Broken hand won't sideline Tebow
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow played most of Saturday's second half against FSU with a broken right hand, UF assistant athletic director Steve McClain said Sunday morning.
The injury is a non-displaced fracture of a bone in his non-throwing hand, and Tim Tebow will wear a cast for at least two weeks to protect it. He is expected to be healthy before Christmas, McClain said.
"The trainers said he should be OK for the bowl game," he said.
Tim Tebow suffered the injury on his 5-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the third quarter. He alerted trainers of the injury after the score, McClain said, and the UF medical staff determined the hand was functional and there was little danger in him returning to the game.
Neither Tim Tebow, Coach Urban Meyer nor the training staff knew the extent of the injury until at least an hour after UF's 45-12 victory. X-rays taken after the game revealed the break.
Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy candidate, took every Gators offensive snap against the Seminoles. He finished the game 19-for-28 passing with 262 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Florida is expected to play in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando against Illinois, Michigan or Penn State.
Tim Tebow could not be reached for comment Sunday, but he figures to be popular over the next couple of weeks. He will travel next week to Orlando, where he could win the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback and the Maxwell Award as the college player of the year.
And the following weekend, he figures to fly to New York as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, college football's most prestigious individual prize. His 51 touchdowns, including his place as the first Division I-A player with 20 rushing scores and 20 passing scores in a season, make him at least a co-favorite with Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.
"My goodness," Meyer said Saturday night. "That's a lot of touchdowns."
Tim Tebow has deflected credit for his accomplishments all season. Even with the team's regular season finished, he declined several chances to campaign for the award.
"That's not up to me," Tim Tebow said. "That's up to the voters. I'll let them decide that."
The Florida fans shouted their thoughts throughout Saturday's fourth quarter, serenading the Gators with "Te-Bow Heis-Man" chants as UF wrapped up the victory. Tim Tebow took a victory lap after the game, the cheers growing louder and louder.
Those fans will scream again in two weeks if they see Tim Tebow on television with his hands full -- a cast on his right, a trophy in his left.
"I don't have a vote," offensive coordinator Dan Mullen told a group of reporters Saturday night, "but I'd be hard-pressed to say anyone has done more this year in college football than Tim."
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