Scottsdale, Ariz. – It was halftime in Monday’s BCS national championship game, and second-ranked Florida was in the process of turning the college football world, not to mention top-ranked Ohio State, on its ear hole. The Gators led 34-14, already scoring more in a half than all but one opponent did on the Buckeyes all season.
Florida coach Urban Meyer walked in the locker room planning his usual halftime routine when he has a monster lead: Refocus the team, get them hydrated, go over any adjustments.
This, however, was different.
“Their helmets are on and they were beating the lockers up,” Meyer said at his Tuesday morning news conference after Florida’s monumental 41-14 upset. “It was a feeding frenzy, what was going on in that locker room.”
Turns out, the nation’s 51-day infatuation with turning Monday night into Ohio State’s coronation built a fire inside Florida. Commentators debating whether Florida deserved the bid over Michigan, Troy Smith’s Heisman-fed hype parade, the matchup charts tilting heavily toward the Buckeyes, it all added up.
Lindy’s Publications even put out a postseason book titled “A Championship Season.” It was on OSU’s year and out of 96 pages, three were on Florida.
“Was that discussed?” Meyer asked. “Yeah, that was probably about a good 45-minute team meeting one day.”
However, can a little book or a Kirk Herbstreit sound bite be enough to turn a seven-point underdog into a 27-point winner? No. Meyer pointed out other factors, all of which led to Ohio State’s biggest loss since a 63-14 rout at Penn State in 1994.
To wit:
“That was a big momentum change,” Meyer said. “That mismatch I was concerned about was No. 11 (Anthony Gonzalez) and No. 7 (Ginn), their speed. You took No. 7 out and also the kicking game, that was a mismatch I was worried about.”
With Ginn gone, Florida’s secondary concentrated on Gonzalez, Ohio State’s No. 2 receiver, who caught only two passes Monday night for 11 yards.
“If you had to say what was the one area that changed the game, it was the performance of our defensive line,” Meyer said.
“I think that was the changer,” Meyer said. “You are jacked up, you come out like a bunch of caged animals and then bam! … If we punted there, they go down again and score, which obviously they have the weapons to do that, you are in a storm. What was the turning point of the game? The first drive by the offense.”
“It is a very good defense,” Meyer said. “It is not going to give you the big play. Instead of forcing it, we were trying to move it.”
These are heady times in Gainesville, Fla., where the school is the first to own the national men’s basketball and football titles at the same time.
“What does that mean for myself?” Meyer said. “With great humility, I appreciate when you look at the names of people who won national championships, and I sat in that locker room when (basketball coach) Billy Donovan won the national championship last year. I remember walking up to him afterwards and everything was going on like it was in our locker room. I grabbed him and said, ‘You just won a national championship.’ For about 30 seconds we stared at each other and said, ‘Holy cow!’
“I’m sure he will get me when I get back.”
John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
