Tebow Takes 2007 Heisman Trophy
Florida QB Tops McFadden, becomes First Sophomore to Win Award
Despite the misgivings of one coach, and the performance of a Southeastern Conference rival, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow earned the 2007 Heisman Trophy.
After Tebow's last regular-season game, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said the only reason Tebow wouldn't win the honor was the fact that no sophomore had ever done so. When it came time to count the votes, Tebow changed all that with his selection.
Tebow outdistanced runner-up Darren McFadden, who gave what another coach called a showing worthy of the Heisman in McFadden's final regular-season game with Arkansas.
In their last regular-season games, Tebow single-handedly made short work of in-state rival Florida State, and McFadden spearheaded an upset of then-No. 1 LSU.
No less than LSU coach Les Miles said McFadden “certainly…had a Heisman performance” in the Razorbacks’ 50-48 triple-overtime victory against LSU on Nov. 23, 2007. Miles made his comments after the game, as did former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, now of Ole Miss, who went so far as to say that McFadden “deserves the trophy. It’s not right for his name not to be mentioned as No. 1 right now.”
The next day, Tebow did his best to upstage McFadden after McFadden had rushed 32 times for 206 yards and three touchdowns and completed 3 of 6 passes for 34 yards and a score.
Tebow completed 19 of 28 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns in the Gators’ 45-12 victory over FSU. He also rushed 13 times for 89 yards and two scores.
During the regular season, Tebow became the first player in college history to pass for 20 and rush for 20 touchdowns. He tied the NCAA single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 22 and set an SEC single-season record for touchdown accountability with 51 (29 passing, 22 rushing).
FSU coach Bobby Bowden suggested Tebow might not win the Heisman Trophy because he’s only a sophomore. Tebow proved Bowden wrong, although as a junior, McFadden had posted some impressvie career numbers.
McFadden rushed for at least 100 yards in 21 of the first 37 games in which played and already was fifth in school career scoring with 262 points.
His effort against LSU allowed him to break his own single-season school rushing record with 1,725 yards. In addition, he moved past Bo Jackson and into third place on the SEC’s career rushing list with 4,485 yards.
What’s more, McFadden had seven career touchdown passes, including four during the 2007 regular season.
“He’s just a great athlete,” LSU senior defensive end Kirston Pittman said of McFadden after the game.
Miles questioned whether he’d “seen two running backs as talented” as McFadden and junior Felix Jones.
Jones rushed nine times for 84 yards in averaging 9.4 yards per carry. He often was the beneficiary of McFadden’s deft handling of the quarterback position in Arkansas’ “WildHog formation.” With running backs on either side of him, McFadden lined up in the shotgun to take the center snap.
Once the ball was in his hands, McFadden and others concealed who would carry until the last possible second. The befuddled LSU defense yielded a season-high 513 yards, including 385 yards on the ground.
McFadden was at the center of it all, but in the end, it was Tebow who stood tall.
