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Gators Notebook: Meyer Likes Approach

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By MICK ELLIOTT

melliott@tampatrib.com

Published: January 10, 2009

MIAMI - To say the least, after averaging 54 points and more than 562 yards per game, the Oklahoma offense didn't live up to expectations during Thursday's BCS title game against Florida.

The Sooners finished with 363 yards, and their 14 points were 21 fewer than their previous low for the season.

Do not, however, think the no-huddle, hurry-up attack that produced 80 plays a game for the Sooners did not catch Florida coach Urban Meyer's eye - some of it might even find its way into the Gators' playbook.

"I've been really intrigued by the no-huddle, by the up-tempo, and we actually went to that the whole first week of spring ball a year ago," Meyer said. "I sent Dan Mullen to Missouri, and he came back with the mechanics of it. I hired Scot Loeffler. He's had some of that in his background. I think the tempo of the game, that's a pain in the butt, and if you only have two days to prepare.

"We did well because we had a whole month and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and his staff and our players really worked hard. I'm going to really study it because I love their offense."

WORD POWER

In case anyone is still wondering how much importance Florida coach Urban Meyer places on psychological play with players, consider WR Percy Harvin's comments after Thursday night's game.

According to the Gators' playmaker - who was suffering from a hairline fracture instead of a high ankle sprain - Florida's 24-14 victory against the Sooners was particularly rewarding because "nobody gave us a chance."

Considering the Gators kicked off as 41/2 favorites, Meyer's manipulation of his team's psyche must have been quite a piece of work.

"Who said that, Percy?" Meyer responded, breaking into a big smile. "The last couple days were real intense, just getting these guys ready to go. Coach Charlie Strong addressed the team. I'm very cautious who we allow to talk to our team. Those guys were ready to play. I don't want to get too much into it because that's our business. You know what the good thing is? Guys listened.

"I think a lot of it had to do with we didn't have a chance to stop this team. Statistically, it will tell you it would be a hard deal to stop them. So I'm sure that's where he was headed."

HOW DID GATORS DO IT?

So just how did the Gators put the brakes on OU's Sooner Schooner?

Oklahoma came into the game with a streak of five straight in which it had scored 60 or more points.

"We really put in two packages that our defense did a great job with," UF coach Urban Meyer said. "One was bare defense, and they did a great job, and then a lot of odd. We played much more three down than we've ever played. Basically, the whole game was four down against Alabama and then this game played three down and they call it bare defense where they kicked down to stop the inside run.

"Assistant Chuck Heater and I were talking a couple nights before the game - we'd do everything an offense doesn't like to see, and a lot of it was new. So they did a great job."

RAINEY OK

RB Chris Rainey suffered a sprained ankle that has was reported Friday as not serious.

It didn't look that way when the redshirt freshman from Lakeland went down in the third quarter, the ankle folding underneath him during a tackle.

"I texted him last night," Coach Urban Meyer said. "He said he was real sore. It was right in front of me and I was worried about it. But I think it's an ankle sprain and he should be fine."

RATINGS THROUGH ROOF

The game on Fox earned a fast national rating of 15.8 and share of 25, averaging 26.8 million viewers, which made it the most-watched BCS game ever on Fox. It was a 16 percent improvement from the LSU-Ohio State title game last season (23.1 million). The overnight rating in the Tampa area was a 32.5 rating and 49 share.

The rating is the percentage of households tuned in, and the share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program.

Mick Elliott

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