Posted on Fri, Jan. 09, 2009 

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Tebow show carries Gators to another title

Florida quarterback makes good on promise to Gator Nation

Previous Columns

Gil LeBreton

• Sorry, lobbyists, but OU-Florida winner will be national champ
• All Cotton and Sugar games aside, don’t jump to conclusions about the bowls
• It was necessary for Cotton Bowl to move
• Just remember, you heard it here first
• Time to assess how much blame actually falls on Romo
  What do you think?
• If only the Dallas Cowboys had some backbone
• TCU takes the risk, reaps top-10 reward
• Matchup makes Poinsettia a bowl on par with BCS’ best
• Even the Cowboys’ past couldn’t save this one
• Romo takes a beating, but shows his toughness
• Take a bit of the poison apple, Jerry, and see how it tastes
• Signing Randy Johnson, Ben Sheets will boost Rangers
• Boise matchup gives TCU Frogs a chance to be non-BCS king
• Fans, voters didn’t want to see a Texas-Oklahoma rematch
• Oklahoma can list 60 (or more reasons) it’s title-worthy
• Missouri could have its say about convoluted BCS mess
• There’s no picnic in Pittsburgh for Cowboys on Sunday
• Human element is a bug in BCS system
  What do you think?
• Cowboys are far too fragile for Wade Phillips to push his luck

» More

Related Content

AP

Percy Harvin, breaking a tackle by OU’s Nic Harris, rushed for 122 yards, had five catches for 49 yards and scored a touchdown. AP

• AP Top 25: Gators are No. 1, Utes No. 2, Texas 4th, TCU 7th
• Sloppy, choppy game leaves Florida as BCS champion

MIAMI — In the end, the night wasn’t about whose quarterback was more Heisman worthy, or whose neighborhood was tougher than whose.

It was all about the trophy.

It was all about two mighty teams, the field littered with world-class sprinters and blue-chip football athletes. The two best teams in college football.

Florida and Oklahoma. Don’t let someone tell you otherwise.

Three months ago, after a stunning one-point loss to Ole Miss, Florida’s Tim Tebow stood at a microphone and tearfully promised the Gators’ redemption.

"I just want to say one thing," the quarterback began. "To the fans and everybody in Gator Nation . . . I’m extremely sorry.

"But I promise you one thing. A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season. You’ll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season. And you’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season."

Tebow’s feet and arm, as it turned out, were as good as his word.

Throwing for two touchdowns and leading the Gators when they needed him most, Tebow made good his promise Thursday night at Dolphin Stadium. Florida won the BCS national championship by surging away from the Oklahoma Sooners in the final quarter, 24-14.

The complaint desk, no doubt, will be open early today. The West Coast pundits, having tallied every interception and every misstep, will try to paint the Gators as somehow unfit champions.

It was practically a home game for Florida, the dudes from LA will argue, as they campaign for sympathy for Southern Cal. The Texas lobby will claim that OU fell, but the Longhorns could have done better.

These are straw man arguments, because the two best teams in this college football season were assembled here Thursday night.

There were electric runs. Acrobatic catches. There was measurably more offense than the final score indicated.

There was — critics of the Big 12, take note — night-long spurts of hard-hitting, drive-snuffing defense.

But as Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said after the game, "In the second half, I thought that down the stretch in the fourth quarter, we came up a play or two short. And they made them."

Stoops will head home with a new monkey on his back. The defeat marked his fifth in a row in a BCS bowl game and his third loss when playing for the championship.

What will haunt the Sooners about this one is what they saw slip away. Twice in the first half, just when it seemed as if Oklahoma had asserted itself along the line of scrimmage, the Sooners charged into the red zone, only to come away without points.

The squandered opportunities left Oklahoma in a 7-7 knot at halftime.

The much-maligned OU defense had vexed Tebow into throwing a rare two first-half interceptions. Previously, he had thrown only two all season. But OU couldn’t cash in.

The second interception gave the Sooners the ball at the Florida 26. But five consecutive running plays, all by Chris Brown, were eventually snuffed out short of the goal line.

Stoops disdained a field goal try on fourth down and vainly went for the touchdown. It was Stoops being Stoops.

But at the time, it was easy to think that Oklahoma would be deep in Florida territory soon again.

The Sooners were, this time with Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford passing OU to the Gators’ 6-yard line. A quick slant, however, bounced high into the air and the Florida defense snatched the interception.

"It was a well-played game," Stoops said. "I thought it was a heckuva game. I’m very proud of our players and their efforts.

"We had some opportunities early in the game. And it’s ironic, because the red zone is where we’ve been so effective all season."

Not on this night, though. There were too many athletes making too many acrobatic plays and long runs, and there were too many Heisman-winning quarterbacks on the field for squandered opportunities not to matter.

As the clock ticked down, Florida fans began to chant for their conference — "S-E-C! S-E-C!"

But it wasn’t about the neighborhood.

It was about the two best teams in the country, and the quarterback who lived up to his promise.