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Friday, January 9, 2009
Bad news for UGA fans: Florida is just getting started
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.—For fans of the Georgia Bulldogs, I have some bad news and some WORSE news today.
The bad news? Florida, your hated rival, just won its second national championship in three years.
The worse news? The Gators, it appears, are just getting started.
Urban Meyer came here Friday morning to pick up all of the hardware that comes with being a national champ. Meyer said he enjoyed the first national championship he won as Florida’s head coach in 2006.
But Friday morning Meyer said he is going to enjoy this one a lot more. “I’m not sure I took the time to savor that first one because was all so new. That year we had a good team but we didn’t have a good program,” Meyer said. “Now we have both. That makes this one very special.”
In a private conversation with me in February of 2007, Meyer said he was not pleased with the state of the Florida football program after the national championship season.
“Too many people focused on themselves. Not enough people focused on the team and each other,” Meyer said. “We are going to change that.”
Meyer won the 2006 a national championship with a team dominated by recruits of former coach Ron Zook. Meyer liked those guys but they weren’t HIS guys. These are his guys and he doesn’t like them. He loves them.
“What we have here now is very special at Florida,” Meyer said. “We should have a really good team coming back next year.”
If you’re a Georgia fan, you need to understand what Meyer has built at Florida in just four short years and what things look like for the Gators down the road. Of the 24 players on the offensive depth chart last night against Oklahoma, 18 still have eligibility remaining for 2009 (6 juniors, 8 sophomores, and 4 freshmen).
The defense had held the nation’s highest scoring team (54 points per game) to only two touchdowns did not have a senior among its top 22 players. Of the group that played in the BCS championship game, 16 were sophomores, redshirt freshmen or freshmen.
No one here expects Percy Harvin, who is such an incredible talent, to return next season. Harvin made everybody hold their breath every time he touched the ball last night. But he is simply too fragile. He needs to go to the NFL and make some money.
Linebacker Brandon Spikes, who was the heart and soul of that defense, is also expected to turn pro.
Quarterback Tim Tebow will be a more interesting decision. Simply put, if Tebow comes back Florida should be the consensus preseason No. 1 pick. If he doesn’t come back sophomore John Brantley will take over and Florida will still be pretty good. But the Gators may not be national championship good.
Meyer said Friday morning that Tebow’s decision will come in the next few days. Tebow has two national championship rings and a Heisman Trophy. If he comes back, he could win both again.
Bottom line: If Urban Meyer signs another top five recruiting class, which he is expected to do, it may be a while before Georgia, or anybody else in the SEC East, is going to be able to unseat the Gators from the top of the division. Florida has separated itself from the field and shows no signs of slowing down.
Meyer was working the phones to recruits last night after the national championship game. He said Friday that he has only “4 or 5” slots left. “We want to make sure those four or five are really good ones.” It’s a pretty good bet that the Gators will have a lot of fun on national signing day.
I’m never comfortable using the “dynasty” word. It’s too vague. But what Florida appears to be doing is putting together a program that can have a Southern California kind of run. Yes, the Trojans play in the Pac-10 and not the SEC and that’s huge. But Florida took another big step forward last night. Everybody else in the SEC East, including Georgia, is going to have to step up to meet the challenge. Because as long as Meyer is in Gainesville, I don’t see the Gators taking a step back.
Ladies and gentlemen, that puts a wrap on the 2008 season for me and this blog. I am going off for an extended vacation with Mrs. Barnhart, something she has richly earned. I will return on Monday, Feb. 9 and will resume this blog. We’ll probably do it about three times a week until we get into spring practice which, by that time, won’t be far around the corner.
I want to thank all of you for the great support this season. It has been a wonderful season and I’ve really enjoyed being a part of it. I always tell my friends from other media outlets that we have the smartest college football fans in the world in the South. You proved it once again this season.
Will see you on Feb. 9
Best wishes,
TB
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SEC wins third straight title; Will Tim Tebow come back?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Miami Gardens, Fla.—It was an incredible scene on the field after Florida’s 24-14 win over Oklahoma for the BCS national championship.
The cameramen simply mobbed Tim Tebow after the game. Tebow was clearly emotional when he was announced as the outstanding offensive player of the game. As he stood on the podium to accept the award, the Florida fans screamed “One more year! One more year!”
The question is: Will Tebow return for his final season? Just a junior, he has two national championship rings. He has a Heisman Trophy. If he returns, Tebow has a chance to win a third national championship and become the most decorated college football player in history. Tebow would not tip his hand after the game.
“I promised the guys that I would go out and play with all my heart,” he said. “I was so motivated tonight. Oklahoma’s a great team and they came out and played hard. I can’t put it into words—it was just an incredible night.”
As was the case in the SEC championship game, Tebow rose to the occasion when the game was on the line. With his team leading 17-14, Tebow led his team on a 76-yard touchdown drive to put the game away. In that drive Tebow threw a 29-yard strike to David Nelson that gave Florida a first down at the Oklahoma 20-yard line. Anybody who thinks Tebow can’t play in the NFL needs to look at that throw.
Charlie Strong, the Florida defensive coordinator, could only smile. His defense had held the nation’s No. 1 offense, which was averaging 54 points a game, to only 14 points. Oklahoma reached the one yard line and the six-yard line in the first half and came away with no points. “I thought we could play with those guys but I never thought we could hold them to 14 points,” Strong said. “We just hung in there the entire game.”
Question: When is somebody going to hire this man as a head coach? What more does he have to prove? Florida has won two national championships in three years and defense has played a big part of that.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive was all smiles as his league began celebrating its third straight national championship and its fourth in the past six years.
“It’s a great night for Florida and a great night for our conference,” said Slive. “It was just a wonderful season and a wonderful game.”
And the SEC got a little redemption. In a season where some of its franchise teams struggled, Alabama and Florida were ranked 1-2 in the AP poll when the met for the national championship. And for the third straight year the SEC team entered the BCS championship game as the No. 2 team and won. The SEC might not have been the best conference in the land from top to bottom this season. And maybe the SEC didn’t dazzle people with their offense. But defense wins championships. The SEC got another crystal football Thursday night.
That’s it tonight from South Florida. We have a press conference with Urban Meyer at 10 a.m. I will get back to you after that and file a final blog for the season. It has been a wild one.
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