Tebow relishes silent success

JACKSONVILLE — With 44 seconds remaining in Florida's 49-10 victory against Georgia on Saturday, Gator quarterback Tim Tebow ran down the sideline toward the end zone with "FLORIDA" painted in it.

He stopped close to the 20, did a couple of enthusiastic Gator chomps and as the UF fans began to rise, Tebow pointed to the Bulldogs' sideline and did the "talk, talk, talk" gesture with his hands. Then, he moved his arms one over the other like a referee signaling a missed field goal.

He didn't say a word, but he said so much.

"It doesn't get any sweeter than this," Tebow said. "We didn't have to talk about it."

Much of Florida's offseason was spent remembering last year's 42-30 loss to the Bulldogs.

It brought put-downs (the defense was called "soft" by coaches more times than it would like to recall). It brought motivation (training sets were done in increments of 42 and 188 — Georgia's points last year and the yardage put up by Bulldogs' tailback Knowshon Moreno). And to Tebow, it brought even more reason to beat down Georgia in his hometown.

He responded with a game that might have put the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner back in the discussion for this year's award.

Tebow completed 10-of-13 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He added 39 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.

Five touchdowns against the nation's preseason No. 1 team.

But his favorite target was more impressed with how Tebow has handled himself than any numbers.

"He's playing under a tremendous amount of pressure," said junior receiver Percy Harvin, who had three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. "He won the Heisman and a lot of attention and focus is always put on him because of it. But he's a great team player and he has done a great job managing the team.

"All he wants is for us to win."

Now Tebow will turn his attention towards rehabbing a sprained left foot that had him wearing a post-game boot for precautionary reasons. And he will ready himself for next Saturday's game at Vanderbilt, which would bring an SEC East championship with a victory.

"Our goal is to get to Atlanta (for the SEC Championship Game), and the road to Atlanta goes through Nashville," linebacker Dustin Doe said.

Sounds like something Tebow might say.