ESPN College Football

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- John Simon is genuinely flattered by the tribute, even if it pains him to hear it repeated.

When asked about the term "Tebowish," which new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer used to describe Simon during spring practice, Simon expresses his gratitude. Then he steers the conversation away from himself like he steers offensive linemen out of his rushing lanes.

Meyer hasn't coached Simon in a game and won't for another four-plus months, but the coach already places the Buckeyes senior defensive end in an exclusive group that includes Meyer's most successful player, former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

"Just to be characterized with someone who has such high integrity, that means a lot to me," Simon recently told ESPN.com. "But really, I'm just coming in here every day and doing the best I can."

Is Simon a Tebow fan?

"Absolutely," he said. "He's a tremendous athlete, tremendous person. So to be compared to someone like that is a great honor. I appreciate what [Meyer] says. But I'm just coming in every day doing what I can to help. It's a team sport."

Simon's selflessness is one of many qualities that has stood out to Meyer since he took the Ohio State job. Every new coach looks for players to rely on, and Simon, who has started the past 26 games and last fall earned third-team AP All-America honors, immediately stepped forward.

At times this spring, the coaches had to pull Simon off of the practice field so the offense could get some quality work in without No. 54 blowing up every play. Not surprisingly, Simon barely played in Saturday's spring game because he didn't need to.

"He's revealed himself around here for many years," Meyer said. "This didn't just surface. I'm putting him in a category that, I've only coached one or two like him."

Tebow being one of them.

"I used the term Tebowish," Meyer said. "I've got to be careful not to do that. It should be Simonish. He's a next-level type player: leader, character, toughness, commitment.

"He's elite, elite."

As a freshman, Simon's teammates billed him as a future All-American. He has played both line positions during his career, starting at defensive tackle in 2010 before playing mostly end last season. While Ohio State's defense didn't perform to its traditional standard in 2011, Simon did his part by supplying a a team-leading 16 tackles for loss and seven sacks, more than twice as many as any other Buckeye.

At 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, Simon is somewhat of a tweener: small for a defensive tackle and a bit short for a defensive end. His physical measurables might not be ideal, but in almost every other category, he's off the charts. Many talk about his motor, a term often applied to former Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, who as a senior went from first-team All-Big Ten to unanimous All-American and NFL first-round draft pick.

"You can't teach a motor, you can't teach intensity," Buckeyes defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. "You'll have a hard time teaching some of those unique things. He has every single one of those. But John, I think he still has a lot of ability to get better fundamentally and technique-wise. That's what’s so exciting about John. He's only scratched the surface of how good he can get with the tools he has."

Fickell lauded Simon's versatility, saying the senior could play middle linebacker if the team needed him there. While playing multiple positions should help Simon in the NFL evaluation process, Fickell hopes "we can settle him in a little bit more" at defensive end.

Simon sees areas where he can improve every time he watches film. And he watches plenty of it. He also spent the spring tutoring Ohio State's younger defensive linemen, and will do the same this summer, when the Buckeyes welcome heralded D-line recruits like Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington.

"He'll be here at 6 in the morning, he'll leave late at night," senior linebacker Etienne Sabino said. "He has an unbelievable understanding of the game. He's not very vocal, but he leads by example.

"He's just somebody you can count on."

That's the type of tribute, more than "Tebowish" or "future All-American," that a guy like Simon can appreciate.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer raves about Braxton Miller's competitive spirit these days, but not long ago the Ohio State coach felt differently about his quarterback.

"It was very alarming in the [winter]," Meyer told ESPN.com.

New coaches must wait until the spring to work with players on the practice field, but they keep close tabs during winter conditioning. It's no coincidence the coaches' offices at programs like Nebraska overlook the team's weight room.

When Meyer observed Miller this winter, he became concerned. It wasn't as if Miller slacked off or didn't get his work in with the strength coaches. But he didn't measure up to the starting quarterbacks Meyer had in the past.

"Chris Leak doesn't get enough credit at Florida," Meyer said, referring to the quarterback who helped him win his first national title, against Ohio State. "He was a very hard worker in the weight room, a very competitive guy in the weight room. [Tim] Tebow was off the charts. Alex Smith was extremely competitive in the offseason program. I didn't see that from Braxton."

"He worked hard," Meyer continued. "He was fine. I didn't see him compete at the level he's competing at right now. The lights come on, you get the ball in his hands and he becomes an excellent competitor."

The lights of spring practice are only so bright, even here at Ohio State, but Miller's work on the field has put Meyer's concerns to rest. The sophomore still has a long way to go in absorbing a new offense and improving the technical aspects of his game, but his drive to win isn't in doubt for a coach who knows what he wants in a starting quarterback.

"In the winter, it's just all working out, a little bit of competitive drills going on," Miller told ESPN.com. "But when the pads come on, the lights come on, it's just more natural for me to have fun and compete."

He showed glimpses of it as a freshman last fall, never more so than in the closing moments of Ohio State's 33-29 win against then-No. 15 Wisconsin. The Buckeyes had squandered a 12-point lead with 4:39 to play and trailed 29-26 when Miller rallied the team in the closing seconds. On first down from Wisconsin's 40-yard line, Miller rolled out, spotted teammate Devin Smith slipping behind Wisconsin's secondary, and fired the game-winning touchdown pass with 20 ticks left.

Miller also led a late scoring drive in regulation at Purdue, and didn't seem fazed by his first trip to Ann Arbor, passing for 235 yards and two touchdowns with an interception against a top-20 Michigan defense.

Although he had limited production in a limited role in a limited offense last season, Miller didn't shy away from big moments.

