The Florida Gators beat the Ohio Buckeyes’ backsides about as thoroughly as a thing like that can happen in public in Monday’s national championship game in a lively BCS Championship Game lively played and lively presented.
Gators receiver Dallas Baker said his guys had a chip on their shoulder. Sure they needed to whoop up on the Buckeyes, proud carriers of the Big Ten, Big Man Conference.
The final, of a game that wouldn’t end, was 41-14, and could have been 100-14. The Gators let up late in the third period on a team that was clearly outclassed. The Gators won completely, in every part of the game — most notably, toughness, muscle, once thought to be properties of the Big Ten.
Not so fast, my friend, as announcer Lee Corso would say. Got to remember while Ohio State went wire-to-wire undefeated, the Buckeyes schedule turned out to be far easier than that of Florida. Florida’s only loss was at Auburn on a blocked kick. Florida beat Louisiana State, maybe the nation’s best at the end.
The Gators trailed in this one, as they did in most, but down 7-0 the Gators went on an effortless, perfect drive behind quarterback Chris Leak, who threw a 14-yard pass for the tying TD at 7-7 and that was that.
Through the early going when the Gators took charge, the game calling was near perfect on offense and defense. The shotgun offense was utilized prior to the game to give Leak, who is no Michael Vick, time to move around a bit. It also gave quarterback Tim Tebow a running start at, or around the line, with his big body. I had forgotten Tebow was left-handed, until the late fourth when he ran an option left, then suddenly, cocked his left arm on the run and flipped a fine TD pass. Tebow is only 18. Imagine. He’ll return as the first QB on the 2007 depth chart. He’s just dandy.
Thom Brennaman, ABC announcer, asked a good question when he wondered if anyone on the broadcasts staff or ‘’out there’’ saw this coming, this blowout. Most of the announcers in all circumstances picked Ohio State. Many who favored Florida were fearful of being terribly wrong. Baker and Gators coach Urban Meyer said the Gators were maligned by the fans and media and the Gators were used it. They showed not one bit of apprehension, those Gators in the game, that they held any fear of the Buckeyes. Florida was better, cocksure, faster and bigger. Buckeye Troy Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner, and a popular kid, praised Florida. He didn’t have a chance. He completed about the same number of passes as he was sacked by these big, quick Gators.
Everybody wanted to take the blame — Smith, and particularly OSU coach Jim Tressel. The team certainly didn’t have the bulk of the great defensive and plodding teams of Woody Hayes and Earle Bruce. He will also be pounded in the demanding Buckeye media for failed fourth-quarter efforts to make first downs.
Why, in this very nearly perfect football game for Florida, even field-goal kicker Chris Hetland was perfect — two of two FGs from 42 ad 40, both badly needed at the time for morale and better still, to boost leads. Only the now-and-then effective kickoffs of Florida can be unworthy of the rest of this fine team.
Smith said it was all his fault. Not so. Partly, but not all. The big and quick Florida defense, up front at linebacker in the secondary, was clearly the best he had faced, he said. Looked like it was. Leak, through this final game, has lauded his defense, and should have.
This a Gator team is to be judged one of the best ever, just right for the national championship winner with a knockout of Ohio State and this brilliant record. Appropriate for being the team of the 100th year of UF, just right as another reward for this bulging and growing Gator Nation.
When Florida was the national champ for Coach Steve Spurrier and quarterback Danny Wuerffel with a solid victory over Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, the wonderful, former Gator banquet circuit rider, Red Mitchum, said, ‘’now I can sing my song again with more meaning, ‘We Are the Boys ... from Old Florida ...’ and he sang it with full meaning.
Then later, big Gator trial lawyer, Manny Garcia, who drove to all games in a Lincoln Convertible, with a federal judge, said: ‘’And I can take the newspapers’ sports sections and go out to Myrtle Hill Cemetery and read the glowing accounts of the great win to our Gators of the past there, now — like Mayor Julian Lane, Sam Davis, Jim Kynes, you know them all.’’
Their days in Orange and Blue were valiant and gallant, but, well, not quite up to the championship play of these teams of 1996 and 2006 that won the big cup, though surely as tough.
Raheem Morris is coming back to the Bucs after being the Kansas State defensive coordinator for a year. I’m not sure what Jon Gruden had to say to lure Morris away from all the… umm… wait, what does Kansas have? Wheat? Anyway, whatever it was, it worked.
