Colleges

Tebow earns national acclaim

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published November 12, 2007

GAINESVILLE - On the day after his record-setting performance against South Carolina, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was named the Walter Camp national offensive player of the week on Sunday.

In Saturday's 51-31 win, Tebow accounted for seven touchdowns, set a school record with five rushing touchdowns and passed for a career-high 304 yards against a defense that entered first nationally against the pass.

The sophomore completed 22 of 32 passes and threw touchdowns of 22 yards to sophomore Jarred Fayson and 21 to senior Andre Caldwell. He also had 120 rushing yards on 26 carries and scored on runs of 5, 1, 3, 2 and 5 yards.

Tebow is the first Florida quarterback with two 100-yard rushing games in a season and is three touchdowns shy of tying the NCAA season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback set by Air Force's Chance Harridgein 2002.

With renewed Heisman talk surrounding Tebow, Florida coach Urban Meyer said he won't lobby for Tebow the way he did for Alex Smith, his quarterback while coach at Utah. Meyer said Florida is much more in the national spotlight, so Tebow's play should be enough to bolster a campaign.

Tebow tried his best not to talk about himself after the game. In fact, he said he would trade a Heisman Trophy for a shot at the SEC championship. For that to happen, Florida needs a Georgia loss to Kentucky this week and a Tennessee loss to either Vanderbilt or Kentucky.

"We had an opportunity to win some games and not be in this situation we're in, and we didn't do that," he said. "Now we're still praying and hoping and rooting for Kentucky and hoping Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson has a great performance and goes and wins the Heisman."

HARVIN TO RETURN, POUNCEY OUT: Sophomore receiver Percy Harvin most likely will return for Saturday's Florida Atlantic game after missing most of last week's practices and Saturday's game with a severe sinus infection.

Meyer said Sunday morning he was unsure of Harvin's exact status but added, "I would imagine he should be ready to go."

The news isn't so good for freshman offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey, who sprained his right ankle 1:10 into the game and is doubtful.

ANOTHER BIG NIGHT: With Harvin out, Caldwell said he felt an added responsibility to play well. He accomplished that with a career-high 11 receptions for 148 yards.

"Everything happens for a reason," Caldwell said. "I thought (Harvin) wasn't going to be there, so I've got to step my game up and make plays. That's a relief off my back, being banged up all year, not being 100 percent.

"Now I'm 100 percent and making plays, helping us win. That's a great feeling, going into somebody's house and whipping them like that. We were playing hard enough, and it was working (Saturday)."

Antonya English can be reached at english@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 11, 2007, 21:26:43]