WR Andre Caldwell is the highest-profile junior returning to Gainesville next year, with LB Brandon Siler, S Reggie Nelson, DE Jarvis Moss and CB Ryan Smith all announcing they will enter the NFL Draft.

It’s perfectly understandable that three of our NFL-ready players — sorry, Ryan — want to cash in with the Gators on top of the football world. While it’s sad to see them go, on paper, they’ve accomplished the ultimate goal, and it’s certainly hard to leave NFL money on the table.

Along those lines, WATB is moving on, too. As a Gator, I will never again reach this level of athletic bliss. Two years ago, this blog started with the Gators clinging to optimism, just months removed from the previous coach’s reign of terror. We all had high hopes for Urban Meyer, especially with that wonderful “Meyer in his second year” stat, but even the most partisan Gator must have had some doubt a national championship would come so soon. Lord knows I did.

Fast forward to today, and we’re at the top of the mountain. The view’s great up here, and I want to enjoy it. So I’m hanging up the keyboard.

I’ve always been a fan of going out on top — you might remember the quiet retirement of the WATB Hoops blog after the Gators’ tourney run last spring — but there are certainly some other factors. Two years ago, I was a second-year law student with plenty of time to be thorough and witty enough to pump out quality material and an overproduced weekly podcast. These days, though, real life as a practicing attorney often gets in the way.

Don’t get me wrong, my enthusiasm for the Gators and UF hasn’t diminished a bit. In fact, I’m a bigger Gator now than at any point of my life, undergrad years included. While I’ll continue my habit of combing the web each morning to submerse myself in all things Gator, I just don’t have the time to publish the blog you all deserve.

While I shut things down on the content side, the blog’s full archives will remain online indefinitely. It’s fun to take a trip back in time to the Meyer Era’s beginnings, and you’ll be able to do so for a while. Feel free to poke the blog’s dead body all you want.

Almost 2.5 million visitors have checked in over the last two years, and I thank everyone who kept WATB in their bookmarks and news readers. I thank the thousands of readers who have taken the time to share ideas, links and comments about the greatest football program in the country. I thank my real world circle — especially Jay, Keith, Derrick, Squishy, Joe, Eric, WATB Sr. and Mom WATB — who were always quick to share a tip, link or support. I thank the newspaper and university personnel who let me know this little blog might actually have a little influence. I thank Ray Hines and the Gator Country staff who gave me amazing exposure and support.

But most importantly, I thank the University of Florida. The experience of being a Gator — scholastically, socially and as a sports fan — has made me who I am today. The University of Florida is why this blog, and the Gator Nation, exist. The greatness of a UF diploma is why we walk around with our heads higher than graduates of other schools. We are from a better place. We are champions.

We are the boys from old Florida.

The Florida Gators are the 2006 champions of college football. That sentence barely looks real, especially considering what we’ve been through in the last decade.

We saw a legendary coach shockingly leave for the NFL. We saw a bungled coaching search end with a disastrous hire. We saw three years of false hopes, based solely on a mongoloid’s reputation as a strong recruiter. We saw a young coach come into town to clean up a mess. And after just two years, we saw a national championship.

Monday’s game was an ass-kicking, pure and simple. Ohio State looked like who they were: the best team from a bad conference. The media poo-pooed the notion that there’s speed, then there’s SEC speed, but the Gators showed the true difference last night.

Ohio State had 82 yards of offense. 82 EFFING YARDS!!! Seriously, myself and ten of my friends could probably get 80. Anybody who claimed Michigan was more deserving, or Ohio State would win a blowout, or Boise State needs a chance, please… 82 YARDS!!!

First basketball, now this. I have no idea how to describe the emotion I’m feeling this morning. I will never be a happier football fan than I am right now. On to the pundits…

ESPN.com’s Pat Forde:

Ohio State was a 7½-point favorite. Rarely has Las Vegas and almost every member of the sports media — my moronic self emphatically included — been this wrong.

Florida had a month between BCS Selection Sunday and this game to simmer in a stew of disrespect. Clearly, the Gators had reached a boiling point by kickoff.

“Motivation was not an issue,” said Urban Meyer, whose first six years as a college head coach merely rank among the most impressive in history. “If you are looking for a great pregame speech, I didn’t have to have any. We had one for 30 days.”

But it’s one thing to play angry. It’s another to play angry and play perfectly.

This was 85 guys going Don Larsen on an unbeaten and allegedly unbeatable opponent. This was one team rising to the occasion and the other snorkeling far below it.

Consider: Florida hadn’t beaten a I-A opponent by this many points since Central Florida on Sept. 9, and hadn’t beaten a BCS-conference opponent by that much since last season. Ohio State hadn’t been beaten by this many points since 1994.

The Florida game plan was art, suitable for framing. The execution of the game plan was similarly gorgeous.

Urban Meyer undressed The Vest. Scored 41 points on him, the most ever on a Jim Tressel-coached Ohio State team. Last time Tress’ boys gave up more it was 1999 and he was the coach at I-AA Youngstown State.

Chris Leak humiliated Mr. Heisman. To say he won the personal matchup with Troy Smith is like saying Sitting Bull got the best of Custer. It was a massacre and a stunning reversal of fortune for a guy who was widely doubted as a big-game quarterback while Smith was universally saluted.

A Florida defense that has been excellent all year was impenetrable Monday night. The Buckeyes were held to a preposterous 82 yards of offense, which looks like a misprint unless you saw the game.

Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Here’s the wonderful thing about one-sided nights like this: Everything gets answered. Everything. Every argument. Every doubt. Every nit that’s been picked since college football kicked off months ago.

Florida didn’t deserve to be in the champion-ship game, as Michigan’s Lloyd Carr said? Someone ask him again after this 41-14 win against Ohio State.

Coach Urban Meyer’s trick offense couldn’t flex enough muscle to win big? Someone take a look at what it did Monday.

And the Bowl Championship Series couldn’t deliver a proper champion? It might not provide the perfect ending to the perfect season. But someone ask Florida fans how it looked this night.

