by Mark Kriegel

"Don't be afraid," Tebow said. "Don't be afraid to give one-five the ball."

To that point, it hadn't been No. 15's night. College football's reigning darling — the first quarterback built to bruise — had already thrown a pair of interceptions. Not only would it go into the books as the first multi-interception game of Tebow's career, the two offending passes matched his season total. And there was still a half to go. Another kid might have lost some confidence. But not this one. Tebow was lacking only a good rhythm, not faith. In fact, what distinguishes his game — even more than his imposing physique — is just that, an abundant faith.

It's not a quality that can be quantified in the combines. But it has served Tebow and the Gators quite well.

"Thirty minutes for the rest of our lives." That's what they told each other at the half. They were going to play harder and tougher than Oklahoma.

"Our whole team believed this was possible," said Tebow.

Of course, to Tebow's way of thinking, belief is a choice. "That's something we could control," he said. "That was a conscious decision."

And so much of it had to do with Tebow's example. After the Gators' improbable loss to Ole Miss back in September, Tebow promised to outwork everyone in college football. He did. He did it again Thursday night.

The game changed midway through the third quarter. On a third and four at the Oklahoma 46, Tebow dropped back to pass only to end up running for 15 yards. Three plays later, on a third and 10, he did it again, running for 12.

These two plays characterized what makes Tebow different from anybody who's ever played the position. Sure, he runs like a fullback. But most fullbacks plow into the line. Tebow, who can run from the pocket, attacks a defense that is already spread out. There's no line to stop him.

"That was the biggest part of the game," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. "Those third downs."

Tebow — righteous and religious without being falsely modest — would agree. "That got us a lot more than just the first downs," he said. "Our confidence went up. Theirs dropped a little bit."

Suddenly, the belief was spreading through the Florida sections of the stands. "If I had to run some people over to get the crowd into the game, so be it," said Tebow. "We got that excitement ... that juice."

As it happened, he would throw a couple of touchdowns in the second half. Meanwhile, the Gators were greatly aided by the return of Percy Harvin from a bad ankle sprain. Harvin would account for 171 yards, 122 rushing and 49 receiving.

More than that, Florida benefited from Oklahoma's mistakes. In the first quarter, a 49-yard completion to Jermaine Gresham was called back for holding. In the second, Stoops' Sooners failed twice in the red zone. On third and fourth downs, they couldn't score from the one-yard line. At the end of the first half, the quarterback who succeeded Tebow as winner of the Heisman Trophy threw an interception in the end zone. Sam Bradford would throw another in the second half. Then there was a blocked field goal.

Stoops, whose team became the first to score more than 700 points in a season, didn't like hearing about the deficient defenses in his conference, or how Big 12 schools were scoring so much less in these bowl games. But again, that was the case. Oklahoma scored 40 points less than its season average.

The final was 24-14. Tebow was 18 of 30, 231 yards, two interceptions, two touchdowns. He ran the ball 22 times for 109 yards. That's 52 plays. That's more than some teams get to run in a game.

After being named the game's Most Outstanding Player, he was asked about going pro. "I'm just going to pray on it and talk to my family," he said.

Already, there's considerable debate about Tebow's future as NFL quarterback. What happened Thursday night at Dolphin Stadium will only intensify the debate.

Only this much is now sure: he ranks with the very best to play the college game. He can compare favorably with the undergraduate career of any quarterback. Ever. If you don't think he's the best, understand that someone else can argue otherwise.

Understand this, too: Tim Tebow finds nourishment amid the doubt.

"Helps me stay motivated," he said.