Tim Tebow's pep talk to his beloved Florida Gators fell on deaf ears Saturday as his undermanned alma mater was routed by No. 2 ranked Florida State and Jameis Winston 37-7 to cap the school's first losing season in more than three decades.
"A man can get down and come back withered, can come back beaten. But a man that goes down and comes back and is changed and is different, that's who we are; that's who the Gators are," Yahoo! Sports reports a fired-up Tebow told the Gators moments before they took the field to face their cross-state rivals.
"It really penetrated my soul," Florida offensive lineman Max Garcia later told Yahoo. "And it was real...when I saw him, I could just feel his leadership. His presence, it just demanded that."
Early on the Gators looked as passionate as they've seemed all season, trailing the heavily favorite and unbeaten Seminoles just 3-0 entering the second quarter before Winston led the Seminoles on a 96-yard scoring drive that all but cemented the momentum in the visitor's favorites for the rest of the afternoon.
Winston, who finds himself at the center of his own storm as he awaits word on if he will be criminally charged in an ongoing sex probe where the alleged victim has named him as her attacker, stilled his nerves long enough to complete 19 of 31 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns, more than keeping his Heisman Trophy hopes on course.
Florida, meanwhile, lost its final seven games and will not play in a bowl game for the first time since 1990.
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