No questions. No controversy. No doubt who’s No. 1.

They won on muscle and magic, guts, guile and even a kicker no one trusted.

If Meyer had shaken his playbook for this game, you’d expect gumdrops, whistles, a few firecrackers, a bottle of elixir and maybe Adam Sandler to have fallen out. It wasn’t anything Florida hadn’t shown this regular season.

It was just everything in one night.

Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun:

Think they belong now, Michigan?

“There’s a team that doesn’t belong in this game,” Deshawn Wynn said. “And it’s not the Gators.”

One thing you can say for the Gators, they know how to win a national championship.

They took a team that was supposed to be unbeatable and beat it down like it was UCF. They pushed so hard they caused the usually conservative Jim Tressel to go for it on fourth down from his own 29.

“Obviously, it was the wrong call,” Tressel said.

This was the best we’ve seen this Florida team play this year. Who is the big-game coach now?

In their minds they were disrespected by the national media. They saw in one newspaper where a 42-14 score was predicted in favor of the other team.

Then they went out and came a point short of reversing it.

“Motivation was easy for the last 30 days,” UF coach Urban Meyer said.

And so they were able to pass the crystal around, just as their basketball brethren did nine months ago. And they did so with a performance that will at least allow the 2006 Gators to enter the argument for best team in Gator history. Certainly, this was a game that is in the argument for best all-around performance ever.

And Leak gets into that best quarterback argument.

David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel:

A beautiful love-hate relationship ended Monday night. From now on, Chris Leak always will be loved.

He did what no other Gator except the most exalted ever has done, and a lot more. Danny Wuerffel didn’t have to beat invincible Ohio State to win a national championship.

He never had to switch to an offense that highlighted his weaknesses in mid-career. He never had to hear thousands of fans drool at the mention of his backup’s name.

He never had to know that whatever he did, it probably wouldn’t be enough. If putting 41 points on the Buckeyes and wining the offensive MVP award isn’t enough, Leak should tell people to kiss his championship ring.

Not that he would dare say such a thing.

Even after winning the biggest game of his life, Leak sounded like a guy ordering a cheeseburger at the local In-N-Out.

“It’s a great feeling to be national champions,” he said. “I’m just so thankful to be around my great teammates and great coaches.”

Leak certainly wasn’t wrong to give his teammates credit. Troy Smith will be seeing Gators rushers chasing him in his sleep for the next few months.

It’s not quite that they could have manhandled Ohio State with one arm tied behind their backs, but Earl Everett did lose his helmet on one play and still made like a wild man and ran down Smith.

The Heisman Trophy winner had said how comfortable he was in Phoenix, especially since he loved going to the In-N-Out by the team hotel. He should have parked his car in the drive-through lane there Monday night and refused to come out until Ohio State figured out how to block.

The best move he made all night was giving Leak a big hug after the game. His counterpart deserved it after completing 25 of 36 passes, including his first eight.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:

Meyer’s Gators came into this championship game billed as a team of destiny, but, brother, this was not destiny. This was domination. This was devastation. This was destruction. This was the antithesis of Nebraska 11 years ago in this very desert.

This is the 100-year anniversary of Florida football, and wouldn’t you know it: The Gators pulled off one of the most shocking upsets of the century. Exactly 10 years after winning their first national title with a rout of No. 1-ranked Florida State, the Gators destroyed another undefeated team a decade later.

The naysayers said the Gators didn’t belong in the game at all. The oddsmakers and media experts picked them to lose handily. But the Gators — these gritty, gutty Gators — did not care. Their fans were outnumbered, their team was outranked, but they believed. They believed in themselves. They believed in their coach. They believed in their quarterback.

Talk about validation and vindication, maybe now QB Chris Leak finally will get the credit he is due as one of the greatest quarterbacks in Florida and Southeastern Conference history.

And all those questions surrounding Meyer have been answered unequivocally. People wondered whether he was ready for a big-time job like Florida. People wondered whether his offense could work in the big leagues of a BCS conference. People wondered whether he ever could emerge from the immense shadow of Steve Spurrier.

Yes, yes and ohmygawd yes.

John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times:

It seems silly today to recall the controversy of last month when Florida swept past Michigan in the final BCS poll to claim a spot in the title game.

Turns out, in the end, it wasn’t about computer rankings or polls. It wasn’t politicking or strength of schedule or network television preferences.

In the end, it was simply football.

A quicker team. A smarter coach. And far more heart and resolve.

And now, for the first time in Division I history, one school can claim to have the reigning national champions in both football and men’s basketball.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not by a long shot. Not for a team that was 7 1/2-point underdogs.

Oh, sure, the Gators had a chance. After all, they were Southeastern Conference champions and owners of a 12-1 record.

But they weren’t supposed to overwhelm anyone, let alone Ohio State. Remember, this is a team that struggled against Vanderbilt. A team seemingly on the verge of collapse every week.

Yet Monday night, they were beasts. They crushed Ohio State’s offense and toyed with its defense. The team supposedly built on pluck turned bully overnight.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald:

In the end, where delirium and dreams met, Florida Gators fans outnumbered here 3-1 or more were the ones making noise like they owned the place. And they did. Gators players pogoed and danced on the field and silver confetti shimmered like starlight as fans roared and slapped outstretched hands in a Gator Chomp-chomp-chomp after their team had devoured Ohio State and lifted a campus in Gainesville higher than any college has been.

Ever.

Never before has an NCAA Division I school been the national champion in football, which the Gators became with stunning force Monday night, while also reigning in men’s basketball, a title Florida had earned last year. …

More than 10,000 Gator fans filled UF’s campus basketball arena for a watch-party, and it was fitting, that joining together of the school’s twin-titan sports.

Meyer and basketball coach Billy Donovan happen to be close friends; “Billy recruited me,” Meyer said of the man who helped persuade him to leave Utah. Their wives are close. So are their same-aged kids. In fact, the coaches live two houses from each other in the same Gainesville neighborhood.

