Tim Tebow, Roman Harper react to lopsided Florida loss to Miami in Week 1
The vibe around Florida football is, undeniably, pretty bad after Week 1. And to get a gist, look no further than one of the program’s most storied alumni: Heisman winner and national champion Tim Tebow.
Joining The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday alongside Roman Harper, Tebow assessed some of what ailed Florida the lopsided opening loss to Miami.
“I think it was really hard. I think it was something that Gator nation was very excited leading into it, there was a lot of build, a lot of momentum. And it got taken away pretty quickly,” Tebow said. “I think it got taken away because they were losing at the line of scrimmage. I thought they lost at the skill position. I thought they lost in scheme and I think there are some areas that just didn’t execute but there were also some areas where I thought they got out-athlete’, out-toughness’d.
“There were some things that you really wanted to see them step up with fight and I’m really hoping that they bounce back Week 2 and more important in Week 3 when Texas A&M comes to town and hoping that we see even more fight from them.”
Save $30 on your first month of Fubo by CLICKING HERE NOW! For a limited time, you can get your first month of Fubo for as low as $49.99. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and 200+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)
Harper concurred, and picked on the seeming lack of effort and strain from Florida players. Not only is it an obvious problem, Harper said, but an easily fixable one.
‘I don’t know if you’re going to be able to change schemes. You’re not going to be able to change players. You can change your effort. The effort was not what it needed to be,” Harper said, pausing for Finebaum to wonder how the effort could lack so badly in Week 1 before continuing. “Well it was almost, ‘We had effort early’ and then all of a sudden then ‘That guy’s going to make it.’ You’re just waiting on that guy to make it, instead of saying ‘No, we’ve all gotta go over there.’ Stop waiting on somebody else to make a play, you gotta do what you gotta do to control what you can.”
Tebow, after praising Miami for coming in firing on all cylinders, seemingly, finished by noting how easily things turned sour for Florida — and how no one seemingly could turn that emotional tide.
“Florida played OK in spurts but as a team, as a unit — offense, defense, special teams — too many mistakes. You can’t hit the quarterback on third down after he’s released it. That could’ve change the game. And now all of a sudden there was nobody that could stop this downhill trajectory, this momentum that was building against them,” Tebow said. “And you wanted someone to step up and make a play and turn the tide and no one really did.