It's impossible to know how serious Tim Tebow's head injury is and whether it will keep him from playing for the Gators at LSU in two weeks or for a longer period of time. Some of those answers will not come until tomorrow, and even then it might not entirely be clear when the front-runner for best college football player ever will again take the field.
But there are a few questions beyond Tebow's status that will also have to be asked. First, why was the 2007 Heism@n Trophy Winner even playing in the second half of a game that was over by the time the first quarter ended? Tebow was already reportedly ill, and his backup John Brantley showed again Saturday that he is a more than capable replacement.
Second, just how badly would Florida's season be affected if Tebow is down for a substantial period of time? After all, there's a difference between leading drives against season-opening cupcakes and during prolonged mop-up duty against Kentucky and going to Baton Rouge for a critical conference showdown. It's not that we know that Brantley won't be able to handle that attention; it's just that we don't know that he can.
In the SEC, one drive can be the difference between a championship season and a berth in the Capital One Bowl. Tebow being absent for any extended period of time would mean Brantley would have to come up with that crucial drive at athe moment when a season hangs in the balance. We know Tebow excels in those situations; does Bradley?
Of course, the key concern we should have as fans of the game and as human beings is for Tim Tebow and his health. But once we know everything we can about that, there will still be plenty of questions left to be answered.