ATLANTA - If the player with the best statistics wins the Heisman Trophy, it won't be Tim Tebow.
However, if the player who has made the biggest impact on his team wins the award, then you may see Tebow become only the second player ever to win the Heisman in back-to-back years.
At least according to his teammates and coach.
"He's not just the leader on the offense," cornerback Joe Haden said. "He's the leader on the defense, too. And the leader kickoff team. You see us in the huddle, you're going to see Tebow coming in. It's not even in the stat sheet, it's just him being around, his love for the game."
Tebow has 40 touchdowns on the year, well below last season's absurd mark of 55, a season in which he didn't have the Southeastern Conference Championship game to boost his numbers.
However, when Tebow went in front of multiple cameras on Sept. 27 after the 31-30 loss to Mississippi and proclaimed nobody would work harder for the rest of the season, he sent a message. Not only will he outwork everyone else, but he'll also make sure his teammates do.
"I've never had one like this," UF coach Urban Meyer said, "and I've been around this game a long time. But Tim has got-there's a special something inside of him, and I'm not talking about throwing. I'm not talking about running. I'm talking about the ability to make the level of play everyone else around him better."
Out of everyone on UF's roster, only Tebow can vote for himself. He admitted earlier in the week that it would be "cocky" to vote for himself, but that's something his teammates are hoping he does.
"If I have a vote, I vote for Tim Tebow," senior receiver Louis Murphy said. "That's my quarterback, I love him to death. I'd do anything for him."
And if the voters are looking for a signature Heisman moment, his coach thinks it happened in the fourth quarter when Tebow drove his team down the field twice for touchdowns. The Gators started the final 15 minute period down 20-17.
"I don't know the entire history of the University of Florida," Meyer said, "but I can imagine that drive and that fourth quarter will go down as one of the greatest ever at University of Florida."
If he wins another Heisman, he'll go down as one of the greatest college football players ever, too.
"Our team without Tebow - we really don't have too much going for us," Haden said. "I'm not going to be a voter, but he's definitely my top."
He's even got the vote from someone who many thought would be a big part of the competition for this year's Heisman.
"He's got my vote every day," Percy Harvin said.