"All my life, when I get the chance to get the ball in my hands, it's exciting," he said.

When spring ball began, Buckeyes offensive coordinator Tom Herman had different concerns than Meyer about Miller. Herman knew he had inherited an athlete -- Miller rushed for 715 yards and seven touchdowns last season -- but he had never seen Miller pass the ball live.

Despite starting 10 games in 2011, Miller only attempted 157 passes, including a laughable four in a win at Illinois.

"I crossed my fingers and held my breath and went out there for the first practice," Herman said. "It was a big sigh of relief, seeing him throw the football. How he throws the football from the shoulders up is actually very mechanically sound. His footwork is probably the biggest thing we're continuing to work on.

"They're not easy fixes, but they're a lot less complex than trying to break a kid's arm mechanics down and build him back up."

Meyer likens Miller to Josh Harris, who played quarterback for Meyer at Bowling Green in 2001-02. But Miller has his "own little niche," Meyer said.

Like Meyer, Herman has seen Miller compete hard in practices, particularly during winner/loser days.

"He wants it to be perfect every time, and especially when he's the one contributing to those mistakes, then it really frustrates him," Herman said. "That's a good thing. If he wasn't frustrated, we'd have problems."

For the most part, Miller remains even-keeled. Buckeyes offensive tackle Jack Mewhort doesn't expect Miller to become "more rah-rah" in the weight room. Mewhort also doesn't expect Miller to be rattled in big moments.

"He wants the ball in his hands because he knows he can do great things with it," tight end Jake Stoneburner said. "You weren't really able to see that in the winter, because it's all lifting and running, but once you get on the field, some guys change, and he's one of those guys."

Stoneburner has seen significant changes in Miller this spring, acknowledging that a quarterback who was "a little bit intimidated" last season is taking charge more in the huddle. The soft-spoken Miller is trying to be more vocal, whether it's flipping protections with his linemen, or changing the routes for his pass-catchers.

"I grew up a lot," he said.

But he's not where he needs to be.

"He's an average leader right now," Meyer said. "We need to make him a great leader. You have to raise the level of play of those around you. This summer, he has to do it. He hasn't done it to this point. He's been at Ohio State for a little over a year, and his leadership qualities are not where they need to be.

"I think he will get there, because he's sharp, he's smart and he's a competitor."

Especially when the lights come on.

Auburn's coordinator search is finally over.

The school announced Sunday night that former Temple offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler has been hired to replace Gus Malzahn as the Tigers' offensive coordinator. Malzahn left after the Chick-fil-A Bowl to become the head coach at Arkansas State.

Loeffler brings 14 years of coaching experience on the collegiate and NFL levels to Auburn's coaching staff. While directing Temple's offense in 2011, the Owls' offense ranked seventh nationally in rushing (256.5 yards per game) and 39th in scoring (30.6).

While Temple excelled at running the ball under Loeffler's guidance, he does have a lot of experience working with quarterbacks that have gone on to play in the NFL, including Tom Brady, Tim Tebow, Brian Griese, Chad Henne, Drew Henson and John Navarre.

“Scot is a rising star who has worked with some very good quarterbacks, and has achieved a tremendous amount of success,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. “He is a tireless worker, is an outstanding recruiter and knows the rigors of competing in this conference. We’re very excited to have Scot join our staff, and we welcome him to the Auburn family.”

Loeffler, who is a Michigan graduate, gained experience in the SEC while serving as Florida's quarterbacks coach in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, Florida's quarterbacks, headed by former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, led the nation in passing efficiency (167.3) and passed for 3,305 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions. Florida also ranked second in the SEC in passing offense (236.1).

I interacted with Loeffler a few times during his two years at Florida, and he certainly seemed like a man who knows what he was talking about. He probably has more pro-style ideals when it comes to running an offense, so this might be his chance to get out of the spread mindset that he's had since his time with the Gators.

He'll also have the job of improving Auburn's quarterback play. The Tigers were wildly inconsistent at the position last season, and finished the season ranking 100th nationally in total offense (337.8). Seven-game starter Barrett Trotter, who graduated, decided not to return to Auburn, leaving Loeffler with rising junior Clint Moseley and rising sophomore Kiehl Frazier as the only quarterbacks with any experience.

Moseley took over for Trotter midway through the season, but struggled to get the Tigers' offense going, passing for 800 yards and five touchdowns, with three interceptions. Frazier came in more for running situations throughout the season and only attempted 12 passes, tossing two interceptions in the process.

Loeffler will also be without star running back Michael Dyer, who left with Malzahn for Arkansas State, but Auburn does have a lot of young talent to work with. If Loeffler is making the switch to a more pro-style offense, there will no doubt be some hiccups along the way, but those are common with coaching changes. Implementing the system he wants should be his first priority.

“Auburn is one of the special jobs and special places in college athletics, with a tremendous amount of history and tradition. It’s an honor to be joining coach Chizik’s staff, and I’m very appreciative of this opportunity," Loeffler said.

NEW ORLEANS -- Auburn had Cam Newton.

Alabama had Greg McElroy.

Florida had Tim Tebow, twice (though Chris Leak was the starter in 2006).

And LSU had Matt Flynn.

All solid national championship quarterbacks.

This time, the quarterbacks enter Monday’s Allstate BCS National Championship Game with some concern attached to their names.

For Alabama, it’s the talented but young AJ McCarron. For LSU, it’s embattled senior Jordan Jefferson. Together, they create more questions than answers.

McCarron probably hasn’t received the criticism Jefferson has. As a first-year starter, the sophomore is allowed a mulligan here and there. His year has consisted of 2,400 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions. But it also featured seven games in which he threw for fewer than 200 yards, including the final four games of the regular season, among them Alabama's Nov. 5 showdown with LSU.

