Tebow excited about final visit
EA SPORTS Elite 11 and Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.) Nease quarterback Tim Tebow has been racking up the frequent flyer mileage as of late, and the 6-foot-3, 225-pound five-star recruit will take his final official visit this weekend to Southern California, wrapping up what has been a whirlwind month of November.
In addition to visiting LSU, Michigan and Florida officially over the past month and this weekend's planned visit to see USC as the Trojans host cross town rival UCLA, Tebow is also in the middle of Nease's deepest playoff run ever, as the Panthers have advanced to the Class 4A semifinals in Florida.
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"We play Pensacola Pace this Friday night, they're 13-0 and look pretty tough," said Tebow of this weekend's opponent.
Tebow has rebounded from a high ankle sprain suffered in the season's eighth game and led the Panthers past a tough New Smyrna Beach squad in a second round game two weeks ago, rushing for over 100 yards and two scores in a tight 24-17 win.
Last week Nease and Tebow found the going a tad easier in a 57-21 win over Eastside, as the lefty threw for a season-high 420 yards and two scores while adding two TDs on the ground.
"It's pretty exciting around here right now," said Tebow of the deep run into the playoffs. "We get Pace here this weekend and if we can somehow get past them we'll be heading down to Miami for the state title against either Booker T. Washington or Armwood."
While the state playoffs certainly demand a lot of attention and time right now, Tebow also is still dealing with the recruiting process - he'll fly out of Jacksonville with his family early Saturday morning after Friday night's game and visit USC on his fifth and final official visit.
"I'm looking forward to the trip, I've only been out to California for the Elite 11 and never have seen USC, so it will be a new and exciting experience.
"USC has been recruiting me as hard as anyone and I've been hearing a lot from Coach (Pete) Carroll, Coach (Lane) Kiffin and Coach (Steve) Sarkisian pretty equally. All three are great coaches and I enjoy talking to them every week.
"I'm not sure who is going to be hosting me yet but it should be a good time. I'll leave early Saturday morning and then I'll stay until Monday.
"I'm just excited to get out there, how can you not be excited about watching USC play. They're the top team in the nation and I've heard nothing but great things about them."
Last weekend Tebow was in Gainesville for the Florida-Florida State rivalry game. He was hosted by Tate Casey and Todd McCullough.
"Last weekend in Florida was pretty fun, everyone was really pleased with how the game went and they played real well."
Tebow's close friend, athlete Jarred Fayson out of Tampa Hillsborough, committed to Florida over the weekend - will his decision have any impact on Tebow's?
"Jarred has already been talking to me about Florida and we'd like to play together, but ultimately I have to make my own decision for myself.
"Right now I still don't have a favorite, we're just trying to see every option and then hope to figure it all out soon."
Tebow has set a date of December 14th for when he'd like to announce his decision and still hopes to make that date work.
So far this year, Tebow has completed 189 of 295 passes for 2,847 yards with 26 touchdown passes and just three interceptions while playing in 11 of Nease's 13 games.
He has also rushed 138 times for 886 yards and 17 scores on the ground and now owns the career records in Florida for both passing yardage and total offensive yards.
Following the season, Tebow will participate in two prestigious all-star games, the CaliFlorida Bowl on December 31st and then the Army All-American Game on January 7th.
USCFootball.com will update you on Tim Tebow's visit to Los Angeles next week.