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Urban RenewalThe Florida Gators and their genius coach maul Ohio State.

By Robert WeintraubPosted Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007, at 12:22 PM ET

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Last spring, Robert Weintraub recapped the Florida Gators' national championship in basketball. Before November's Michigan-Ohio State game, Jon Chait and Aaron Marshall debated which side would come out on top. Chait also debunked the myth that Southern football players are faster than Northerners.

The fact that Florida never looked this potent during an often-bumbling 2006 is what made this result so unlikely. Much was made of the epoch of time between the end of the regular season and the final game. Ohio State went a ridiculous seven weeks between games, and indeed, the Buckeyes looked sluggish. Florida, by contrast, used its time off to shore up trouble spots like pass protection and the kicking game, both of which were up to snuff last night. And while the disrespect card is the most overused one in the deck, the Gators were clearly irritated by the lack of ardor thrown their way and worked themselves into a frenzy during the downtime.

Fox Sports had the entire season to gear up for the BCS games. The results approximated Ohio State's sluggish effort. Incredibly, Fox's standard lineup graphics failed to note which class a player belonged to, so the casual fan wouldn't know whether one side started a team full of freshmen or a more veteran team. Lead voice Thom Brennaman, like Joe Buck and Chip Caray and Kenny Albert, is an unremarkable product of nepotism that pales next to the old man. His worst moment actually came last week, in the Fiesta Bowl, when he stumped for a playoff system as Boise State came to the line before the game-deciding two-point conversion. Right argument, wrong time. Last night, he couldn't resist a lame attempt at synergy, pointing out that 24's Jack Bauer "would be most pleased with this Gator effort tonight." Ugh. Boothmate Charles Davis, a relative unknown, was much more impressive, showing a nice command of personnel and matchups. Someone should take note and give the man a more prominent regular-season gig next year.

The big winner of the night, though, was Meyer. He is on the vanguard of a wave of successful coaches (including Pete Carroll and Bob Stoops) who aren't afraid to play superb athletes right away. That courage has a feedback effect in recruiting—highly sought-after players have started coming to Florida in bunches, knowing there is a chance to contribute immediately. Case in point: Tim Tebow. Florida's battering ram is poised to take over as ringmaster of Meyer's thick playbook, one that favors a running quarterback who can both dole out punishment and fling the ball deep. In Utah two years ago, Alex Smith rode that system to an undefeated season and the No. 1 spot in the NFL draft.

Tebow is Alex Smith on Nandrolone. He's far better suited for Meyer's offense than Chris Leak, who often struggled to adapt to Meyer's system. Leak played by far his best game under Urban last night, but by this time next year he might just be a faded memory.