Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

It sure is great to be a Florida Gator.

So how did the University of Florida rout THE Ohio State University the way it did?

Forget that Heisman winner Troy Smith had a Shane Falco-esqe performance going 4-14 for 35 yards and an INT.

I wouldn’t even credit Ohio State’s defense being more discomforting than the strep throat I’m battling right now.

The crux of Florida’s dominating performance can be traced back to something I’ve been harping on all season: the Southeastern Conference.

Going into the game, so much was made of the speed of the SEC versus the toughness of the Big 10. But are you really going to tell me that emerging out of the SEC with one loss doesn’t make you tough?

Oh, the one loss was a 27-17 road defeat to then-No. 11Auburn in a game where the Tigers scored 15 non-offensive points. These things happen when you play Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia in four weeks.

Do I think that Florida is really 3-4 touchdowns better than Ohio State? No. Both teams have supreme talent and coaching staffs. But I do think that if the two teams played 10 times that Florida would win 7-8 of them.

Here’s a few reasons why:

1. Troy Smith had no time to throw. Florida did an excellent job of disguising their blitz packages and keeping the OSU offensive line on its heels. I can’t tell you how many times Troy Smith dropped back, stepped up into the pocket and made a balanced throw, but I know it wasn’t many. There were plenty of plays where Smith had enough time to get something going, but on those plays the Florida secondary completely blanketed the Buckeye receivers.

2. Believe it or not, Jim Tressel was out coached by Urban Meyer. The usually-stone-cold Tressel showed he could be rattled when he went for it on 4th down and 1 on his own 29 trailing by 10. That’s not a good move no matter how you slice it. Even if the Buckeyes get that first down, what was going to happen? They had maybe 40 total yards to that point. If you have the No. 11 defense in the land, give them some field to work with.

3. It’s clear that Florida understands that college football is changing. Lining up to run it down your opponent’s throat will only get you so far. The Gators showed so many different looks that Ohio State couldn’t really get comfortable and find its identity.
   
   All in all, it goes back to the saying “You are where you come from,” and, these days, the SEC is the best place to be from in college football if you’re going to play in a big game.

   And Florida isn’t going anywhere. I wrote about this earlier in the year: I see Meyer as the leading candidate to be the next Bobby Bowden or Joe Paterno.

   With Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin (who is incredible, but I still strongly dislike) leading the way, the sky’s the limit for Florida. If the Gators can find a supreme running back in someone like incoming freshman Chris Rainey, we’re going to see some prolific offense in Gainesville for years to come.

   The only thing that can hold back Florida and the SEC is what almost did this year: itself. If the SEC beats itself up enough and the cards don’t fall the right way, we might have a lot of great BCS bowl winners out of the conference that aren’t winning national titles.

   And, although it worked this year, this is why I’m not sold on the BCS.

   Lastly, extreme kudos to Chris Leak for finishing on top.