Tim Tebow knocked out of Florida's win over Kentucky

Lexington, Ky. -- With one scary hit on Tim Tebow, No. 1 Florida's season -- really, the entire complexion of the college football season -- could have changed.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback was knocked out of Florida's 41-7 victory against Kentucky after a hard shot to the head in the third quarter, and taken by ambulance to a hospital.

"I don't know, I think it's a concussion," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "I think he'll be all right.

"He took a pretty good shot."

The Gators were leading 31-7 and driving deep in Kentucky territory when Tebow was sacked by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham on a vicious but clean it. As he fell back with Wyndham on top of him, Tebow's head struck teammate Marcus Gilbert's leg, violently bending his neck forward.

Tebow, a tank of a quarterback at 245 pounds, lay motionless for several minutes while Commonwealth Stadium fell silent. He sat up with some help then slowly made his way off the field to a loud ovation. He was eventually carted off the field with concussion-like symptoms, vomiting several times.

He was taken to a hospital for tests and was scheduled to stay overnight, according to Florida spokesman Steve McClain.

Florida is off next week, then plays at LSU on Oct. 10. It's probably the toughest game on Florida's regular-season schedule and would be even tougher without Tebow.

A third national title in four seasons for Florida, a second Heisman for Tebow, all that becomes iffy if his injury causes him to miss games. Oddly, Saturday started with questions about Tebow's availability because of a respiratory illness.

Meyer said Tebow had just one question after the hit.

"He asked me, 'Did I hold onto the ball?'" Meyer said. "I told him he did and he winked at me and said, 'It's great to be a Gator.'"

Still, the image of their leader laying helpless proved unsettling for the defending national champions.

"He was a little fuzzy coming off the field," said backup quarterback John Brantley. "He was looking around. I guess making sure he was in Kentucky."

The win extended Florida's winning streak to 14 games, tops in the nation as the Gators (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) continued their mastery over the Wildcats (2-1, 0-1). Florida has won 23 straight in the series, the second longest active winning streak by one team over another in the country.

Yet the outcome became a footnote after Tebow went down.

And now two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks have been knocked out of games in the first month of the season, with Tebow joining Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, who injured his shoulder in Week 1 and hasn't played since.

The injury put a stop to another vintage performance by Tebow, whose status appeared to be in doubt in the hours before the game.

Tebow was one of several Gators who took a separate plane north because of respiratory and congestion issues, leading to speculation the Heisman Trophy winner wouldn't play.

If Tebow wasn't feeling well, it didn't show. He walked off the field following pregame warmups trading head slaps with teammate Brandon Spikes and nearly sprinted into the huddle on Florida's first possession.

He rumbled for 29 yards on the third play of the game, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage and bolting through the secondary before getting shoved out of bounds.

The drive ended in a field goal, but he was simply getting started. Tebow put the Gators up 10-0 on a 3-yard touchdown run, silencing a crowd hoping Florida could be had if

The Wildcats couldn't get out of their own way. An illegal motion penalty on a punt forced them to re-kick, and the Gators took advantage when Chris Rainey blocked it and then fell on the ball in the end zone to make it 17-0 Florida.

The Gators had it back five plays later and Tebow led them on a 58-yard drive that included a pair of vintage Tebow runs. First he shook Kentucky cornerback Cartier Rice with some nifty footwork then spun forward for an extra yard to get the ball to the Kentucky 2.

On the next play Tebow turned to hand the ball off to running back Jeff Demps. One problem: Demps had run the other way. No biggie. Tebow tucked the ball, stepped through a tackle and walked into the end zone for his 48th career rushing touchdown, leaving him one shy of Herschel Walker's SEC record.

He later added a 44-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez on the last play of the first quarter, ending a 31-point deluge that left the Wildcats stunned.

"We were doing what we wanted to do," said Florida wide receiver David Nelson. "We did just about anything."

Kentucky eventually found its composure, but by then it was too late.

"We got our fannies kicked all over the field in every phase," said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. "I didn't have my team ready to play."

