He eyes Heisman with 20-20 vision

In the eyes of many experts around the nation, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow sewed up the Heisman Trophy on Saturday in a record-setting performance against Florida Atlantic.

Now the only question is whether voters are willing to break tradition.

Tebow had three touchdowns passing and another rushing in Saturday’s 59-20 victory, bringing his season totals to 26 through the air and 20 on the ground.

He is the first major division player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns. He also set a Southeastern Conference single season record for rushing touchdowns, breaking a tie with Georgia’s Garrison Hearst (1992), Alabama’s Shaun Alexander (1999) and Louisiana State’s LaBrandon Toefield (2001).

“He’s definitely as deserving as the other guys out there,” offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said.

But Heisman tradition is against Tebow.

The Gators are 9-3 and the best they can finish is as the No. 3 team out of the SEC, which means no major bowl for Tebow. Since the BCS system was put in place in 1998, every Heisman winner has played in a BCS bowl.

Another historical fact working against Tebow is that of the 71 previous Heisman winners only 13 have come from teams with three or more losses and only three of those were quarterbacks: Paul Horning of Notre Dame (1956), Jim Plunkett of Stanford (1970) and Ty Detmer of Brigham Young (1990).

Still, at least there is precedent for a Heisman winner from a three-loss, no major-bowl team. There is no precedent for his class year. Tebow is a sophomore, and no sophomore or freshman has won the Heisman.

“Maybe I’ll worry more about that after Florida State,” Tebow said. “But really, we have a big game against Florida State, and all my energy will be focused on getting ready for them, and not worrying about [the Heisman].”

And then there were three

The SEC mess got cleaned up a little Saturday when LSU clinched the West Division and a spot in the SEC title game with a 41-24 victory over Mississippi and the East Division became a two-team race between Georgia and Tennessee.

Georgia’s 24-13 victory over Kentucky eliminated Florida and clinched at least a tie for the division title, but the Bulldogs would lose a tiebreaker with Tennessee, which staged a 16-point fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Vanderbilt, 25-24, and can win a spot in the title game by winning at Kentucky next week.

Georgia plays a nonconference game against Georgia Tech.

Taking a knee

A la Boise State running back Ian Johnson, Georgia receiver Mikey Henderson proposed to his girlfriend on the field during senior day ceremonies before the Bulldogs played Kentucky.

“The first words out of her mouth were, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Henderson said. “I was like, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ ”

Then, he popped the question. She said yes.

Nutty reports

Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt lashed out at members of the media, chiding them for numerous reports that he will leave the Razorbacks after the season.

“It wasn’t true yesterday and it’s not true today,” Nutt said after Arkansas beat Mississippi State, 45-31. “Stop predicting and stop making up rumors.”

Longtime athletic director Frank Broyles is retiring and will be replaced by Jeff Long. Several reports surfaced Friday citing unnamed sources saying that Long wants to bring in his own coach. The university denied that any decision has been made.

Fulfilling the promise

When Terry Hoeppner was hired at Indiana three years ago, he made a promise to return the Hoosiers to a bowl.

Hoeppner died of brain cancer in June, but his team helped him keep his word.

Indiana defeated Purdue, 27-24, in the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game, meaning the Hoosiers (7-5) should get into a bowl for the first time since 1993.

The Hoosiers had gone 46-100 in the 13 seasons since their last bowl appearance, finishing with two or fewer conference victories in nine of those seasons.

“He would be so proud of those kids,” Coach Bill Lynch said of Hoeppner. “He loved Bucket Week. He was a guy that loved the rivalry and loved every part of it. I know he would be proud of those kids.”

Ice, ice, baby

Hawaii kicker Dan Kelly is giving thanks this week to some guy who coaches Nevada.

Kelly, who made a 45-yard field goal with 11 seconds to play for a 28-26 Hawaii victory Friday night, said it helped when Nevada twice called timeouts just before the snap.

“When you don’t ice someone, you only have 24 seconds to make the kick,” Kelly said. “He gave me another 60 seconds to think about it. . . . So, thank you. I don’t even know the guy’s name, but whoever coaches Nevada, thank you.”

For future reference, Nevada’s coach is Chris Ault.

--

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

No detriment

Should Tim Tebow of Florida win the Heisman Trophy, he would join the following players from teams with three or more losses to win college football’s highest individual honor:

*--* YEAR WINNER, SCHOOL REC. 1935 Jay Berwanger, Chicago 4-4 1950 Vic Janowicz, Ohio State 6-3 1956 Paul Hornung, Notre Dame 2-8 1957 John David Crow, Texas A&M 8-3* 1961 Ernie Davis, Syracuse 8-3 1969 Steve Owens, Oklahoma 6-4 1970 Jim Plunkett, Stanford 9-3 1980 George Rogers, S. Carolina 8-4 1981 Marcus Allen, USC 9-3* 1985 Bo Jackson, Auburn 8-4 1987 Tim Brown, Notre Dame 8-4 1990 Ty Detmer, Brigham Young 10-3* 1998 Ricky Williams, Texas 9-3 *--*

*Lost two games during the regular season and lost a bowl game.

Source: Heisman.com