tebow tried to deflect the praise he was receiving onto his teammates.
“I don’t think it was necessarily just my will; I think it’s his (Meyer’s) will,” Tebow said about the comeback. “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.”
Next Saturday, his coach hopes the voters don’t deny his quarterback his second consecutive Heisman Trophy. Only running back Archie Griffin of Ohio State has won two Heismans in a row (in 1974 and ’75). However, Tebow’s statistics this season don’t compare to what he had last season when he won plus three quarterbacks from the Big 12 Conference – Texas’ Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell – have had monster years statistically in leading each of their teams to an 11-1 record.
All of them, however, pale in Meyer’s eyes in the leadership department.
“No disrespect at all because I think the Big 12 quarterbacks, all three of them, are tremendous players,” said Meyer, who rarely talks about individual honors. “I have a responsibility, and that’s my quarterback. I think he’s the best in college football. I think he’s the best football player in America.”
The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced next Saturday night in New York City.
The Gators finished ahead on the statistical board, with a 358-323 edge in total yards and a 142-136 edge in rushing. Wilson was 12-of-25 passing for 187 yards and one interception – the only turnover of the game by the two teams. Five of those completions were made by freshman wide receiver Julio Jones, who had 124 yards receiving. Glen Coffee, who had one of Alabama’s two rushing touchdowns, rushed 21 times for 112 yards.
“I love these players – you don’t hear me say that too often,” Meyer continued. “I love this football team. I love the way they fight. I love what they’re made of, and this will go down as one of the great wins in Florida football history.”
The victory gave the Gators their seventh SEC title in the 17-year history of the game. It was the second directed by Meyer, whose 2006 team won the SEC Championship Game with a 38-28 victory over Arkansas before routing No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Ariz. Florida’s other SEC titles (1993, ’94, ’95, ’96 and 2000) were directed by Steve Spurrier, the Heisman Trophy winner in 1966 as the Gators’ quarterback and who won a national title in 1996 as their coach.
It was also Florida’s fourth victory in six SEC Championship Game appearances against Alabama. The Crimson Tide won in 1992 and 1999. Florida beat ‘Bama in the 1993, ’94 and ’96 games. Alabama’s edge in the series with Florida closed to 20-14.
Though Harvin was sidelined by a high ankle sprain suffered in last week’s 45-15 victory in the rain and muck at Florida State, Florida’s offense didn’t look like it missed him on its first drive of the game. With Tebow touching the ball on seven of the nine plays, Florida marched 59 yards in 4:28 to a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on a third-and-goal, 3-yard pass from Tebow to Moore, who got between his man and the football. Jonathan Phillips’ PAT kick followed the score at 8:17 of the opening quarter.
Two of Tebow’s biggest plays plays on the drive were a 14-yard pass to Louis Murphy on the second play and a 14-yard run for a first down at the Alabama 17 on the fourth play. In between, Demps took an option pitch from Tebow and ran 12 yards. Then after a 9-yard pass to Nelson, Tebow ran 5 yards for a first-and-goal at the Alabama 3. Two Tebow runs followed and netted zero yards before the junior quarterback bought some time, rolling left and finding Moore with a deft low pass that only his receiver could catch.
On the ensuing kickoff, Florida stopped Alabama’s dangerous returnman Javier Arenas at his own 18. But the Florida defense was burned on the first play when Wilson found Jones on a short down-and-in pass. Jones broke the tackle of Haden, broke another by Major Wright and ran away from Brandon Spikes’ diving tackle to go 64 yards before he was run out at the Florida 18 by a hustling Wright.
The Gators’ defense hardly had a chance to catch its breath when Wilson handed the ball off to Coffee, who went through a huge hole on the right side, sprinted into the secondary and then dove toward the goal line, getting the ball into the end zone just 54 seconds after Florida’s touchdown, and Leigh Tiffin’s PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 7:23 to play in the quarter.
The quick shift in momentum gave the Alabama defense life, and the Crimson Tide forced a Florida punt on its next possession. Arenas returned the punt 19 yards and another 5 yards was tagged on to the end of the play, giving Alabama a first down at the Florida 25. But the Gator defense stiffened after allowing an initial first down on a 12-yard pass from Wilson to Nick Walker. So Tiffin nailed a 30-yard field goal at 3:28 and Florida trailed 10-7 for the first time since the second half of its 31-30 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27.
When Florida’s offense went three and out on its next possession, there was cause for concern, especially as Alabama ended the first quarter adding 23 rushing yards to move the football into Florida territory. A 13-yard run by Coffee gave the Tide a first down at the Florida 33, but then Wilson missed on two passes, bringing up a fourth-and-9 play from the Florida 32.