His decision-making has been questionable at times and there are more than a handful of times in which McCarron tried to do too much, and while that’s natural for a youngster, it can’t happen Monday.

“Growing as a quarterback all year long, I felt like I've done a pretty good job so far,” McCarron said. “Coming in your first year you're not going to know a whole lot going into it. As of now, I feel like I've been here forever.

“This season's taken a long time.”

It feels like it’s been a tremendously long career for Jefferson. His four years at LSU have seemed like eight and he’s always been such a wild card for the Tigers. He's thrown 34 career touchdowns in 41 starts. To put that in perspective, Georgia's Aaron Murray threw 35 touchdowns this season.

It's been a rocky career for Jefferson, and he's had his share of rocky moments in 2011. His 33-yard performance against Georgia in this year’s SEC championship seemed to set quarterback play back, and he’s completed double-digit passes in a game just once this season, when he threw for 208 yards on 18-of-29 passing.

He’ll enter Monday’s game with fewer than 700 passing yards in nine games. Granted, Jefferson didn’t reclaim his starting spot until mid-November, but he averages just nine pass attempts a game.

And unlike McCarron, fans have let Jefferson know when they’re unhappy. The boo birds that greeted him during the Kentucky game after he returned from his four-game suspension for his role in a bar fight resurfaced at times when Jefferson wasn’t playing well. Most notably, they surrounded Jefferson during an eventual scoring drive against Arkansas and a few times against Georgia.

“Once they see that error occur, I guess it makes them mad a little bit, I guess,” Jefferson said of the boos.

But like his team has all season, Jefferson blocks out the negativity on the field. He can’t control it, so he doesn’t bother with it. It’s just like his reaction to his poor play. Jefferson prides himself on quarterback amnesia.

“Playing quarterback, you’re not always expected to have a perfect performance,” he said. “That’s why you have to put the bad performances behind you and try to find ways to improve for the next performance.”

McCarron stresses over his mistakes more, but only because he’s a perfectionist. Curing his field issues is mandatory for McCarron to get through a practice session, and that attitude should take him far in this league.

“Every game you're not going to be perfect going into the game, especially after the game,” he said. “You just try to eliminate as many mistakes as you possibly can.”

They won’t be perfect. That’s why there are other players to lean on at times. McCarron and Jefferson aren’t true stars and don’t have the flashiest stats, but with help from those around them, their teams are playing for a national title and one will be hoisting that coveted crystal ball Monday night.

It could always be worse, LSU offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa said. LSU’s quarterback play could be like it was the three years after its 2007 championship, when quarterbacks threw 48 touchdowns to 37 interceptions and LSU took a back seat to teams.

“Up-and-down, in my opinion,” he said, “has been better than it’s been.”

A Heisman winner? At Baylor?

Uh, no.

After losing his third game in four outings, Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III didn't look likely to buck the trend.

"Yeah, he's a great player. Probably the best in the Big 12. But he can't win the Heisman. That's morphed into an award reserved for the best player on the best team, anyway."

Uh, no.

RG3 happened.

It began at Baylor in 2008, when a flashy freshman made tacklers miss against Wake Forest and looked the part of a future superstar.

It built to a crescendo Saturday night, when Griffin became the 77th winner of the Heisman Trophy, the most hallowed individual award in all of sports.

Along the way in 2011, Oklahoma and Kansas experienced dramatic, RG3-led Baylor comebacks firsthand.

Tim Tebow and Ricky Williams are the only other players since 1998 to win the Heisman and not play in a BCS bowl in that same season. Not bad company, considering one is 80 yards short of the NCAA career rushing lead and the other is one of the game's most legendary talents who finished his career with two national titles.

Griffin broke the NCAA passing efficiency record and may soon break the mold for the quarterback position. He's perhaps the best athlete on his team; a strong background in track and field and a Big 12 title in hurdles as a freshman attest to that.

Athletes like Griffin aren't supposed to throw the ball the way he does.

Any number of teams would have moved him to safety or receiver. Not Art Briles. The two Bears have revolutionized the program together, and neither could do it without the other.

Briles has helped Baylor win the most Big 12 games (6) in its history. A Bears player hadn't appeared in the Heisman voting since 1963, according to Big 12 officials, much less won the trophy.

Griffin has changed all that, and he's changed Baylor.

The Bears have their first Heisman winner, and Griffin has his place in college football as a player who will never be forgotten.

Two years ago, I remember sitting inside the press box of the Georgia Dome near the end of Alabama’s 2009 SEC championship rout over Florida.

While Tide players celebrated and Tim Tebow was being consoled on his sideline; a young John Brantley was throwing around high-fives of encouragement.

Brantley later told me that he was telling each of the offensive players who would be returning for the 2010 season this was now his team and that he was going to make sure the Gators didn’t feeling what they felt that Saturday night.

However, the same confident Brantley who wanted to make things better, was long gone by the time he was knocked out of Saturday’s disaster of a senior day against Florida State. After receiving a loud ovation before his final game in the Swamp, Brantley quickly threw three interceptions before getting sandwiched between two Seminoles.

Woozy and confused, Brantley was helped off of Florida Field for the last time.

It was a sad end to a career that was supposed to be so promising. Instead of wondering what pose would be used for his stadium statue, Brantley has been the overwhelming scapegoat for Florida’s struggles the last two years.

The much ballyhooed high school prospect was supposed to live in Gator lore. He was supposed to be carried out of the Swamp like a hero after his final game in Gainesville. He was supposed to help Florida get over life without Tebow.

