GAINESVILLE -- His eyes were shut tight. His hand was clutching his teammate. Inside, Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow was praying. Outside, he was too scared to watch. Tebow probably wasn't alone.

An announced attendance of 90,508 inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday stood in relative silence with an agonizingly few seconds left on the scoreboard. This was it. After four quarters of frustration and joy and fumbles, this was it. The goal of an undefeated season -- and maybe even a trip to the national championship -- rested on Florida kicker Caleb Sturgis' right foot with nine seconds left in the game. The sophomore from St. Augustine nailed it, a 27-yard field goal, down the middle for a 23-20 victory against Arkansas. For the record, Tebow had his eyes closed. He never saw it. He didn't need to. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium erupted so loud, the echoes might have carried all the way to Miami.

Sturgis' field goal -- his third of the game -- gave No. 1 Florida the victory in an exciting homecoming game that started out terribly but ended with a celebration at midfield.

``Once I heard everyone cheering and I opened my eyes, it was really fun,'' Tebow said.

Jermaine Cunningham slammed into Arkansas receiver Jarius Wright on the final play of the game -- a series of last-ditch laterals -- to kill off the pesky Hogs. Within moments, the Gators (6-0, 4-0 SEC) were celebrating as if they had won the national championship.

`AWESOME EXPERIENCE'

``I grew up a Gator fan since I can remember, so that was a pretty awesome experience,'' said Sturgis, who kicked field goals of 30, 51 and 27 yards. He missed his first attempt of the game -- a 37-yarder.

Saturday's game might have had a dream-like ending, but it began like a nightmare against Arkansas (3-3, 1-3 SEC), a 25-point underdog. Florida gave away four fumbles -- three in the first half. At times, it was ugly, but when it mattered, the Gators performed brilliantly.

With 3:08 left in the game and the score tied at 20, Tebow pulled together his offense and offered some much-needed words of encouragement. With a pair of lead-changes in the second half and facing a tie score the Gators had run themselves and their stadium through an emotional tidal wave. According to UF receiver Riley Cooper, Tebow readied his teammates for the final push: ``There's no doubt about it,'' Tebow said inside the huddle, ``we're going to drive down there and win the game. I'm not going to let this happen.''

He didn't. Tebow was 2 of 4 and rushed for 17 yards on five carries to get Florida into field-goal range. Believe it or not, Florida's final drive was the first of its kind in Tebow's career. Before Saturday, he had never mounted a game-winning drive with less than five minutes remaining.

Tebow's 12-yard pass to Cooper on third-and-10 from the Arkansas 40 was the play of the game. It came with 1:07 left. Cooper slipped on the route but found his feet in enough time to cradle the perfectly thrown ball into his chest.

``Tebow put it right where it needed to be,'' said Cooper, who finished with six receptions for 58 yards and redeemed himself for two drops in the first half -- one was a sure touchdown.

SLOPPY FIRST HALF

Cooper's drops were just two of many mistakes during a first half that UF coach Urban Meyer called one of the worst 30 minutes in the history of Florida football. Florida fumbled three times on the short side of the field and twice lost the ball in the red zone. At halftime, it trailed 10-3 and had gained 129 yards of offense.

The Gators finished with 391 yards of offense. Tight end Aaron Hernandez led UF in receiving (seven receptions, 92 yards) and Tebow led the Gators in rushing (69 yards on 27 carries). Tebow was 17 of 26 for 255 yards and a touchdown -- a 77-yard score to Deonte Thompson in the third quarter to give UF a 13-10 lead.

DAMAGE CONTROL

Had it not been for Florida's defense, which mitigated the potential damage inflicted by its own offense, UF could have been facing a much larger halftime deficit. Florida's four turnovers only led to one Arkansas touchdown, which gave the Hogs a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

Florida's defense, which was without linebacker Brandon Spikes (groin) for much of the game, allowed 357 yards to the top-ranked offense in the SEC. Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett was 12 of 27 for 224 yards and one touchdown. Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson rushed for 107 yards on 14 carries.

``I'm just a little disappointed with the turnovers,'' UF linebacker Ryan Stamper said. ``Four fumbles, and especially when they're on our side of the ball going in, that could break a defense down, but I think we held our own tonight.''

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