NOW DO YOU BELIEVE?

Gators stun No. 1 Buckeyes 41-14 for BCS title game rout

By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It was a night for the improbables to shine.

When No. 2 Florida, an underdog many thought wouldn't come close to beating No. 1 Ohio State, thrashed the Buckeyes 41-14 in the Tostitos Bowl Championship Series title game Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium, there were plenty of unlikely stars.

There was quarterback Chris Leak, the second-most popular quarterback on his team. He was magnificent, completing 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

He was named offensive MVP, and for a quarterback who was underappreciated for much of the last two years, it was sweet. "It's the greatest feeling to be national champs," Leak said. "My legacy was to get the University of Florida back here."

He had to adjust to the spread-option offense and his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons when Urban Meyer was hired as head coach in 2005. Then when freshman quarterback Tim Tebow, a local phenom from Jacksonville, arrived this season, some Gators fans debated whether Leak still deserved the job. Tebow played a significant role this season, and there were times when Leak had to take a back seat to his backup, who was a fan favorite.

"He's officially one of the top two quarterbacks to ever play at Florida," said Meyer, who believes Leak now belongs alongside 1996 national champ Danny Wuerffel because quarterbacks are judged by the championships they win.

There were plenty of other improbables, like kicker Chris Hetland. He entered the game having made four of 13 field goal attempts and was perfect. He kicked a 42-yarder, his longest of the season, and a 40-yarder, his second longest, in the first half — the first time he has connected on two field goals in one game this season.

There were the two guys who sacked Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith five times: defensive end Derrick Harvey, who only played football for two years in high school before arriving at Florida, and defensive end Jarvis Moss, who nearly quit the sport last year after developing a rare pelvic bone infection that caused him to lose nearly 30 pounds.

Equally improbable was the way the Gators (13-1) completely dominated the team that had been No. 1 since the season's start and had won 19 consecutive games. After Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. ran back the opening kickoff for a 93-yard touchdown, the Gators responded with touchdowns on their first three drives. Soon the game turned into a 34-14 rout by halftime against a team that had allowed only 10.4 points a game this season and had never trailed by more than seven points. The 41 points that Ohio State (12-1) allowed were the most since 1999, when the Buckeyes lost to Illinois 46-20.

Smith, who had played his best in the Buckeyes' biggest games, will join the long list of Heisman winners who have famously flopped in bowl games. Smith played his worst game of the season, completing four of 14 passes for 35 yards with one interception and no touchdowns. "Not everything in life is going to go the exact same way you want it to," said Smith, who was more matter-of-fact than distraught in the aftermath.

The Buckeyes entered the game averaging 409.8 yards of total offense a game and were held to 82, a record for fewest total yards in a BCS game. "We scored on the first play of the game and from that point on really couldn't keep the pressure where we needed it to be," coach Jim Tressel said.

Florida won its second national title in 10 years and became the first school to hold national championships in Division I men's basketball and I-A football simultaneously. With less than three minutes remaining in the game, Meyer had plenty of reason to celebrate as he raised his arms high in the air and motioned Gators fans to cheer.

For Meyer, the title in just his second season was especially significant given his roots. He grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, wore No. 45 on his football jersey in honor of Buckeyes great Archie Griffin and got his first start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Ohio State under Earle Bruce. He has a large portrait of Woody Hayes, his idol, in the rec room of his home. Now Meyer will have a crystal football for the trophy case.

"I'd like to thank all those people (who doubted the Gators could win), because our pregame speech was easy," he said on the field afterward. "That was the greatest motivation. For 30 days our team got motivated, and that's why they played so hard."

Motivation from Auburn loss

Before the season began, few pegged the Gators as a national title contender given their rigorous Southeastern Conference schedule. Meyer first got a hint this could be a special season in early October when the Gators defeated LSU 23-10. "I thought this could be a good outfit if we don't screw it up as coaches," Meyer said.

After that win, linebacker Brandon Siler talked to reporters while wearing an enormous silver chain he had made to represent team unity. "Everybody has their name on one of those links," he said this last week. "When we put those links together, it represents unity and strength. I think that's what got us here."

A week after the victory against LSU, the Gators lost to Auburn 27-17, their only blemish of the season. But a team meeting that Monday helped put the Gators back on track. At that meeting, Meyer gave each player a business card bearing the image of five rings — four signifying Florida SEC championships, the other signifying its 1996 national title. The back of each card contained a quote from Wuerffel about how his team rebounded from a loss to Florida State to win the national title. "It is one thing to be successful, but to have been knocked down and get back up is a pretty special thing," Wuerffel had said.

The Gators did just that, though most times it was a high-wire act. Entering the national title game, seven of the Gators' 13 games had been decided by 10 points or fewer. They managed to juggle playing two quarterbacks and win without a reliable running back. They overcame Hetland's kicking woes. In addition, defensive tackle Marcus Thomas, one of their best players, was thrown off the team in November for violating the conditions of his reinstatement from a suspension for violating the school's substance abuse policy.

Blocked kicks, late rallies and gutsy calls helped save the day, as did a stout, speedy defense. Florida held Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden of Arkansas to 73 yards rushing in the SEC title game, then flustered the Heisman winner in the national title game.

The Gators' improbable run to the national title was continually second-guessed. Many wondered if Florida — which moved to No. 2 after Southern California's loss to UCLA on the last day of the regular season — even belonged in the game. Plenty thought Michigan was a more deserving opponent, at least until USC pounded the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.

Meyer joked about how the close calls this season have brought him "gray hairs and ulcers" but said, "It also strengthens and toughens your outfit." He added, "You learn a lot about your football team when you get hit right in the mouth and respond to that. We were hit in the mouth quite often this year against some very good opponents. You don't hear me say this very often. I admire our guys. I really do."

At the end of last season, Meyer said he never would have imagined these Gators had a chance to win the national title.

"If you ask me now, I think we probably should have done that because we have 21 seniors that played their best year of football," Meyer said the day before the national-title game.

And now these Gators, who had been knocked down and got back up, are the best in the country.