FORT LAUDERDALE — So here we are, down to the last night of college football for a season that has come and gone all too quickly and the Florida Gators are back in the national championship game. Again. It’s happening in increments of two, which is only fitting since Urban Meyer’s career has been in increments of two.
Meyer did two years as head coach at Bowling Green, taking the also-ran Falcons to 17 wins in two years and injecting a shot of yes we can win into a program that was wallowing in mediocrity. He did it in two years as head coach at Utah, taking the Utes to 22 wins in two years including an in-your-face BCS 12-0 Fiesta Bowl championship season in 2004.
At Florida he has a Southeastern Conference and national championship season to go with 22 wins in the two years of the Chris Leak at quarterback era and now he has 21 wins and an SEC championship in the two years of the Tim Tebow at quarterback era with a shot another national championship tonight when the Gators face Oklahoma in the FedEx BCS National Championship Game at Dolphin Stadium.
Two conference championships and possibly two NATIONAL championships in four years — sounds like a fantasy if you’re one of those “wait ‘til next year’ Gators that grew up wondering if Florida would ever win even one SEC title that counted. We got teased in 1984 and 1985 when the Gators won the SEC championship on the field but were denied official recognition by the SEC due to NCAA transgressions. You’ll have a hard time ever convincing me that 13-0 Brigham Young, the 1984 national champ, could have stayed on the same field with that 1984 Florida team that actually did win the national championship in final rankings by the New York Times, Sporting News and the likes of the Sagarin System, the Fleming System and something called the Nutshell Sports Football Ratings.
Steve Spurrier changed the Florida football culture from one of “wait ‘til next year” to one of expectation in his 12 years as Florida’s coach (1990-2001). When he departed after a season in which the Gators were two unexplained losses to Auburn and Tennessee away from a shot at a second national championship during his reign (won it all in 1996), he shot a barb at Florida fans that had developed a sense of entitlement in his 12-year run of 122-27-1 that is the best stretch of football in school history.
Entitlement was the last thing on the minds of Florida fans during the 15 losses of the three-year Ron Zook era. Now, there is indeed a measure of truth to the Zook was unfairly compared to Spurrier argument, but there is also no denying that Zook was totally unprepared to take on the job as head coach at Florida. Yes, expectations are going to be high here — they were even when it was “wait ‘til next year” — but that will be true no matter who is the football coach in the future.
Expectations are high and will remain high because this is a state that produces an abundance of extraordinary high school football talent and Florida is a school with every resource necessary to play football at a championship level. It simply takes the right coach with the right plan to win, which is what Florida has now in Urban Meyer.
He is the right coach at the right time for the University of Florida and as long as he is here, the Gators are never going to be that far away from another national championship. Consider last year when Florida lost four games after that 2006 national championship run. All four of those losses were games the Gators could have won. Win them and they’re in the championship game. Again. And that was with a defense that had to rely on far too many freshmen and unproven sophomores. Think about what might have happened if Brandon Siler, Jarvis Moss, Reggie Nelson and Ryan Smith had all stuck around for their senior seasons. We might be talking about the Gators going for their THIRD national championship in a row if those guys had stayed around for one more fling.
The team that takes the field tonight at Dolphin Stadium is still one of the youngest in the country. Only three seniors stars on the offensive unit — tackles Phil Trautwein and Jason Watkins; wide receiver Louis Murphy — and there are no seniors in the two-deep on defense, which counts only four juniors among the top 22. There is that possibility that tonight will be the final game in a Gator uniform for All-American wide receiver Percy Harvin, All-American middle linebacker Brandon Spikes and 2007 Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow.
They came in together in that extraordinary recruiting class of 2006 and it is entirely possible that they will go out together, heading to the NFL to prove themselves worthy at the next level. All three have reasons to go and all three have reasons to stay. Tebow, it seems, has the most reason to stay. His family is solid financially and the NFL general managers will have the same questions a year from now that they have now. If he comes back, he will have a chance to go down as perhaps the greatest college football player of all time and for a young man that measures everything he does by its potential Christian impact, no decision has the potential for more Christian impact than returning for one more year. He could win a second Heisman Trophy, lead the Gators to their third national championship game in four years and set a slew of records and in doing so, prove that you don’t have to compromise your values and faith to be great at what you do. So no matter tonight’s outcome, odds are he comes back for one more year. Percy and Spikes? As much as my heart wants them to stay, I’m prepared to say good-bye after this game. They have given us their hearts and souls for three years and for that I think everyone in the Gator Nation can say thanks, job well done.
And that brings us to tonight’s game. The Gators are a four-point favorite and nobody will be shocked if they win. This isn’t like Glendale two years ago when all the so-called experts thought Ohio State was going to mop the floor with the Gators. You can dial up scenarios that have either team winning this one but if you go up and down the matchups on both sides of the ball, the Gators have the edge at more positions.
While all eyes are going to be on Tebow, Harvin and Spikes for the Gators, I believe the real stars of the game are going to be named Pouncey, Pouncey and Johnson. I believe this game sets up perfectly for center Maurkice Pouncey, right guard Mike Pouncey and left guard Carl Johnson to be the dominating forces. I don’t think Oklahoma can play the Gators straight up because Pouncey, Pouncey and Johnson will overwhelm them straight up the gut.
This is a pick your poison choice for the Sooners. If they load up the box to stop the run, Tebow can get outside the tackles and pick them apart with the passing game. Eight in the box means single coverage for Percy, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper and Deonte Thompson. Eight in the box means if Tebow can get outside the tackles, the option pitches to Harvin, Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps have the potential for touchdowns on every play. If they play it straight, the Gators will pound the Sooners into submission.
I like the Gators to run for 200-plus yards and for Tebow to have one of those very efficient passing games where he throws only 18-20 times for 200-plus yards and at least a couple of touchdowns. I look for Florida to control the ball and play a bit of defense with the offense by keeping the ball out of the hands of the Sooners. If Florida can establish enough of a running game to control the clock, I think Florida’s defense will be far less affected by the Sooner’s no-huddle attack.
FEARLESS FORECAST: I think this will be a very close game for three quarters but in the fourth quarter, I look for the Gators to pound the ball on a tired Sooner defense to pull away with an impressive 44-24 win for their second national championship in four years, sparking talk that the University of Florida has become a true dynasty under Urban Meyer.