Does this call for a block party or what!

Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune:

Turns out the BCS hue-and-cry babies were right. Florida wasn’t the second-best team in the country.

“I’ve got to admit everybody in the country was right. We weren’t the second best team in the country,” Florida receiver Dallas Baker said. “We’re the No. 1 team in the country.”

Here’s to Florida.

Sorry. My mistake.

The University of Florida.

Destiny won in a blowout in the desert. Undefeated Ohio State and Heisman winner Troy Smith were no match for the team with no chance. They were shocked. We were shocked. About the only ones who weren’t shocked were the ones who did the shocking, 41-14.

All this season, the 100th season of Florida football, they were either the team no one thought would get here or didn’t deserve to be here. But when it mattered, with a national title on the line, college football turned orange and blue again.

They saved their best for last. The Gators turned a night that couldn’t have begun worse into a season that couldn’t have ended better, not if the band had dotted the “I” in Florida. By the way, it’s official:

Urban Renewal is complete.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline:

There is speed and then there is SEC speed. Ohio State certainly wasn’t ready for it. Smith was sacked five times. Ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss, plus defensive tackle Ray McDonald, made the Buckeyes’ offensive tackles look like blocking dummies — only worse. Blocking dummies bounce back up. Alex Boone and Kirk Barton were whiffing all night.

Tressel essentially handed the game to Florida in the first half when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-one from his own 29 in the second quarter. Not a good idea. Freshman running back Chris Wells was stopped short.

“We’re a lot quicker, a lot more athletic,” the 6-foot-6 Moss said. “It’s just totally different playing guys in our conference.

“I really don’t know who they played other than Michigan. They really didn’t have an identity. They really weren’t tested by any great teams.”

Florida played 10 bowl teams, losing only to Auburn. It depends on when you lose, though. After allowing only 86 points in their first 11 games, the Buckeyes allowed 80 in their final two to Michigan and Florida.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated:

When the doors swung open to Florida’s locker room about 45 minutes after Monday night’s BCS National Championship Game, several Gators were busy filming their own mini-cam documentaries of the scene. Safety Tony Joiner delivered a monologue in front of one of them.

“They said it couldn’t be done, that David couldn’t beat Goliath,” shouted Joiner. “The score has been settled. Forty-one to 14, University of Florida. Who didn’t deserve to be here?”

David didn’t just beat Goliath on Monday — he humiliated him. He so thoroughly outclassed the only team to be ranked No. 1 during the 2006 regular season that it leaves us wondering whether the past four months were really just one big lie.

There are no shortage of figures deserving of recognition on the occasion of this, the Florida Gators’ second national championship. First, however, let us take a moment to bestow praise on college football’s new reigning genius: Jim Walden.

Walden, you may recall, is the former Washington State and Iowa State coach who, back when the rest of the country was arguing over whether Florida or Michigan should have finished the regular season No. 2, was the only one out of 175 BCS pollsters with the audacity to rank the Gators No. 1. (Walden voted in the Harris Poll.)

Following a regular season that saw three straight months of endless Buckeyes adulation, Walden was the one so-called expert to not only stand up and voice his dissent but to shout it to the hilltops. “Ohio State hasn’t proved anything,” he said at the time. Following a Michigan-Ohio State game so colossal it merited its own countdown clock, Walden was the one contrarian to voice his opinion that, “The Big Ten is as weak as it’s been in 25 years.”

And he pointed to the Gators’ 12-1 record against a grueling SEC schedule and proclaimed — to much mockery — “Florida deserves to be No. 1.”

If only we’d listened to you, Jim Walden.

If you ignore the hype surrounding an undefeated team out of an inferior conference, you’ll see two teams pretty well matched in every facet of the game but special teams. Take away a craptacular call in the Auburn game, and the Gators have done everything necessary to sweep the most difficult schedule in the country. It hasn’t always been pretty, and took dumb luck to get the team to Glendale, but the Gators have gotten it done all year.

Ohio State played two tough teams all year: an overrated Michigan squad, and a Texas team with a young QB making young QB mistakes. That’s it.

The Gators have topped nine bowl teams, and they did it with speed at WR, and most importantly, at all 11 defensive slots. The Buckeyes haven’t faced a defense as suffocating and fast as the Gators’, and it will show tonight. Expect the default (best QB on best team) Heisman winner to look lost as the Gators pressure him up front, and blanket the Buckeye receivers downfield.

Ohio State is a near-unanimous pick from the punditry. There hasn’t been such a lopsided consensus since Miami was picked to trounce this same OSU team in 2003. Instead, the Buckeyes played with something to prove, using a superior gameplan and heart to pull off the biggest championship upset of the BCS era.

Until tonight.

Florida 23, Ohio State 17.

The pundits’ takes on the game’s intangibles… Scouts Inc.:

Ohio State has the more talented team and it has been more impressive on the field throughout the 2006 regular season. However, Florida has (some) key factors working in its favor that should lead to an upset in Glendale.

Firstly, the issue of time between games plays to Florida’s advantage. The 51-day layoff could prove to be a disadvantage for a Buckeyes’ offense that was clicking on all cylinders when it last took the field. Conversely, while 37-day layoff is long enough for the Gators to get some key players rested, it’s not too long to get out of rhythm.

(Also), Meyer’s creativity should pay off. Meyer has had just enough time to make some necessary tweaks offensively. Wynn and Harvin are well-rested, which will allow the Gators to establish a more consistent ground attack. Leak has enough weapons to spread the Buckeyes out and neutralize their defensive speed, and Meyer has undoubtedly thrown some wrinkles in for his favorite weapon, Tebow.

When it’s all said and done; Florida will play its best game of the season and do just enough to pull off the shocking upset over heavily favored Ohio State — much like Ohio State did to Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

It doesn’t help that having the nation’s hardest schedule, facing ten bowl bound teams, made it hard (for UF) to come up with dominant wins getting five by seven points or fewer. The only blemish came at Auburn losing on special teams breakdowns, a late fumble return, and a controversial fumble by Chris Leak.

