Florida's Offense Arrives Too Late For the Party In Sooners' Runaway Victory
Boone Tillman // Sooner Born • Published: December 13th, 2031
Ladies and gentlemen, your Oklahoma Sooners are once again champions of the SEC after a 44-32 victory over the Florida Gators that was not nearly as close as the final score would make you believe. By the time the Florida Gators put their first touchdown on the board, the Sooners were well in control with a commanding 44-11 lead.
The Florida Gators kicked off the festivities with a daring 8-play drive, but after two straight incompletions and a sack on third down, the Gators were forced to send Ben McLeod onto the field for the first points of the game. Unfortunately for the Gators fans, McLeod kicking field goals instead of extra points became a theme for the afternoon.
Three times the Florida Gators drove into the red zone, yet entered the half trailing Oklahoma 28-6 after two field goals and Antwan Phung's seventh interception on the season.
While the Gators were struggling to execute, the Sooners were thriving. Markelle Nickey and Co. only needed three plays to put a touchdown on the board after the Gators field goal drive to open the game, with Dillon Slye hauling in a 33-yard wheel route to kick off the fireworks for Oklahoma.
Entering the fourth quarter, another field goal and the rare blocked extra-point return were the only points on the ledger for the Gators, who were in the process of being buried by touchdowns as Markelle Nickey collected five, Dillon Slye scored four of his own, and Maurice Lucky broke the Sooners' single-season touchdown mark.
Trailing 44-11, the Gators offense finally arrived in Atlanta, orchestrating three consecutive touchdown drives, including an improbable 53-yard bomb to Northrup who somehow got lost behind the defense.
The blitz by the Gators did nothing except make their defeat seem less gargantuan. Now, they'll have to hope their late scoring efforts were enough to sway the CFP Committee to keep them in the upcoming playoff despite the loss.
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Question One - Meg Semental (SEC Network): "Coach, I know a lot of the Gators' fireworks came late in the fourth quarter, but it still makes it three straight games that your defense has surrendered 398 or more passing yards. Is it a cause for concern for you and Pat Surtain Sr. yet?"
Armando Leon: "You know one thing that I hate, Meg? Is when people want to cry bad sportsmanship when someone runs up the score, yet swallow their words when the losing team is running up the score. I get they may have been trying to impress the committee, but we'd conceded by backing off the blitz early in the fourth quarter, and that's when they started making some magic happen. Now, if I kept sending the house, I'm the bad guy. But they can turn around and bomb away on us without a word of protest? I'm not singling you out, Meg, rest assured. I just find it curious how the goalposts change depending on who is at this podium."
Question Two - Timothy Hale (The Independent Florida Alligator): "Walk us through that blocked extra-point attempt, Coach Leon. That's a play you don't usually see. Did the Gators catch you off-guard with a stunt, or was it simply a good jump by their line?"
Armando Leon: "You're right, Timothy, you don't see that play a lot. Kicks get blocked, but usually someone has the wherewithal to jump on the live hand grenade. Apparently not this time. I haven't had time to watch the tape to see how we got penetrated, but you can bet your ass we ain't going to get backdoored twice."
Question Three - James McDavid (OU Daily): "What can you say about the performance of Dillon Slye. He's been much maligned all season, but in the biggest game of the year to date, he came up aces."
Armando Leon: "The kid doesn't quit. Simple as that. After how this year started, he coulda pulled his horns in and played to his strengths. Instead, he got better. Identified his weaknesses and worked at them until they became weapons. That doesn't happen by accident."
•••
Coach Leon extracted revenge on one of the only two programs to defeat him and we continue our arduous march to a third straight championship.
The path isn't paved in gold, just yet, but in due time it may bear the colors of Crimson and Cream.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Florida | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 32 |
| Oklahoma | 14 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 44 |
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Florida | Oklahoma |
| 1st | Florida | 5:16 | Ben McLeod, 23 Yd FG | 3 | 0 |
| 1st | Oklahoma | 4:04 | Dillon Slye, 33 Yd Pass From Markelle Nickey | 3 | 7 |
| 1st | Oklahoma | 1:44 | Dillon Slye, 13 Yd Run | 3 | 14 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 6:41 | JaMichael Buggs, 39 Yd Pass From Markelle Nickey | 3 | 21 |
| 2nd | Oklahoma | 1:45 | Maurice Lucky, 1 Yd Pass From Markelle Nickey | 3 | 28 |
| 2nd | Florida | 0:05 | Ben McLeod, 43 Yd FG | 6 | 28 |
| 3rd | Oklahoma | 4:05 | Dillon Slye, 15 Yd Pass From Markelle Nickey (Blocked XP) | 6 | 34 |
| 3rd | Florida | 4:05 | Returned Blocked XP | 8 | 34 |
| 3rd | Florida | 0:10 | Ben McLeod, 20 Yd FG | 11 | 34 |
| 4th | Oklahoma | 9:15 | Ty Dexter, 33 Yd FG | 11 | 37 |
| 4th | Oklahoma | 7:24 | Dillon Slye, 23 Yd Pass From Markelle Nickey | 11 | 44 |
| 4th | Florida | 3:55 | Cal Condren, 10 Yd Pass From Danny Darrisaw | 18 | 44 |
| 4th | Florida | 1:55 | Marquel Northrop, 16 Yd Pass From Danny Darrisaw | 25 | 44 |
| 4th | Florida | 0:16 | Marquel Northrop, 53 Yd Pass From Danny Darrisaw | 32 | 44 |
Florida Oklahoma Passing | Stats Passing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Dannt Darrisaw | 22/35, 398 Yds, 3 TD, INT Markelle Nickey | 24/30, 330 Yds, 5 TD, INT Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Rashaun Creer | 22 Att, 59 Yds Isaac Adcock | 15 Att, 144 Yds Danny Darrisaw | 5 Att, -4 Yds Dillon Slye | 5 Att, 48 Yds, TD Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Kwabena Fangupo | 6 Rec, 94 Yds Dillon Slye | 8 Rec, 108 Yds, 3 TD Marquel Northrop | 6 Rec, 165 Yds, 2 TD Maurice Lucky | 5 Rec, 58 Yds, TD Kion Leckey | 4 Rec, 91 Yds JaMichael Buggs | 3 Rec, 60 Yds, TD Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ CB Josh Paul | 7 Tkl, TFL, INT MLB Jason Pilgrim | 9 Tkl, TFL, Sack DE Devin Walters | 2 Tkl, TFL CB Antwan Phung | 8 Tkl, INT DT Chip Calvin | 2 Tkl, TFL LB Steve DiNapoli | 6 Tkl, 3 TFL
Conference Championship Results
ACC: 40 #3 Miami (11-2) vs #2 Duke (11-2) 27
American: 41 #12 North Texas (11-2) vs #10 Tulane (12-1) 31
Big 12: 21 #23 Oklahoma State (9-4) vs #6 Arizona State (12-1) 30
Big Ten: 20 #7 Ohio State (11-2) vs #2 USC (12-1) 35
C-USA: 38 Sam Houston (11-2) vs FIU (11-2) 24
MAC: 24 Buffalo (9-4) vs Toledo (12-1) 66
Mountain West: 42 Wyoming (10-3) vs Nevada (8-5) 48
Pac-12: 41 Boise State (10-3) vs Colorado State (7-6) 23
Sun Belt: 40 Georgia Southern (8-5) vs #24 Louisiana-Lafayette (12-1) 42
