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The Tampa Gator Club hosted its championship game viewing party at the South Tampa Cherry's restaurant. The party included food and drink specials, raffles for autographed Gators merchandise as well as gift certificates. Cherry's transformed their rear parking lot into a huge party with three big screen televisions, a DJ and of course plenty of food and drinks. Click here to see more Gator fan photos.
[Photo: Luis Santana/tbt*]
Leno:
"Didn't you pledge not to date until you guys won a title? You made
that pledge your freshman year. You have now graduated. Whoa! That's
some willpower." Leak: "That was just a sign to show the players
that I was focused on getting them a ring and winning the national
title for them." Leno: "It must have been a hell of a date last night."
Gators quarterback Chris Leak appeared Tuesday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Here was one exchange:
Gator fanscelebrate after defeating the Ohio State in the 2007 Tostitos
BCS National Championship Game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on
Jan. 8 in Glendale, Arizona.
[Photo: Getty Images]
University of Florida students Amie Taylor (center left) and Karen Ann Cranford (center right) kiss a 13-year-old, 6-foot alligator, during the Gator Jamboree on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz. The pep rally featured appearances by Florida players' parents and performances by the team marching band and cheerleaders.
Legendary Florida football fan George Edmondson -- a.k.a. Mr. Two Bits -- leads his famous cheer at a fan rally Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Read a Q&A with Mr. Two Bits from today's tampabay.com. Click here
[AP photo]
The Gators have had their share of disappointments when it comes to the post season. But what was their worst bowl loss ever? Depends on your persective. Here are our 5 picks.
Five worst bowl losses in Gator history:
5. 1994 Sugar Bowl: After the 31-31 "Choke at Doak" tie that ended the regular season, Florida faces FSU again in New Orleans. No tie this time. The underdog Seminoles won 23-17.
4. 1989 Freedom Bowl: UF is handled 34-7 by the Washington Huskies in the final game before the Steve Spurrier era.
3. 2002 Outback Bowl: Not coach Ron Zook's finest moment. Florida's first appearance in Tampa's Outback Bowl is known best for the final play. With the Gators trailing 38-30 and marching down the field, Zook took the ball out of QB Rex Grossman's hands by calling for a flea-flicker. The pass by freshman cornerback Vernell Brown was picked off, sealing the win for Michigan.
2. 1991 Sugar Bowl: Fresh off winning their first official SEC title, the Gators faced Notre Dame, a team many felt had no business being in a bowl game. Irish RB Jerome Bettis proved they did, running silly over Florida in a 39-28 win for Notre Dame.
1. 1995 Fiesta Bowl: The Gators finished the season undefeated and faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the national title. The Gators jumped to a 10-6 lead in the first quarter. But that was the end of the fun. The Cornhuskers prevailed 62-24 to win their second consecutive title.
The Gators are playing in one of their biggest bowl games in school history on Jan. 2 in Arizona. But if you look to the past, which bowl game so far has been the most important in Gator history?
Here are our top 5 picks:
Top 5 greatest Florida bowl victories:
5. 1966 Orange Bowl: Bobby Dodd's last game as Georgia Tech's head coach was an unhappy one. Led by QB Steve Spurrier, Florida won 27-12, with Larry Smith setting a Orange Bowl record when he ran 94 yards for a touchdown, nearly losing his pants on the way.
4. 2005 Outback Bowl: QB Chris Leak threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns as the Gators built a hole too big for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Coach Urban Meyer's first bowl game as a Gator is a victory -- 31-24.
3. 2001 Orange Bowl: In Steve Spurrier's final game as head coach, QB Rex Grossman leads Florida's explosive offense to a school record for points in a bowl game as they defeated Maryland 56-23.
2. 1993 Sugar Bowl: Finishing with their best record to date (11-2), Florida faced the undefeated West Virginia Mountaineers in New Orleans. The 41-7 win was UF's first New Year's Day bowl win since 1967.
1. 1996 Sugar Bowl: The Gators beat the odds to turn their bowl game into the title game. Then they beat FSU 52-20 to claim their first national championship.
See that hole in the wall? That's where some Gator fan kicked it after seeing a moment of true terror on the football field. Everyone has their own nightmare-worth memory. Here are ours.
