ATLANTA – Urban Meyer has been involved in some pretty good college football games in his coaching career as an assistant at Ohio State, Colorado State and Notre Dame and as head coach at Bowling Green, Utah and now Florida.
He thinks Saturday’s SEC Championship Game against Alabama may be the best – so far – of his career.
“That’s one of the best college football games I know I’ve ever been a part of,” said Meyer after his Gators knocked off top-ranked Alabama, 31-20, in the Georgia Dome for Florida’s seventh SEC football championship.
:”I know Alabama and coach (Nick) Saban and their staff,” Meyer continued. “That was a dog fight. That was toughness. That was a check your will and come back and play in the fourth quarter. That says a lot about our team, as well.”
The Gators trailed 20-17 heading into the final quarter but reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow rallied his teammates by directing two lengthy touchdown drives that helped Florida keep Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson, running back Glen Coffee and the Crimson Tide offense off the field after they had dominated the third quarter in scoring 10 points against the Gators.
Jeff Demps scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to give Florida a 20-17 lead (the fourth lead change of the night) and, after Florida’s defense got its only sack of Wilson when Jermaine Cunningham dropped him for an 11-yard loss, Tebow engineered the game-securing drive, ending it with a 5-yard touchdown pass to his roommate Riley Cooper.
For the game, Tebow completed 14 of 22 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns (Carl Moore and David Nelson caught scoring passes in the first half) and rushed 17 times for 57 yards to gain game Most Valuable Player honors.
The SEC title was the second for Meyer to go along with the won his 2006 team won on its way to Florida’s second national championship. It was the school’s seventh, the first five coming during coach Steve Spurrier’s tenure from 1990-2001. Florida won SEC titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2000, with the 1996 championship being followed by Florida’s first national championship.
It was the first time in the 17-year history of the SEC Championship Game that the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the Associated Press media poll met. Alabama came into the contest not only ranked No. 1 by the AP but also by the USA Today college coaches, the Harris Interactive poll and the Legends Football Coaches Association and with the No. 1 ranking in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Florida was No. 2 in the AP, Legends Football Coaches and Harris polls but only No. 4 in the BCS rankings with Oklahoma (No. 2) and Texas (No. 3) between the Crimson Tide and Gators.
It was the sixth time that two schools from the same conference have entered a game ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll. The top-ranked team is now 4-2 after Florida joined No. 2 Oklahoma, which defeated then No. 1 Nebraska 17-7 on Nov. 21, 1987 as the only teams to defeat the top-ranked squad.
Florida was only the fifth team in the history of the SEC Championship Game which came in ranked lower than its opposition and won. The higher-ranked team is now 12-5 in SEC Championship Games. The East Division team is now 11-6 in the SEC matchups and the team that was ahead at halftime – Florida led 17-10 – is now 13-4.
For Florida, Brandon James returned five kickoffs for 121 yards, breaking the previous mark of 108 yards on five returns held by Florida’s Bo Carroll in the 1999 title game. The 121 team kickoff returns also bettered the team return yardage mark of 116 (in 7 attempts) by the 1999 Gators.
Florida punter Chaz Henry punted three times for a 47.7 yard average, breaking the previous single-game average of 45.8 (on four punts) by Georgia’s Gordon Ely-Kelso in the 2005 game. Henry’s 57-yarder in the third quarter was the fifth longest in SEC Championship Game history. Henry’s 57-yarder also was the 13th punt of 50-or-more yards this season. He now has 25 of those punts in his career.
It’s the fourth time in school history that Florida has won 12 games in a season. The previous three came in 1995, ’96 and 2006.
Meyer joined some heady company with his team’s victory over No. 1 Alabama. Only two coaches previously have knocked off No. 1 with their No. 2 teams. Penn State’s Joe Paterno and Miami’s Jimmy Johnson have twice coached No. 2 teams to victory over No. 1 teams. Meyer’s other victory over a No. 1 team came when the No. 2 Gators beat No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Ariz., following the 2006 season.
The Florida victory also ended Alabama’s 13-game winning streak, which was tied with Utah for the longest in the nation. It was Florida’s ninth straight victory since a 31-30 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27. Since then, Florida has outscored the opposition 445-117.
The 31 points scored in the game give Florida 587 for the season, breaking the previous school record of 559 scored in 1996.
Other notable records: Jonathan Phillips is now 11-of-12 in field-goal attempts after making a 19-yarder and then missing a 42-yarder. His four successful PATs give him 75 (in 76 attempts) this season, new team and SEC records for a season. He now has 108 points for the season. … Tebow now has thrown 2 or more touchdowns in nine straight games. … Carl Moore’s TD reception in the first quarter was his first as a Gator. … Nelson’s touchdown reception was his fourth this season. … The 75,892 who attended the game set a Georgia Dome record.