None of that has or will happen.

Brantley grew up in a true Gator family, where his father and uncle both played at Florida, but he was supposed to be the best of all three.

Brantley, who lived just a few miles down the road from UF in Ocala, Fla., and broke Tebow’s Florida high school passing records, decommitted from Texas before signing with Florida.

Brantley then patiently waited behind Tebow, flashing glimpses of greatness with his arm strength and accuracy in garbage time. Before his junior year, it was a foregone conclusion that Brantley would have a tough time deciding if he’d return for his senior year because he’d have a real shot at the NFL draft.

(Somewhere deep within Florida’s football complex, a Brantley statue was surely under construction.)

But as soon as Brantley was given his shot, the Brantley everyone imagined they’d see never emerged. Instead, we saw a frustrated, wide-eyed quarterback running an offense he wasn’t equipped for. Brantley met more patches of grass and boos from Gators fans than touchdown passes.

Brantley’s first season as Florida’s starter was an utter disaster, as he threw for just 2,061 yards, 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Not to mention Florida’s 8-5 season. There were times when you weren't sure if Brantley was even the quarterback after he was delegated to third-down work late in the year.

Then Urban Meyer left and in stepped Will Muschamp. With Muschamp came offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and a pro-style offense. But Brantley was so beat up mentally from his first year as the starter that he actually had to sit and think about staying another year at Florida or transferring.

Of course, Brantley stayed and with Weis, improvement was expected.

Things were much better, until they weren’t.

Brantley looked good in Florida’s first four games before an ankle injury during the Alabama game robbed him of the middle part of the season.

Brantley hasn’t been the same since, passing for 1,912 yards and 10 scores this year, and Florida is stumbling into bowl season with a 6-6 record.

Brantley never got comfortable when Florida was his team. He never lived up to his overwhelming hype. He had to be the one who followed Tebow. He had to be the one who helped usher in the Will Muschamp era.

Now, he has to try and stomach his Florida legacy.

What Brantley can hang his hat on is that he never quit. He stood up after weak pass protection. He stood strong after the plethora of drops. He kept his head up when boos engulfed him.

He never blamed anyone but himself throughout all of this, but at the end of the day, his career won’t be based on character. It will be based on wins and he struggled with that.

A special thanks to Josh in Salina, Kansas, a reader who brought this to my attention.

Let's compare a couple of guys.

Quarterback A

• 112-of-192 (58.3 percent), 1,223 yards, 9 TD, 4 INT
• 206 carries, 906 rushing yards, 19 TD

Quarterback B

• 105-of-189 (55.6 percent), 1,510 yards, 7 TD, 10 INT
• 203 carries, 1,115 rushing yards, 18 TD

Which would you rather take?

I won't play this game much longer.

Quarterback A, as you might have guessed, is Kansas State's Collin Klein, a guy who still has three more games left to play and has topped 90 yards rushing in each of his past four games.

But who is our man, Quarterback B? None other than Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch in 2001, who led the Huskers to 11 consecutive wins before blowout losses to Colorado in the season finale and Miami in the national championship game.

Klein's Wildcats are 7-2 after losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, both ranked in the BCS top six, which explains why Klein isn't getting an ounce of Heisman buzz.

Klein doesn't have the speedy, game-changing runs that Crouch made a living on in Lincoln. He's a workhorse with 206 carries, 47 more than any player in the Big 12. He's also third in the Big 12 in rushing (10 yards from second place) and only Wisconsin's Montee Ball has more rushing touchdowns.

By the time his bowl game has ended, Klein might have more passing yards and rushing yards than Crouch. He's got a lot more touches, but there's no competition in passing numbers. It's Klein by a long way.

You never really know what a Heisman field will look like. Cam Newton and Tim Tebow lapped the field when they won the award.

It's too late this year, and K-State may finish with too many losses for Klein to get any Heisman notice. But he's only a junior.

How about next year?

Georgia sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray has watched the tape more times than he cares to count.

The ending never gets any better.

“Just a very, very rough game,” Murray said.

And one he hasn’t been able to entirely get out of his system.

The Florida-Georgia rivalry has a way of defining legacies. Ask Vince Dooley. Ask Urban Meyer. Ask Lindsay Scott. Ask Tim Tebow.

For Murray, who grew up watching the rivalry in Tampa, Fla., his first taste of the game as a player was about as sour as it gets.

Florida beat Georgia 34-31 in overtime last season, and Murray’s 313 passing yards and three touchdowns were overshadowed by three interceptions, including one in overtime.

Murray only threw eight interceptions all season a year ago, and three of them came in that game.

“Those are the games people remember,” Murray said. “The big games determine what kind of player you are, not only at the quarterback position, but all positions. You definitely want to win the big games, the big rivalry games, the championships. That’s something I’ve yet to accomplish since I’ve been at Georgia.

“I haven’t won a big-time game yet and haven’t won a championship yet, and that’s something I’m looking to achieve this year. As a team, it’s the same way. We’re feeling great, playing our best football and plan on going out and winning out.”

The Bulldogs have won five in a row since losing their first two games of the season to Boise State and South Carolina.

And on Saturday, they get another shot at Florida. Murray gets another shot at Florida.

In the realm of Georgia football, Florida has been a bad word for most of the past two decades. The Gators have won 18 of the past 21 meetings and 11 of the past 13.

Murray, who redshirted his first year on campus, has been around for two of the losses. He doesn’t want to see that number grow to three, especially after what he’s gone through since playing in his first one last season.

“It would be nice when I go home to walk around with a Georgia shirt on and not having people saying, ‘We whooped your butt,’ ” Murray said. “I don’t know if it’s a curse or what, but we definitely want to get it going in our direction when it comes to wins and losses.

