Florida Gators NCAA Football Champions

Yes, the Gators of Florida "chomped down" on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a 41-14 victory, winning the 2006 NCAA Footbal Championship for only the second time in school history.

If you saw the first play of the game and thought #1 ranked Ohio State would win outright you probably weren't alone. Ohio State kick returner Ted Ginn Jr. opened the game with a flashing 93 yard kickoff return. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes Ginn sprained his ankle while celebrating and was on the sideline sporting a pair of crutches for the remainder of the game.

Some say Ginn's absence may have contributed to the loss. But if you saw the game I saw it was clear that the Florida offense was unstoppable and their swarming defense gave Ohio State's Heisman Trophy winning QB Troy Smith headaches all game. OSU was limited to a total of 82 yards, 8 first downs, 19:12 time of possession. They came into the game as the #1 favorite and left it with one of the worst butt-kickings in National Championship history.

Personally I think OSU was not only out played but also out coached. It reminded me of the Super Bowl between the Raiders and Tampa Bay Bucs. It was as if Florida State knew every play OSU was going to run before they ran it and attacked on the snap of the ball. The coaching smarts was evident in the way Florida spread the field and utilized their quickness. The two quarterback rotation the gators imploy made the Florida coaches look like football geniuses. Maybe they are just that.

Gator QB Chris Leak had a night to remember and seemed as if he could do nothing wrong. Leak led the Gators to victory in such a convincing way that you wonder if what you saw was a fluke. But its no fluke sports fans, the Florida Gators are a deserving Champion, just as their Basketball team was back in April 2006. This may be a first for the NCAA, having one school win both the Basketball and Football Championship in the same season. It couldn't have happened to a better bunch of raptors.

Gator-Meat! Gator-Meat! Gator-Meat!

Congratulations Florida Gators