All this team does is find ways to win, and with its talent, it’s good enough to pull this off. …

OSU didn’t have to play Wisconsin, got Texas before Colt McCoy got his feet wet, struggled until late against Penn State, and got a little too much credit at the time for wins over mediocre teams like Iowa and Minnesota. Michigan showed that the Buckeyes are beatable, and if Florida plays up to its capabilities, and plays the “no one respects us” card to the hilt, this has the potential to be a classic.

CollegeFootballNews:

What if Florida played Ohio State’s schedule? Northern Illinois, win. At Texas, with the way the Longhorn offense was playing in early September, win. Cincinnati, Penn State, at Iowa, Bowling Green, at Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, at Illinois, at Northwestern. Win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. Michigan? In the Swamp? Florida. I’m not saying Ohio State couldn’t or wouldn’t beat everyone on Florida’s slate, but considering the problems it had with Michigan, would it have gone unscathed with games against Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas? The Gators would be 12-0, or at worst 11-1, with the Buckeye schedule. …

Remember the last time a team just found ways to win, even if it wasn’t pretty, was a big underdog for a national title game in Arizona, and had a precocious freshman who was a tone-setting power runner? Oh yeah, the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes. Florida has an eerily similar feel with freshman QB Tim Tebow the emotional spark plug, sort of like Maurice Clarett, while the Gators win with great D, timely O, and an ability to pull out every close game helped by a heady, veteran Craig Krenzel-like quarterback. …

No. 1 USC was supposed to blow past No. 2 Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl. No. 2 Oklahoma didn’t need to show up in the 2001 Orange Bowl against No. 1 Florida State, right? Of course, No. 1 Miami was going to walk all over Ohio State in 2001. The pressure is 100% on the Buckeyes, so if Florida can get a little momentum early, it has every shot at pulling this off in what shouldn’t be considered a shocker in any way. This Gator team really is that good.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News:

Let’s face it: Ohio State is not as unbeatable as television bobbleheads would have you believe. And don’t think Florida hasn’t already heard enough of the scarlet-and-gray lovefest.

The Gators fell into poll heaven and are just happy to play the role of whipping boy, right?

You know, the team that played the toughest schedule in the nation according to the NCAA. The team whose only loss came on the road by 10 points to a 10-win Auburn team that scored a meaningless defensive touchdown on the last play of the game.

The same Florida team that failed the eyeball test on a weekly basis and had fewer style points than the guy pushing the hot dog cart outside the stadium. Not enough oomph from a funky, fancy offense that often stuttered and sputtered.

Yeah, these Gators are damn ugly — something Ohio State should know all about.

Four years ago, the Buckeyes defined ugly and defied the eyeball test. They needed a fourth-and-a prayer pass to beat average Purdue. Overtime to beat lowly Illinois. They eventually won the national title by beating a Miami team that on talent alone had few peers in the modern era of the game.

Scouts Inc.:

Florida can thank Michigan for drawing up a blueprint for success versus Ohio State’s defense, which included spreading the field with multiple-receiver sets throughout most of the Nov. 18 meeting. Considering that is coach Urban Meyer’s philosophy to begin with, it’s hard to imagine the Gators going in a different direction. Furthermore, Florida has an even greater wealth of talent at wide receiver …, which will put even more pressure on Ohio State’s defensive secondary. …

(QB Chris Leak) lacks ideal size, yet he displays good field vision and a strong arm to spread the ball around to his multitude of weapons. Leak’s favorite targets are Baker and Caldwell, who have combined for 1,468 yards and 14 touchdowns on 111 receptions this season. Baker is more of a sure-handed, chain-moving possession receiver that comes up big in the clutch, while Caldwell is more of a speedster with the ability to exploit man-to-man coverage. Cornelius is a reliable slot receiver that ranks third on the team in receptions, but Harvin is an even bigger threat as a versatile true freshman. Harvin has battled injuries throughout his rookie season but he is the fastest member of the Gator team. … The Buckeyes also must account for freshman TE Cornelius Ingram, who ranks fourth on the team with 26 catches.

Meyer has had just enough time to make some necessary tweaks offensively. Wynn and Harvin are well-rested, which will allow the Gators to establish a more consistent ground attack. Leak has enough weapons to spread the Buckeyes out and neutralize their defensive speed, and Meyer has undoubtedly thrown some wrinkles in for his favorite weapon, Tebow.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Just how much will Tim Tebow play? … While Chris Leak is the starter and the main man who runs the offense, Tebow is the better fit to face the athletic, pass rushing Buckeye defense. The OSU linebackers are frothing at the mouth to get to the ball on every play and will sometimes overpursue and get caught out of position. With plenty of time to prepare, Meyer and his staff should come up with a few option plays to get Tebow on the outside and not just run him up the gut.

Florida will win if Chris Leak gets enough time to look for a second and third option. … Leak must get time to operate or the Florida offense can be painfully stagnant. The Gators can all but forget about running the ball on the Buckeyes. … Florida’s receivers will push (OSU’s aggressive corners) right back and should be able to beat the jams at the line without a problem. Make Leak hurry, and he’ll try to make plays that aren’t there. If OSU gets two picks, it’s over.

ESPN’s Bob Davie:

When you face Florida, you always must be prepared for trick plays and reverses off of its base offensive play. Urban Meyer always has done a great job setting up reverse-action plays and gimmicks particularly against fast, aggressive defenses such as Ohio State’s. Florida always will have a game-plan with a couple of “deceptives,” or special plays, off of its most frequently run offensive plays. For example, the Gators always have run a lot of speed or down the line option so the reverse off of the option often has been a weapon. This year they have used Tim Tebow in their short-yardage offense as a power runner at quarterback.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News:

Harvin will be completely healthy for the first time all season. So will burly tailback DeShawn Wynn. Florida’s occasionally stagnant and often ugly running game could fare well against a defense that has struggled at times to stop the run. …

Florida will use Harvin more than usual at tailback and could use a package on offense in which Harvin and backup quarterback Tim Tebow — the team’s second-leading rusher and a bull of a short-yardage back — are in the same backfield behind quarterback Chris Leak. Meyer hasn’t used the package this season, but he added new wrinkles to his offense over the last month of the season and is committed to running the ball in this game.

