BCS, NCAA Football, NCAA Football Bowl Games NEWS
Tebow, Harvin Lead Gators To BCS Title
Published by MoonDog on January 9, 2009
A few days ago I wrote an article outlining why I knew the Florida Gators would claim their second BCS national championship in three years. I’m not a great sage by any means but if you read the post, you’ll discover every reason I mentioned for why the Gators would win came to fruition.
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In the end, it was a combination of strong defense, effective special teams and a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback leading Florida over Oklahoma 24-14 on Thursday night in the FedEx BCS national championship game in Miami.
Florida’s Tim Tebow amassed 340 all-purpose yards and was unstoppable as he led the Gators’ on an 11-play, 76-yard drive in the fourth quarter that ended with a 4-yard pass to Dave Nelson to put Florida up for good, 24-14 with 3:07 left in the game.
The Gators defense stepped up the pressure in the second half and limited the high-powered Sooner offense to a season-low 14 points. Oklahoma had two opportunities to take the lead in the first half, driving deep into Florida territory, but failed to score on either possession.
After Tebow’s second interception, Florida’s defense held Oklahoma on three plays inside the Gators’ 10, including twice at the 1-yard line. On fourth-and-goal at the 1, Sooners’ running back Chris Brown was dropped for a 2-yard loss by Gators’ defensive tackle Torrey Davis.
Florida also put their exceptional special teams play to its advantage in the third quarter when the Gators blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt by the Sooners’ Jimmy Stevens.
Florida’s Tebow and Percy Harvin accounted for virtually all of the Gators 480 yards of total offense, with Tebow completing 18-of-30 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner also gained 109 yards on 22 carries.
Harvin, playing on a rehabbed ankle from a late-season injury, ran for 122 yards on nine carries and caught five passes for 49 yards, scoring one touchdown in the third quarter to put Florida up 14-7.
Oklahoma gained 363 yards total offense, but the Florida defense kept Sam Bradford, the Sooners’ Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in check. Bradford completed 26-of-41 passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Bradford said Florida’s defense was as physical and quick as he anticipated.
“I don’t know if it’s one thing they did,” Bradford said. “But we kept forcing ourselves into bad situations.”
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After Florida took a 17-14 lead after a Jonathan Phillips 28-yard field goal with 10:48 left in regulation, the Gators defense forced the key turnover of the game when strong safety Ahmad Black snatched the ball away from the Sooners’ Juaquin Iglesias at the Oklahoma 24 less than a minute later.
From that point, Tebow, like he did in the Gators’ SEC championship victory over Alabama, willed Florida to a late score when the game was on the line.
Tebow, named the game’s Most Valuable Player, said, “Oklahoma’s a great team, but we hung together.” “I love the Gator nation.”
Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, leading the Sooners’ into the BCS national championship game for the fourth time in nine years, lamented his team’s inability to take advantage of Florida’s miscues.
“We had some opportunities early in the game in the red zone, and we came up short,” Stoops said. “In the fourth quarter, Florida made the plays and we didn’t.”
Florida became the third straight team from the SEC to win the BCS national championship. The SEC has won four of the past six BCS national titles and has won five overall since the BCS system went into effect in 1998.
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