Remember how Tampa Bay had the #6 passing defense in 2005 and how they dropped to #19 in 2006? And how much of the blame rested with the safeties? Well, Morris will be cleaning up the mess that Greg Burns created by replacing him as the Bucs’ defensive backs coach. The Bucs never struggled making big plays in the secondary until this year when Burns’s lack of anything resembling a personality translated into less urgency on the field. Ronde Barber played well. Everyone else was inconsistent at best. Look for Morris to coach these guys (and possibly a newly drafted safety? Please?) up to a high level in 2007. Great move.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — None of the University of Florida’s draftworthy juniors were ready to reveal their future plans as they celebrated winning the national title late Monday night, but defensive end Jarvis Moss came awfully close.
“It’s really attractive to move on,” Moss said. “I’m glad I was able to perform like this. I just want to sit down with my coaches and pray about it.”
Meanwhile, receiver Andre Caldwell said he has his decision made, but he won’t reveal it until Friday.
“I got [my decision] made, but I’m not going to put it out there right now,” Caldwell said. “I’ll announce it on the 12th. There’s no significance for that date. That’s just when I feel like putting it out there.”
Safety Reggie Nelson, also expected to turn pro, said he still needed time to ponder his choice. Underclassmen have until Monday to enter the draft.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Nelson said. “I’m registered for classes.”
Linebacker Brandon Siler said he would sit down with his family and discuss his decision. Last week, cornerback Ryan Smith also said he would need to consult with his family sometime between the game and Monday’s deadline.
The Gators did get some good news, though. Defensive end Derrick Harvey, named the national title game’s defensive most valuable player after sacking Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith twice and recovering a fumble, said that his breakout game won’t make him examine his options.
“I’m coming back,” Harvey said.
It was a great day for us until around 7:15pm local time. We got up and headed to the South Point Mountain Resort for the Alumni Association Party. We got our tickets right away, and it started to hit us that we were really going to the game. The pregame reception was terrific. There was great food, fun contests and a beautiful setup. We saw two time heisman trophy winner and Alumni CEO Archie Griffin walk in and got a quick picture and autographs. After the program, he stayed until everyone in line got a picture, handshake and autograph.
From there we had a nice bus ride (with a police escort!) to the stadium. A quick walk to “College footballs biggest tailgate” and we were in full pre-game mode. We got our free Tostitos chips and some souveniers. Then we walked over to ESPN’s College Game Day set and joined the cheering madness. It will be fun to go home and check the TiVo to see if we made it on the air. We even watched a free concert by “OK-Go.”
Not may people were near the stage and Jenn said she felt bad for them to be playing to only a handful of people.
From there we headed with the masses around 5pm local time into the stadium. The buckeye fans seemed to really outnumber the gator fans. But once inside it looked more like 65-35 Buckeye fans. The pregame was fun to watch and moved quickly. I’ve come to really enjoy how loud the crowd gets when the band of OSU performs “Script Ohio.”
The first 15 seconds of the game were amazing. Ted Ginn, Jr. returned the kickoff for a touchdown and life was good. From there, it seemed like it was all down hill. We left the game a little early, because Jenn just couldn’t take seeing the Buckeyes play so poorly. She cried the whole way out to the bus and a bit of the way home. Luckily there was some cold beer on hand to help her calm down. The fans on the bus were very subdued, but kept each other’s spirits up. I know Jenn isn’t looking forward to coming back to Florida and hearing about the game.
I’m not sure if my wife will feel like doing anything tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens. From what we heard from fans on the bus, the Buckeye Alumni say they take the highs and the lows together and once a Buckeye always a Buckeye. I hope that helps Jenn and her fellow fans realize what I learned growing up a Red Sox fan in my hometown of Boston, Massachusettes, “there’s always next year.”
GLENDALE, Ariz. – When the University of Florida moved up to No. 2 in the final BCS poll, some critics questioned whether Michigan – and not the Gators – deserved a shot against No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game.
Any questions now?
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Florida’s national championship football team will arrive Tuesday night at the Gainesville airport at 6:15 p.m. On Saturday, a celebration of the Gators’ BCS National Championship will be from noon to 1 p.m. at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. A replay of Monday’s 41-14 victory will be televised on Sun Sports Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m. Sun Sports will replay Fox’s telecast
Gainesville. 12:15 p.m.—University Ave. and 17th St.: Gainesville has officially gone nuts, at least along University Ave. in front of the school. Even before the final whistle, fans were flooding into that four-lane street, which the police had the good foresight to close just before that. And within minutes, the street was completely choked with fans celebrating like everyone had just received their diplomas for free—with Urban Meyer’s signature on it.
