Tim Tebow on Florida matchup with Tennessee: 'It's not a bad thing to be an underdog'

Florida is definitely the underdog hosting Tennessee but Tim Tebow doesn’t see that as a bad thing necessarily. The Volunteers opened as an 8.5 point favorite on the road.

In fact, Tebow saw some positives from the Gators despite the 1-1 start and disappointing loss to Utah to open the year. Basically, it comes down to execution on the little things.

In an exclusive conversation with On3, Tebow evaluated his alma mater’s chances against one of its biggest rivals.

“Yeah, I think sometimes when you’re in a place like that, it’s not a bad thing to be an underdog, right,” Tebow said. “Because it can rally you together. And I think that Florida needs to rally but I also think that they need to focus on execution. One of the things that I loved in the Utah game by Florida is I loved their fight, even when it didn’t go well.

“Their guys continued to compete and fight. I didn’t love the execution. I mean, obviously, everybody talked about the two No. 3’s on the fourth down, on the field like yeah, you can get that cleaned up. But you know, just the false starts and the little things like that I think you can get cleaned up.”

One of those bright spots? Tebow pointed out quarterback Graham Mertz, who ironically shares the same No. 15 jersey.

“But one of the reasons for hope, I think, is you look at Graham Mertz and there were a couple of plays, even his interception against Utah, to Ricky Pearsall, that was a miscommunication that he put right on the dot,” Tebow said. “He thought Ricky was doing a zoom turn and Ricky did a man turn and it’s a little bit different and a hit off him and it’s an interception. And so there’s a few things that I think get cleaned up, Florida could look a lot different.”

Don’t immediately write off Florida due to the spread or Tennessee’s prowess coming into the season. That’s why, like Tebow said, you have to play the game on the field.

“Sometimes perception can be a little bit harsher than reality,” Tebow said. “And I think if you’re a Florida fan, and you really sit back and look at that film, after the first few plays and it didn’t go well, they really kind of regrouped and played a lot better throughout the game. But you know, you’re going to have to execute a lot better, at a lot higher level to be able to beat Tennessee. 

“But Tennessee also didn’t execute super well last week. That’s a team that is so talented, and I really like a lot of what they have to offer, except I do think they’re trying to figure out a few things as well.”

Tim Tebow is working with the 22 student-athletes named to the AFCA Good Works Team and have changed lives by mentoring youth, feeding the hungry and donating their earnings. Some even established their own nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations – all while achieving high academic honors. The final team was selected out of 136 student-athletes who were nominated from across the county. Fans will be able to vote for the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team captain through Nov. 22.