Updated at 3:50 p.m., Sunday, November 25, 2007
CFB: Heisman hopeful Tebow breaks right hand vs. FSU
By MARK LONG
Associated Press Sports Writer
Tebow broke his right, non-throwing hand Saturday night against rival Florida State and will be in a cast for at least two weeks.
He should be fine for Florida's bowl game, probably a New Year's Day matchup in Orlando or Tampa, but the injury could slow him during practice the next few weeks and possibly make it tough to pick up any postseason awards.
Then again, Tebow is left-handed.
Tebow sustained a non-displaced fracture in his right hand during his 5-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the third quarter against the Seminoles, team spokesman Steve McClain said Sunday.
Team doctors looked at his hand and did some tests on the sideline, but Tebow said he was OK to play and stayed in the game.
X-rays following Florida's 45-12 victory revealed the severity of injury.
Tebow has played through injuries before.
Not only did he finish a high school game on a broken leg, he bruised his right shoulder Oct. 20 against Kentucky and stayed in the game. Instead of taking some time off to heal, Tebow opted to receive painkilling shots before the next four games.
Tebow has accounted for 51 touchdowns this season, giving him a chance to become the first sophomore to win the Heisman.
"My goodness, that's a lot of touchdowns," coach Urban Meyer said Saturday. "Good for him. You want to see a bad quarterback, put a bunch of bad players around him and you officially have yourself a bad quarterback, including Tim Tebow. ... We don't have bad people around him."
Tebow has 838 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns, tying the NCAA record for quarterbacks set by Chance Harridge of Air Force in 2002.
Tebow also has completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns. He has just six interceptions.
He threw three TD passes and ran for two scores against the Seminoles. He was 19-of-28 passing for 262 yards and ran 13 times for 89 yards.
He also had one of his best runs of the season. He spun out of what seemed like a sure sack by Justin Mincey on a third-and-14 play and picked up 16 yards. Tebow followed two plays later with a 23-yard TD run to cap Florida's opening drive and give the Gators (9-3) a lead they never relinquished.