Taking care of Tebow

How can you take better care of Tim Tebow?

Pose the question to a Florida football player and, to borrow an expression from Urban Meyer, he'll probably look at you like you've got six heads.

Take care of Tebow!

This is a kid who can take care of himself, the Gators will tell you.

"The kid is unbelievable," sophomore wide receiver David Nelson said. "He's the toughest person I've ever met in my life, physically and mentally.

"I'm 100 percent confident in him. If it's fourth-and-six and we run a quarterback sneak, I know he'll carry seven guys on his back to get the six yards. Whatever it takes, I'm confident he'll get it done."

Tebow is tough enough to lift weights with the defensive linemen. He's tough enough to run over strong safeties and middle linebackers. He's tough enough to carry 10 players on his back, which he did last Saturday when he put the rest of Florida's offense on his back in the fourth quarter and carried the Gators to a 30-24 victory over Ole Miss in Oxford.

He's tough enough to tote the rock 27 times against an SEC defense and still get out of bed the next morning.

"I was maybe a little more sore overall (than usual)," Tebow said. "It's just the nature of the beast. Carrying the ball that many times, your body is going to have a few more bruises."

The Gators are just thankful he didn't have any rips or tears to go along with the bruises.

Yes, the 235-pound Tebow is a tough guy, but 27 carries, even for Tebow, is pushing the envelope for a quarterback.

The Ole Miss defenders weren't the only ones cringing with each Tebow run late in Saturday's game. So were Florida fans, fearing their prize quarterback was at risk with each hit he absorbed (or dealt out).

Urban Meyer was cringing a little bit, too. He didn't necessarily want his quarterback running the ball 27 times, but that's what it took to win the game, Meyer said.

"Our plan, first of all, is to win the game," Meyer said. "You've got to win the game, whatever means necessary. However, we have to have intelligence about us and not put our players at risk.

"Tim is my worst enemy and his worst enemy. He's screaming at me on the sideline, 'Give me the ball to win the game.' I'm somewhat intelligent, so, 'OK, Tim.' We'll put a little more thought into it (in future games)."

UF did not go into Saturday's game intending to run Tebow so often. But when the Gators needed to control the ball and keep the Ole Miss offense on the sideline in the fourth quarter, Tebow became the best option, Meyer said. Maybe the only option.

"You want to run the ball, but anybody against the traditional run game can plus-one you in the box anytime they want," Meyer said. "In the non-traditional run game, your quarterback, it's hard (to defend). He just happens to be one of our best runners, maybe our best runner."

He certainly was Saturday. Tebow rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards a pop for those 27 carries. And the Gators escaped with the victory.

"He's a tough son-of-a-gun," junior defensive tackle Javier Estopinan said of Tebow. "That's great to see that we have a quarterback like that. You worry about (all those carries), but I have confidence he's tough enough to do something like that."

Tebow's teammates never doubted him.

"He feels if the game is on the line, he wants the ball in his hands. I like that in a quarterback," Nelson said. "If it takes him to run 27 times for us to win the game that's what he'll do. Hopefully, that won't happen again."

Tebow came out of the 27-carry game unscathed and ready to do it again - if he has to, he said.

"Obviously, we don't want to have that many carries in a game, but it depends on the game," Tebow said. "If you have to run that clock out, I guess we're going to do what we need to do.

"I don't think that's the game plan, to run 27 times a game, but we're going to do what we need to do."

Tebow is tough enough to handle it, his teammates say.

"If he has to run that much and keep taking hits, it's obviously a concern," senior defensive tackle Clint McMillan said. "He put the game on his back and did a great job (against Ole Miss). Hopefully, he won't have to do that again. But we're confident he can do whatever it takes."

Robbie Andreu can be reached at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.