VETTEL: Title Game by the Numbers

Of course, the most important numbers from Monday night are 41 and 14, but there are a lot of other numbers that help put Florida’s National Championship Game victory into perspective.

0 —– Yards gained on a fourth down gamble by Ohio State with 3:37 to play in the first half. Joe Cohen and company stuffed the run, setting up Chris Hetland’s second field goal.

3 —– Sacks of Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith. Jarvis Moss and Derrick Harvey were virtually unblockable. Smith was sacked just 14 times in twelve games before Monday night.

4 —– The number of completions for Smith in the entire game. He came in averaging more than four times that many connections.

6 —– Total offense for the Heisman trophy winner. Smith threw 14 passes ands ran with the ball ten times, So on 24 plays he averaged nine inches per play. There are times when that is more than enough, but not in a football game.

7 —– Total offense for Kestahn Moore who carried the ball twice in the final three minutes of the game.

9 —– Receptions for Percy Harvin. It was a season high for Florida’s explosive freshman and sets the stage for him to evolve into the big receiving threat in 2007.

10 —- Bowl teams beaten by the Florida Gators in 2007, undoubtedly a record. Six of those teams won their bowl games. In all Florida played eleven games against teams that played in bowl games and six of those teams are in the final A.P. Top 25.

15 —– Yards lost on the sack of Troy Smith by Jarvis Moss late in the fourth quarter. Derrick Harvey recovered, Tim Tebow passed to Bubba Caldwell three plays later and the Gators were up twenty.

16 —- Seconds into the game the Buckeyes had a seven-nothing lead. Instead of being shell-shocked, the Gators responded with touchdown drives on their first three possessions.

35 —- Wins as a starting quarterback for Chris Leak. The first 33 were pretty much taken for granted. But the last two elevate Leak to the upper tier of all quarterbacks to suit up for the Orange and Blue.

39 —- Rushing yards for Tim Tebow. Ohio State knew what it was coming, but couldn’t do anything about it. Tebow had just eight fewer net rushing yards than the Buckeyes’ entire team.

43 —- Length of Chris Hetland’s first field goal with six minutes to go in the first half. A miss there would have been a real momentum changer and left Ohio State within a score. Instead he drilled it; put the Gators up ten and the rout was soon to follow.

44.2 – Punting yardage average for Eric Wilbur. He had one ugly rugby kick but otherwise played an important role in helping the Gator defense inflict lousy field position on the Buckeyes all night long.

58 —- Receiving yards for Cornelius Ingram and they all seemed big. After catching just ten passes in the first nine games, Ingram caught 20 in the final five games.

64 —- Number one votes in the final A.P. poll making Florida’s title almost unanimous. One voter chose Boise State.

69 —- Rushing yards for DeShawn Wynn, tops among all ball carriers in the contest. His presence and running threat was an important element to Florida’s overall scheme. And it was pretty cool for the Ohio native to come through against the Buckeyes.

80 —- Points allowed by Ohio State in the last two games of the season. The Buckeyes had allowed just 86 points in their first eleven games

82 —- Total offensive yards for Ohio State. That’s the fewest yards allowed in the history of the BCS.