Score Atlanta’s Scott Janovitz, who’s referred to as The Brain around these parts, will be keeping a daily BCS title game blog leading up to the contest between Florida and Oklahoma, which he is attending. Today’s blog is the second installment of The Brainstorm.
In my blog yesterday I briefly touched on the elevated importance of coaching in Bowl games, but I’d like to give it a little more thought today.
College athletics are unique, made different by recruiting, and, as a result, elite programs like Florida and Oklahoma routinely have dramatic talent advantages over their opponents. In big-time games, however, the gap in quality of personnel shrinks dramatically, putting an even bigger premium on quality of coaching. And I’m not just talking about the head coaches, but entire coaching staffs. Anyway, I imagine we can all agree that the National Championship qualifies as a “big-time” game and probably also that coaching will be a MAJOR factor in its outcome this year. With that said, let’s take a closer look at each team’s man in charge and how they’ve fared in meaningful games.
Bob Stoops, 48, has been a head coach on the college level for 10 years, all at Oklahoma, and has a 109-23 overall record during that span. Of course, it has been well documented that he spent the three years prior as Florida’s defensive coordinator, winning, with the help of Steve Spurrier, the school’s first-ever national championship in 1996. The Florida connection between the two only adds yet another interesting dynamic to the game and it’s not the only one, either, as both were born and bred in the Buckeye State. But back to Stoops in particular. In addition to his gaudy win total, the man has captured some meaningful titles along the way, including one national championship and six Big 12 Championships. For that work, he has also been named the Walter Camp National Coach of the Year on two separate occasions (2000, 2007).
Meyer, a bit younger at 44, is in his eighth season as a head football coach on the college level, spending two years at Bowling and then Utah before joining the Florida program in 2005. He has compiled an impressive record as well, going 82-17 in his three coaching stops and really made his name in 2004 when he became the first coach to lead a mid-major to a BCS Bowl game, directing Utah to perfect 12-0 season and a 35-7 drubbing of Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Since taking over the Florida reigns, Meyer is 43-9, has won two SEC Championships (06, 08), one National Championship (06) and, in 2004, the Home Depot Coach of the Year award.
Fittingly, both coaches have earned reputations as great big-game coaches as well. During his time spent in Gainesville, Meyer has gone 12-1 in Florida’s most intense rivalry games against Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Tennessee and, for his career, is an amazing 16-3 against ranked opponents. He is also 1-0 in National Title contests and is 2-0 in BCS Bowl games. His ability to prepare and motivate his players for meaningful games cannot be questioned. What’s more interesting, though, is the degree to which “Big-Game Bob” has struggled recently on meaningful dates.
There is no doubt Stoops earned his flattering reputation by thoroughly dominating the series with Texas, by far his school’s biggest rival. And dominate he has. Stoopsy is an amazing 7-3 in his 10-year history with the Longhorns and won an incredible six games in a row against the Mac Brown-led squad. But the questions surrounding Bob’s big-game coaching prowess are not a result of what he has accomplished over his career but rather what he hasn’t accomplished of late. For example, while Stoops has only lost to Texas three times, all of them have come in the last four years. And I know it has been well documented that the Stoops-led Sooners have lost in their last four BCS Bowl appearances and are only 1-4 in BCS games overall. But what you may not know is that, for whatever reason, the Sooners have struggled in bowl games of any and all kinds since Stoops has been at the helm; he is only 4-5 overall in bowl contests.
Whether there’s something to these stats that will show up in Miami we will have to wait and see, but they absolutely should be considered. What I can say for certain – and I’m not sure if it is something he actually does wrong or that other coaches simply do a better job using the extra time to their advantage – is that Bob Stoops’s gameplans clearly don’t benefit from extended breaks.
What’s great about sports is that Bob will get a great chance against Meyer to silence all doubters because of this I am sure: the coach that has better prepared his team come January 8 will be the victorious one.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Florida: To win, Florida must put pressure on Sam Bradford. The Sooner quarterback has only been sacked nine times all season and is an incredibly accurate passer (completed 68.3 percent of his passes this year), especially when given time. The Gators must slow the Oklahoma attack and hurrying Bradford would be a good start.
Oklahoma: Oklahoma must limit the big plays from Florida. Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are particularly dangerous in the run game and the Gators have had a knack for making game-changing plays on special teams as well, whether it be by blocking or returning a punt for a score. If the Sooners can force the Gators to really earn their points, they will have much a better shot at containing the Florida attack.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com
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