Surreal Sights in Gator Victory

Three years ago when Kentucky came to the Swamp to play the eventual National Champion Florida Gators, there were several firsts. Urban Meyer's coaching scheme came under fire for the first time. Kentucky actually showed up to play the Gators for the first time, and probably most famously, Chris Leak was booed for replacing his back-up Tim Tebow midway through the game.

Last night there were 2 even more surreal sights in the Gators' 41-7 victory over Kentucky. We all know what one of those sights were, and I'll get to that in a bit. However, halfway through the second quarter something happened that went unnoticed by the broadcast booth. Tim Tebow took a snap under center. Granted the play resulted in a no gain run from Chris Rainey, but we saw Tebow take a snap under center! Mel Kiper just improved Tebow's draft stock by two rounds.

Now for the other surreal sight. Tim Tebow lying motionless on the ground after a sack. This was truly one of those moments when I was absolutely speechless. It was crazy to see "Superman" just laying there like he was taking a nap. Watching his offensive linemen stand over him and trying to wake him by tapping on his chest made me realize that this was a serious incident. It was also surreal to see the entire Gator and Wildcat team on the field watching the Florida medical staff work on the G.O.A.T. I'm sure all 200 of them couldn't believe what they were seeing. The constant camera cut aways to Tebow on the sideline turned the actual game into a secondary concern. We got to see Tebow filling a bag to the brim with vomit as he was being carted off the field. Then, to see Tebow being driven off by an ambulance to the local hospital made me reminisce of the days I used to watch the WWF. I half expected Stone Cold to pop out of the cab and hear good 'ol J.R. proclaim, "Stone Cold is driving the ambulance! The Rattlesnake strikes again!" Along with seeing Jerry Rice lying on the ground after tearing up his knee (which I saw live and in person) this ranks as one of the more concerning moments of my football fanhood.

Now, as for the actual game that was played. Before the injury, Tebow was his usual dominating self. Timmy was inching closer and closer to his career high rushing yardage mark before getting his dome scrambled. The most impressive part about Tebow's performance, was that his runs were not the typical bruising, run you over, type of runs. Tebow was shaking and juking and spinning all through the Wildcats' D. The running game in general was on for the entire game. The fact that the Gators only completed 9 passes and still won by 34 shows you how great their running game was.

The disappointing part of the game is that if you take away Kentucky shooting themselves in the foot throughout the first quarter, this is another close game. I'm not sure if the Gators just lost focus after jumping out to a 31-0 first quarter lead, but for the rest of the game it was a struggle for the offense.

The defense, once again, was stellar. This was perhaps their best all around game. Brandon Spikes heeded my advice and finally showed up, as did Carlos Dunlap. I always knew those guys took the time out to read my blog. 2 interceptions and 3 sacks helped to fill up the stat sheet for Charlie Strong and Dan McCarney's bunch.

The best news is that the Gators have an off week before traveling to Baton Rouge in what is shaping up to be their toughest game of the season. That means plenty of rest time for Tebow and his noggin, as well as time for all the sickies to get that damn virus out of their system.

Here are the vitals.

Passing

Tim Tebow 5-10 103 yds 1 td
John Brantley 4-6 30 yds 1 td

Rushing

Tim Tebow 16 rushes 123 yds 2 tds
Jeff Demps 12 rushes 97 yds
Emmanuel Moody 5 rushes 57 yds
Mike Gillislee 6 rushes 39 yds
Chris Rainey 9 rushes 36 yds

Receiving

Aaron Hernandez 3 recs 54 yds 1 td
Riley Cooper 2 recs 30 yds 1 td
David Nelson 2 recs 27 yds


Tackles

Brandon Spikes 10 tckls
Dustin Doe 8 tckls
Brandon Hicks 5 tckls
Ahmad Black 5 tckls

Sacks

Brandon Hicks 1 sack
Joe Haden 1 sack
Carlos Dunlap 1 sack


Interceptions

Janoris Jenkins 1 int
Major Wright 1 int

Misc.

Chris Rainey 1 blocked punt 1 td



Player of the Game

Tim Tebow - The Concussed

As I said earlier, Tebow was on his game before the injury. 103 yards passing and 123 yards rushing made Tebow's stats sheet look really, really good. The way Tebow was breaking off big runs made this game even more impressive than his Troy performance from two weeks ago. Let's hope Timmy has a speedy recovery and is ready to deliver some punishment to the Bayou Bengals in two weeks.