Worst 5 on-the-field moments in Florida football history:
5. Florida's first appearance in Tampa's Outback Bowl is known best for the final play. in 2002, with the Gators trailing 38-30, coach Ron Zook took the ball out of QB Rex Grossman's hands by calling for a flea-flicker. The pass by freshman cornerback Vernell Brown was picked off, sealing the win for Michigan. (Click here for video highlights of the game; interception at end of video)
4. In 1971, Florida led Miami 45-8 with 1:20 left when Gators defenders laid down and let the Hurricanes score on a run from the Florida 8. That allowed Florida to get the ball back and senior quarterback John Reaves to break Jim Plunkett's record for NCAA career passing yards. A victory, but a shameful moment.
3. Oct. 23, 2004: Jerrious Norwood scores on a 37-yard run with 32 seconds remaining as Mississippi State defeats No. 19 Florida 38-31. The loss ultimately ended Ron Zook's career as coach. He is fired two days later. (See video)
2. Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier breaks the tackle of nearly every Florida defender on his way to a 75-yard touchdown run in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl. (See video)
1. Nov. 8, 1980: Run, Lindsay, Run. undefeated No. 2 Georgia trails Florida 21-20 with 1:35 remaining in the annual rivalry when quarterback Buck Belue throws a short pass to Lindsay Scott near the 25-yard line. Scott takes the ball the distance for the winning touchdown. (See video)
These are the moments that nearly stopped the heart of every Gator fan and then caused them to explode. Those "I remember when..." plays for the Florida football team. Here are our favorites.
Top 5 on-the-field moments for Florida football:
5. In a classic play that made Florida play-by-play announcer Mick Hubert's catch-phrase "Ohhhh My" famous, freshman quarterback Danny Wuerffel, in only his second game, hit former walk-on receiver Chris Doering for a 28-yard touchdown pass (only the second of his career, the first earlier in that same game) with three seconds remaining to give the Gators a 24-20 road win over Kentucky on Sept. 11, 1993. I
4. Trailing rival FSU 29-25 with just under two minutes to go, Florida quarterback Doug Johnson connected on a 63-yard deep curl-and-go spiral pass to Jacquez Green, from the 20 to the FSU 17. That set up Fred Taylor's fourth touchdown run and sealed the 32-29 win for the Gators on Nov. 22, 1997, in front of 85,677 at Florida Field. The loss knocked then-No. 2 FSU out of the race for the national title.
3. Freshman Larry Smith breaks free en route to a 94-yard touchdown run in the Orange Bowl after the 1966 season against Georgia Tech, still a record for that bowl game. But what made the play even more noteworthy was the razor-thin running back out of Robinson High started losing his pants during the run, having to keep them hitched up as he ran.
2. During the 1966 season, QB Steve Spurrier kicks a 40-yard field goal with 2:12 remaining to defeat Auburn 30-27 and clinch the 1966 Heisman Trophy.
1. in the 1996 Sugar Bowl, QB Danny Wuerffel shredded the FSU defense for 306 yards. But his 16-yard scramble to the end zone for a touchdown late in the game secured the national title.
Florida will play Ohio State on Jan. 8 at Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., but getting a ticket to see the game in person will take major dollars.
Florida and Ohio State each received an allotment of 16,000 tickets. Of those, 2,250 tickets were set aside for Florida students, players and band members and 1,500 were allotted for the official traveling party, coaches, staff, sponsors, university guests, University Athletic Board of Directors and the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee.
The remaining 12,250 tickets, at a price of $175 plus a $5 handling charge, were made available for sale to Gator boosters. The UF ticket office received orders for nearly 21,500 tickets and 9,214 were unable to be filled and the money was refunded.
“This, without question, has been the most in-demand game we’ve had in my tenure here.,” said Bill Holloway, Florida’s assistant athletic director/ticket manager. Still, UF is bound by its ticket policy.
“We only get a certain number and we have to satisfy the Gator booster party system," Holloway said. "We have followed it for many, many years and we have not deviated. It’s all tied into contribution. But this was probably the first time some of our season ticket holders have been (negatively) affected.”
Click here to read the full story on tampabay.com.
UF safety named All-America
Florida safety Reggie Nelson was named to the Associated Press first-team All-America defense, with Gator cornerback Ryan Smith making the second team and linebacker Brandon Siler making the third team. No other state teams were represented. The three selections are the most for the Gators since six in 2001. Keiwan Ratliff in 2003 was UF's last first-team selection. Heisman-winning quarterback Troy Smith was among three Ohio State first-teamers (five overall) who will face Florida in the BCS title game.
