Florida quarterback Tim Tebow shows off the Heisman Trophy. Tebow won the award Saturday in New York.

New York ? In a season in which the uncommon became commonplace and each week offered the elimination of another previously held truism regarding college football, one more never-going-to-happen event took place Saturday night at the 73rd Heisman Trophy Award ceremony.

A sophomore took home the sport’s most celebrated honor for the first time.

Florida’s Tim Tebow, who himself expunged some previously held notions about a quarterback being able to run and pass with equal efficiency, won with 1,957 points (462-first-place votes), becoming the first Gator to take the award since Danny Wuerffel in 1996. Darren McFadden, the Arkansas running back who was the runner-up to Ohio State’s Troy Smith last season, finished second with 1,703 points (291 first-place votes).

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was third with 632 points and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was next with 425.

“There’s a lot of great players that had great seasons as freshmen and sophomores and didn’t win,” Tebow said. “It’s an honor to accomplish that.”

He accomplished it during a Heisman campaign that in many ways reflected college football’s regular season that started with I-AA Appalachian State upsetting then-No. 5 Michigan and ended with a team from Honolulu making it to a BCS Bowl.

Just as no team could latch onto and hold the No. 1 or 2 ranking, no Heisman candidate successfully separated himself from the field the way Smith did last season or USC’s Reggie Bush did in 2005. And as early-season favorites like Michigan’s Mike Hart, Rutgers’ Ray Rice or Boston College’s Matt Ryan fell off the radar, Tebow’s numbers couldn’t be ignored, sophomore or not.

Tebow helped lead Florida to last year’s national title, sharing time with but mostly playing behind starter Chris Leak. In his first full year as a starter, Florida went 9-3, landing in the Capital One Bowl Jan. 1 against Michigan. But the 235-pound quarterback earned almost cultlike status in Gainesville, playing at times more like a running back, the perfect fit many envisioned coming out of high school for Florida’s spread offense.

Tebow threw for 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He also rushed for 838 yards and an SEC-record 22 touchdowns, which gave him an NCAA-record 51 total touchdowns. He was the first player in NCAA history to pass and throw for 20 or more touchdowns.

“Fifty-one touchdowns in a season is unbelievable,” said Daniel, who ranked fifth in the NCAA this season in passing yards (4,170) and fifth in touchdown passes (33). “He deserved it. Everyone knew it was going to him.”

Even Brennan, the NCAA career record holder for TD passes (131) who averaged 379.5 yards per game in leading Hawaii to a 12-0 record and a spot in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 against Georgia, shook his head at Tebow’s numbers. “He had an unbelievable season,” Brennan said. “I really think he deserved it.”

Though Brennan’s coach, June Jones, hinted he did not, causing a stir last week in saying Tebow’s numbers were the product of the “system” in which he played. Florida coach Urban Meyer bristled. “Personnel is all that matters and Tim Tebow can run any offense,” Meyer said. “That’s one coach’s opinion. This was a great player making great plays.”

Tebow said he didn’t seriously consider his Heisman chances until the Gators’ third-to-last game against South Carolina, a 51-31 victory in which Tebow passed for 304 yards and ran for 120. He passed for two TDs and added two on the ground.

“After that is when I really thought I might have a chance,” Tebow said.

Now that he has broken the Heisman sophomore jinx, the question becomes if Tebow can equal the two Heismans won by Archie Griffin or, gulp, can he surpass the Buckeye great by winning three?

Tebow laughed at the suggestion. He’s happy with one. “It’s surreal, I don’t know what it means right now,” Tebow said. “Knowing that forever, the rest of my life, I’ll be known as a Heisman Trophy winner … it’s overwhelming.”