Other Top 25 games

(At) No. 2 Texas 64, Texas-El Paso 7: Colt McCoy and Texas got the fast start they had been missing in recent weeks, rolling to a 40-point lead by halftime before cruising.

McCoy passed for 286 yards and three touchdowns, two to Dan Buckner. Texas (4-0) also harassed UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe into five turnovers.

Freshman D.J. Monroe's first-quarter, 91-yard kickoff return made him the first player in Texas history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a career. He also had one in Texas' opener.

This one came seconds after UTEP's Melvin Stephenson II returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown.

McCoy was sharp after the interception with TD passes of 36 and 15 yards to Buckner and 16 yards to Jordan Shipley, as Texas built a 47-7 halftime lead.

(At) No. 3 Alabama 35, Arkansas 7: Greg McElroy passed for a career-high 291 yards and three touchdowns and Alabama opened Southeastern Conference play with a romp.

The Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0) picked on the Razorbacks' beleaguered defense with three huge plays and blocked a punt to win their 18th consecutive league opener dating to its 1992 national championship.

A relentless defense hounded Ryan Mallett and the nation's No. 2 offense. Mallett was just 12-for-35 for 161 yards for Arkansas (1-2, 0-2) and threw his first interception.

Alabama romped against a team scorched for 52 points last week by Georgia. Trent Richardson broke four tackles for a 52-yard touchdown run, Julio Jones caught a 50-yard TD pass on a trick play and McElroy hit Marquis Maze for an 80-yarder.

(At) Oregon 42, No. 6 California 3: Jeremiah Masoli answered his doubters by throwing for 253 yards and three touchdowns in Oregon's upset.

Masoli went into the game without a scoring pass this season, prompting Ducks fans to call for his benching. But he responded by completing 21 of 25 passes for the Ducks (3-1), who had 524 yards in total offense to the Golden Bears' 206.

Tailback Jahvid Best ran for just 55 yards for California (3-1). Widely considered a top Heisman contender, Best went into the game ranked third in the nation with an average of 137.33 yards on the ground.

Oregon tight end Ed Dickson had 11 catches for a career-best 148 yards. He caught all three of Masoli's scoring passes.

Cal scored on Vince D'Amato's 47-yard field goal early after Oregon fumbled on its opening kickoff return.

The Golden Bears would not score again.

Oregon tied it with Morgan Flint's 30-yard field goal. Masoli completed five passes on the scoring drive -- surpassing the four completions he had last weekend in Oregon's 31-24 victory over then-No. 18 Utah.

No. 7 LSU 30, (at) Mississippi State 26: LSU stuffed Mississippi State at the goal line, Brandon LaFell had 101 yards and two touchdown catches and Chad Jones scored on a 93-yard punt return for the Tigers (4-0, 2-0 SEC).

Anthony Dixon couldn't score on two attempts from inside the 3 with a minute to go. LSU then stuffed quarterback Tyson Lee on fourth-and-inches.

It was the Tigers' 10th straight victory over the Bulldogs (2-2, 1-2), who gave up four big plays that proved costly.

Patrick Peterson returned one of Lee's three interceptions for a 37-yard touchdown on Mississippi State's first offensive play. LaFell caught a 58-yard score on LSU's first play of the second half, and Jones went from sideline to sideline on his return.

No. 8 Boise State 49, (at) Bowling Green 14: Kellen Moore threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns for Boise State.

The Broncos' first six scoring drives took no more than four plays. Their big-play offense scored three touchdowns in just 2 1/2 minutes in the second quarter.

Boise State (4-0) didn't score until a minute into the second quarter when receiver Titus Young ran in the first of his two touchdowns.

Bowling Green (1-3) had no answer for Moore, who had 195 passing yards in the second quarter alone or the Broncos' running game, which piled up 267 yards on the ground.

Falcons quarterback Tyler Sheehan finished 16-of-29 passing for just 137 yards, with two interceptions.

Boise State, making its first trip to Ohio, also shut down Bowling Green receiver Freddie Barnes, who was leading the nation with 14 catches per game. He managed only four receptions for 24 yards.

