Gator Bowl Recap: Ohio State 17, Florida 24

Miller couldn't find a rhythm

Florida's defense and special teams came up big in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, recording six sacks and scoring twice as the Gators beat Ohio State 24-17 on Monday.

Andre Debose returned a kickoff 99 yards -- the longest scoring play in bowl history -- and Chris Rainey blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown. The speedsters helped the Gators (7-6) avoid their first losing season since 1979 and pick up some much-needed momentum after losing six of their previous eight games.

Enemy Blogger Interview: Florida

Gators in the Gator Bowl. Hmph.

The Gator Bowl is only 2 days away Buckeye fans. With that being said, it's time to learn about the 2011 Florida Gators. Andy Hutchins from Alligator Army joins us, and was nice enough to answer our questions about the the Gator squad, and how they match up against Ohio State.

Both Florida and Ohio State did not have the season that either fan bases expected from their team. Will Muschamp and Luke Fickell were both first year head coaches. What do Florida fans think of the 2011 season overall?


In general, Gator Nation's pretty disappointed. Florida's 6-6 record is lower than it ever was, even under Ron Zook, and those years had more exciting offenses and more promise burbling than this year seemed to have.

The Gator Bowl has been called "The Urban Meyer Bowl" for obvious reasons. How do Florida fans feel about Meyer coming out of retirement to coach the Buckeyes, instead of the Gators?


No one has renamed the Gator Bowl but TaxSlayer.com, I think, but Florida fans are in one of two camps on Meyer: Either they have come to terms with him being a mercenary and resigned themselves to wishing him well, or they have taken his decision to coach Ohio State as a defection and branded him a traitor and a liar. I'm more in the first camp than the second.

Initial Gator Bowl Impressions: My Take

Chill, we got thisss

Wow, Gator Bowl against the Gators, this could get interesting. Urban Meyer’s old team against, Urban Meyer’s new team. A rematch of the 2007 National Championship, debacle!!

Let’s be honest two of the more disappointing teams in the nation this year. I have been reading a lot of people saying they have no desire to watch the game, some say the Buckeyes shouldn’t even have accepted a bowl bid. Well, to them I say: “Go Away!” (I could use much stronger language, but anyone could be reading this article).

The players, on this team, not Jim Tressel, not Terrelle Pryor earned this bowl bid. 95% of the players on this team (not exact math) had absolutely nothing to do with the penalties or infractions of the past year, they were innocent bystanders caught in an awful web of lies and deceit. They fought hard all year, won a game (Wisconsin) or two that they shouldn't have, and achieved the necessary 6 wins to become bowl eligible.

3 Burning Questions About The Big Ten And College Football

This combo is dangerous.

The Big Ten wrapped up its' inaugural Championship game this past weekend in Indianapolis as the Wisconsin Badgers squeaked by the Michigan St. Spartans in a thriller. The game was a classic back-and-forth contest that featured numerous lead changes, stellar running back play and some big hits that are commonplace here in the Midwest. I thought it was a great showcase game for the Big Ten which allowed our great conference to remain in the discussion one precious week later than years past. I believe that extra exposure was instrumental in getting the conference 2 BCS bids for yet another year even when it appeared the Big Ten was a little down this season. It didn't hurt that the game was a barn burner as well.

As I sat watching the game unfold in the Mandalay Bay sports book in fabulous Las Vegas on Saturday, I pondered some questions to discuss for Inside the Shoe. Is Wisconsin the right team to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl this year? Did Michigan deserve to get a BCS bid? Does Monte Ball deserve to be a finalist for the Heisman? Finally, why did I bet football parlays instead of just sticking to the Blackjack table? I have definitive answers for the first three but am still dumbfounded by putting my hard earned Blackjack money on College Football. Lesson learned I suppose so let's get back to football rather than discuss my foolish betting practices. Early on this season Wisconsin looked as if it could waltz into the National Championship game with ease. They were destroying opponents with the running game and signed..err gained access to a stud quarterback without having to wait a year.

Official: Ohio State Will Play Florida In The Gator Bowl

Greg Smith, Chairman of the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl and Jacksonville & NE Florida President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, announced today that the Ohio State University will play the University of Florida in the January 2, 2012 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl.

The last meeting between these two storied programs was in the 2007 BCS National Championship game, which Florida prevailed in a 41-14 victory.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the Big Ten representative, and this match up will mark Ohio State’s second appearance in the Gator Bowl. Their first and only other appearance was in 1978 Gator Bowl (You might remember that game). Ohio State has appeared in 12 different bowl games and the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl will be their 42nd bowl game in their history. 

This is widely considered the "Urban Meyer Bowl" because Buckeye coach Urban Meyer will be coaching against his former team, which he led from 2005-2010. Ohio State is 1-9 vs. the SEC (0-8 if you're not counting the vacated win over Arkansas last year)

The game between the Gators and Buckeyes will be played on January 2nd, mentioned above, at 1:00 PM EST in Jacksonville, Florida. 

If you want to buy tickets, they are going on sale Monday, December 5th (tomorrow) starting at $60 per ticket. 

We'll have all the coverage and info here at ITS, so stay tuned for analysis and news. 

The Big Ten Goes Down. Hard.

After such a hot start to the Big Ten bowl season, it finally lost the gas to keep going. Iowa and Illinois provided a 2-0 start, giving much hope to Big Ten fans across the nation for another winning bowl season. Last year, the B1G was able to finish 4-3. While the record may not stand out, it was still one of the better years that the Big Ten has had. Let's see what went down, and will go down in infamy, on 1/1/11.

Texas Tech: 45, Northwestern: 38: Moves Big Ten to 2-1.
The Wildcats rallied to get within a touchdown twice in the fourth quarter and were driving for a tie or win when the Red Raiders intercepted a heave on the final play, preserving a 45-38 victory and allowing Tuberville to joke about his risky move. Northwestern (7-6) lost its eighth straight bowl game, extending a drought that dates to 1949. Coming close after being down by 22 points wasn't much solace because the Wildcats were close the last two post seasons, dropping both in overtime.

The consolation prize is coach Pat Fitzgerald is now counting on the guys who've endured three straight crushing bowl losses to come out hungry as seniors next fall. He challenged them with a fiery opening statement to his postgame news conference that's certain to be replayed all offseason.

Mississippi State: 52, Michigan: 14: Moves Big Ten to 2-2

Chris Relf accounted for four touchdowns, Vick Ballard ran for three scores and coach Dan Mullen's 21st-ranked Bulldogs routed Rich Rodriguez's Wolverines 52-14 on Saturday.

The 38-point drubbing was the worst bowl loss in Michigan's storied history and might have sealed Rodriguez's future. His three-year tenure has been tainted by consecutive losing seasons, NCAA sanctions and late-season slides.

Rodriguez said all the speculation about his job was "the elephant in the room" during meetings and practices but insisted his team never "cheated the University of Michigan a day of work."

Big Ten Bowl Game Countdown

Uhhh, Go Legends & Leaders?

With bowl season approaching at a breakneck speed (that last statement is dripping with sarcasm), it is time to look at the teams that our Big Ten brethren will be facing this holiday season. Obviously the most important and entertaining contest will be in New Orleans on January 4 but I wanted to rank the other conference match ups from “watching paint dry” territory (cough… Illinois… cough) to "extremely relevant and compelling" territory.

While the top of this list was fairly easy to iron out it got a lot tougher towards the end. There are some great games to be played this bowl season and the Big Ten will have its’ hands full trying to come out with a winning record. So, without further adieu, here is my Big Ten bowl list for the 2010 season.