The objective is to start out with Harvin’s speed and slashing and then pound away between the tackles with Wynn — and maybe Tebow — in the second half.

NBC Sports:

On offense, Florida’s unorthodox offense will be unique to Ohio State. The Gators have to get some big plays out of freshman Percy Harvin, who lines up as a wide receiver or as a running back. The Buckeyes will score; Florida has to get something then from Harvin, a long touchdown run perhaps.

Scouts Inc.:

QB Troy Smith has been far and away the best player in college football this season. He can still beat defenses with his feet but Smith has done most of his damage through the air to his outstanding corps of receivers. Ted Ginn is the most dangerous weapon of the group because of his world-class speed. His route-running skills and hands have also improved this season, which is evident in his team-high 59 receptions. Fellow junior Anthony Gonzalez is among the premier route runners in the nation and he takes advantage of all the extra attention given to Ginn on the opposite side. …

Smith and the Ohio State passing attack gets most of the attention but the truth is that coach Jim Tressel’s team continues to run the ball more frequently and more effectively. The Buckeye offensive line is a physical and aggressive unit that averages more than 312 pounds per member. It typically does a great job of opening holes for RBs Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells, who have combined for 1,738 yards and 20 touchdowns on an average of 27.8 carries per contest. Pittman isn’t flashy but he’s a tough north-south runner. Wells, a true freshman, is an emerging star with better size and straight-line speed. The Gators will likely be forced to play more nickel and dime personnel than they will be in a base 4-3 alignment. … If Ohio State’s offensive line can consistently reach the second level and get their bigger bodies on Everett and Siler from the first snap on, it could lead to some big play on the ground for Pittman and Wells in the second half.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Ohio State will win if Troy Smith gets enough time to look for a second and third option. While Smith’s Heisman highlight reel included him getting out of jams and making plays with his athleticism and quick decision-making ability, he won the award because of what he did when he had time. He has pinpoint accuracy and an arm to make all the throws, and when he gets four seconds to find the right target, he’ll hit him every time. Even if the Gators do find some semblance of a steady pass rush, Smith is great at throwing on the move and will be effective. However, that limits his options and, as strange as this might sound considering the plays he makes, limits his creativity. He’s even more imaginative, and far more dangerous, when he’s in the pocket and able to set up his receivers.

ESPN’s Bob Davie:

Ohio State shocked the Michigan defense by aligning in a no-back, five-wide receiver empty set. It was in this formation 24 snaps in the game on Nov. 18 in Columbus. The Buckeyes ended up having 503 total yards of offense on 70 plays. … The reason the five-wide set was so effective for Ohio State was because of the great depth it has at wide receiver. For example in the Michigan game, Ted Ginn … had eight catches for 104 yards, Brian Robiskie … had seven catches for 89 yards and Anthony Gonzalez… had four catches for 50 yards. Combine these excellent wide receivers with a Heisman Trophy -winning quarterback and you can see why empty was such a difficult formation for Michigan to defend.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Ohio State almost never makes mistakes finishing ninth in the nation in turnover margin, averaging a mere 4.75 penalties for 42.83 yards per game, and is fourth in the country on third downs converting 51.3% of its chances.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News:

(OSU will win if) Troy Smith takes over. Before the Michigan game, the staff knocked around different ideas of how to surprise the Wolverines with new tendencies. After all the discussion, the vote was unanimous: Just put the ball in Smith’s hands. Ohio State’s receivers are so good at winning individual battles that Smith’s accuracy and ability to slide in the pocket and avoid hits makes the offense nearly impossible to stop. …

(But they’ll lose if) mistakes pile up. Ohio State negated Miami’s score-a-minute offense in the 2002 national title game by forcing five turnovers. Don’t think the same thing can’t happen to the Buckeyes. They were tested twice this season — by Penn State and Michigan — both times because they didn’t take care of the football.

NBC Sports:

(For OSU to win, it must) set up the mismatches for its offense, which means attacking Florida’s corners. … With the Buckeyes’ talent on the perimeter, you need corners that are going to be high round NFL picks and Florida does not have those.

Ohio State should have great confidence in its run game after what it did to Michigan. Antonio Pittman ran for 140 yards and Chris Wells got 60 more on five carries. If the Gators want to use their strong safety in pass coverage and creep a linebacker outside, the Buckeyes will be more than willing to attack the box with the run.

Scouts Inc.:

The Gators lack ideal depth at cornerback but they have enough athletic playmakers in their secondary to match up better in coverage than any other unit the Buckeyes have faced. … (Ryan) Smith lacks ideal size but he’s athletic enough to match up one-on-one occasionally versus Ginn and frequently versus Gonzalez, which will give (coaches) some flexibility in terms of rolling coverages to the opposite side. Nelson spends most of his time playing centerfield and reading the quarterback’s eyes, but he also has the size, speed and experience … to play man-to-man coverage at times versus one of Ohio State’s slot receivers. … SS Tony Joiner is the least gifted athlete of the bunch, so expect him to cheat up in underneath-zone coverage and occasionally to take on the bigger and slower Hall head-to-head.

