Florida Gators' Tim Tebow seeks to end senior quarterback jinx

When Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes debated returning for their senior season, a desire to win three national championships in four seasons led them back. But if history is any indication, consecutive BCS titles won't be easy for the Gators. And Tebow is trying to buck a recent trend that has haunted senior quarterbacks. In the BCS era (since 1998), no quarterback who won the national title as a junior has repeated. Southern Cal's Matt Leinart (2005), Ohio State's Craig Krenzel (2003), Miami's Ken Dorsey (2002) and Florida State's Chris Weinke (2000) failed in their attempts. Weinke, Dorsey and Leinart reached the title game but lost. None led his team to an undefeated season. Leinart came closest, leading the Trojans to a 12-0 regular season before losing 41-38 to Texas in the title game.

Make no mistake, the target is on the Gators' back. They know it. And so does everyone else.

"They are going to be judged by this: They have to at least win the SEC Championship Game and get to the national championship," CBS analyst Gary Danielson said. "No matter what they do, if they don't win it all, it's going to be a disappointing season. And that's tough to do. You've got to win every game to guarantee a spot in it."

In case you're wondering, Nebraska's Tommie Frazier was the last quarterback to win the national championship as a junior and senior. In his senior season, 1995, he led the Huskers to a 62-24 win over Florida.

In search of … a victory

When Florida and Charleston Southern meet on Sept. 5, no one on Florida Field will be more excited about a victory than quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler, top, and tight ends coach Brian White.

Loeffler and White were assistants on teams that went winless last season, Loeffler as quarterbacks coach for the NFL's Lions, White as special teams coach for Washington.

If the Gators win, Loeffler will have gone 614 days between victories, White 686. Loeffler's last win was 41-35 over Florida in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1, 2008, as quarterbacks coach at Michigan. White's was 20-12 over Buffalo on Oct. 20, 2007, as Syracuse's quarterbacks coach.

An expensive cupcake

Look around the Internet and preseason magazines, and you'll find all kinds of criticism of Florida's nonconference schedule, which includes I-AA Charleston Southern and the Sun Belt's Troy and Florida International. In these economic times, cupcakes don't come cheap. Charleston Southern is guaranteed $450,000.

In his team's defense, coach Urban Meyer said the Gators tried to replace Charleston Southern with a home game against his former team, Utah. But Meyer said the schools and ESPN couldn't get the deal worked out. And while he wasn't a major player in the discussion, he was in favor of it: "I said, 'Sure, let's go do it.' "

Antonya English, Times staff writer