Football
Gators Take Care of Business, Rip Buckeyes For BCS Title
By John Porentas

The panic set in early for the Buckeyes.

OSU return man and wide receiver Ted Ginn opened the game with an electrifying 92-yard touchdown run to put the Buckeyes up 7-0. He got to the endzone so fast that the roof on the University of Phoenix Stadium, which had been opened to let fans in attendance see a fly-by of the B-1 Bomber, had not yet even closed. When it did close, it simply fell in on the Buckeyes as the Florida offense had its way with the OSU defense and the OSU coaching staff panicked. In a word, the Buckeyes became Gator bait, and couldn't do a thing about it.

The Buckeyes were still in it with 3:37 remaining in the first half, trailing just 21-14, when the OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel made what could only be described as a panicked decision. Tressel elected to go for a fourth-and-one on his own 29-yard line. Buckeye tailback Chris Wells was stoned for no gain, and the Gators were in business at the OSU 29, and in this game, when the Gators were in business, they took care of it.

Florida converted that situation with a 40-yard field goal by Chris Hetland to put the Gators up 24-14. Then things got worse. After the ensuing kickoff, Smith fumbled on the first play to give Florida the football on the OSU five-yard line with 1:29 remaining in the half. The Gators were in business again, and the Gators took care of business again, this time scoring a back-breaking touchdown with just 23 seconds on the clock to put Florida up 34-14 at the intermission and effectively put the game out of reach. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel explained the decision.

"We thought we could make it," Tressel said simply. "The good news is our defense did a great job of holding them to three (a field goal), which was outstanding but it ended up being the wrong call, obviously," Tressel said.

The Florida offense wasn't quite as prolific on the scoreboard in the second half, but it was nonetheless extremely effective. The Gators kept the ball on the ground going to the pass primarily on third down situations, and that kept the clock running. And despite very favorable field position throughout the third quarter, the Buckeye offense was unable to moved the football with any consistency to take advantage. The third quarter melted away with no change on the scoreboard and was drawing to a close with 41 seconds remaining when a Florida punt changed the field position situation by putting the ball back on the OSU 20.

The Gators drove the final nail into the OSU coffin with a fourth-quarter drive that began at the Ohio State 39-yard line. Florida drove to a second-and-goal at the OSU six, but a penalty moved them back to the 11. It didn't matter. A pass from Leak to Percy Harvin moved the ball to the three with 11:00 on the clock. On fourth and one, Tim Tebow carried over right tackle to make the score 40-14 with 10:20 remaining and the celebration was on.

The OSU offense that was so prolific all season simply could not move the football. Ginn was lost early in the first period with an ankle injury, an injury he suffered during the post-touchdown celebration after his kickoff return for a touchdown. A teammate stepped on his foot, removing a big weapon from the OSU offense, but the real deficiency in OSU's offensive play was at quarterback Smith simply could not get it done against the Florida defense and seemed totally out of synch. Through three three quarters of play OSU managed just 96 net yards of offense. The Buckeyes ended the game with just 82 yards of total offense and Smith ended the game four-of-14 passing for just 35 yards. Florida's defense seemed to confuse Smith and sacked him five times in the game for 51 yards of losses.

"I have to say it's a lack of execution on my part as a quarterback," said Smith. "Simply because I'm the one guy that's out there that, you know, pretty much can control everything. And I didn't do a well enough job of controlling what was going on. Florida did do some great things defensively, but nothing that we couldn't have handled. And I have to take all the blame in the world for that."

Smith's coach, however, was not as critical of him.

"I think at time we at times put Troy in situation that was tough from a scheme standpoint and didn't give ourselves as good a chance as we could," Tressel said.

On the Florida side of the ledger it was a different story. Florida quarterback Chris Leak played like he was the Heisman winner, completing passes to wide open receivers and managing the Florida offense flawlessly. Leak ended the day 25-of-36 for 213 yards and a touchdown. He was not intercepted and was sacked once. Florida rolled up 370 yards of total offense against the Buckeyes, 156 of those coming on the ground and 214 coming through the air. Defensively, the Gators humbled the OSU offensive front and kept the pressure on Smith all day.

"Receivers were able to get open in the zones they had," said Leak. "We were able to get in an early rhythm. We were able to do that against a great defense," Leak said.

OSU's ineptness was not limited to offense and defense. With the exception of Ginn's run, the strong special teams play that has marked the Jim Tressel era did not materialize. Florida twice started with advantageous field position after strong returns that were added to by Buckeye penalties at the end of the returns to put Florida in business deep in Ohio State territory. Perhaps the most damaging special teams breakdown came after Ginn's score.

"In the second play of the game when we allowed the kick to get returned and had a penalty and allowed them to not be under the gun 7-0.. then we really didn't’t do the things we needed to do to be a champion," said Tressel.

"It's difficult being on the plus side of the 50 like that, but we were in a lot of situations like that this year," said OSU senior defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock.

Florida's fans roared with delight as their team dominated the game, completely taking over the University of Phoenix stadium. Chants of "SEC", "Gator Bait", and "Over-Rated" started in the third quarter and continued throughout the fourth until the end of the game. After Tebow's score, Buckeye fans sat silent as Florida fans chanted "over-rated" at them and cheered their team. When the game ended, it was hard to argue with them on any of those points.

The loss ended a string of three-consecutive BCS wins for the Buckeyes and Tressel, all of them coming in Phoenix.

Ohio State finishes the season with a final record of 12-1. Florida finishes at 13-1.

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page