Heisman Trophy? Best player in the country? Come on. Sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow said Monday he's solely focused on getting ninth-ranked Florida ready for No. 20 Georgia in his hometown of Jacksonville this weekend. With SEC East implications on the line, the Florida-Georgia game is enough to worry about.
"I'd rather make it to Atlanta than make it to New York," Tebow said. "Without a great offensive line, without great receivers, I wouldn't be able to put up any yards or any stats."
Atlanta is the site of the SEC championship and the Gators have to beat Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina to get there. Tebow, who threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another score in Florida's 45-37 win at Kentucky on Saturday, said he has to focus on getting the Gators ready for one of their biggest rivalry games. That is enough work.
"I don't know if it's the rivalry game," Tebow said. "It's definitely one of them. It's a huge game. Growing up for me it was always a big deal. We'd find tickets to go to a lot of them. We would watch them rain or shine. There were a lot of great games. Florida has done pretty well so we want to keep that streak alive."
For a rivalry to really carry on its luster, both sides have to hold up their end of the bargain and Georgia has not done so well lately. The Bulldogs have lost 15 of the last 17 meetings and 17 of the last 23 against Florida, which is No. 11 this week in the BCS standings. Georgia is coming off a bye week. It defeated Vanderbilt, 20-17, in its most recent game.
One of the interesting storylines this week revolves around the quarterbacks – Tebow and Georgia sophomore Matthew Stafford. Rivals.com rated Tebow No. 1 among dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2006 class and third in Florida behind Clemson's C.J. Spiller and Notre Dame's Sam Young. Stafford was the top-rated pro-style quarterback nationally and trailed only Texas' Sergio Kindle in the Texas state rankings.
So far this season, Tebow has completed 115 of 174 passes for 1,711 yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also leads the team with 578 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs on 125 attempts. Stafford is 115 of 208 passing for 1,364 yards with 10 touchdowns and four picks.
"I don't really rate myself to the guys who came out with me," Tebow said. "I got the chance to be with him at the Elite 11 (camp) and he was a good player and I got to know him a little bit. It's not like it's any big deal. I don't ever compare myself to guys I came out of high school with. He had a very strong arm. He was a very good pocket passer.
"I don't think he had committed (to Georgia) yet. I hadn't committed to Florida, either. (Jevan) Snead was committed to Florida so he was doing all the trash talking. He was the one with all the Florida gear on."
Lemmens loves the road environment
Practice is grueling, defensive end Duke Lemmens admits, but when he steps on the airplane to get ready for a road game, he realizes it's all worth it.
"I love it," Lemmens said. "Kentucky, they started rocking our bus. I just get jacked up. My favorite part, even for the home games, is the bus ride seeing all the tailgaters, all the reaction the fans give you, some a little more pleasant than others. LSU, I saw some things I don't really want to see again.
"Kentucky was so pumped up. The whole atmosphere is amazing. This is why I came to Florida. This is why I came 3,000 miles just to be part of this. I'm not going to lie – practice sucks. Friday when you get on the plane you start to realize why you do it. Why you put so much time into it."
Lemmens, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Westlake Village, Calif., is listed at 238 pounds and said he is aiming for 265 by next season. He's part of Florida's Breakfast Club, a group of players who are mandated each week to eat together in an attempt to pack on pounds. Lemmens recently said he does not enjoy eating breakfast anymore. He has played in six games and has five tackles. Lemmens said he does not regret not redshirting.
"You start to adapt more to the speed of the game," he said. "Weight is something that's going to be my main focus. I'm trying to get to 265 in the off-season. I don't want to be in that damn Breakfast Club anymore. I'm going to be working my tail off, but the more you get comfortable with the system and the defense, the faster you think. My brain is processing stuff faster.
"I've been waiting my whole life for this. Redshirting would discourage me. I love traveling with the team. I never know how much I'm going to play but when I do get in, even if it's one or two plays, it's worth it."
Cunningham named SEC defensive player of the week
Sophomore defensive end Jermaine Cunningham, who recorded 17 tackles in Florida's loss to LSU, finished with a career-high 2.5 sacks and added seven tackles in the win over Kentucky. Monday, he was named the SEC defensive player of the week.