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Three Key Players - Florida

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By MICK ELLIOTT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

Three Florida players who should have a major impact on the BCS title game:

Tim Tebow

Often referred to by head coach Urban Meyer as "Vitamin Tebow,'' the junior quarterback unquestionably provides an extra boost to the Gators' offensive system.

He runs, he throws, he makes every player around him better. Other than that, he's just another All-American kid who spends his summers doing missionary work in impoverished foreign lands.

Of all the things that have been said about college football's best-known Gator, maybe no one expressed it better than Florida State coach Bobby Bowden after watching Tebow lead Florida to a lopsided victory this season in the rain. "The best football player I've ever seen playing quarterback.''

Everything the Gators do on offense runs through their throw-back era QB – beginning with his running and passing ability and moving directly on to a heady talent to operate the option and the power to rally teammates. The final bit of icing on the cake is that at 6 feet 3, 240 pounds, he runs like a fullback, meaning that even when the Gators are in a no-back set, they have one of the best short-yardage blasters in college football.

Percy Harvin

Of all the multiple uses Florida coaches have found for Harvin's talents – receiver, running back, direct snaps at quarterback – the one they may appreciate most is the worry he causes opposing defensive coordinators.

"Everybody knows No. 1," Florida coach Urban Meyer says. "There is no question, defenses are focused on 'Where's No. 1?'"

Harvin creates an infinite list of problems. The fact he rarely seems to line up in the same spot twice is bothersome enough, but after that things usually only get worse.

"The fastest first step I've ever seen in college football and I've seen a lot of them'' Meyer said.

According to the UF training staff, Harvin can run 20 yards in 1.79 seconds.

Whether that speed will be seen against Oklahoma is uncertain. Harvin missed the SEC Championship Game against Alabama with an ankle sprain that has turned out to be more serious than the Gators first let on. Harvin, however, is no stranger to playing hurt. He toughed his way through last season with a painful heal problem before having off-season surgery that sidelined him until the second week of the season.

Jeff Demps/Chris Rainey

After Florida lost to Mississippi 31-30 on the last weekend of September, the Gators ranked ninth in the Southeastern Conference in rushing offense, averaging 153 yards a game.

A few days later, Gators coach Urban Meyer gave his staff a message.

"Let 'em eat,'' he said, meaning freshmen running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey would be pushed into a more prominent role.

The Gators finished the regular season 12-1, the SEC's best rushing team with an average of 229.8 yards per game.

Since the Gators' only loss, Demps and Rainey – a pair of small frames with blazing speed – combined for four 100-yard rushing games.

Rainey finished with 635 yards, averaging 50.4 yards per game and 7.9 per carry. Demps accounted for 582 yards, 44.8 per game and 8.4 per carry. Much of the yardage has been earned inside, both players proving they are more than an outside threat trying to reach the corner.

"They're football players that run track," running backs coach Kenny Carter said. "They don't consider themselves track guys, and that probably is helping us achieve the things we're achieving."

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