UF coach Urban Meyer thought about kicking a field goal. But in the end, he felt more comfortable putting the ball in the hands of his Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.
On fourth-and-1 from the Rebels' 32-yard line, Tebow ran the ball up the middle and got nowhere, sealing the 31-30 defeat for the No. 4 Gators.
After the game, Tebow was heartbroken but still passionate about his team's future.
"I'm sorry. Extremely sorry," Tebow said. "We were looking for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida's never done here.
"But I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season, and you will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless."
With that last sentence, Tebow slammed his fist on the podium for emphasis and walked out of the conference room.
On the final play, Phillips would have had to kick a 49-yard field goal if the Gators chose to go that route.
In the locker room after the game, cornerback Joe Haden said there was complete silence.
"You could have heard a pin drop," Haden said. "There was nobody talking, nobody saying anything. People were just in their lockers (in) full pads."
The Gators were forced to score late after what looked like a game-tying touchdown run by Percy Harvin went from 7 points to 6. Mississippi's Kentrell Lockett blocked the ensuing extra-point attempt, challenging UF to score with the game on the line for the second time in five minutes.
UF coach Urban Meyer believes Mississippi had players illegally jumping on each other's backs to block Jonathan Phillips' kick.
"It is illegal to hurdle a player to block a field goal," Meyer said. "They did it the whole game. I grabbed the (referee) on my sideline early in the game, I said, 'Listen, they're doing this.'"
Meyer said the referee told him Mississippi found a gap on the blocked kick. Meyer said his team is not supposed to have gaps on extra points.
Mississippi coach Houston Nutt thought otherwise.
"Last Sunday for example, we said, 'Just keep staying in your gap on extra points. You never know when somebody might take a lazy step," Nutt said. "And Kentrell Lockett, boy, what a listener."
The Rebels' game-winning play came on an 86-yard pass from Jevan Snead to Shay Hodge on third and 7 with just over five minutes left. Saturday was Hodge's daughter's birthday.
"The outside dude (Janoris Jenkins) falls off most of the time," Hodge said. "And he fell off, and I knew I was gonna be open. I ain't expect the safety (Major Wright) to misjudge it that bad, but when I seen him misjudge it bad I (took) it to the house."
Hodge burned UF cornerback Janoris Jenkins and safety Major Wright on the play.
It started out as a normal day in the Swamp: The Gators were up by 10 at halftime, Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow were connecting for big yards and the momentum was all in their favor.
Then the fumbles started coming.
Four fumbles in the first 35 minutes - three of them going for turnovers to Mississippi - eventually led to the Gators' downfall.
The Gators fumbled twice in their first three plays of the second half - Harvin and Tebow the guilty parties - resulting in 10 points for the Rebels and a 17-17 tie game.
UF had not given the ball up once all season before Saturday.
"We just preach, 'No turnovers, no turnovers, no turnovers' and take care of the football," offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. "We had five fumbles and lost three of them. That's just sloppy."
Though UF allowed 31 points, 10 of Mississippi's points came on drives that began inside the Gators' 20.
"Our defense did a good job today," Mullen said. "We put them in terrible situations. … We came out on the wrong end because we turned it over, and they didn't."
