ATLANTA - The Southeastern Conference Championship was hyped as an old-school-versus-new-school clash, but in the end, there was only one major difference between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Florida.
Without top playmaker Percy Harvin in the lineup, the Gators' electrifying brand of football disappeared. The Crimson Tide defense's closing speed made misdirection runs, sweeps and option plays largely ineffective.
But UF had a trump card: quarterback Tim Tebow.
"The Chosen One" delivered the performance coach Urban Meyer and Florida fans expected when Tebow first shipped off to Gainesville three years ago, throwing for 216 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-22 passing in the Gators' 31-20 win.
Alabama's John Parker Wilson didn't play poorly, tallying 187 yards on 12-of-25 passing, but his performance wasn't enough to balance out Tebow.
In the fourth quarter, Wilson was sacked twice, completed just one of his four passes and threw an interception on the Crimson Tide's final offensive play, while Tebow led two 60-plus yard touchdown drives to give the Gators the lead and put the game away.
"When the score is 20-17, we didn't finish like we needed to, and they did," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "And [Tebow] made a lot of those plays."
The fourth quarter filled in a few holes on Tebow's resume as a starting quarterback, as he added an SEC title and a come-from-behind win, the latter of which has plagued him since high school.
At St. Augustine Nease High, Tebow's Panthers were on the losing end of close games more often than not, and it was much the same story for the last two seasons at UF.
In losses to Auburn and LSU in 2007, Tebow had late chances to lead the Gators to victory, and another shot at last-minute heroics fell short in September against Ole Miss.
But Tebow wasn't to be denied in the biggest game of his career, turning in a clutch performance.
All three of his touchdown tosses came on third downs, and he converted on all three of his third-down rushing attempts. And when the Gators faced adversity in the fourth quarter for the first time in more than two months, Tebow went to work, completing all five of his passes for 72 yards.
He put the nail in the Crimson Tide's coffin with a 5-yard scoring strike to roommate Riley Cooper with 2:50 remaining.
"That fourth quarter was vintage Tim Tebow," coach Urban Meyer said. "I don't know the entire history of the University of Florida, but I can imagine that drive and that fourth quarter will go down as one of the greatest ever at UF."
In two of the game's key moments, Tebow drew enough attention from the defense to open up lanes for his teammates. When defenders ran to him on a 3rd-and-5, he flipped a shovel pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez for a 6-yard pickup.
Two plays later, Tebow drew the same attention on a run to his left, and when he pitched to running back Jeffery Demps, there was nobody left to keep the speedster from the end zone.
That score was Florida's first of the second half, putting it ahead 24-20. When the Gators got the ball back a few minutes later with their lead intact, words weren't necessary.
"He doesn't have to say anything," receiver David Nelson said. "He has this quiet confidence and this aura about him where you know that he's going to lead you to victory. When he steps in that huddle, everybody respects him and trusts him, so when he looks you in the eye, you know it's time to go to work."
Now Tebow will have a chance to round out his legacy in a likely BCS Championship Game, and there's no reason to think he won't be the difference in that contest as well.
