Tebow, Gators dominate LSU, 6-0 for first time since '96

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Tim Tebow entered the game. The freshman QB orchestrated Florida's first score, a 1-yard run to tie the game, then notched his first TD pass in the second to give the Gators the lead. Gameball goes to... Tebow. The Gators' rookie was 2-for-2 passing, racking up 36 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 30 additional yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Stat of the game... 4: JaMarcus Russell and Chris Leak entered this contest as two of the nation's hottest QBs. They cooled quickly -- combining for one touchdown and four interceptions. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	22	14
Total Yards	318	288
Passing	228	191
Rushing	90	97
Penalties	5-30	14-102
3rd Down Conversions	7-13	4-12
4th Down Conversions	1-1	1-3
Turnovers	5	2
Possession	27:25	32:35

Individual Leaders

LSU Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Russell 24/41 228 1 3	Florida Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Leak 17/26 155 0 1 Tebow 2/2 36 2 0
LSU Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Hester 9 43 0 18 Russell 4 19 0 17 Broussard 8 15 0 6	Florida Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Moore 10 36 0 15 Tebow 9 35 1 15 Fayson 3 11 0 6
LSU Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Davis 8 85 0 27 Bowe 6 50 0 11 Doucet 5 68 0 25 Hester 5 25 1 14	Florida Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Caldwell 5 38 0 17 Baker 4 46 0 18 Cornelius 3 40 0 26 Murphy 2 42 1 35

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				LSU	FLA
	TD	6:45	JACOB HESTER 2 YD PASS FROM JAMARCUS RUSSELL (COLT DAVID KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 73 yards.	7	0
	TD	0:11	TIM TEBOW 1 YD RUN (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 19 yards.	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				LSU	FLA
	TD	0:22	TATE CASEY 1 YD PASS FROM TIM TEBOW (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 9 plays, 72 yards.	7	14
THIRD QUARTER				LSU	FLA
	S	14:46	JERMAINE MCCOLLUM SAFETY	7	16
	TD	12:05	LOUIS MURPHY 35 YD PASS FROM TIM TEBOW (CHRIS HETLAND KICK) Drive info: 5 plays, 67 yards.	7	23
FOURTH QUARTER				LSU	FLA
	FG	11:53	COLT DAVID 45 YD FG Drive info: 12 plays, 61 yards.	10	23

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida doesn't have a quarterback controversy. It's more like a quarterback coalition.

Urban Legend: Florida's evolution under Meyer
Reputed as an offensive guru, Urban Meyer is showing Gator Nation where he got that reputation. After enduring some growing pains during his first season at the helm in Gainesville, Meyer has Chris Leak and the Florida offense humming along so smoothly that even LSU's vaunted defense allowed 23 points to Leak & Co. on Saturday. Here are Florida's offensive stats under Meyer.
	First 7 games	Last 11 games
W-L	5-2	10-1
PPG	27.6	29.5
Rush YPG	146.6	151.8
Comp. Pct.	58.7	66.7

Backup quarterback Tim Tebow threw two touchdown passes, including one on a play that could have came from basketball coach Billy Donovan's playbook, and ran for a score to give the fifth-ranked Gators a 23-10 win against No. 9 LSU on Saturday.

"You've got to be creative in this league," Gators coach Urban Meyer said.

Florida improved to 6-0 for the first time since 1996 -- the school's lone national championship season -- and extended its home winning streak to 13 games. The Gators (4-0 Southeastern Conference) also beat the Tigers for the first time in three years and won their 18th straight homecoming game.

Tebow made it look relatively easy.

The highly touted freshman, who teams with starter Chris Leak to give Meyer maybe the nation's best quarterback combo, ran nine times for 35 yards, including a 1-yard plunge on fourth down that evened the score at 7 in the first quarter.

"He's a rock 'em, sock 'em kind of runner," LSU coach Les Miles said. "Florida used him to their advantage."

Said Meyer: "I want the ball in his hands right now. I know he's going to hang onto it."

Leak did the bulk of the work with another steady performance, going 17-of-26 for 155 yards. Tebow grabbed the highlights, unveiling another side of his game.

Although he threw nine passes in mop-up duty against Central Florida, Tebow had rarely used his left arm since -- aside from an occasional stiff arm.

That changed against the Tigers (4-2, 1-2).

Facing a second-and-goal play with less than a minute remaining in the first half, Tebow took the snap and ran toward the line of scrimmage. He pulled up -- much like a jump-shooter would -- double clutched to allow tight end Tate Casey to get open, then kind of flipped the ball over several defenders.

Casey caught it as he fell backward.

"We'd rather our tight end not fumble around and fall down and do six push-ups and then get up and try to catch it," Meyer said, adding that the jump-pass was a throwback play to the early 1900s. "He's supposed to block-release and catch the ball, and he didn't. He kind of stumbled about. It's supposed to be much easier than that."

Casey agreed.

"That's one of those ones you don't want to drop," he said.

The catch capped a 72-yard scoring drive that followed the first of three interceptions thrown by JaMarcus Russell. On the drive, Leak found Andre Caldwell over the middle for a 17-yard gain on third down and later connected with Jemalle Cornelius for 26 yards.

"We've got two great quarterbacks," Casey said. "We can do a lot with them, and it showed."

LSU's quarterback has had better days. Russell finished 24-of-41 for 228 yards with a touchdown. But he also had four turnovers.

Tebow's passing performance continued after halftime.

The Gators got a safety on the second-half kickoff. Early Doucet fumbled at the 3-yard line, gathered the loose ball briefly, but lost it again after he got leveled by Riley Cooper. The ball trickled into the end zone, and LSU teammate Trindon Holliday recovered for the safety.

Five plays later, Tebow was at it again. He took a step toward the line of scrimmage to fake a run, pulled up and found Louis Murphy wide open down the middle for a 35-yard score.

"You found out tonight that Tim can throw," Casey said.

Florida essentially turned a tie game into a rout in a little more than three minutes and even shredded LSU's top-ranked defense.

The Gators, playing without starting running back DeShawn Wynn, finished with nearly 300 total yards.

They got plenty of help from LSU, too.

The Tigers got a boost before the game when Arkansas upset No. 2 Auburn, opening the door for LSU to get back into the SEC West race. But LSU didn't take advantage of the opportunity.

Instead, the Tigers self-destructed.

Jessie Daniels fumbled a punt in the second quarter that led to Florida's tying touchdown. Russell fumbled a snap on the 2-yard line to end a 17-play drive. Instead of possibly going up 14-7, the Tigers later trailed by a touchdown at halftime.

"The fumble was a big turn of events," LSU coach Les Miles said. "It really swung the momentum. We would've never thought we would go into the half behind."

LSU also had the fumbled kickoff to open the second half, then had a punt blocked on the next possession. The Tigers also missed a 41-yard field goal.

"We're on cloud nine," Gators defensive tackle Ray McDonald said. "But we know we can't be on cloud nine too long because we've got Auburn next week."