BCS Championship Game Preview
Powerhouse offenses square off in Miami for the crystal football
Jan 5, 2009
The Sooners record setting offense, led by current Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will square off against Florida’s dynamic offense led by former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.
Both teams have a loss but if the mark of a good team is how they respond to defeat, these teams would be classified as great. Following the Cotton Bowl loss to Texas, Oklahoma has been nothing short of record-setting. After a 45-31 win over Kansas, the Sooners scored at least 58 points in all of their next 6 wins and scored 60 or more in the past five games.
One of the signature moments of the year was following the Gators sole loss. Tim Tebow stood in front of the microphones and cameras and made a guarantee that you don’t hear much these days. Never did he say anything about winning out or dominating opponents. He simply said that there would be nobody in the country that would work harder than himself and his teammates.
In the last nine games, the Gators have not scored fewer than 31 points and haven’t allowed more than 21. Their closest game was the SEC championship game against the #1 team in the country. Now, without further adieu…
Oklahoma Will Win Because…
Their offense cannot be stopped. More does not need to be said about Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. On top of the yards and the completion percentage are his 48 touchdown passes against just 6 interceptions. Given that he threw the ball 442 times that is an astonishingly low total.
The problem for opponents is that they were not a one-dimensional team this year. They finished 3rd in passing yards but 18th in rushing offense. By contrast, Houston and Texas Tech, the two teams who passed for more yards than the Sooners this year, finished 47th and 94th is rushing.
Sophomore DeMarco Murray ran for 1,002 yards, 14 touchdowns, and had 5 games over 100 yards. Junior Chris Brown ran for 1,110 yards, 20 touchdowns, and passed the hundred yard mark 5 times as well.
The numbers go on and on for the Sooner offense and when all those are exhausted, you have to remember that calling the shots is the guy who once upon a time was the defensive coordinator for Florida during their national title run in 1996, Bob Stoops.
Florida Will Win Because…
They play defense. While they ranked an impressive 17th in offense, they ranked 8th in total defense, 2nd only to Alabama within the SEC. They allowed 350 yards of total offense or more just twice all year and both were in blowouts.
Arrayed against Sam Bradford will be a defense that allowed a passing efficiency of 94.17. Only USC (85.75) shut down quarterbacks better than Florida. To give you an idea of how impressive it really is, Sam Bradford’s passer rating this year was almost double what the Gator defense has allowed (186.28).
When the Gators do have the ball, they have not 2, but 4 dynamic players they can hand the ball too. While Chris Rainey only led the team with 655 yards, Percy Harvin was 4th on the team with 538 yards. Throw in Tim Tebow and Jeffrey Demps and their top 4 runners combined for 2,339 yards and 32 touchdowns.
When they do have to put the ball in the air, they have a veteran and a former Heisman winner in Tim Tebow who was 4th in the nation in passing efficiency and threw just 2 interceptions all year.
The Verdict…
Given that two of the best coaches in the country (Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer) will have had 32 days off since their respective conference championship games, these teams will be prepared for each other. Because of that, it should be the unexpected that will be the deciding factor, but it won’t.
Early in the SEC Championship Game, it appeared that it was going to go down to the wire and eventually, Alabama’s punishing defense would prevail. Dynamic playmaker Percy Harvin was out with an injury and Urban Meyer put the ball in the hands of the one guy he knew he could trust.
17 carries for 57 yards sounds far from a “great” performance and as far as Tim Tebow’s stellar career has gone, it was definitely sub-par. Despite that, he got the yards that counted. On short yardage downs, he was the one who went straight into the Crimson Tide’s front 7 and picked up the tough yards, keeping them on the field and keeping the opposing offense on the sidelines.
Many are making this out to be a battle of two prolific offenses, the first team to 50 wins the game. However, it’s going to be a battle of field position, or working the clock and minimizing the opposition’s strengths and exploiting their weaknesses. With their defense and Tim Tebow getting the tough yards, the Gators are better suited for that type of game.
Florida 28, Oklahoma 24
