Ohio State Buckeyes ©	Florida Gators
The BCS Championship Game Played January 8, 2007 at University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Ohio State ©	5	30	8	1	.782	17	1	1	.921	11	2	0	.846	2	5	0	.286
Florida	2	5	8	0	.385	3	4	0	.429	2	3	0	.400	0	1	0	.000

The top-ranked, 12-0 Ohio State Buckeyes of coach Jim Tressel met the 2^nd ranked Florida Gators with coach Urban Meyer in the BCS Championship game.  Many "experts" expected the game to be a rout as the Buckeyes had been the top-ranked team from the opening of the season & had only been threatened by arch-rival Michigan.  The game ended in a 41-14 rout by the Gators over the shell-shocked Buckeyes.  The game was decided by the match-up between QB Chris Leak of Florida & Ohio State's Heisman Trophy winning, All-American QB Troy Smith.  Coming out of high school, Leak was the acclaimed prospect while Smith was the final recruit in the Buckeyes's class signed as an athlete rather than a quarterback.  Although he had set numerous passing records for the Gators, Leak was seen by many as under-achieving while Smith's legend grew throughout his Buckeyes' career.  Smith had always come up big in the most important games while Leak was challenged in his senior season for playing time by freshman QB Tim Tebow.  Leak made his last game as a Gator his signature moment as he played a near perfect game in leading the Florida rout.  It looked like the experts who had picked the Buckeyes to win might be right when Ohio State's All-Big Ten WR Ted Ginn, Jr. took the opening kick-off & returned it 93 yards giving the Buckeyes a 7-0 just 0:16 into the game.  The Gators took advantage of a 15-yard facemask penalty as they had to drive just 46 yards for their first touchdown.  Leak connected with WR Dallas Baker on a 14-yard touchdown pass for the score that tied the game at 7-7.  On Ohio State's first offensive possession it became clear that the Gator's speed on defense was going to cause problems for the Buckeyes.  After forcing a punt after just 3 plays, Florida got a short field again helped by an Ohio State personal foul penalty.  This time they took only 5 plays to drive 34 yards with WR Percy Harvin scoring on a 4-yard run giving the Gators a 14-7 lead.  Again the Buckeyes' offense sputtered as Smith was unable to find open receivers & Ginn, Jr. left the game with a sprained foot.  Florida scored on the opening play of the 2^nd quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by RB DeShawn Wynn for a 21-7 lead.  Ohio State put together their only real drive of the game when they drove 64 yards in 4 plays, helped by a disputed rough-the-passer penalty, & RB Antonio Pittman scored on an 18-yard touchdown run.  As poorly as the Buckeyes had played they still only trailed 21-14 with 13:32 left in the half.  After the teams exchanged punts, Florida's PK Chris Hetland, who had made only 4 field goals all season, connected on a 42-yard field goal giving the Gators a 24-14 lead.  The next two series for the Buckeyes determined the game.  After getting stopped short on a 3^rd down play, the normally conservative Tressel decided to try for the first down from the Ohio State 29-yard line but the Gators' defense stuffed Ohio State's RB Chris Wells for no gain.  Florida turned the good field position into a 27-14 lead when Hetland hit a 40-yard field goal.  With just 1:53 left in the half, Smith tried to rally the Buckeyes before the intermission but he was sacked & fumbled on the first play of the drive.  Florida's DE Derrick Harvey recovered the ball & returned it 9 yards to the Ohio State 5-yard line.  Three plays later, Gators' QB Tim Tebow hit WR Andre Caldwell for a 1-yard touchdown pass giving Florida a 34-14 halftime lead that effectively ended the game.  Tebow scored early in the final quarter to finish the scoring.  Leak was named the game's MVP after he completed 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards with a touchdown while Smith was held to 35 yards passing completing just 4 of 14 attempts while being intercepted once, fumbling once, & being sacked 5 times by the Gators' defense.  The Buckeyes finished the season 12-1, Big Ten Champions; 2^nd ranked nationally while Florida finished 13-1, SEC Champions, & National Champions.  Ohio State has not played for The Belt again.