- Antonya English, Times staff
Gotta love the passion of college football fans -- even when its directed against your team. Here's a letter sent to the Times in reaction to our recent coverage of the BCS title game: "Let's see who wins the title. I am going to root for Ohio State and
look forward to the Rose Bowl with Michigan and USC and will not whine
if Michigan loses. That's a good sport. I am not a youngster but a
female who is 72 years old. Love that Michigan team. ... Go Blue!"
"As a Michigan fan, I resent the
articles your sports writer (Tom Jones) has been writing about the team
and coach Lloyd Carr. You had Carr as the biggest whiner when all along
you were whining when you wrote the article. Michigan did deserve a
rematch with Ohio State, and your paper can write all it wants about
Michigan, but I am sure Michigan would have beaten Ohio State in a
rematch. I will never understand why the coaches voted against such a
great team. They surely don't deserve to be dropped to No. 3."
Why, exactly, do we have to wait a
month for the BCS national title game?
Think about it. How rusty will
Ohio State and Florida be when the game finally arrives?
The problem
isn't college football season ends too late. It's that it starts too
early. This season started Aug. 31. The Gators played five games by the
end of September.
Our idea? Move the season back two weeks and play the
national title game no later than Jan. 2.
-- Tom Jones, Times staff writer
Suffice to say, the sporting press in Michigan is less than happy with their team being left out of the BCS title game. Here's a sampling of their recent comments.
"Michigan fell in the rankings two straight weeks without playing a
game, so let's cut through the garbage and admit what this was about.
This was about too many people - especially voting coaches - getting
squeamish about a rematch, figuring the Wolverines already had their
shot at the Buckeyes. I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous rationale for
installing Florida, and if there's a major injustice here, that's it." -- Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News
"Did Michigan get jobbed? Sure it did. There is no way, in a logical
world, that a big-time, second-ranked team, whose only loss is by three
points to the top-ranked team, should fall behind anyone with at least
one defeat in a poll. Anyone. Southern Cal. Florida. Anyone." --
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free-Press
Our two cents
Does Michigan deserve to go to the BCS title game? Sure it does.
It's just that Florida deserves it more. Fans of the Wolverines argue
that their team had one loss and that loss was by a mere three points
on the road to the No. 1 team in the country. It's a valid point. The
problem is, Michigan fans have based their argument on that one game.
Florida's case is based on the entire season.
Add it up any way you want: record against teams ranked in the Top 25; record against teams which are bowl-eligible; where the teams finished in their conference. However you add it up, Florida comes out on top. Bitter Michigan fans are blaming all this on voters who didn't want to see a rematch. And, they claim, it's a travesty that Michigan was jumped in the polls when it didn't even play. Maybe the real wrong was that Michigan was ahead of Florida in the first place. You can go back and forth, around and around, but here's what closes the case:
You have two teams each with one loss, so which team traveled the toughest road? The answer is Florida, which played the toughest schedule in the country. Knowing that, how can anyone argue the Gators aren't the most deserving team in the country to play Ohio State?
-- Tom Jones, Times staff writer
Thumbs up: To Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who did the right thing and voted his team eighth in the college football poll even though it is undefeated. He didn't overrate his team as Rutgers' Greg Schiano did in voting his Scarlet Knights 10th, higher than any other coach. Rutgers is 17th in the coaches poll.
Thumbs down: Sunday's BCS Selection Show on Fox. For a dramatic announcement, there was hardly any drama at all. Fox tried for the slow buildup, but it waited so long that when the announcement came that Florida had been picked, it was anti-climactic. It didn't help that analyst Barry Alvarez seemed almost bored to be there.
[Photos: Getty Images; click to enlarge]
Who voted for Florida? Who voted for Michigan? Here is a list of the 62 voters (Ohio State's Jim Tressel abstained) and their vote in the USA Today coaches poll.
COACHES VOTING FOR FLORIDA:
COACHES WHO VOTED FOR MICHIGAN:
 If you bleed orange and blue, this blog is for you. The Gator Report is written by Florida beatwriter Antonya English and the staff of the St. Petersburg Times. We invite your comments and participation.E-mail Antonya English: english@tampabay.com |
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