NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Tim Tebow closed out his college career with a dominating performance Friday that sent Florida romping to a 51-24 win over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl.
Tebow, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, accounted for 535 yards -- 484 of them through the air on 31 completions in 35 attempts. He threw for three touchdowns and gave Coach Urban Meyer a victory as he headed off for a leave of absence.
Meyer recently announced his resignation as Florida coach, citing health reasons, and then said he would merely step down for an undisclosed period of time.
No. 4 Cincinnati, playing in a BCS bowl for the second straight year, saw its hopes for an unbeaten season dashed when the fifth-ranked Gators raced to a 23-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Florida outgained Cincinnati 662 yards to 255.
The Bearcats were coached by assistant Jeff Quinn, who was left in charge for the bowl game when Brian Kelly was hired away by Notre Dame.
Both the Gators and Bearcats ended their campaigns at 12-1, Florida having fallen to Alabama in the SEC championship game. Texas, Alabama, TCU and Boise State are the only unbeaten teams remaining. Texas and Alabama will play next week for the national title and TCU will meet Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Tebow opened the scoring with a 7-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez, hit Deonte Thompson with a 7-yarder in the second period and uncorked an 80-yard toss to Riley Cooper with 3:02 left in the first half.
Tebow also ran 4 yards for a touchdown in the third period to give the Gators a 44-10 lead.
Cincinnati's Tony Pike threw for three touchdowns, but completed only 170 yards worth of passes in 45 attempts.
