Tim Tebow knows the fans at Tennessee's Neyland Stadium will be out of control Saturday.
They will yell and curse, point and taunt.
They will be all over Florida's junior quarterback when the Gators arrive at the stadium, during pre-game warm-ups and whenever he's on the sideline.
And Tebow will love every minute of it.
"Don't get me wrong, but sometimes it's better playing on the road for me,"
Tebow said. "When you are playing at Neyland Stadium or LSU or those stadiums, that gets your blood going. It gets you excited and ready to play."
"For me, I don't know why, but it's exciting, and I enjoy it."
Tebow is an emotional player, and he feeds off opposing fans' hostility nearly as much as he does off support from UF fans. It's like a Red Bull with a Starbucks frappuccino chaser.
That's why Tebow went nuts after he scored a touchdown against LSU last season. Tigers fans had bombarded Tebow's cell phone with text messages and voicemails throughout the week before the game, and he responded by mimicking a phone call during his TD celebration.
Vols fans haven't found Tebow's cell-phone number, but that doesn't mean they will be any less nasty this weekend. And Tebow said he hopes the atmosphere is just as hostile as it was on his first trip to Knoxville in 2006.
"It was awesome,"
he said. "It was exiting just walking around in the pre-game. Their fans get there pretty early. I like that. We were in warm-ups, and they were real rowdy. I love that. I don't want to wait around to get excited. Their fans are talking trash in the pre-game, and that gets you ready to go."
There will be some added angst for Vols fans this year. Tebow made perhaps the biggest play in the Gators' 2006 victory, gaining 2 yards on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter to keep UF's eventual game-winning drive alive. Two plays after Tebow's run, Chris Leak hit Dallas Baker for a 21-yard touchdown pass and a 21-20 win.
That play is one of the most significant of Tebow's career - and certainly one that bothers UT fans.
"I think it's up there because it was my first opportunity to make a play,"
Tebow said. "That's why I think it is so special to me and coach [Urban Meyer]. It was a play we had to make, and as a freshman in my third game, they gave me the opportunity to make it. I think that was pretty cool that they trusted me and I was able to get it done."
"Gave"
might be the wrong word. Relented fits better, wide receiver Percy Harvin said, because he remembers Tebow badgering Meyer about getting on the field.
"Tebow kept telling him to give him the ball,"
Harvin said. "Coach said, 'If I put you in, you better get this,' and Tebow looked him with a crazy look, and he went in there and got it."
He'll get it Saturday, too - from Vols fans.