“We haven’t been too successful playing against them no matter what kind of talent we have. Some years, we feel like we’re the better team and still lose the game. That’s unacceptable. The whole thing is. We have to go out there this week and start our own streak.”

Murray, who has thrown 16 touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season, thinks he’s a lot more mentally equipped to play his best game this season in Jacksonville.

“There were a lot of jitters last year instead of just relaxing and having fun,” Murray said. “It was just a crazy feeling to actually be playing in that game, having grown up in the state of Florida and seen all the hype surrounding it.

“Now, it’s more, ‘Been there and done that.’ It’s a huge game. That never changes. I just have more confidence that I’ll be able to settle down and play in that atmosphere.”

Because he’s been around for three years and started every game last season as a redshirt freshman, there might be a tendency by some to take Murray for granted. He’s still only a sophomore and has thrown 40 touchdown passes in 20 career games.

If he continues at that pace, he’s going etch his name in the SEC record books alongside some of the best quarterbacks to ever play in this league.

He’s a terrific leader and gained eternal respect from his teammates last season by the way he took a wicked beating in that Auburn game and kept getting back up and competing. Murray finished the season with 3,049 passing yards, the second most ever in the SEC for a freshman.

But it’s never been about numbers for Murray. That is, unless he’s counting championships.

If the Bulldogs are going to make it to this season’s SEC championship game, the first thing they have to do is figure out a way to unleash themselves from the Gators’ death grip.

“We don’t have a team right now that’s cocky and feels like we’re just going to roll the rest of the way,” Murray said. “We feel like we have a lot to accomplish and lot of tough ballgames left to play. We’ve worked hard and don’t think we’re complacent at all.

"We’re hungry and really want to finish off this season strong.”

Two years ago, the momentum started churning.

Last October, it mimicked a runaway train with the excitement surrounding it.

Dubbed by some as the next great rivalry in all of sports, the Alabama-Florida game became the premier matchup for two straight years.

It started with a bone-crushing, all-out brawl inside the Georgia Dome in 2008 -- one Florida escaped thanks to quarterback Tim Tebow dragging his team through Hell and back. Florida was propelled into the national championship game, which it won, and sent No. 1 Alabama slinking home.

Almost a year later to the day, Alabama exacted revenge in a game hyped beyond the title game for essentially being another semifinal for the national championship.

Both teams were undefeated, with top-ranked Florida looking for repeat appearances in the national championship, but Alabama played vengeful spoiler by completely blindsiding Florida, throttling the Gators 32-13. Alabama was national championship bound and Florida was left with a tarnished ego and the lasting image of Tebow crying on the stadium scoreboards as Bama fans roared with cheers.

Last year, these teams met in the regular season in a game generating the same sort of buzz as the last two. It got prime-time billing as a herd of national media descended on Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama creamed Florida 31-6 and the rivalry lost some glitz, as both teams went their separate ways.

Saturday, these will meet in Gainesville, Fla., on prime-time TV. Everyone who is anyone should be watching. This is a chance for us to get back our Ali-Frazier. Our Godzilla-Mechagodzilla. Our Michael Scarn-Goldenface!

When these two played, the ground shook because it was for something -- twice for the national championship.

Urban Meyer is gone, but in his place might be a more prominent figure for such rivalry revival.

For two years, this was one of the biggest, most popular college football matchups in all the land, and new Florida coach Will Muschamp has a chance to bring some luster back to this rivalry.

He’s Nick Saban lite; he coached under Saban at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins. He has the stare, and more importantly, he has the Gators back in the national spotlight, as Florida gets ready for a knockout, drag-out bar fight with the No. 3 team in the country.

Both teams enter with smothering defenses -- both with eerily similar tactics and strategies. Alabama and Florida are currently ranked in the top five nationally in most defensive categories and are first and second in the SEC in scoring defense, total offense, total defense and rushing offense.

We need for this rivalry to return, and that means Florida has to win, or keep it close until the end. An Alabama blowout will do nothing but remind us how good the Tide are and how far Florida still has to go. Saban’s apprentices rarely get the best of him, but Muschamp has the demeanor and the talent around him to have a shot.

Muschamp isn’t much for worrying about what could be. He’s concerned about his team and trying to game plan against a team that left Arkansas broken and beaten over the weekend.

“We just worry about Florida,” Muschamp told reporters after Saturday’s 48-10 win over Kentucky. “I mean, really, at the end of the day, we’re going to take care of the University of Florida. We’re going to be fine versus everybody we play, starting with Alabama.”

He didn’t come close to taking a shot at Alabama, but you have to love the confidence.

We’ve seen the Saban-like approach in preparation and style in Muschamp. Florida isn’t Alabama, but it mimics Saban’s squad in certain areas and Florida isn’t backing down from the tenacious Tide.

As for Alabama, the Tide know what to expect from a hostile crowd at night in Gainesville. This Florida team was embarrassed by the Tide last year and it’s out for some revenge of its own.

"I don't know if you can be prepared to go down and play in Gainesville," Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower said. "It's one of the places a lot of people don't want to play in -- in my opinion, next to LSU, the No. 1 or No. 2 worst places to play in because of the crowd. It's going to be real intense. The Alabama-Florida game has always been really good, so we're looking forward to it."

We’re all looking forward to it because this game meant something. In order for this rivalry to generate previous excitement is if Florida pulls the upset, or dies trying.

Can this rivalry replace the likes of Alabama-Auburn or Florida-Tennessee in the hearts of fans? Absolutely not, but both are nationally recognized programs and if they renew this thing the right way, college football will get back a special rivalry born on the Georgia Dome FieldTurf.