As is the case on the other side of the ball, Florida must get consistent pressure on Smith without being forced to incorporate too many linebackers on the blitz. The Gator secondary is far more capable in coverage than the Wolverines’ secondary that Smith most recently picked apart, but it still needs as much help as possible in order to keep Ginn, Gonzalez, Robiskie and Hall somewhat in check. … (The Gators) are … loaded with talent along their defensive line. Ray McDonald got moved inside … and has become a disruptive force with 33 tackles, including three sacks with five passes broken up. Meanwhile, DEs Jarvis Moss and Derrick Harvey generate consistent pressure off the edges. …

The Gators will likely be forced to play more nickel and dime personnel than they will be in a base 4-3 alignment. That means their defensive line needs to be disciplined in their gaps and LBs Brandon Siler (MLB) and Earl Everett (WLB) need to take great angles in pursuit and wrap-up soundly in space. Everett, a senior, and Siler, a junior, are the team’s leading tacklers and make up one of the best linebacker tandems in the country, which bodes well for Florida’s ability to keep Pittman and Wells in check on the ground. However, neither linebacker possesses especially good size, which makes them vulnerable to wearing down as the game progresses.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Even though Jarvis Moss isn’t Jevon Kearse, he’s a physical presence who’ll make a lot of money very soon at the next level. The same goes for Derrick Harvey. While this is a quick, lean defensive front that has the ability to generate pressure, it hasn’t happened as much as it should’ve. (Troy) Smith is a smart enough decision maker to make plays even if the front seven gets into the backfield, the ball might be gone. The Florida defense might get to Smith, but it’s not likely to hit him on a regular basis.

CollegeFootballNews:

Yeah, Michigan’s run defense was supposed to be a rock and Ohio State ran through it, but Florida’s is better and more talented. Only four teams ran for over 100 yards on a Gator run defense that allowed just 2.8 yards per carry. The defensive front is physical enough to hold up against the fantastic Ohio State O line, while the back seven is fast enough to keep Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells from busting off any backbreakers (just ask Darren McFadden and Felix Jones). Texas held the Buckeyes to 79 rushing yards.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News:

Texas and Michigan were the best defenses Ohio State faced this season, but neither has true speed-rush ends. The problem for the Buckeyes is that Florida ends Jarvis Moss (6-6) and Derrick Harvey (6-4) are not only quick off the edge but are long and lanky with large wingspans. …

If Florida can pressure Smith with its front four, fast linebackers Brandon Siler and Earl Everett will be able to drop into space and disrupt the quick slants and drag routes that Buckeyes wideouts Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez turn into big gains. If the Gators have to blitz to get pressure, undersized cornerbacks Ryan Smith and Reggie Lewis will be left in man situations against the fastest wideout combination in the nation.

CBS Sportsline:

Florida’s defense has been young and inconsistent in recent years but has grown up and improved this season, with leadership from LBs Brandon Siler and Earl Everett and DT Ray McDonald and the emergence of FS Reggie Nelson and CB Ryan Smith. The Gators lead the SEC in stopping the run, allowing only 74.5 rushing yards per game. They’ve struggled at times against the pass this season, but at the same time they lead the SEC with 20 interceptions and rank fourth in the SEC with 29 sacks.

NBC Sports:

Is it too much to ask the Gators to get a lot of pressure on Heisman Trophy quarterback Troy Smith? He has been sacked just 10 times this season, so Florida is going to have to play well in the secondary and mix coverages. Smith throws well on the run so the Gators are going to have stay in coverage longer.

Ohio State has an option pass that wrecks teams, so there has to be a defender devoted to Smith. One thing the Gators do well is tackle in space. Ohio State has so many weapons it gets a defense spread out and there are man-to-man, one-on-one scenarios all over the place. Michigan could not handle that. Now it is Florida’s turn.

Scouts Inc.:

Ohio State is blessed with one of the nation’s premier shutdown cover corners in sophomore Malcolm Jenkins, who has notched 51 tackles and four interceptions this season. Unfortunately, there’s a significant drop-off after him in terms of man-to-man cover skills in the secondary. … Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock will need to protect his secondary by wisely mixing in lots of different man-zone coverage combinations throughout the game.

It would also make Heacock’s life easier if his defensive front-four would turn up the heat on Leak. DT Quinn Pitcock is a monster of an interior pass rusher with eight sacks on the season, and DE Vernon Gholston has come on strong with 7½ sacks off the perimeter. Ohio State can’t afford to dedicate too many of its linebackers to the blitz because it needs all the help it can get in coverage. So the success of Florida’s offense likely will come down to its offensive line’s effectiveness in pass protection versus Ohio State’s defensive front four. …

The biggest X-factor with Ohio State is its ability to generate takeaways. LBs James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman have developed into big-time playmakers as first-year starters and they anchor a unit that ranks third in the nation with 21 passes intercepted. The Buckeyes will give up lots of yards and will look overwhelmed at times, but they are very much a bend-but-don’t-break unit that tightens the clamps as the field shrinks.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Ohio State DT Quinn Pitcock was, arguably, the nation’s best defensive lineman this season as the true definition of an anchor on the inside. Strong enough to hold at the point of attack against two and three blockers, and quick enough to be a regular in the backfield, he’s a top ten caliber NFL draft pick who could change the game from the start by forcing the Gators to do everything east-west instead of north-south. That plays into the speed of the Buckeye defensive back seven.

CollegeFootballNews:

We all saw against Texas A&M what the Texas offense is like when Colt McCoy wasn’t Colt McCoy, and on Sept. 9 against OSU, he was just starting to figure out what he was doing in the second game of his career. The only other offense the Buckeyes faced with the skill, speed and athleticism like Florida’s attack was Michigan’s, while LSU, Auburn and Tennessee all have Ohio State-like talent at several spots. The Buckeyes have sort of faced a spread offense like Florida’s, beating Northwestern like a drum, but this is the souped up version. Can the OSU corners handle the speedy, talented Gator receivers?

CBS Sportsline:

The ability to create turnovers has made Ohio State’s defense one of the best in the country. The Buckeyes replaced nine starters from the 2005 defense, but the consistent pass rush, the emergence of LB James Laurinaitis and the stellar play of the defensive line has made this unit very formidable. And playing with an offense that can easily score five touchdowns just gives the defense that much more freedom to play aggressively.

NBC Sports:

On defense, the Buckeyes have to find Percy Harvin, the versatile Florida freshman, who lines up as a running back, wingback, and wide receiver. The reverse is a big play for Florida if the defense gets too aggressive. Ohio State is also going to have to be careful on special teams. Florida uses some starters on special teams and the Gators can block kicks and make returns to lift their offense.

