CHAPTER 1 RUNNING AWAY WITH A CROWN The University of Florida Gators football team was preparing to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2006 Bowl Championship Series BCS National Championship Game The showdown was set for January 8 2007 Gators head coach Urban Meyer had an idea for motivating his players He placed a huge bulletin board in the locker room during the week before the game On it he posted articles written about the team Some articles predicted Ohio State would easily win Others featured so called experts claiming the Gators could not match up to the talented Buckeyes Meyer later referred to the board as 10 feet of nonsense That's because some items he placed on it were pure fiction They were created simply to upset his players His plan was a huge success The players grew angrier as the showdown approached Urban Meyer led Florida to the 2006 national championship game in just his second year as the Gators coach
OHIO'S OWN Urban Meyer led Florida to the 2006 national title over the team he rooted for when he was growing up Meyer was born and raised in Ohio In fact when he was younger he hoped to someday play for the Buckeyes Meyer grew up in the town of Ashtabula Ohio He starred in baseball Meyer's father was often demanding and emphasized athletic success Once when he was a senior in high school Meyer played a brilliant game as both a hitter and a fielder But Meyer made an out in the last inning His father was so mad he made Meyer run the 5 miles 8 km home Meyer eventually accomplished his dream of coaching the Buckeyes He left Florida in 2010 and was hired by Ohio State in 2011. Meyer led the Buckeyes to three Big Ten titles and a national title in 2014. He retired from coaching after the 2018 season but remained working in the Ohio State athletics department in addition to becoming a broadcaster Meyer worked to make the Gators believe they were better than Ohio State Florida proved it was worthy throughout the year The Gators play in the Southeastern Conference SEC Many considered it to be the toughest football conference in 2006. Florida was one of six SEC teams ranked among the nation's top 25 in the final poll that season The Gators beat four of the other five Florida's only loss came against the Auburn Tigers Auburn finished the season ranked ninth 6
Gators junior defensive end Jarvis Moss required no convincing We were such a tight team and had our own identity he said We knew who we were and what Ohio State was Our coaches didn't have to convince us we could beat Ohio State I think everybody on our team knew we were better than Ohio State and faster than them before we even played the game Ohio State did have one speedy player who could give the Gators problems Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. showed off that speed on the opening kickoff Ginn returned it 93 yards for a touchdown Meyer believed his team needed to answer with a touchdown on the next drive And that is what the Gators did Senior quarterback Chris Leak threw a touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Dallas Baker to tie the game After that the Gators never looked back Standout freshman wide receiver Percy Harvin scored a touchdown on a short run just minutes later in the first quarter And senior running back DeShawn Wynn added another touchdown on the first play of the second quarter That stretched the Gators lead to 21-7 But the Buckeyes were not ready to give up They came back four plays later with a touchdown Then Florida responded with two field goals And Moss took matters into his own hands He sacked Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who fumbled the ball The Gators recovered on Ohio State's 5 yard line Meyer sent Florida's dual threat quarterback Tim Tebow onto the field Then just a freshman Tebow would eventually become an 7
