Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow runs with the ball against LSU on Saturday night.

Tebow was cleared to play before he arrived at Tiger Stadium and anybody who watched him warmup, darting around the field and firing passes, could tell he was going to play.

With his parents in the stands, Tebow led the Gators out for their first possession. Florida was pinned at its own 7, and the crowd — almost all of it decked out in gold — blared.

Tebow’s first play was a simple handoff and he didn’t need to do much more than that to lead the Gators to a 28-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis, and a 3-0 lead.

Sturgis added a 32-yarder in the fourth quarter and also missed a 20-yarder in the third.

If there was any possible sign that Florida might be protecting Tebow, it came on a fourth-and-2 play at the LSU 29 in the second quarter. The 245-pound Tebow is Florida’s short-yardage specialist, but instead of having him bull into the line of scrimmage, he took a jab step forward then tossed to Brandon James on an end around that was stopped for a loss.

Was Meyer trying to keep Tebow under wraps?

“We were somewhat conservative,” Meyer said. “Somewhat.”

He could be because his defense was playing great.

“We knew Tim would suit up but we didn’t know if he would play, but we didn’t care,” safety Will Hill said. “The defense knew what we had to do to come out and win this game.”

Tebow gave the offense a jolt with his scramble in the second quarter and then provided some power later in the drive when he stormed up the middle on an option keeper to covert a third-and-3.

On the next play, Tebow looked left, then fired a pass down the right side to Riley Cooper in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. Tebow clapped his hands and jumped into the arms of a teammate to celebrate Florida taking a 10-3 lead with 50 seconds left in the half.

All was well with Tebow and for the Gators.

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