Gators narrowly avoid upset

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tim Tebow stood on the sideline with his eyes closed. He couldn’t bear to watch, not after seeing so much go wrong all afternoon.

Tebow directed a 69-yard drive in the final minutes, setting up Caleb Sturgis’ 27-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining that gave the top-ranked Gators a 23-20 win against Arkansas on Saturday.

“Once I heard everybody cheering and opened my eyes and saw we made the field goal, that was fun,” Tebow said.

On a day when little went right for the Gators (6-0, 4-0 SEC), Tebow took over down the stretch and helped extend the nation’s longest win streak to 16 games. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, ran for 69 more and saved his best plays for when Florida needed him most.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 30 yards and ran for 22 on the final drive. Three plays stood out: His 12-yard pass to Riley Cooper on third down and consecutive runs that gained 16 yards and put Sturgis well within his comfort zone.

Just about everything that could go wrong for the Gators did. They had four turnovers, three dropped passes, were gashed against the run and gave up more big plays in one game than they had all season. They missed a field goal and scored once in their first four trips inside the 20-yard line.

“You usually don’t win that kind of game,” coach Urban Meyer said.

But after struggling to move the ball on a relatively cool, sun-drenched afternoon, Tebow led the Gators to scores on three of their final four possessions.

He hooked up with Deonte Thompson on a 77-yard TD that gave Florida its first lead of the game, 13-10 with 2:59 to play in the third. Another deep pass to Thompson drew a pass-interference penalty and set up Jeff Demps’ 10-yard TD run that tied the game at 20 midway through the fourth.

Tebow put Florida in position for the game-winner with a 14-play drive that took almost all the time off the clock.

The Razorbacks (3-3, 1-3) entered the game with the league’s worst-rated defense. But they hardly looked the part. They stuffed Florida’s high-powered running game, sacked Tebow six times and forced the Gators into several mistakes.

Ryan Mallett threw for 224 yards, Dennis Johnson ran for 107 in place of injured starter Michael Smith and Greg Childs caught four passes for 135 yards.

Arkansas made a few costly mistakes, though.

Mallett overthrew fullback Van Stumon, who was wide open in the end zone, and Arkansas settled for a field goal that tied it at 13 late in the third. Then Alex Tejada yanked a 38-yard field goal with 3:08 remaining that would have put his team ahead.