A look at the Gators’ special teams, first from Scouts Inc.:

Florida PK Chris Hetland was nearly benched for the SEC title game after connecting on just three of his first 12 field goal attempts this season. However, Meyer stuck with him and it paid off, as Hetland hit his only field goal attempt of the championship game from 33 yards out. While that kick helps his confidence, Hetland still is considered a major liability for Florida’s special team’s units heading into the BCS National Championship Game. Also concerning is the ineffectiveness of Florida’s kickoff return team, which ranks 116th nationally with an average of just 16.9 yards per return. True freshman Brandon James and sophomore Kestahn Moore have handled all but one of the kickoff returns this season.

The good news is that the Gators have been far more competent in the punting game. Senior PT Eric Wilbur is averaging 42.2 yards per kick and has landed 22 of his 49 attempts inside the opponents’ 20-yard-line. Wilbur has also been blessed with an outstanding coverage team, which is why the Gators rank sixth in the nation in net punting (38.2). James has struggled to find his groove returning kickoffs but he is a natural on punt returns, where he averages an impressive 11.6 yards per attempt with a long of 77 yards for a score.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

Let’s say Florida keeps this sucker close; can it rely on the kicking game? Senior Chris Hetland was sensational in 2005 hitting 13 of 16 shots, but he’s four of 13 on field goals this year, and oddly enough, 38 for 40 on extra points for the second straight season.

CollegeFootballNews:

Florida can’t make field goals. That could turn out to be the Achilles heel in the title game, but the rest of the special teams are amazing helped mostly by freshman punt and kick returner Brandon James and the punting of Eric Wilbur. Maybe Chris Hetland’s 33-yard field goal against Arkansas has officially broken him out of his year-long funk.

CBS Sportsline:

K Chris Hetland has struggled all season with field goals and extra points and would have lost his job if someone else had stepped forward to claim it. He finally regained some confidence with a positive performance in the SEC championship game, but he still has a lot to prove. Florida has been among the SEC’s best in punt and kickoff coverage this season, and freshman RB Brandon James has proved to be a dangerous return specialist.

On Ohio State’s special teams, from Scouts Inc.:

Ohio State has not been great on special teams this season but it still has a clear edge over Florida in this facet of the game. First-year place-kicker Aaron Pettrey has been better than advertised, connecting on eight of 11 field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards during the regular season. He also does a fine job on kickoffs, where 35 of his 61 kicks have gone for touchbacks. If there’s one concern, though, it’s that Pettrey is unproven in high-pressure situations. Ohio State is solid in the punting game thanks to A.J. Trapasso, who is averaging 41 yards per attempt. Trapasso does a fine job of kicking within his coverage and he also has shown good directional skills by landing 15 of 43 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard-line.

Ginn is averaging 11.1 yards per punt return, including a 60-yard touchdown scamper versus Michigan State. However, Ginn has been far less effective handling kickoffs, where he is averaging 20.4 yards on 17 returns with a long of just 37 yards this season.

Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews:

While Ohio State sophomore Aaron Pettrey might not make anyone forget about Mike Nugent, he made eight of 11 field goals with his last miss coming in mid-September. (To be fair, he hasn’t been under any real pressure and hasn’t attempted a field goal since November 4th.)

CBS Sportsline:

Freshman PK Aaron Pettrey hasn’t had to make a pressure kick all year, but after some early struggles, he’s been consistently good. Ted Ginn is perhaps the most dangerous punt returner in the country, but for whatever reason he hasn’t been as explosive on kickoff returns. The Buckeyes rank 84th in the country in kickoff returns, averaging less than 20 yards per return.

The Gators’ innovative bag of tricks has Ohio State prepared for what one player called “window dressing.”

> OSU OT Quinn Pitcock: “On TV, it looks like a lot of crazy stuff, but on defense it’s still about executing assignments. You have to control things, not let the offense control it. They do a lot of window dressing, but it ends up being the same old play. … It takes a lot of heart to do a lot of the stuff they do, and it’s fun to watch. You always want to be challenged. If you’re king of the hill, you don’t want to be bored.”
> OSU S Brandon Mitchell: “I’d say Florida runs more trick plays than anybody but Boise State. (The coaches) gave us some hook-and-ladder plays a couple of times in practice, just to make sure we’re disciplined.”
> OSU CB Malcolm Jenkins: “There’s been one or two trick plays in every bowl game I’ve watched, so our eyes will be open for anything. We go over trick plays in practice, things (the Gators) haven’t even shown on film. The coaches put them in there to keep us on our P’s and Q’s. Hopefully, we stay alert.”
> OSU DT David Patterson: “To me, a trick play has to be something out of the ordinary. It’s got to be something you couldn’t run two times in a row, something you wouldn’t see once it’s out of the bag, something that takes some time to develop. We just have to be disciplined. Really, you just have to do your job. You can’t worry about doing too much. If everyone fills their gaps, and does what they’re supposed to do, we should be fine.”

Saturday’s practice was the final one for the 2006 Gators. The practice ended with each of the team’s 21 seniors making one final tackle before addressing the team.

> WR Jemalle Cornelius: “It was definitely emotional, reflecting on our careers and all the senior class has gone through. It was emotional reflecting on all the times we had.”
> Urban Meyer: “It was great. We have 21 seniors and it was a special day and a once in a lifetime thing. Every one of those seniors contributed in a great way this season. It was a great experience for them. It was probably a little more emotional than last year.”

In addition to the ceremonies, Meyer said Saturday’s practice was a strong one.

> Meyer: “Media day (on Friday) kind of set us back. Now we’re right back on schedule. I’m very proud of the way they came out today. We say the preparation stops when the foot hits the ball at 6:30 (local time) on Monday night. The physical work is over. It’s all mental preparation now.”

Can you imagine a scenario in which K Chris Hetland, he of numerous struggles this season, is in a position to win the game for the Gators Monday? He can.

