NO SOPHOMORE JINX
The good people at the Downtown Athletic Club might find this blasphemous, but winning the Heisman Trophy wasn’t Florida quarterback Tom Tebow’s most impressive accomplishment this season.
Nor will the most remarkable piece of his legacy be the fact that became the first sophomore ever to win the nation’s most prestigious college football award.
Changing the face of college football – now that’s spectacular.
The 6-3, 235-pound Tebow opened the doors to a new club this season – the 20-20 Club, and it’s not in Chelsea.
He ran for 22 touchdowns and threw for 29, something no player in the history of Football Bowl Subdivision had ever done. His selection affirms the arrival of the spread offense and Tebow is the prototype.
“Everyone wants a guy that can get you out of jam,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “Tim makes a lot of plays.”
The same can be said for Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, who finished second for a second straight season. Tebow edged him by 254 points, the closest balloting since 2003 when Jason White edged Larry Fitzgerald by a mere 76.
Ironically, McFadden is a running back, who threw four touchdown passes this season. Tebow is a quarterback with a fullback’s mentality.
“We have two different opinions [when he runs,]” Tebow’s father Bob told The Post. “I wonder who he’s going to run over. She [Tebow’s mother Pam] hopes he doesn’t get hurt.”
“I love seeing him get up,” Pam said.
Opposing defensive coordinators don’t share that feeling. And in the monkey see, monkey do world of college football, more offenses will look for an athlete like Tebow, who suffered a broken bone in his right (non-throwing) hand, but he needed no help lifting the trophy.
“It’s not too hard now,” said the smiling winner.
Meyer is one of the architect’s of the spread and he’s been waiting for a quarterback such as Tebow, who possesses an amazing combination of size, speed, strength, passing precision and intelligence.
“I think it works,” quipped fourth place finisher Chase Daniel, who runs a version of it at Missouri. “He was their team and it really showed. He took them as far as he could. The spread is the new thing to do. It’s become a staple of college football.”
What sets Florida, which went 9-3 and is headed to the Capital One Bowl against Michigan, apart from other schools that run the spread is Tebow.
After beating FSU 45-12, Seminole’s coach Bobby Bowden said Tebow is the quarterback of the future.
“In that offense, he’s a great quarterback,” said third place finisher Colt Brennan of Hawaii, who runs the run and shoot. “And in my offense I’m a great quarterback. We’re all system quarterbacks. And you shouldn’t label a guy. It’s what you do in the system, not the system you’re in.”
Tebow would be successful in any offense. He finished second in the nation in passing efficiency. Toss in his speed and strength running and you have a $60 million quarterback.
Which leaves other college coaches facing two questions: Do I change my offense? And how many Tim Tebows are out there?
