Jumping Offsides: BCS National Championship Game Preview

National Championship Game
Florida vs Oklahoma
Thursday, January 8, 8:00
on FOX
Dolphin Stadium - Miami

Why you should watch:

Umm...hello...National Championship game!
2 good offenses going head to head
2 good defense against a maybe not so good defense
SEC vs Big 12
Tebow vs Bradford
Meyer vs Stoops
Last college football game (cause senior games and spring games don't count)

Why you shouldn't watch:

It's just a "mythical" championship

Streaks and Scheduling Notes:
Florida:

12-1 (8-1)
17th straight bowl game (8-8); 2-4 in their last 6
Only loss to Ole Miss at home
Since that loss no game has been within 11 (28 points after that)

Oklahoma:

12-1 (8-1)
10th straight bowl game (4-5); 1-4 in their last 5
Only loss to Texas at neutral site
Since that loss no game has been within 14 points

Key Stats, Figures, and Players:
Florida:

Offensively they are somewhat balanced although they don't throw for many yards. They are 61st in passing offense BUT they are 5th in passing efficiency...which means they are good at passing when they do it.
Defensively they very good. They allow only 105 rushing yards and 174 passing yards per game. They have also picked off 24 passes this season.
QB Tim Tebow obviously. He has over 2,500 yards passing, 28 touchdowns, and ONLY 2 interceptions all season. Maybe even more importantly he has over 500 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on the ground.
RB/WR Percy Harvin (when healthy) is the game changer on offense. He has run the ball 61 times for over 500 yards and 9 touchdowns. He has also caught 35 passes for almost 600 yards and another 7 touchdowns.
4 running backs, Harvin, Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, and Jeffrey Demps, average over 7.3 yards per carry.
LB Brandon Spikes is the leader on the defense. He leads the team with 87 tackles this season (48 solo). He also has 4 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for touchdowns.
DE Carlos Dunlap leads the team with 12 tackles for loss and 9 sacks this season.
CBs Janoris Jenkins and Joe Haden have been solid all season. Combined they have 6 interceptions and 21 pass breakups.

Oklahoma:

Offensively they are one of the best. They average over 200 yards rushing and over 350 passing yards per game. And they don't give up sacks as their offensive line is amazing.
Defensively they are not as good. Against the run they are okay allowing only 106 yards per game. But passing they allow over 250 yards per game. They average 3.2 sacks per game too.
QB Sam Bradford has been amazing this season. 4,464 passing yards and 48 touchdowns this season. WOW. He averages over 10 yards per attempt. Meaning they get 10 yards per PASS.
RBs Chris Brown and DeMarco Murry have both rushed for over 1000 yards this season. They also scored 34 rushing touchdowns combined.
WR Juaquin Iglesias leads the team with 69 receptions and almost 11oo yards. He also has 10 touchdowns this season.
LB Travis Lewis (who by the way is a freshman) is the best playmaker on the defense. He leads the team with 137 tackles including 69 solo tackles. He also has 12 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and 4 interceptions this season.
LB Keenan Clayton is another player to watch on defense. He has 78 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 9 pass breakups, and a very impressive 6 forced fumbles.
CB Dominique Franks is probably the best player in the secondary. He has 4 interceptions (with 1 touchdown), 1 fumble recovery (and touchdown), and he has 10 pass breakups.

Who Wins:
Florida....I am not a firm believer in the Big 12 this season as has been mentioned here before. But I will say that Oklahoma IN MY OPINION is the most talented of all the teams in the conference. However Florida is only rivaled by USC as the most talented and best teams in the country. Really this game is going to come down to in my opinion Percy Harvin. With Harvin the Gators are not beatable....without him they are closer to average. He says he will be 90% for the game which isn't great but I think it is good enough.