(At) No. 12 Southern California 27, Washington State 6: Matt Barkley threw two long touchdown passes in 9 seconds during the first quarter on the way to 247 yards passing, and Southern California rebounded from its latest upset loss. Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson rushed for scores for the Trojans (3-1, 1-1 Pac-10), whose national title hopes were seriously dampened by last week's 16-13 loss at Washington.

USC's offense showed many of the problems exposed last week in Seattle, even with Barkley's return from a bruised right shoulder.

The Trojans' formidable defense forced three turnovers in the second half and held the rebuilding Cougars (1-3, 0-2) scoreless until Dwight Tardy's TD run with 22 seconds left.

(At) No. 14 Cincinnati 28, Fresno State 20: Tony Pike threw three touchdown passes in a quick-strike offense that was hardly on the field, and the Cincinnati Bearcats held on against a Fresno State team that ran all over them for most of the game.

One big gamble made the Bulldogs (1-3) come up empty.

Facing fourth-and-2 at the Cincinnati 6-yard line to open the fourth quarter, Fresno State chose to throw. Ryan Colburn's pass was picked off, and Pike put the Bearcats (4-0) in control with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Mardy Gilyard.

Gilyard also caught an 11-yard touchdown pass in another career day. The senior receiver and returner had nine catches for a career-best 177 yards, giving him eight touchdowns in four games.

No. 15 TCU 14, (at) Clemson 10: TCU showed off its stellar defense and bolstered its BCS-buster credentials.

Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and Texas Christian (3-0) held Clemson to 117 yards in the second half to take control.

Not that it was easy.

TCU trailed, 10-7, entering the fourth quarter as it had its own problems against a Clemson defense which held Boston College to 54 yards a week earlier.

That's when Dalton ended a 56-yard drive with a 25-yard TD pass to Antoine Hicks to move in front with 12:46 left.

Clemson (2-2) twice advanced inside TCU's 20 down the stretch but could not score. The initial drive ended with Richard Jackson's first field goal miss in three games. The other died at the Frogs' 16 as Kyle Parker threw a fourth-down incompletion to the end zone with 1:55 left.

Clemson got the ball back one last time with 1:03 to go -- and again TCU held as Parker's desperation fourth-down heave was knocked aside.

Tigers star C.J. Spiller rushed for 112 yards and had a touchdown, joining Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush in a two-man college football club.

With his 60-yard pass reception in the second quarter, Spiller joined the former Southern California star as the second player with at least 2,500 yards rushing, 1,500 yards in kickoff returns, 1,000 yards receiving and 500 yards in punt returns.

(At) No. 16 Oklahoma St. 56, Grambling St. 6: Keith Toston ran for 84 yards and three first-half touchdowns, and Oklahoma State overpowered Grambling State even without its star running back and wide receiver.

All-America receiver Dez Bryant and all-Big 12 tailback Kendall Hunter watched from the sidelines as the Cowboys (3-1) piled up 587 yards of total offense, including 321 on the ground, against their only Football Championship Subdivision opponent this season.

It was the most lopsided win for Oklahoma State since a 59-7 victory over SMU in 2004, the year before Mike Gundy took over as coach.

Freshman Dameron Fooks made the first four receptions of his career and scored twice.

(At) No. 19 BYU 42, Colorado St. 23: Harvey Unga ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns and BYU converted two interceptions and a blocked punt into scores while holding off Colorado State.

Max Hall passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Cougars (3-1) won their Mountain West Conference opener, one week after getting blown out at home by Florida State.

The Cougars still had some defensive lapses in the second half, but built a 21-0 lead off Colorado State's mistakes in the first quarter.

Hall was 18-for-29 for 241 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Grant Stucker completed 30 of 50 passes for 372 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams (3-1, 0-1), whose six-game winning streak ended.

No. 17 Texas Tech 21, (at) Houston 28: Case Keenum ran 4 yards for a touchdown with 49 seconds left to give Houston a comeback win. The Cougars trailed 21-10 in the first half, but held Tech's high-powered offense to one second-half score to come away with the victory.

Houston was playing as a ranked team for the first time in 18 years after knocking off then-No. 5 Oklahoma State two weeks ago. A record crowd of 32,114, including Phi Slama Jama stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, showed up to cheer them on.

