Slive watches Florida move into championship-game talk

<p>Florida fans at the Georgia Dome cheered the announcement of UCLA's 13-9 upset victory over No. 2 Southern Cal Saturday, knocking the Trojans out of a national championship game matchup with No. 1 Ohio State.</p><p>Michigan was third in the last BCS standings, one spot ahead of Florida. Now the Gators can factor in Saturday night's 38-28 SEC championship game victory over No. 8 Arkansas.</p><p>Southern Cal's loss also was of interest to Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, the BCS coordinator. Can Florida move past Southern Cal and Michigan and into the national championship game?</p><p>"As the SEC commissioner, the answer is yes," Slive said at halftime of the Florida-Arkansas game. "As the BCS coordinator, I say let's see how this game comes out."</p><p>Slive's caution was well-advised. Florida led 17-0 in the second quarter before Arkansas rallied for a 21-17 lead in the third quarter.</p><p>___</p><p>HE CAN RUN AND PASS ...: Arkansas has a quite efficient quarterback as its starting tailback. Darren McFadden, one of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award given to the nation's top running back, is the top rusher in the SEC with his average of 123.8 yards per game.</p><p>McFadden also is dangerous as a run-pass threat when he lines up at quarterback in a shotgun formation. McFadden was 5-for-5 passing for 70 yards with two touchdowns in the regular season. He added a 2-yard scoring pass to Felix Jones in the third quarter before throwing an interception and an incompletion.</p><p>McFadden had 21 carries for 73 yards.</p><p>___</p><p>... AND HE CAN CATCH AND RUN: If Arkansas could call on its tailback for a passing touchdown, then it only made sense for Florida to call on a receiver to lead the Gators in rushing.</p><p>Percy Harvin, a freshman who had 20 catches for 305 yards in the regular season, led the Gators' spread attack in rushing for the fifth time this year. His 67-yard touchdown run early in the final quarter gave Florida a 31-21 lead. He also caught a 37-yard scoring pass in the second quarter.</p><p>Harvin appeared to be running an end-around play on his touchdown run, but after taking the handoff from Chris Leak, Harvin reversed his direction and used his speed for the touchdown run.</p><p>Harvin finished with six carries for 105 yards and a touchdown and five catches for 62 yards and a score. He was named the game's MVP.</p><p>Another Florida receiver, Andre Caldwell, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tate Casey in the fourth quarter.</p><p>___</p><p>NEW PASSING KING: Move over, Danny Wuerffel. There's a new all-time passing leader at Florida.</p><p>Leak entered Saturday night's SEC championship game against Arkansas needing only 65 yards to pass Wuerffel's total of 10,875 yards passing from 1996 through 1996. Leak took care of that in the second quarter on his 37-yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin, giving him 84 yards passing.</p><p>Leak, a four-year starter, held the school record with 854 career completions entering the game, beating Shane Matthews' old record of 722.</p><p>Leak won't catch Wuerffel's mark of 114 career touchdown passes. The scoring pass to Harvin was the 87th of Leak's career, 10 more than third-place Rex Grossman (77 from 2000-02). He has 22 TD passes this season.</p><p>Freshman quarterback Tim Tebow has added four TD passes while also rushing for seven touchdowns this season.</p><p>Leak struggled in the third quarter, throwing two interceptions, including a short pitch that was returned 40 yards for a touchdown by Arkansas defensive end Antwain Robinson.</p><p>For the game, Leak was 16-for-30 passing for 189 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.</p><p>___</p><p>BIG KICK: Florida received an unlikely early lift from its kicking game. Chris Hetland was only 3 for 12 on field-goal attempts in the regular season, with a long kick from 29 yards.</p><p>Yet Florida's Urban Meyer decided to call on Hetland for a 33-yard field-goal attempt. Hetland's kick was good, giving the Gators a 3-0 lead and sending Florida's players into a celebration rarely seen following first-quarter field goals.</p><p>___</p><p>JUST WATCHING: Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford watched the game as a fan. Stafford, a Texas native, dressed like a neutral observer, wearing an Atlanta Braves cap.</p><p>Georgia is expected to be offered an invitation to Atlanta's Chick-fil-A Bowl, to be played in the Georgia Dome on Dec. 30, on Sunday.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/12/111665