Unknown to Florida, Tiffin had suffered a slight concussion on the previous kickoff, so the Tide sent backup placekicker Corey Smith in to attempt a 49-yard field goal. But the Gators smelled a fake and they were right as holder/punter P.J. Fitzgerald took off but was stopped after gaining just one yard by walk-on special-team player Bobby Kane.
Recharged, the Gators marched 67 yards in eight plays for the tying field goal, a 19-yarder by Phillips with 8:59 remaining before half. Tebow had two big plays on the drive, rushing 11 yards on a third-and-7 play for a first down at the Florida 45. Then on the next play, Cooper ran a stutter-and-go, got behind his man and Tebow dropped the pass into his hands for an eventual 51-yard completion.
However, a costly 5-yard false-start penalty on right guard Mike Pouncey followed and the Tebow’s third-down run from the Alabama 8 came up two yards shy of the end zone, bringing in Phillips, whose conversion made him 11-of-11 on field-goal attempts this season.
On the ensuing kickoff, Arenas fielded Caleb Sturgis’ kick by the sideline and his momentum carried him out of bounds at the Alabama 4. Fitzpatrick punted 47 yards to the Florida 43, where Brandon James made a fair catch. On the first play, James rushed for 4 yards and Florida got another 15 yards when Rashad Johnson horse-collared James to the ground.
From the Alabama 38, Tebow got another first down when three rushes totaled 11 yards. He then hit Aaron Hernandez on a second-down pass for 22 yards for a first-and-goal at the Alabama 5. On third down, Tebow had an empty backfield as Florida spread the Alabama secondary out, and Nelson made a nice move and caught a 5-yard touchdown pass with gave Florida a 17-10 lead with 2:59 to go that it would take to the locker room.
But the Crimson Tide came out in the third quarter and totally dominated, running 25 plays on two long drives, controlling the clock for 10:33 and scoring 10 points to take a 20-17 lead into the final quarter.
After forcing Florida to go 3-and-out on the first possession of the second half, Alabama started from its own 9-yard line following a 57-yard punt by Henry. Wilson threw incomplete on first down, but connected on his next passes during the 15-play scoring drive that ended with freshman Ingram banging his way into the end zone from 2 yards out with 6:20 left in the third quarter.
Ingram and Coffee lugged the ball nine times total for 45 yards and Wilson got the rest with his right arm, three of his completions going to Jones for 38 yards. Ingram’s touchdown and Tiffin’s PAT made it 17-17 all.
Tebow got his team back in business with a 34-yard pass completion to Murphy on the first play of the drive to the Alabama 37. But the Gators got no closer than Alabama’s 25, where on fourth down Phillips’ 42-yard field goal went wide right.
Wilson brought the Tide right back with 10-play drive to Tiffin’s 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining in the quarter, but the Gators behind 20-17 entering the final quarter.
Prior to the comeback, Tebow had been 0-5 in games which Florida trailed in the second half. That was not going to be the case Saturday as the Gators maintained the football for 11:55 while running 23 plays to Alabama’s 6.
What the Tide didn’t know is that Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators had them right where they wanted them.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008
FLORIDA 31, ALABAMA 20
At Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Scoring by quarters 1 2 3 4 — Final
Alabama (No. 1 BCS) 10 0 10 0 — 20
Florida (No. 4 BCS) 7 10 0 14 — 31
FIRST QUARTER
UF—Carl Moore 3 pass from Tim Tebow (Jonathan Phillips kick good) at 8:17.
Drive: 9 plays, 59 yards, 4 first downs, 4:28 time elapsed following Alabama punt.
Key plays: Tebow hit Louis Murphy for 14 yards and first down on second play; Jeff Demps took an option pitch from Tebow 12 yards; Tebow kept for 14 yards for another first down to the Alabama 17; touchdown came third-and-goal from the Alabama 3 as Tebow bought some time, rolled left and threw to Moore, who made a diving catch.
Score: Florida 7, Alabama 0.
ALA—Glen Coffee 18 run (Leigh Tiffin kick good) at 7:23.
Drive: 2 plays, 82 yards, 2 first downs, 0:54 time elapsed following Florida kickoff.
Key plays: John Parker Wilson connected with Julio Jones over the middle and Jones broke tackles by Joe Haden, Major Wright and a diving effort by Brandon Spikes for 64-yard gain to the Florida 18. Coffee scored on run off right tackle, diving into the end zone.
Score: Alabama 7, Florida 7.
ALA—FG Tiffin 30 at 3:28.
Drive: 5 plays, 12 yards, 1 first down, 2:15 time elapsed after Chaz Henry’s 37-yard punt and 20-yard return by Javier Arenas plus 5-yard penalty on Florida for illegal shift.
