Gators Chomp Sooners to Win BCS Championship

In what was a surprising low-scoring affair, the Florida Gators had an impressive last quarter run to beat the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14.

Tim Tebow, despite two interceptions, willed his team to a victory on Thursday. Teow ran for 109 yards in the game, and Percy Harvin had 122 on just nine carries.

Harvin's 52-yard run that resulted in a field goal put Florida out in front with 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Sooners were turned away twice in the first half in the red zone while coming away with no points. In the fourth quarter, Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford threw a ball intended for receiver Juaquin Iglesias over the middle. But the pass was picked off by Ahmad Black who took it away from Iglesias as the Sooners never got any closer after that.

Tebow then led the Gators on a last scoring drive in which he threw a jump pass for a touchdown to David Nelson with just under three minutes left as Florida went ahead by 10.

The combination of two goal-line stands by Florida as well as a rushing attack that garnered 248 yards were too much for the Sooners. The Sooners had 363 total yards which was well below their season average of 562 per game.

The Gators defense played very well in stopping the Sooners vaunted offense on Thursday, and also recorded another blocked kick - this time on a field goal attempt by Oklahoma in the third quarter.

Here's the keys to the game for both schools, and how they turned out:

Oklahoma Sooners:
1. Run the ball. Chris Brown did run the ball well for Oklahoma as the Sooners rushed for 107 yards. However, he was stopped cold inside the red zone when they turned the ball over on downs.
2. Defensive line must win at the line of scrimmage. For the most part, the Sooners contained the Gators in this area until the last quarter. The Sooners defensive line was wore down by the Gators rushing attack in the last quarter. They also had zero sacks for the game as a team.
3. Special teams play. The Sooners coverage units were very good last night, but the Gators blocked a field goal attempt by Jimmy Stevens in the third quarter. The thought of the Gators coming on a blocked punt forced the Sooners to burn a timeout early in the third quarter.

Florida Gators:
1. The secondary and defensive line must play well. Uh, they did especially in the second half. The secondary challenged the Sooners receivers and Bradford felt heat in the pocket for a large part of the night. And it was the defensive line that stepped up on a goal-line stand when the Sooners had the ball at 1-yard line in the second quarter.
2. It's all about Tebow. As I said in my preview post(and all season for that matter), the Gators go as Tebow goes. Yes, he threw two interceptions, but it was his inspired play in the last quarter of the game that won it for his team.
3. Turnover battle. In official scoring, the turnover battle was even. But you factor in the turnover on downs at the goal-line in the second quarter, and the advantage went to the Gators. Furthermore, the turnovers the Sooners had proved way more costly in this game. Oklahoma failed to take advantage of the turnovers the Gators had.

Game Stats:
Total yards: Florida 480, Oklahoma 363
Passing yards: Florida 231, Oklahoma 256
Rushing yards: Florida 249, Oklahoma 107
Turnovers: Florida 2, Oklahoma 2
Times Sacked: Florida 0, Oklahoma 2
Penalties: Florida 8-for-81 yards, Oklahoma 4-for-31
Third Downs: Florida 12-17, Oklahoma 6-13

Key player stats:
Florida
Tim Tebow: 18-30, 231 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, 109 rushing yards
Percy Harvin: 122 rushing yards, one touchdown, five catches, 49 yards
Louis Murphy: two catches, 44 yards, one touchdown
David Nelson: two catches, 33 yards, one touchdown

Oklahoma
Sam Bradford: 26-41, 256 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions
Chris Brown: 110 rushing yards, two catches, 37 yards
Jermaine Gresham: eight catches, 62 yards, two touchdowns

Like everyone else, I thought there would be more scoring in this game on both sides of the ball. But it was a well played game that the Gators wanted to win more. The Gators were able to get contributions in all facets of the game as they proved to be the better team at the end.

I'm proud of the way the Sooners came out and played in this game. They didn't capitalize on mistakes when given the opportunity, and couldn't finish off drives when they need to as well. Still, the defense did what they could to keep them in it, but Florida wore them down late with their running game. They also couldn't get off the field late in the game on third down tries by Florida either.

The Gators did what they had to do to win this game. Tebow's leadership and will to win as well as solid defense showed why Florida was the better team on this night. Congrats to the Florida Gators on winning the 2008 BCS National Championship.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Posted in: BCS, BCS Championship, BCS National Championship, college football, Florida Gators, football, NCAA football, Oklahoma Sooners

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