They were climbing poles—the ones the cops forgot to grease—and scaling trees. They were lighting fireworks in the middle of the crowd. They were hugging, screaming, chanting Gator fight songs and slogans and spraying whatever carbonated drink they had, usually beer. For some odd reason, someone carried a giant inflated, uh, male organ through the middle of the crowd. Meanwhile, the police helicopter circled overhead and seemingly dozens of uniformed officers tried to keep things under some sort of controlled chaos—which they did a good job of.
They kept all this up for nearly a half hour and then the madness subsided slightly. But they still stood around this intersection of 17th St. and University. A lot of them were on their cell phones calling whoever they could wake up at this hour and held the phone up shouting “Listen to this!” For the most part, it was a well-behaved and mostly inebriated bunch. The only disorderly conduct I saw was a guy tossed out of The Swamp restaurant on to the pavement by a bouncer. He landed at the feet of some Gainesville cops.
Even this guy was pretty laid back about his situation. He got up, brushed himself off and said “All I ask for are two sandals I left in there.” A policeman pointed to one of the sandals in the street and said “There’s one, now go home.”
For most everyone else, there will be no going home anytime soon. And I doubt there will be much going to class on Tuesday.
The game started ominously for Gator fans, but after the opening play Florida showed this one was a mismatch.
The Gators dismantled No. 1 Ohio State, 41-14, winning the school’s second national title in 10 years, as well as adding matching hardware for basketball’s championship from last season.
Submit your thoughts about the game, as well as this magical season for the orange and blue.
Joey (I can call you Joey, right?), after all that smack you and Steve Duemig exchanged over which conference had the better athletes and who would take the National Championship, are you finally ready to give the SEC its due respect? And if you use Ted Ginn, Jr.‘s injury as an excuse, then you’re copping out and not giving Troy Smith and the rest of your team any credit. The Florida defense was dominant, Chris Leak was sharp and mistake-free and Florida controlled the clock. A 27 point differential doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the athletes. After all your arrogance and hubris over the airwaves this season, I think you owe the SEC an apology. And I certainly know you owe a lot of apples around the locker room.
You know the worst part? You made me root for Florida. As a Volunteer, do you know how dirty that makes me feel? I don’t think they make water hot enough for me to feel truly clean again.
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Florida’s Tim Tebow bulls over from a yard out and the rout continues. Florida now leads Ohio State 41-14 with 10:20 remaining and the only suspense is if the Gators will ring up half-a-hundred on the Big Ten champions.
GLENDALE, Ariz. - It certainly wasn’t as exciting for as the first half, but the third quarter had to be just as satisfying for Florida. The Gators are only 15 minutes from winning the BCS national title, just months after winning the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
GLENDALE, Ariz. - While Florida’s offense isn’t enjoying the same success as in the first half, the Gators defense continues to dominate the Buckeyes and quarterback Troy Smith. Ohio State is forced to punt again and Florida is only a little more than 19 minutes from the national title.
GLENDALE, Ariz. - On the first three possessions of the second half, we’ve already had as many punts as there were in the entire first half. Both defenses are playing well early on as the Gators just need to play smart to win the national title. Florida punts for the second time in the third quarter with Ohio State looking to trim the 20-point deficit.
Wyatt Nelson is starting to sweat in his booth at Barnacles in Brandon, and it isn’t because of the chicken wings. It seems the Ohio State fan made a bet with his pals that he would do as many push ups as the score of game if the Gators won. Things weren’t looking good for him at the half.
“Man, that’s 34 push ups so far,” he said. “These Gators have got to stop scoring and my Buckeyes got to come back this half or I’ll be kissing some asphalt.”
But the remaining Ohio State fans haven’t given up. As the second half begins, a small group in the corner of the restaurant chants and cheers, knowing that this game is far from over.
10 p.m. , Gainesvile, University Avenue—I’ve left the O’Connell Center in search of other Gators watching the game and I’ve stumbled upon THE party in Gainesville. It’s outside Matt’s appartment on University Ave. Matt has rigged up a projector to show the game on the side of the wall of his place. He pressure cleaned the wall to make it nice and white and it seems half of the town is here watching Florida pound OSU. They’re also pounding beverages here.
This place is the virtual Ferris Bueller viewing party in town. I’s so cool to be here that several of Gainesville’s finest are just across the street watching the game. The police tell me they will likely shut down this part of University Ave. to traffic if Florida wins. After UF won the national hoops title, they did the same thing to protect revelers from traffic, and vice versa.
A few minutes ago, the party reached a peak when a girl fell off the back of a pick-up truck and fractured her elbow. That required an EMS Fire/Rescue truck. When Florida went up 34-14 just before halftime, the party went nuts and a ot of beverages were spilled. I should probably move along because glass bottles are whizzing over my head and smashing against the wall of Matt’s place.
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