Tim Tebow Named SEC Offensive Player of the Year; SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 | Football
University of Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) was honored Wednesday as the 2009 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, as well as the 2009 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, by vote of the league's head coaches.
The two accolades mark the second-consecutive season Tebow has been honored with both Southeastern Conference awards. The senior has eclipsed four NCAA records, 13 SEC records and 26 University of Florida records during his tenure donning the Orange and Blue.
With the honor, Tebow joins former Gator quarterbacks Shane Matthews (1990-91) and Danny Wuerffel (1995-96) as back-to-back winners of the SEC Offensive Player of the Year award.
The 2009 first-team All-SEC quarterback from the Associated Press and SEC, Tebow leads the SEC in completion percentage (65.2), is second in passing efficiency (155.6), lowest interception percentage (1.8) and rushing touchdowns (13) in the league. He is the only player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a season, with 32 passing and 23 rushing scores in 2007, and ranks first in the SEC's record book for the most career rushing touchdowns.
Tebow led the 2009 Gators to a 12-0 regular-season record, the first time in UF history the Gators have accomplished the feat. The last time UF went 12-0 was the 1995 season, when the undefeated record included the SEC Championship Game. Twelve times in his career at UF, Tebow has thrown for and rushed for at least two touchdowns.
Under the quarterback's watch, Florida went on a NCAA-leading and school-record 22-game win streak beginning Oct. 4, 2008, versus Arkansas, and ending Dec. 5 in the 2009 SEC Championship Game.
Tebow has been a part of three SEC Eastern Division Titles, two Florida National Championship Titles and will play in his third BCS Bowl Game Jan. 1, 2010, when the fifth-ranked Orange and Blue take on No. 3 Cincinnati in the 2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, La.
2009 Southeastern Conference Awards
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tim Tebow, Florida
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rolando McClain, Alabama
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Javier Arenas, Alabama
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Warren Norman, Vanderbilt
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Tim Tebow, Florida
JACOBS BLOCKING TROPHY
Ciron Black, LSU
COACH OF THE YEAR
Nick Saban, Alabama
-UF-
