Florida Motivated By Underdog Role
Ohio State, which has hardly been challenged this season, is heavily favored for Monday.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow passes the ball to wide receiver Jarred Fayson after the players took part in media day Friday in Glendale, Ariz.
AP photo
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Florida Gators are feeling unappreciated and they’re not happy about it.
There’s no doubt the Gators are the underdogs heading into the BCS championship game against top-ranked Ohio State on Monday night.
The unbeaten Buckeyes have been No. 1 all season and rarely challenged, outscoring opponents by 26 points per game. They’ve got the Heisman Trophy winner in Troy Smith and a coach in Jim Tressel with a national championship on his resume and a reputation for being as good it gets in big games.
The Gators have an imperfect record, several too-close-for-comfort victories and their only All-American is safety Reggie Nelson.
In Las Vegas, Ohio State is a seven-point favorite.
To hear the Florida Gators tell it, the ‘O’ and ‘H’ have already been engraved into the championship trophies.
“Every time you pick up a paper or magazine you see Ohio State, then you see one page of Florida or just the title, Florida Gators,” Gators defensive tackle Joe Cohen. “And you know, we fought to get here, too. We want a little credit that we’re here. At least acknowledge that we’re in the game. I guess Jan. 8 we’ll show that we’re in the game.”
Football players are always looking for an opportunity to feel disrespected. It can be a powerful motivational tool. Just ask Texas, which rode Vince Young’s need for redemption to a national title last year. Or the 2002 Buckeyes, who pulled off one of the biggest BCS upsets.
And the Gators really have been on the defensive for months, first trying to prove they deserved to play for the national title, then defending their selection for the big game over Michigan.
Thanks to USC, the Michigan problem went away in the Rose Bowl. Still, the Gators know many skeptics remain.
“The way the talk is we don’t deserve to be here really,” receiver Dallas Baker said. “We played a lot of Top-25 teams and defensive teams and they’re still saying that we don’t deserve to be here, so this is an opportunity to prove everyone wrong.”
Even back home in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., for Christmas, Baker heard the Gators being badmouthed. As he walked around the mall, he overheard a couple of kids predict gloom and doom for the Gators.
“A kid didn’t even know I was standing there and I heard him tell another little kid — they were probably like in sixth or seventh grade — they were saying ’I can’t wait ’til the game to watch Ohio State beat up on Florida,”’ Baker said. “I’m like this is a Florida guy not even giving us an opportunity. He had on a Florida Gator hat but was saying we were going to lose.”
Ohio State can relate, at least a little.
The Buckeyes’ fifth-year seniors were part of Ohio State’s ’02 championship team.
Those Buckeyes were unbeaten, but their opponent was a Miami team that had won 34 consecutive games and was looking for its second straight national title.