Houston Nutt has always taken pride in a treacherous rushing attack. Mostly because its success relied on multiple bodies.

There was Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at Arkansas. And more recently at Ole Miss he’s had the combinations of Dexter McCluster, Cordera Eason, Brandon Bolden, Jeff Scott and even a little Enrique Davis.

In Nutt’s three seasons at Ole Miss, his teams have averaged 186.5, 183.6 and 207.6 yards per game during a full season. Most of that damage was done with the help of the use of multiple running backs in the offense.

Fast forward to 2011, and Nutt finds himself without a strong running game and his Rebels are 1-2, averaging 109 rushing yards a game, which ranks 11th in the SEC.

Nutt watched as his top two backs -- Bolden and Davis -- went down with injuries in Week 1, leaving Scott to carry the load. Scott has been successful, but not having that second punch in the backfield has hurt the Rebels’ offense.

Bolden returned last week, but Ole Miss still couldn’t run the ball effectively. Without a successful multiple rushing attack, Nutt thinks any offense will struggle in this league.

“It’s a must,” Nutt said of having a multi-running back system in the SEC. “You probably gotta have three -- two for sure -- but you need three and sometimes four. This is the guy that’s going to get hit … this is the guy that’s gonna take some shots. How durable you are at the position is really the key for the year.”

Look at past three national champions.

In 2008, Florida basically used four rushers in quarterback Tim Tebow, wide receiver Percy Harvin and running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. Each eclipsed the 600-yard mark and had four or more touchdowns. The Gators averaged 231.1 rushing yards per game and finished 13-1.

Alabama’s 2009 team had one of the toughest running back duos around in Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy after rushing for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns. Richardson, then a freshman, had 751 yards and eight scores.

Of course, Auburn’s perfect run last season was fueled by the three-headed rushing monster of quarterback Cam Newton and running backs Michael Dyer and Onterrio McCalebb. Newton and Dyer both rushed for more than 1,000 yards (Newton had 1,400-plus) and McCalebb had 810, giving Auburn a staggering 284.8 rushing yards per game.

Currently, four -- Alabama, Florida, Auburn and Vanderbilt -- of the top six rushing teams in the SEC consistently utilize multiple running backs. Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kentucky are at the bottom of the league in rushing and don’t.

South Carolina, the SEC’s top rushing team, runs on Marcus Lattimore power, something coach Steve Spurrier worries could begin to weaken over time without some help. Lattimore already leads the nation in yards (534) and carries (87).

Alabama coach Nick Saban understands Spurrier’s concern, saying the use of more running backs helps keep players fresh and the offense firing. Saban's combo of Richardson and Eddie Lacy has combined for 619 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“I don’t think there’s any question about it that if you’re going to be able to run the ball it’s always good to have a guy who’s healthy and fresh out there that can give a little change of pace and have a little juice all the time,” Saban said. “That’s been beneficial for us for several years now.”

Seeing two talented running backs lineup together can also have defenses spinning, wondering who and how to attack.

“We’re going to be anywhere from empty to three backs,” said Florida coach Will Muschamp, whose rushing attack averages 210.3 yards a game. “That’s what’s difficult in preparing for our offense.

“There are a lot of multiple formations and shifts and different things that happen with the same personnel on the field.”

For Richardson, he’s thrived in a two-running back operation and loves it, even though he’s the go-to guy. It not only keeps him energized but it makes wearing down defenses that much more fun.

“It’s like, how are you going to control these two guys?” he said. “With the rotation that they have, and with the features they have to bring to the field, it’s kind of hard to slow these guys down.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- True freshman quarterback Jeff Driskel just got onto the field for Florida.

The nation's top high school quarterback in the 2011 recruiting class was compared to former Gator Tim Tebow because of his size (6-4, 235 pounds) and his scrambling ability. Well, he looked a little like Tebow on his first play as Florida's quarterback, flashing Tebow's famous stiff-arm and running on his first snap.

Driskel didn't see anything open down field so he took off to his right for a gain of five yards. He carried the ball twice for eight yards, but his only pass attempt was intercepted by Florida Atlantic's Marcus Bartels and returned 33 yards.

The pass was a bullet, but it was way overthrown. Starter John Brantley currently has 160 passing yards on 15-of-20 passing, so it will be interesting if coach Will Muschamp keeps Driskel in during the second half or brings Brantley back out.

Will Muschamp has a lot on his plate this fall.

But one area that Florida's new coach has excelled in is recruiting. He's replacing one of the best in the recruiting business in Urban Meyer, but he currently has Florida's 2012 class ranked No. 4 in ESPN's class rankings. Of Florida's 17 verbal commitments, seven are on the ESPNU 150.

Still, the Gators are looking up at rival Florida State at No. 2. They might be just a notch behind in rankings, but how far are they really behind the Seminoles?

I caught up with ESPN recruiting analyst Corey Long to find out:

Florida has 17 commitments right now and seems to be getting on a nice roll heading into the season, but when you look at this class compared to Florida State's, does it even stack up?

Corey Long: Well, it's apples and oranges in a way. Florida probably has the best offensive line class in the nation right now, but offensive line isn't a sexy position for the fan base to get excited over and it's rare that one of those guys makes an immediate impact. There's some other great talent here. I think Brian Poole is vastly underrated even though he's an ESPNU 150 player. I love LaTroy Pittman, I love Quinteze Williams, I love Marcus Maye ... these guys can play some football.

