TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Defenders Take Shot At Tebow

The Associated Press

If Florida QB Tim Tebow played in the Big 12, Oklahoma sophomore CB Dominique Franks said "he'd probably be about the fourth-best quarterback in our conference."

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE - The BCS Championship Game between Florida (12-1) and Oklahoma (12-1) kicks off Thursday night, but the war of words already has begun.

If Florida QB Tim Tebow played in the Big 12, Oklahoma sophomore CB Dominique Franks said "he'd probably be about the fourth-best quarterback in our conference."

Franks, in an interview Sunday morning, listed Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas Tech's Graham Harrell and Texas' Colt McCoy as the Big 12 quarterbacks he considers superior to Tebow.

"Tebow is predominantly a running quarterback," Franks said. "To me, it's going to be a lot easier for us to prepare to stop the run than having to face a quarterback that might throw it 40 or 50 times a game.

"The right person Bradford won the Heisman. We're going to show everybody the reason why he won it."

Sooners defensive coordinator Brent Venables attempted to rescue his player.

"I think he's just a young guy that doesn't know any better," Venables said. "He hasn't watched enough tape. I think he's going to bat for the Big 12 guys he has a lot of respect for."

But the potential firestorm didn't stop there.

Heath Cline, a reporter for Florida's Scout.com Web site, relayed Franks' comments to Oklahoma senior S Nic Harris and asked again: Where would Tebow rank among Big 12 quarterbacks?

"Top seven ... No. 7," Harris said.

"I'm not a critic and I'm not in a position to rank guys. But I wouldn't think he Tebow would be one of the top guys in the Big 12. Look at the stats."

DEFENSE IS DEFENSIVE

Oklahoma's defensive players have grown weary of defending its subpar national rankings (65th overall, 99th against the pass among 119 Division I-A teams).

"It's not about how you start and it's not even about the moderation of the season," S Nic Harris said. "It's about where you finish. Right now, we're finishing in the national championship game. I'm pretty sure we'll come up with the win. All the critics will be silent and all the stats will go down the drain."

Even Florida QB Tim Tebow offered a defense for Oklahoma's statistically poor defense.

"Oklahoma's offense scores so quick, so its defense is bound to give up some yards," Tebow said. "But when they've had to make a stop this season, they've made a stop."

WEATHERING THE ATMOSPHERE

Temperatures hovered around freezing Sunday morning in Norman, Okla. In South Florida, it was about 77.

"As much as anything, we're trying to adjust to difficult conditions down here in South Florida," said Sooners defensive coordinator Brent Venables, tongue firmly in cheek. "The weather is really stressing us out."

Then he added, "Actually, it has been a while since we sweated like that in practice."

CONFERENCE CALL

Sooners defensive coordinator Brent Venables said he doesn't think it's accurate to portray the game as rugged SEC defense against high-flying Big 12 offense.

"It's Oklahoma against Florida," Venables said. "That's it. You can debate about who has the better offense, who has the better defense. But they didn't have a big debate about the Mountain West against the SEC the other night when Utah defeated Alabama at the Sugar Bowl. It still comes down to execution, tackling, getting off the field or converting on third down. It's up for everybody else to debate. We're more concerned about how we match up and play against Florida."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT