King Kaufman's Sports Daily
In yet another BCS Championship Game rout, Florida grinds Ohio State into dust.
Read more: Sports, Florida, TV, FOX, Football, College Football, King Kaufman, Sports Daily
Jan. 9, 2007 | You're not going to believe this but they're still playing college football. They played another game Monday night, a week after the college season should have ended. Or at least Florida played one. Not sure what Ohio State was up to.
The Gators spanked the Buckeyes, who had been No. 1 since preseason, 41-14. In some circles the win is enough for Florida to be declared national champion, though there are folks who'll argue for Boise State, the only undefeated team in Division I-A. Around here we know the true champion is Central Washington.
The Gators were quicker, faster and hungrier and they hit harder, but if there was one part of the game in which Florida really dominated, it was coaching. Ohio State's Jim Tressel had his clock cleaned by Urban Meyer, who, bless him, gladly accepted the national championship and then said the only way to really decide the title among the top handful of teams is "to go play the game."
After the game's first play, a 93-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff by Ted Ginn Jr., who spent the rest of the game on the sidelines with a strained left foot, Ohio State looked outschemed, outclassed and thoroughly confused. Florida routinely snapped the ball to three different players. Buckeyes defenders cocked their heads like baffled puppies.
The Buckeyes kept making dumb penalties and allowing jailbreak pass rushes that resulted in five sacks of Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, including one that resulted in a lost fumble at the Ohio State 5 and the Florida touchdown that turned a bad start by the Buckeyes into a rout. Florida quarterback Chris Leak, the game's MVP, spent the evening throwing passes to receivers who were about 10 yards away from the nearest white jersey.
Your Heisman Trophy winner hit four of 14 passes for 35 yards and an interception, plus the five sacks for a loss of 51 yards. Those count against rushing yardage in college football, but out here in reality, Ohio State's net passing yardage was minus 16. Smith would have fared better by taking a knee 14 times is how bad it was.
Even that opening touchdown likely wouldn't have happened without a horse-collar hold from behind on Florida's Reggie Nelson by Roy Hall, which sprung Ginn to the outside and which went uncommented upon by Fox's announcers despite happening in the open field in the center of the picture on two different replay angles. It took former Gator Emmitt Smith, working the halftime desk, to point it out.
Didn't matter much. All that score did was make the game seem closer than it was for most of the first half.