FSU has the top-ranked player in the nation, Mario Edwards Jr., and the top-rated quarterback in Jameis Winston. If this was a game of poker, Florida would be holding three kings and FSU would have a straight flush. The Seminoles have those stars that generate the headlines. When I write about Winston I know I'll get twice as many page views as I do when I write about the top offensive lineman. So even though FSU and Florida are sitting at No. 2 and No. 3 in our team rankings I think FSU is closer to No. 1 than Florida is to No. 2.

Florida might have a nice chunk of verbal commitments, but how are Florida's coaches doing in the state of Florida and around the Gainesville area?

Long: I believe that the Florida schools should recruit around 60-65 percent of their classes from in-state talent at a minimum. And when I say in-state I also take into consideration that south Georgia and east Alabama can also qualify as part of the primary "recruiting base." Usually when the "big three" get into range the class is successful. Right now eight of Florida's 17 recruits are from the state so it's a little under average. I would like to see them pull that up to 60 percent or better and if the top in-state guys on their board -- Tracy Howard, Kent Taylor, Avery Young, etc. -- choose the Gators they will be in that range. The in-state players that have committed to Florida, however, are guys I really like.

As for the Gainesville area, it's been a little strange. I thought it was interesting that two quality defensive lineman such as Jordan Williams and Trevarris Saulsberry both played at Gainesville High and didn't get much of a bite from Florida. I think Williams has star potential and Saulsberry had the size to play different positions along the line. Is Florida that loaded at defensive line that they didn't think two locals were worth an offer? There was some transition on the staff with the retirement of Urban Meyer so maybe the evaluations will back up the staff's choices but there's a reason both players went to Tennessee and that's because they want to play Florida every year and show them what they missed out on. And then to lose out on Tim Jernigan, the main prize sitting 40 miles away, to the Seminoles was an additional stomach punch.

As for this year's crop of area talent they have a commitment from LaTroy Pittman, quite possibly the most physical receiver pound-for-pound in the nation. He just beats defensive backs up. I think they could have had Sean Price and they let him go. He's done nothing but get bigger and better in the last six months and he seems set to USF. The Gator staff seems to have chosen Taylor over Price ... that's a risk. The one player that has me scratching my head is Chris Bivins. He is a great player that plays at Gainesville High and really wanted an offer. He has busted his butt this offseason and worked his way up from a relative unknown to a top 20 defensive back in the nation. He's a good character kid from a good family that preaches work ethic. I'm not sure why Florida (or FSU and Miami for that matter) haven't bitten on the young man yet. But to Bivins' credit he doesn't complain and he's been positive about the whole recruiting experience even though the fact that the local school hasn't offered is probably eating him up. Then you have P.J. Williams, sitting 30 minutes away, and has been solid to FSU for a year now.

Coach Muschamp is definitely going to have to re-establish that area between Ocala and Lake City as "Gator Nation" to the recruits.

What does Muschamp have to do to become more competitive with Jimbo Fisher and start bringing in the athletes like FSU has gotten verbals from thus far?

Long: I've said this a few times and it's no offense to the comedian but I believe Carrot Top could successfully recruit at UF because the resources are plentiful and the school has a name nationally. So getting players will never be a problem, getting the right players, however, is what separates the champions from the contenders.

Coach Muschamp has to win and he has to win the marquee games against the big teams such as LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, etc. And it's not going to be easy because this schedule is as tough as it gets after Week 2. He's going to have to win and show some of that fiery personality he has. When Steve Spurrier took the job in 1990 he basically forced every coach that followed him at Florida to have some sort of edge and a bit of a charming personality to go along with it. Ron Zook is a nice guy but he doesn't have that sort of an edge. He didn't win like the fans expected and he didn't last. Urban Meyer was a winner and he had a demeanor that was confident and maybe even a little cocksure -- that's something the Gator fan base loved. They love to win but they really love to win with style and flair. Spurrier and Meyer gave that to them. They knew how to feed the beast.

But Muschamp is not in an easy position. His margin of error is slim and there isn't going to be much of a honeymoon period. Not only is he following behind one of the most successful coaches but he's walking into the toughest time for Florida football.

That last point I didn't realize until a good friend of mine brought it up in a conversation. When Spurrier was the coach he revolutionized the way SEC football was played and he ran off four consecutive SEC titles while the other programs were playing catch up. During the mid-90s winning the SEC was a given for Florida so they just had to beat Florida State to compete for a championship.

When Meyer was the coach he had the fortune of catching FSU on a major downswing, the two best offensive players in college football (Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow) to handle his offense and arguably the best defensive coordinator in the game (Charlie Strong) to run through the SEC.

But Muschamp has to deal with a rejuvenated Steve Spurrier and a desperate Mark Richt in the SEC East, an SEC West division that could have 3-4 teams in the top 15 and an FSU program that is on the verge of being a national player again. He's going to have to prove he can navigate those rough waters before everyone buys in.

No one likes a tease. They ruin a perfectly good time, and in the SEC, we've seen a few teases in the past couple of seasons.

A tease team is a team that looks good during the spring or preseason camp, but somehow implodes during the season. It can also be a team that has high expectations, but just never puts it together.

Could there be one lurking in our midst as we speak? Possibly. If Alabama doesn't compete for a national championship, would you consider the season a failure? Some would. Or what if South Carolina doesn't win the East? That would be considered a major disappointment to a lot of people out there.

