BCS National Championship:Carlos Dunlap says Florida Gators’ scout team offense faster than OU
BY JOHN HELSLEY - Staff Writer
Comments 
3
Published: January 9, 2009
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida's defense found out early Thursday night that Oklahoma's hurry-up attack was nothing it hadn't seen — in practice.
“All month, we had our scout team offense running that,” said Gators defensive end
Carlos Dunlap. “And our scout team actually ran it faster than Oklahoma did.”
Florida held the
Sooners to 14 points, the program's fewest points since Oct. 7, 2006, in a loss in the
Cotton Bowl to
Texas.
As much as those losses to the
Longhorns hurt, this was worse, because of the stakes and because of the stops to an offense that had been compared to the greatest in college football history.
“They come in here, I don't want to say too much, but I knew they were not going to score 60 points,” said talkative Florida linebacker
Brandon Spikes. “I saw them throw the ball around, and the defenses they play against are kind of like our scout team.”
The game changed on two major stoppages in the first half.
After getting a first down at the Florida 9, the Sooners were stoned, turned back on four straight runs, the final two from the 1.
“Huge,” said Florida defensive assistant and former
Oklahoma State defensive coordinator
Vance Bedford. “Huge.
“If they would’ve scored a touchdown there, they might be up there now saying they're the national champions. Instead, we did a great job.”
The Sooners even had the Gators in the wrong defense on fourth down, expecting pass. Still, big tackle
Torrey Davis blew by OU guard
Brian Simmons and drilled
Chris Brown for a 2-yard loss.
“We thought they were going to throw the football,” Bedford said. “We went to ‘goal line safe' and tackled the guy in the backfield.
“So it was like, ‘Things are just supposed to happen today.' And they did. And we won a championship.”
With the score tied 7-7, the Sooners marched inside the Florida 10 again just before halftime. And facing first-and-goal from the 6 with 10 seconds left,
Sam Bradford tried to force a pass to
Manny Johnson, but the ball was tipped, juggled, and intercepted by Major Wright.
“That's what turned the whole game around,” Bedford said. “We batted the ball around like a volleyball, and Major came up with probably one of the bigger plays of the year for us.”
The half. The game. The year.
All of it, in one play.
“That right there was the big swing in momentum,” Dunlap said. “That gave us the confidence that we could come out and play, to keep one of the best offenses out of the end zone.”
The Gators tightened further in the second half, when the Sooners managed just 138 yards, finishing with 363.
For Bedford, a former Longhorn player and
Cowboys assistant, the win was especially sweet.
“Always good to beat the Sooners,” he said. “I'm a Texas-ex.”
Leave a Comment
Sports Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).