GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow stood on the sideline with his eyes closed. He couldn't bear to watch, not after seeing so much go wrong all afternoon.

Maybe he should have peeked. After all, he missed seeing what might go down as the most important field goal in Florida history.

Tebow directed a 69-yard drive in the final minutes, setting up Caleb Sturgis' 27-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining that gave the top-ranked Gators a 23-20 win over Arkansas yesterday.

"Once I heard everybody cheering and opened my eyes and saw we made the field goal, that was fun," Tebow said.

The rest of the game wasn't nearly as enjoyable.

On a day when little went right for the Gators (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), Tebow took over down the stretch and helped extend the nation's longest win streak to 16 games. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, ran for 69 more and saved his best plays for when Florida needed him most.

That final drive may have been Tebow's Heisman moment. It kept Florida unbeaten and likely No. 1 in the country. It also may have preserved the team's chances of repeating as national champion.

"I always knew we had a shot," Tebow said. "We were just going to keep believing until the last second."

The Razorbacks (3-3, 1-3) entered the game with the league's worst-rated defense. But they hardly looked the part yesterday. They stuffed Florida's high-powered running game, sacked Tebow six times and forced the Gators into several mistakes.