Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008

Morris: A better Florida team awaits USC

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

URBAN MEYER DOES not mince words when reflecting on a player — and the play he made against South Carolina two seasons ago — that helped propel his Florida football team to the national championship.

“If I have a vote, he’s probably the greatest player in the history of Florida football,” Meyer said of Jarvis Moss, who raised his big paw high into the air to block a 48-yard field-goal attempt by Ryan Succop that would have given USC a victory.

“I don’t know, that was certainly a monumental play, monumental moment in my life, in our program’s life, and it happened to a guy who worked extremely hard all year for us,” Meyer said of Moss. “So that was one of the finest plays I’ve ever been a part of.”

The play preserved Florida’s 17-16 victory and spoiled Steve Spurrier’s first return to Florida Field, where he played during a Heisman Trophy-winning career and where he coached the Gators to a national title in 1996.

Little did anyone know at the time, the play also allowed Florida to go on and win the national title. No question, had the Gators lost, they would have been out of the BCS picture.

On Saturday, Spurrier again brings his USC team to The Swamp, and the Gamecocks again will try to play the role of spoiler to Florida’s national championship hopes. The circumstances are eerily similar to two seasons ago.

Florida was 8-1 and ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the BCS rankings before USC’s arrival. This time, Florida is again 8-1 and ranked No. 3 in the AP and No. 4 in the BCS.

That, however, is where the similarities appear to end.

The 2006 Florida team approached the week of the South Carolina game believing it had little or no chance of winning the national title. Unbeatens Ohio State, Michigan and Louisville stood in front of Florida in the BCS standings.

A 27-17 loss to Auburn three weeks earlier had dropped the Gators from No. 2 in the AP poll to No. 9, and although they were gradually climbing back, they were not considered a serious contender in the national championship picture.

To make matters worse for Florida, Southern California jumped ahead of the Gators in the BCS standings following Florida’s narrow victory against the Gamecocks and a Louisville loss to Rutgers. On top of that, Florida did not look like it could improve its national standing by defeating a No. 8-ranked Arkansas team for the SEC title.

It took a Michigan loss to Ohio State and a Southern California loss to UCLA for the Gators to reach the national championship game against Ohio State. Everything fell into place for Florida that season.

This time, it is much different. Florida knows it has a direct route to the title game. Should Florida sweep its remaining games — against No. 24 USC, The Citadel, No. 20 Florida State and No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game — the Gators are all but assured of playing for the national championship.

There is another difference between the 2006 and 2008 Florida teams that Spurrier pointed out on Sunday. He said this Florida team is better than the 2006 squad, and all you have to do is look at the comparative scores.

Sure enough, the 2006 Gators struggled to defeat Georgia by seven and Vanderbilt by six in its two games prior to meeting USC. This season, Florida has swamped its past five opponents by an average margin of 37 points, including a 39-point win against Georgia and a 28-point win against Vanderbilt.

“Two years ago, you felt like you had a chance,” Spurrier said on Sunday. “A lot of teams felt like they had a chance.”

The implication in those words is that maybe USC does not have as good a chance this time. The Gamecocks were 13-point underdogs two seasons ago and are 21-point underdogs this time. The current line represents the biggest underdog spread a Spurrier-coached team has faced probably since his days at Duke ... maybe ever.

That does not mean USC cannot win Saturday. It just means the Gamecocks will have to play a whole lot better than they did two seasons ago if they want the game’s outcome to come down to the final play.

This time, Florida can’t call on Moss to make one of the greatest plays in Gators history. He now plays for the Denver Broncos.

Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM.

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