Key plays: Wilson connected with Nick Walker on play-action pass for 12 yards. But Florida defense allowed no yards on two rushes and Cunningham hurried Wilson into incompletion on third down.
Score: Alabama 10, Florida 7.
SECOND QUARTER
UF—FG Phillips 19 at 8:59.
Drive: 8 plays, 67 yards, 2 first downs, 3:51 time elapsed following Alabama’s fake 49-yard field goal that was stopped when P.J. Fitzgerald was stopped by Florida’s after a gain of 1 yard by walk-on special team player Bobby Kane.
Key plays: Tebow rushed 11 yards on a third-and-7 play for a first down at the UF 45; Tebow hit Riley Cooper on a stutter-and-go pattern for 51 yards to the Alabama 4. But a 5-yard false-start penalty against right guard Mike Pouncey before the next play set the Gators back, and three runs, two by Tebow, netted only seven yards.
Score: Florida 10, Alabama 10.
UF—David Nelson 5 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 2:59.
Drive: 9 plays, 57 yards, 3 first downs, 4:20 time elapsed following Alabama punt.
Key plays: Brandon James got 4 yards on first play and Alabama was penalized 15 yards when Rashad Johnson horse-collared him; Tebow rushed 5 yards on third-and-4 for first down at Alabama 27; Tebow connected on 22-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez for a first-and-goal at the Alabama 5; TD pass came on third-and-goal.
Score: Florida 17, Alabama 10.
THIRD QUARTER
ALA—Mark Ingram 2 run (Tiffin kick good) at 6:20.
Drive: 15 plays, 91 yards, 6 first downs, 6:53 time elapsed following Chaz Henry 57-yard punt and no return by Arenas.
Key plays: The running of Coffee (6 carries, 31 yards) and Ingram (3 carries, 14 yards) and the passing of Wilson, who missed his first pass but completed his next four passes for 46 yards (three to Julio Jones on the drive for 46 yards
Score: Alabama 17, Florida 17.
ALA—FG Tiffin 27 at 0:08.
Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 4 first downs, 3:40 time elapsed following Phillips’ 42-yard field-goal that sailed wide right, his first miss of the season after connecting on his first 11 field-goal attempts.
Key plays: Wilson started the drive with a 17-yard completion to Nick Walker and then followed it with a 9-yard run. Three Coffee runs netted 15 yards and Wilson connected with Jones for 22 yards to the UF 12 before the Gators stiffened and forced the field goal.
Score: Alabama 20, Florida 17.
FOURTH QUARTER
UF—Jeffrey Demps 1 run (Phillips kick good) at 9:21.
Drive: 11 plays, 62 yards, 4 first downs, 5:47 time elapsed following Alabama kickoff and 37-yard return by Brandon James on last play of third quarter.
Key plays: Alabama was penalized 15 yards for a face-mask penalty when Underwood tackled Demps short of a first down on a third-and-4 run; Tebow hit Nelson for 13 yards on the next play; Tebow’s 6-yard completion to Aaron Hernandez on a third-and-5 play which gave Florida a first-and-goal at the Alabama 3.
Score: Florida 24, Alabama 20.
UF—Cooper 5 pass from Tebow (Phillips kick good) at 2:50.
Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 3 first downs, 4:37 time elapsed following Alabama punt that followed 11-yard quarterback sack of Wilson by Florida’s Jermaine Cunningham on a third-and-8 play at the Alabama 43.
Key plays: Tebow ran 2 yards on the third play of the drive for a first down and then completed passes of 33 yards to Murphy and 15 yards to Hernandez for a first-and-goal at the Alabama 6. Following a 5-yard run by Tebow, Florida was penalized 5 yards for a sideline violation (coaches on the field). After Demps got one of the yards back, Tebow connected with Cooper for the touchdown.
Score: Florida 31, Alabama 20.
GAME STATISTICS
Time of game: 3 hours, 13 minutes. Kickoff: 4:13 p.m. End of game: 7:26 p.m.
Officials: Tim Ritter, referee; Russ Pulley, umpire; Gus Morris, head linesman; Julian Mapp, line judge; Richard Morales, field judge; Chris Conley, side judge; Dale Keneipp, back judge; Matt Moore, alternate; Travis Odom, communicator; Jim Allison, replay official.
Coin toss: Alabama wins the toss, elects to receive.
Weather: Inside dome. Temperature: 72 degrees. No wind.
Attendance: 75,892 (Georgia Dome record).
Records: Alabama 12-1, Florida 12-1.
Next game: Alabama likely headed as BCS host team to the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2; Florida likely headed to the FedEx BCS Championship Game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami on Jan. 8 against either Oklahoma or Texas.