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BCS Notebook: 11 Players Of The Game

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2009

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Actually there are 11 players of the game - the starting defensive unit for the Florida Gators. Oklahoma's offense came in having scored at least 60 points in five consecutive games. All Florida's defense did was hold OU scoreless in the first quarter and limited the Sooners to 14 points, their fewest since scoring 17 against Iowa State in 2007. The bend-but-don't-break defense did just that - stopping Oklahoma on a fourth-and-goal run at the 1 and intercepting Sam Bradford on the 3 in the second quarter. The cliche is defense wins championships and that was the case Thursday night.

QUIRKY PLAY

You wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it, but here goes: 12 seconds remaining, first-and-goal at Florida's 6, the Gators have no timeouts. This will be OU's final offensive play and if unsuccessful, OU will kick a field goal for a 10-7 lead. That is, unless something out of the "Twilight Zone" happens. Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford threw a slant pattern to Manuel Johnson, the ball ricocheted off Johnson and Florida's Joe Haden. The ball hung in the air momentarily and then linebacker Ryan Stamper tipped it and Major Wright finally plucked it out of the air for the most unlikely of interceptions.

KEY DECISION

See above. With 12 seconds remaining in the first half and no timeouts, offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson should have called a fade pass to the back of the end zone that either would be a touchdown or thrown out of bounds. Instead, the Sooners ran a slant that was tipped or touched by four Gators and one Sooner before being intercepted.

UNSUNG HERO

Florida junior running back Percy Harvin didn't play in the Gators' SEC Championship Game against Alabama because of a high ankle sprain. Initially there was some question how effective he could be in the BCS Championship Game. Oklahoma found out Sooner, rather than later, how effective Harvin would be on UF's third play from scrimmage when Harvin raced 19 yards on a third-and-8 pass from Tebow. Harvin finished with 122 yards on nine carries and 49 yards on five receptions.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

In 13 regular-season games, Tim Tebow attempted 268 passes and threw for 2,515 yards. He was intercepted only twice. Against Oklahoma, Tebow was intercepted twice in his first 16 attempts. The first pick was by Oklahoma's Nic Harris, who not-so-ironically said Tebow would only be the seventh-best quarterback in the Big 12. Tebow's second interception went to Oklahoma's massive 6-foot-4, 295-pound defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. It was McCoy's first career interception.

OUR TAKE

Before the game there was an airplane flying above Dolphin Stadium pulling a banner: "The O in OU stands for 0-for-4," referring to the Sooners' four-game skid in BCS. Make that 0-for-5. The Sooners outplayed Florida in the first half and should have went into the locker room with as much as a two-TD lead, but two critical failed scoring opportunities inside the 10 ultimately killed the Sooners.

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