Houston (3-0) kept the winning, 95-yard drive going with a 7-yard pass to Patrick Edwards on fourth-and-3.

South Florida 17, (at) No. 18 Florida State 7: Redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels ran for 126 yards and threw two touchdown passes in his first start in the first meeting between the schools.

Daniels was filling in for senior Matt Grothe, out for the season with a knee injury. A Tallahassee kid not heavily recruited by the Seminoles, the 6-1, 210-pound Daniels totaled 341 yards of offense.

It was the first time since Nebraska's Steve Taylor ran for 139 yards against the Seminoles in 1986 that an opposing quarterback rushed for over 100 yards against them.

Florida State (2-2) lost four fumbles, including a critical one by quarterback Christian Ponder that allowed USF to ice the game. South Florida (4-0) stuffed Florida State's running game, sacked Ponder five times and continually had Florida State's offensive line on its heels.

(At) No. 20 Kansas 35, Southern Mississippi 28: Todd Reesing threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, and Kansas shook off the effects of a midweek fight with the basketball team.

Kansas (4-0) had no trouble moving the ball as usual in rolling up 433 total yards. The Jayhawks weren't so good on defense, allowing Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis to throw for 331 yards and three touchdowns.

Southern Miss (3-1) knocked off one BCS school last week, upsetting Virginia, 37-34, at home to extend the nation's second-longest winning streak to eight games. The Golden Eagles marched through the Jayhawks' defense (395 total yards), but couldn't stop Reesing when they needed to.

(At) No. 21 Georgia 20, Arizona St. 17: Blair Walsh kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play and Georgia escaped an upset, beating Arizona State on another big night for A.J. Green.

Green caught eight passes for 153 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown. He also appeared to get his hand on Bobby Wenzig's 38-yard field goal attempt that could have put the Sun Devils ahead with 4:21 remaining.

Green, who had a career-best 159 yards receiving against Arizona State a year ago, came up with a 36-yard grab for his final reception of the night, which set up Walsh's winning field goal.

(At) Georgia Tech 24, No. 22 North Carolina 7: Quarterback Josh Nesbitt ran for two touchdowns and Georgia Tech's defense made the most of a change to its scheme.

Georgia Tech (3-1 overall, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened in a 4-3 scheme instead of the 4-2-5 it ran in last week's 33-17 loss at Miami. It held North Carolina (3-1, 0-1) to 154 yards.

Jonathan Dwyer, the 2008 ACC player of the year, had 158 yards rushing for his first 100-yard game of the season. He showed no sign of the shoulder injury that limited him to five carries for 7 yards against Miami.

Nesbitt added a career-high 32 carries for 97 yards. Georgia Tech had 317 yards rushing in its spread option offense while holding North Carolina to 17.

(At) Stanford 34, No. 24 Washington 14: Washington's momentum from its shocking upset of Southern California lasted as long as the opening kickoff. Chris Owusu returned the opening kick 91 yards for a touchdown and Toby Gerhart ran for a career-high 200 yards and a score to help Stanford spoil Washington's first game as a ranked team in six years.

Andrew Luck added a 9-yard quarterback keeper for a score and Delano Howell intercepted two passes for the Cardinal (3-1, 2-0 Pac-10), who opened the conference season with consecutive victories for the first time since Tyrone Willingham's last year on The Farm in 2001.

The Huskies (2-2, 1-1) were riding high coming into the game off their 16-13 victory over No. 3 USC last week.

(At) No. 25 Nebraska 55, Louisiana-Lafayette 0: Zac Lee passed for 238 yards and a touchdown, Roy Helu Jr. scored twice and Nebraska celebrated its 300th consecutive sellout.

The Cornhuskers (3-1), coming off a devastating 16-15 loss at Virginia Tech last week, beat up on an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference for the third time this season. Nebraska outscored Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State and Lafayette by a combined 142-12.

The Huskers scored on their first five possessions against the Ragin' Cajuns (2-2) before Larry Asante ran back an interception 74 yards to put Nebraska up, 34-0, in the middle of the second quarter.