Heading into Monday night’s BCS championship game, many of the talking-heads on ESPN were predicting an easy victory for Ohio State. But a funny thing happened on the way to Arizona: The unbeaten and powerful Buckeye squad was no where to be found.
Actually, the Gators used an age-old motivational tactic and played the role of the disrespected team. They took on the persona of the team that no one believed in; the team that no one thought had a chance to win and even the team that some felt didn’t deserve to be on the field. Florida heard all the negative press that had been said about them over the past month, but simply refused to buy into it. Instead the Gators came out on Monday night and embarrassed the over-hyped Buckeyes on national television with a 41-14 beat-down.
"Nobody never gave us a chance at all," Florida receiver Dallas Baker said. "We came here with a chip on our shoulder and something to prove. Nobody gave us a chance, but finally we can throw up the No. 1."
That’s sweet. But seriously, how did this happen? How did a team that no one expected to win put together such a dominating performance and make fools of the so-called experts?
After the regular season had ended, everything was going right for Ohio State’s Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith. He was considered the best college quarterback in the county and was expected to be one of the top QBs selected in this year’s NFL draft. However, Smith’s putrid performance against Florida is going to change all that. He was just 4-of-14 for a measly 35 yards. He was sacked five times, threw an interception and rushed for minus-29 yards. Ouch!
The best chance Ohio State came to winning the game was after Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. The Buckeyes should have called it quits after that because nothing else went right for them. In particular, Gin injured his left foot while celebrating with teammates and Ohio State turned the ball over on downs from their own 29-yard line while trailing 24-14 in the second quarter. In the next few minutes, the Gators would tack on 10 more points before halftime and by then, secretly everyone knew that the outcome was essentially determined.
So Florida is the best team in the country, right? That sentiment would seem plausible, but consider the fact that Boise State is now the only undefeated team. Shouldn’t they be considered the No. 1 team? The only fair way to determine the best team would be to have a postseason playoff system, but unfortunately there is no such thing in place, given that the big shots that run College Football are making too much money on their silly bowl games. Thus history will never be able to say definitively who the best team was in 2006. How sad.
Come to think of it, I guess it doesn’t really matter. In a week or so, no one is going to care; including me.
