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Gators Roll Noles

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE - This is how bad it's gotten for Florida State against Florida: One of FSU's own students came to Florida Field on Saturday dressed as the Heisman Trophy - complete with bronze body paint - wearing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's No. 15. Tom Schoendorf, a self-described die-hard Florida fan from Spring Hill who happens to attend FSU, reprised his Halloween costume and added the 15 to help promote Tebow's Heisman Trophy candidacy.

Tebow got all the help he needed from a hapless Seminoles defense as he accounted for five touchdowns (three throwing, two running) while the Gators steamrolled FSU, 45-12, before a crowd of 90,664. Tebow also got help from his own defense, which became the first Florida unit to hold the Seminoles without a touchdown since 1981. The Gators have beaten FSU in four consecutive meetings.

That number could climb as long as Florida has players such as Tebow (262 passing yards, 89 rushing yards) and receiver/tailback Percy Harvin (157 rushing yards, 67 receiving yards, one touchdown).

"Definitely, we've made a jump," said Florida co-defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who has faced the Noles 11 times in three tenures at Florida. "We've been very aggressive in recruiting, and if you look at it, it shows on the football field.

"When you win the recruiting wars, you win the games."

Florida now will wait to learn its bowl destination, though the Gators seem destined to face either Illinois or Michigan in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 in Orlando. Georgia and the winner of next week's Southeastern Conference title game between Tennessee and LSU will get the SEC's two BCS spots. That leaves the Gators (9-3) available to the Capital One, which has the first pick after the BCS bowls. Saturday, Capital One Bowl executive director Steve Hogan called the Gators "as attractive as any option that we have."

An intriguing matchup against former Florida coach Ron Zook's Illini may get scuttled if Ohio State makes the national title game and Illinois goes to the Rose Bowl. Hogan said the Capital One matchup likely wouldn't be officially set until next Sunday.

Meanwhile, Tebow, who has accounted for 51 touchdowns this season, will learn in 13 days whether he will become the first sophomore to win the Heisman.

"That's not up to me," Tebow said. "That's up to voters, and I'll let them decide that."

Tebow made his final argument Saturday, and he picked up another proponent.

"He is tremendous," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "He is better than I realized. We could not get him down. ... If he don't win the Heisman this year, he'll make it the next two."

With his team trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, Tebow came face mask-to-face mask with FSU linebacker Geno Hayes, who pledged Monday that Tebow was "going down." Tebow did exactly that, ducking to escape Hayes and Marcus Ball before scrambling for a 23-yard touchdown.

The Gators reached the end zone on four of their first five possessions, while the Seminoles kicked field goals on four of their first five possessions.

"I just thought if we could hang close with them, maybe they would cool off like I've seen them do in the past," Bowden said. "They wouldn't cool off."

In fact, the Gators didn't slow until Tebow took a knee on three consecutive plays to run out the clock. Tebow's teammates asked him to strike a Heisman pose, but he declined.

He didn't need to. The bronze-painted FSU student sitting in the southwest corner of the stadium did it for him.

After the win, Tebow took a victory lap around The Swamp. He didn't appear in the postgame interview room for almost an hour. He was late because he was working to get more players to come to Florida and extend the Gators' reign over the Noles.

"Sorry for the delay," Tebow said. "I was telling recruits this was the best place in the country."

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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