LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tebow back to pass, hit, dropped for loss of 3. Tackled by Wyndham.
Describing the play that knocked UF quarterback Tim Tebow out of Saturday's game against Kentucky in football terms is no more effective than that simple 13-word blurb from the final postgame notes.
Sure backup quarterback John Brantley was thrust into action and might be a crucial part of the Gators' title defense if Tebow is out for any significant amount of time - he returned to Gainesville on Sunday diagnosed with a concussion - but for the three minutes the UF senior, brother, son and devout Christian was on the ground at the Kentucky 14-yard line, the game of football mattered little.
"He's like my son. Imagine your son laying on the ground," UF coach Urban Meyer said after the game. "My knees were shaking. I thought, 'My goodness.'"
UK backup defensive end Taylor Wyndham made exactly one tackle in the 41-7 blowout. He came off the edge of the left side of UF's offensive line, ran free at the quarterback after left tackle Matt Patchan blocked down on the play and hit Tebow flush without the lefty ever seeing him coming.
Tebow's gaze was turned downfield as he stood planted in the pocket, and as he fell backward, his head slammed into the knee of right tackle Marcus Gilbert, snapping his neck forward and leaving him motionless on his back.
"It was just a normal hit. I didn't really think that much about it," Wyndham said. "He is a big guy. I just thought that it was a normal play and a normal hit and everything."
Wyndham popped up and began to celebrate with teammates after sacking the Heisman Trophy winner for a big third-down stop.
The crowd erupted and the ball laid on the ground as motionless as Tebow, whose arms bent at his sides in a position known as "fencing" - a clear sign of a concussion.
Multiple UF linemen tried to help up their fallen quarterback to no avail, as the dead weight clearly signified that the previously indestructible superhero was now reduced to a mere mortal like everyone else.
Both teams crept onto the field to see what was wrong and show support as the training staff examined Tebow. Meyer held his hand and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio stood over him, bewildered.
"I ain't seen Timmy lay on his back since he's been at Florida," offensive guard Mike Pouncey said.
The same player who took on Eric Berry headfirst on a scramble in The Swamp only a week ago was seriously hurt from standing in the pocket and taking a sack.
The previously raucous road crowd went from excited to worried, just as The Gator Nation must have from 700 miles away.
Chants of "Tee-Bow! Tee-Bow!" swept through the stadium as Kentucky fans and Gators fans meshed together as college football fans trying to revive the player who has come to be the face of the sport for more than two years now.
"Anytime you see a player like that, it's the worst part of this game," Addazio said.
After what seemed like an eternity, the trainers helped him walk off the field under his own power and examined him on the training table, shining light into his eyes while testing his memory.
Tebow was then carted into the locker room while he threw up into a red plastic bag with a towel draped over his head.
"It was shocking to me because I've never really seen him like that," redshirt senior linebacker Ryan Stamper said. "I didn't really know the issue with him. I was just praying to God it wasn't a neck issue. When I just heard their fans cheering, I didn't know what they were cheering for. They were probably just cheering because it was a good play, but I don't know if they were cheering because it was a good play or because he got hurt. I don't think it was because he got hurt, but that's kind of how you take it when he's on the field."
The game continued with Tebow off the field, but Addazio admitted the offense moved along conservatively in an effort to end the game as soon as possible.
Meyer stayed overnight in Lexington with his quarterback, while the rest of the team flew back to Gainesville immediately following the victory.
Just as he was unable to fly back with his teammates, Tebow was unable to fly to Lexington with his teammates Friday.
Tebow was one of 12 sick players, including Major Wright, Joe Haden and Riley Cooper, who flew on a separate plane from the rest of the team.
Each of those four took two bags of IV fluid before the start of the game, and Meyer said he was close to not letting Tebow play at all due to illness.
"Tim, you'd have to shoot him to hold him out," Meyer said. "He's going to play."
The two-time national champion showed no signs of being slowed down by sickness and ran the ball better than he had all season.
Tebow rushed 16 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns and added 103 yards and one touchdown through the air.
On the legs of their team leader, the Gators scored 31 points in the first quarter, the highest total ever in the opening 15 minutes by a Meyer-coached team.
But when players, coaches, media and fans look back on this game weeks, months or years from now, the statistics will be nothing more than a footnote.
"Of course you want to remember both, but you'll never forget the moment that happened out there with Tim Tebow," Stamper said. "You'll never forget that."