Here are some of those tease teams we've seen in this league over the past couple of years:

Georgia: The Bulldogs have been notorious for underachieving. In Mark Richt's second season, Georgia went 13-1, winning the SEC. The Bulldogs repeated as East champs in 2003 and won the SEC again in 2005. During that four-year span, the Bulldogs went an impressive 44-9. Georgia was bringing in some of the best recruiting classes in the SEC and it seemed like the Bulldogs would regularly compete for a national championship. However, Georgia has had double-digit victories just twice since 2005 and hasn't made it back to the SEC championship. Last season was the ultimate low point when the Bulldogs went 6-7, the first losing season since going 5-6 in 1996. This season, Georgia has a slew of talent, thanks to a stellar recruiting class that featured a group of Georgians dubbed the "Dream Team." If not for injuries and attrition on the offensive line and at running back, the Bulldogs would be battling South Carolina for the role of preseason favorite in the East. But there is talent to make a run. Can the Dawgs scrap the underachieving bug in 2011?

Ole Miss: Recent Ole Miss teams have been a little disappointing after that deadly preseason hype. After Houston Nutt's impressive 9-4 first season -- a season in which the Rebels upset eventual national champion Florida and won six straight games to end the season -- many had the Rebels competing for much more than just back-to-back Cotton Bowls. The Rebels entered the season ranked eighth in the country and rose as high as fourth before faltering during the middle of the season and losing to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. However, Ole Miss won its second straight Cotton Bowl. Last season, Ole Miss wasn't picked to bring home any trophies, but the 4-8 season was far from what was expected. The Rebels touted a much-heralded defense and brought in former Oregon standout Jeremiah Masoli to run the offense. Neither lived up to expectations and Ole Miss won just one conference game.

Florida: It's not like Florida consistently underachieved under Urban Meyer, but in 2009, everyone and their mother had Florida playing in back-to-back national championships. The Gators had what some considered Florida's best defense ever and had Tim Tebow back for his senior season. Even without Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, many figured Florida's offense would be fine. Well, the offense was rarely explosive or intimidating and the Gators were eventually blown out by Alabama in the SEC championship. Florida throttled Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, going 13-1, but most of the Gator Nation's excitement left when those national championship hopes were destroyed. Before 2010, people expected John Brantley to blow up Florida's record books with his passing numbers, while running another explosive Meyer offense. Along with a mighty recruiting class, Florida had the look of a SEC contender. However, Brantley never fit into the spread attack and Florida's offense limped through an 8-5 season that included a blowout loss to Florida State, the first to the Seminoles since 2003.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- During halftime of Florida's Orange and Blue Debut, statues of Florida's three Heisman Trophy winners were unveiled outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Bronze, life-sized statues of former quarterbacks Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996) and Tim Tebow (2007) are standing outside The Swamp, ready and willing to pose for pictures with fans.

Naturally, Tebow's statue shows him running the ball. After all, he was the first player to score at least 20 touchdowns rushing and passing.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Even in a passing glance, the Sooners look bigger.

Turn that into a three-hour, 34-minute stare like in Saturday night's Fiesta Bowl, and there's no argument about the bigger, faster, more talented team.

Oklahoma was all three, and proved it with a 48-20 win over Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl.

"It's huge. We continued where we left off [in the Big 12 Championship against] Nebraska," said junior linebacker Travis Lewis. "Going into next year with most of the guys coming back, the sky is the limit for this team."

It wasn't a perfect game for the Sooners, who surrendered a pick-six in the first half to keep the Huskies' hopes alive and led by just 14 entering the fourth quarter. A dominant final period with a pick-six of their own provided the final score, and ended Oklahoma's five-game BCS bowl losing streak, giving the program its first win on the big stage since 2002.

"It's fair to say that probably had a strong impact on the players," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said of talk surrounding the program's highly public failures. "We've maybe not had the best fortune in some of the other ones, came in with not all of our players. ... You are playing another championship team. You are going to have a hard time winning. I'm not going to sit here and act like we weren't ready in some other games, but we were more healthy in this one and these guys worked hard and they had an attitude to play in this game."

The Sooners, for once, didn't fall victim to someone else's fairy tale ending.

This time, there was no West Virginia-loving hometown coach bringing home the program's biggest win ever. Bill Stewart was a whole mess of country roads away from Phoenix on this night.

This time, there was no Bible-verse spouting figure fulfilling a midseason promise to his entire fan base at the Sooners' expense. Tim Tebow is busy delivering mile-high salutes in the NFL, and his promise can't hurt Oklahoma twice, even if it was immortalized by being engraved outside the Gators' stadium.

This time, there was no postgame proposal after the Sooners got hooked-and-laddered while America fell in love with its new non-AQ darling. Boise State experienced its own heartbreak in 2010 and finished its season in Las Vegas.

Connecticut has only been playing FBS football for a little more than a decade, and receiver Kashif Moore wore No. 6 in honor of teammate Jasper Howard, who was fatally stabbed during the 2009 season and for whom the Fiesta Bowl would have been his last game.

The Huskies had the story. Oklahoma ripped up the script.

On this night, the Sooners' Texas-bred, five-star recruits and golden-armed quarterback did what they were supposed to do. The 17-point favorites won by 28.

That doesn't mean the Sooners didn't write a satisfying end to a story of their own, a story with a beginning fans would like to forget, but an ending they'll long remember.

"Being able to hoist that Fiesta Bowl trophy, there's nothing like it," Lewis said. "All those lost BCS games, that's all of us. We're all Oklahoma. This is for the guys that lost those games."

But of course this isn’t a book, this is college football. And in this world there is always next year. For Oklahoma, Saturday’s ending could be a beginning -- the prologue in a story that has already ended seven times with a national title for the Sooners.

Lewis and wide receiver Ryan Broyles have decisions to make about their NFL futures. But even if both bolt Norman for richer soils, both helped springboard the Sooners to what could be a run toward a national championship in 2011.