The Sixth Cents XIV - National Championship Edition

Greetings Minions!

It's been quite some time since I've posted, and I promise there will be a more detailed update soon, but I've been under a lot of stress on the work front lately and haven't had an opportunity to put anything together. Shaffer, I haven't had any time to analyze this game in any great detail, but I will give you a Six Cents about this game because it seems that the trendy pick right now is Florida and every analyst seems to think the Bucks will lose this one.

In the interest of time, I'll break it down by giving you something I've heard in the media and then breaking in down with my counter argument.

1. The Buckeyes haven't faced anyone with this kind of team speed, Florida is too fast for Ohio State. Didn't they say the same thing about Michigan? Why isn't anyone talking about the Buckeyes speed? Sure, the Gators have two great cornerbacks, but name me a one-two wide receiver punch in the SEC as good, and as fast, as Ginn and Gonzalez. Also, who is going to cover Robiskie, Hall, Hartline, Small, etc?

2. Florida's offense will run all sorts of trick plays and will move the ball all over Ohio State. Are you kidding me? Have you SEEN Florida's offense this year? I think even the biggest Gator supporter would agree that they haven't been great this year, but I'd suggest to you that when they have played a big time defense, they have been downright inept. They haven't scored more than 23 points against anyone except Arkansas if you're looking at the biggest games on their schedule. In fact, if you take away the I-AA school and C. Florida, they are averaging a little over 24 points per game. NOT GOOD.

In case you missed it, the Buckeyes have barely allowed 10 points per game and here is a stat for you: Ohio State opponents have gotten into the OSU red zone 35 times this season and only come away with 9 touchdowns. Good luck scoring Gators.

3. Urban Meyer is a big game coach. Again, they must not have looked at the other sideline when they made this statement. I don't care what Meyer has done, until this year, it's been at mid-major programs. I'll definitely give the coaching match-up to the Sweater Vest at there is no bigger "Big Game Coach" in the business right now. Notice I said, RIGHT NOW. 5-1 against Michigan, 4-1 in Bowl Games, 3-0 in BCS Bowl Games, 1-0 in I-A National Championship Games, not to mention all the National Championships at the I-AA level with Youngstown State.

4. Florida's secondary will give Troy Smith problems and intercept his passes. Ha! The "Number One Defense in College Football" couldn't do that, what makes you think Florida will? Because they're faster than Michigan? Okay, I'll give you that. Because their top two guys have a combined 14 picks this year? I'll concede that too. Have you watched Troy play this year? The Heisman voters did. He won by the biggest margin in the history of the award. Bigger than Reggie Bush. His TD-INT ratio is 6/1. His offensive line gives him all kinds of time and even when they don't, we all know what Troy is capable of when improvising with his legs.

5. The two quarterback system has been effective and will keep the Buckeyes off-balance. Maybe. But when has a two quarterback system ever won a championship? And in the words of DT Quinn Pitcock, they don't do anything that we haven't seen before. Sure, maybe no team has done all the things that Florida is capable of, but that doesn't mean that the Gators will be showing the Buckeyes anything new. Going further, Florida has been completely inept at running the football. The teams that have hung with Ohio State have been able to run the ball. This does not bode well for Florida's chances of staying with us.

6. "I'm more afraid of a Gator than a nut." When this is in your top five reasons that Florida will win, you are really in trouble. And maybe you haven't heard: