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BCS National Championship: Second National Championship for Gators as Florida Chomps Ohio State Buckeyes 41-14.
It was looking pretty good for the Ohio State Buckeyes, at least for the opening seconds of the first quarter. Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93-yards and it appeared as if the Buckeyes were on their way to a national championship. Unfortunately for them the Florida Gators were able to put the opening miscue behind them and rolled through the first half.
On their opening drive Chris Leak drove the Gators down the field on a series of short passes and found Dallas Baker on a 14-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.
When Florida’s defense was finally able to make it to the field they made a point of not staying long. They held Ohio State to a three and out and provided Leak and the Florida offense excellent field position, aided by a 15-yard personal foul. Starting their drive on the Ohio State 34-yard line the Gators marched down the field and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run from Percy Harvin to take the lead 14-7
Ohio State tried to get back on track but the Florida defense was determined to send the highly touted Buckeye offense back off the field. The Buckeyes were able to manage a first down but on their second set of downs Ohio State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was picked off by Florida’s Reggie Lewis.
Florida came out for their third offensive possession determined to break the Ohio State spirit. With a mixture of Leak’s arm and a quartet of runners the Gators did just that. Florida capped their 10 play 71-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from DeShawn Wynn to push their lead to 21-7 in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
Sensing the game may be slipping away, Troy Smith regained his composure and the Ohio State offensive line provided enough protection to lead the Buckeyes on a 4 play 65-yard drive finished by Antonio Pittman’s 18-yard touchdown run.
It appeared as if the drive rejuvenated the Buckeyes and their defense was able to stop the Gators for the first time all night and force a punt. With the offense back on the field Ohio State had an opportunity to neutralize the scoreboard but Smith threw three consecutive incomplete passes to Brian Robiskie and the Buckeyes were forced to punt.
Florida’s next two possessions produced a pair of field goals and their 27-14 lead appeared cemented with the first half coming to a close. Instead, with 1:28 remaining in the second quarter and starting from their own 20-yard line the Buckeyes decided to push down field. On the first play Derrick Harvey got into the backfield and forced a Smith fumble. Harvey recovered the ball on the Buckeyes 5 with just over a minute remaining in the quarter. With :27 seconds remaining and facing a third and goal the Gators surprised the Buckeyes defense with a 1-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Tim Tebow to Andre Caldwell. The touchdown gave the Gators a 34-14 lead at the half.
Trailing by 20 points heading into the second half Ohio State stood little chance against the Gators defense that held them to just 65 total yards in the first two quarters. The same defense that held Troy Smith to 25-yards passing would now have the advantage of knowing that Ohio State would have to go with an air attack to get back in the game.
After Florida punted on their opening drive of the second half Ohio State took over on the Gators 46-yard line but could only move backwards. Antonio Pittman was pushed back 4-yards for a loss on first down and on third down Smith was sacked for the fourth time in the game.
Neither team was able to put any points on the board in the third quarter as Troy Smith continued to struggle with the Gators defense.
The fourth quarter was more of the same for the Buckeyes. On the second play of the quarter Smith was sacked for the fifth time and Ohio State was forced to punt.
The Gators tacked on another touchdown after using 8 plays to drive 39-yards. Tim Tebow finished the drive with a 1-yard run and completed the Gators stomping 41-14.
Florida managed to rack up 372 yards of total offense while their defense held Ohio State to just 82 yards. Florida dominated every facet of the game- 213 yards passing compared to 35 for OSU, 159 yards rushing to 47 yards and they dominate the clock with a 20 minute advantage in time of possession.
Urban Meyer joins Steve Spurrier as the only Florida coach to lead the Gators to a national championship. Spurrier was the head coach when Florida won it all in 1996.
The victory marked the first time a school has ever won the national championship in football while the school was the defending the national champions in basketball.
