Florida wins BCS Championship with hard fought victory over Oklahoma

While far from the best performance of the season by either team, the University of Florida broke open a close game in the fourth quarter and went on to win the BCS Championship with a 24-14 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in Miami on Wednesday night.  The victory gave Coach Urban Meyer, QB Tim Tebow and the Gators their second BCS Championship in three years.

Defense dominated the game’s opening period, with neither high powered offense able to put as much as a single point on the scoreboard.  The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, with the Gators drawing first blood on a 20 yard TD strike by Tim Tebow to Louis Murphy.  Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford would answer a few minutes later with his own 6 yard TD pass to Jermaine Gresham.  The teams entered the halftime break deadlocked at 7-7.

Percy Harvin gave Florida a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter on a short TD run, but Bradford would respond in kind for the Sooners as he evened the score early in the fourth on another TD pass to Gresham, this one from 11 yards out.  On the subsequent drive, the Sooner defense held Florida to a FG to give the Gators a 17-14 advantage but after their own drive stalled Tim Tebow marched his team down the field again.  Tebow would secure the victory with a 4 yard TD pass to David Nelson with just over three minutes to play.  The Gators’ defense shut down the Sooners on their next possession, allowing Tebow and the offense to run out the clock and cement the championship.

Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, was far from his best but he played well when it counted.  He threw two interceptions during the game—the same number that he gave up during the entire 2008 season—and finished with 231 yards of 18/30 passing and two TDs. He also ran for 109 yards, second on the team behind Percy Harvin with 122.  Bradford was 26/41 for 256 yards, with 2 TDs and interceptions as well.  When the game was in the balance, however, Tebow and the Florida defense came up big.

Ultimately, the pace of the game became one in which Florida could prevail and Oklahoma could not.  The Sooners scored 702 points this season and scored 60+ in each of its last five games—in other words, they weren’t a team built to scrap out a victory in a defensively oriented contest where points come at a premium.  Florida, however, behind their passionate and talented team leader Tebow was able to gut out a victory when the offense was out of sync.

The victory represents the 5th BCS championship for the Southeastern Conference.  Oklahoma, meanwhile, lost for the 5th straight time in a BCS bowl and for the third time with the title on the line.