> Hetland: “I am real confident. You have to be, don’t you? I mean, in this position. I don’t really have a reason not to be.”
> Hetland: “Yeah, it’s been a rough season, but I’ve been practicing well, hitting the ball better than I ever have. I’m really excited about the opportunity. About a month and a half ago, I figured a bunch of stuff out, and everything has been down the middle.”
> Hetland on the 33-yard FG kicked against Arkansas: “Some people said it was a monkey. I said it was a gorilla that I got off my back. It was really cool to see how the team supported me. After I made it, there was celebrating. It was quite the celebration for a 33-yard field goal. … I got on the plane and I passed by Coach’s (Meyer) seat. He grabbed me and said, “Glad you’re back, Het.’ That was cool.”
> OC Dan Mullen: “We always figured he would snap out of it and get going at some point. I don’t think anybody really lost confidence. We never got to the point where we said, ‘Hey, let’s get a great fourth-down [package]. We’re going to stop kicking field goals. Let’s make sure we have extra fourth-down calls in the game.’ Hey, he’s getting the job done in practice. Let’s go get your job done.”

TE Tate Casey and S Tony Joiner, both nursing high ankle sprains, will play Monday.

The NCAA’s new graduate-transfer rule, which allowed CB Ryan Smith to join the Gators this season, has been rescinded.

> Faculty athletic rep David Goldfield from Charlotte: “I think a lot of coaches and athletic directors are very frightened. Fear drove the circumstances and won. All of us here — coaches, athletic representatives or administrators — are in the business of helping students fulfill their dreams, whether they’re academic or athletic. This override contradicts that objective.”
> UCF AD Keith Tribble: “We know there’s discussion on both sides, but our feeling is we spend an enormous amount of dollars to recruit a student-athlete to be on our campus for four years. To have him or her go somewhere else and play after our investment, we don’t really support that.”

S Reggie Nelson was granted an exemption to the NCAA rule requiring players to appear at Media Day. The junior’s mother passed away late last month, and Nelson hasn’t address the press, except for a brief statement issued Friday.

> Nelson: “The emotional support and respect for the privacy of my family over the past weeks has been tremendous. At this time I would like to continue to keep my feelings personal.”
> Urban Meyer: “We had a little talk last night. He is not going to come out here today and I appreciate everybody — the media’s been fantastic. They backed off him. If you’ve ever gone through that, then you know what I’m talking about. Will focus be an issue? Of course it will. But I think he is that good a player. He prepares himself very well for games.”

The Gators were awestruck Friday by the spectacle that is Media Day at the Championship Game.

> LB Brandon Siler on watching last year’s game: “Watching Vince Young run around, I was thinking, ‘How lucky is it to be there?’ I could be that guy. You see it and you want to be on football’s grandest stage. But it seemed unrealistic a year ago.”
> S Kyle Jackson: “I remember watching that game last year, too, eating chicken wings and imagining what it would be like to be there. We’re excited to be here and we’re not just going to just let it pass. We’re going to work to get back here again next year and I promise we’re going to be the same way.”
> T Phil Trautwein: “I still can’t believe it. Now that we’re here, it’s kind of sinking in. The stadium is awesome. It looks like something you’d make up in a game or something.”
> RB DeShawn Wynn: “You always think about something like this, but to actually be here, looking at all of this, for the dream to come true is shocking for everybody. You can’t help but to have fun.”

S Tony Joiner (high ankle sprain) will play Monday, splitting reps with Dorian Munroe.

> Urban Meyer: “He is 90 percent. We’ve got two days to get him up to 100 percent. Dorian Munroe did very well when he substituted for him in the Arkansas game. We will play both those players.”

TE Tate Casey (high ankle sprain) will be a gametime decision. RB DeShawn Wynn (foot) will play.

> Meyer: “He’s fine. He’s gimping a little bit, but he is good to go.”

Graduate assistant Nick Schiralli, a WR on the 1996 team, let QB Chris Leak borrow his championship ring to get a feel of what he’s playing for.

> Schiralli: “For him to ask me was kind of an honor for me. I said, ‘Definitely, go ahead. If it helps you out, give you something more to play for, then go ahead.’”

LB Brandon Siler says the curfew imposed on the team is meaningless for a team in town for business.

> Siler: “We know this is a business trip. You give us a curfew and we’re still in early. That’s not what it’s about. We can party back in Gainesville after the win.”
> Siler: “Nobody has the need to go out and be partying and doing all those things. The majority of the players were at the hotel playing cards last night. Nobody even stretches curfew.”
> Siler: “We might go to one thing and that’s it for the day. They let your relax and get off your feet and chill out, where in other games they kind of run you ragged doing different kinds of things. I’m really surprised at all the time we get off. We like it a little better.”

After a mediocre practice on Wednesday, Urban Meyer said Thursday’s practice put the Gators back on track for a successful Monday.

> Meyer: “A very good day today. Right where we need to be.”
> Meyer: “We’re going to keep going as hard as we can, but start getting them fresh because we have to be real fast on Monday.”
> Meyer: “We’re starting to get that edge. We’re starting to get that same look that we had before the SEC Championship game.”

The SEC has a reputation for speed, contrasted with old belief of Big Ten football as a slow, plodding attack. Can the Gators prove correct the old theory?

> DE Jarvis Moss: “I feel like they [the Buckeyes] haven’t seen guys like us. In the South, we’ve got guys who can run. You really can’t simulate our speed and athleticism. They’re going to get a taste of that on the 8th. Hopefully it will shock them.”
> OSU WR Anthony Gonzalez: “When I watch [Florida's] defense, I feel like they say to themselves, ‘Okay, we have better athletes than you and we are just going to prove it. We are going to play man coverage, and we are just going to be better than you.’ I feel that’s one of their philosophies. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know.”
> Co-DC Charlie Strong: “When people talk about the speed in the Southeastern Conference, they’re talking about the speed on the defensive front. They’re talking about a defensive end like Jarvis Moss, a guy who we can drop into pass coverage.”