updated 5:01 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Tim Tebow stood at the podium with his arms folded, took several deep breaths and then did something he’s never done before, something he’s never had to do.

He apologized after a football game. For his poor passes. For his costly fumble. For his failed fourth-down run. He took all the blame for this one — even though Jevan Snead and Mississippi deserved plenty of credit.

Snead threw two touchdown passes, ran for another score and led the Rebels to a 31-30 upset of No. 4 Florida on Saturday. It gave coach Houston Nutt a signature win in his fourth game at Ole Miss and put Florida in a hole with several tough Southeastern Conference games remaining.

The Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC) turned the ball over three times, gave up a long pass play late and had some questionable play-calling throughout. But Tebow put it all on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry,” he said. “We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida’s never done here. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this.

“You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season.”

Florida lost four games last season with Tebow as the starter, mostly because of a poor defense. This one was much different.

Tebow fumbled on Florida’s second possession of the third quarter. Snead, the former Florida recruit who backed out of his commitment when he learned the Gators were going after Tebow, dumped a screen pass to Cordera Eason on third-and-10 that went for an 18-yard touchdown. It tied the game at 17.

Tebow was sacked three times, all the result of holding the ball too long in the pocket. He also overthrew four receivers deep, including two on consecutive plays on the final drive.

Maybe even more glaring was his final run.

Trailing 31-30 with about 40 seconds to play and facing fourth down and about 2 feet at the Ole Miss 32, the Gators called on Tebow to pick up the first down. Just about everyone at The Swamp — all 90,106 in attendance — knew Tebow was getting the ball. It was exactly what he wanted, too.

But he got hit in the backfield and never even got back to the line of scrimmage.

“I thought we’d get it,” Tebow said. “I thought I’d will myself to the first down. We just didn’t do it.”

Instead, Snead took a couple of knees, running out the clock and setting off a raucous celebration in and around the small section of Ole Miss fans who made the trip.

“We can build on this,” said Nutt, still drenched from the water bucket dumped on his head.

The Gators could have attempted a 49-yard field goal, which would have won the game, but Meyer opted to keep the ball in the hands of his most trusted player.

It backfired.

Tebow’s eyes were red, his voice crackling at times, and teammates said they had never seen him so emotional after a loss.

“I want it to stay in our hearts and keep hurting,” Tebow said. “This will motivate me personally and I believe everybody else, the coaches and the rest of the players, to never let something like this happen again, especially when we feel we’re better than a team and don’t play up to our ability.”

Tebow was 24-of-38 passing for 319 yards. He ran 15 times for 7 yards and two scores, a far cry from the 166 yards he had on the ground in Oxford last season.

The Rebels (3-2, 1-1) weren’t going to let Tebow beat them. They blitzed on nearly every down and played zone coverage, not allowing anything deep.

MORE FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football Section Front

Get ready for mass exodus Trash Talk: SEC not all it’s cracked up to be Predictions 101: Ohio State to roll, N.D. to win squeaker Opinion: 10 bowl matchups that would be a treat Bowl Projections: Big Ten blows BCS spot CFT: ‘By the numbers’ — McCoy goes for record   Vote: Which is the best conference? Iowa-Ohio St. in-depth video preview, analysis   Rivals.com: Big weekend pays off for Nebraska recruiting Heisman Hopefuls: Ingram leaps to top College football Section Front   Add College football headlines to your news reader: