GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Not even close.
Florida -- yes, Florida -- owned the field it wasn't supposed to be on, embarrassing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 on Monday night to run away with the college football national championship.
Chris Leak and Tim Tebow showed off coach Urban Meyer's twin quarterback system to perfection as the No. 2 Gators became the first Division 1 school to hold football and basketball titles at the same time.
"I'm not surprised at all. Nobody ever gave us a chance at all," Florida receiver Dallas Baker said. "We came here with a chip on our shoulder and something to prove."
Now, only one question remains: What about Boise State, the last undefeated team left standing?
The Broncos (13-0) stunned Oklahoma on the very same field in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day, while Florida and the Buckeyes finished with identical 13-1 records.
Wisconsin and Louisville also had one loss, and that surely will renew calls for a playoff.
Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, then it quickly fell apart for the Buckeyes. He hobbled off minutes later after being injured while celebrating the touchdown, and by the time he returned for the second half on crutches, Florida led 34-14.
"Ohio State didn't get it done," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said.
Underdogs by a solid touchdown, Meyer had a word for the critics who demeaned the Gators.
"I'd like to thank all those people. Our pregame speech was easy," he said.
Maligned for never winning the big one, Leak completed 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards and a TD. The Rambo-like Tebow threw for one TD and powered into the end zone for another.
Troy Smith, meanwhile, joined a long list of Heisman Trophy quarterbacks -- Jason White, Eric Crouch and Gino Torretta, among them -- to fall apart in bowl games. He was just 4-for-14 with one interception and never showed off his elusive running.
"Not everything in life is going to go the exact way you want it," Smith said. "I don't have any regrets, though."
Defensive ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss made it a miserable night for Smith. Linebacker Earl Everett got into the act, too, running down Smith despite losing his helmet.
"Honestly, we've played a lot better teams than them," Moss said. "I could name four or five teams in the SEC that could probably compete with them and play the same type of game we did against them."
Florida won its second national title, adding to the one Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel brought home in 1996 under coach Steve Spurrier with a 52-20 romp over Florida State in the Sugar Bowl.
This time, the man in charge was the 42-year-old Meyer, who earned a title in his second year at Florida.
The Bowl Championship Series added an extra game this year to determine a champion. Some fans were certain Michigan deserved to be here, that is until it got pounded by Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.
And back home in Gainesville, the Gators can raise another championship banner as they did after the basketball team beat UCLA in Indianapolis.
In the first football matchup between these schools -- they've both played the sport for 100-plus years -- the Gators emphatically stopped Ohio State's 19-game win streak.
The Buckeyes looked completely flummoxed by Florida's frenetic offense at the outset.
Leak gladly took advantage of the confusion, picking wide-open receivers at will and hitting his first nine passes.
Meyer's gadgets made it easy pickins' for the Gators. They came out in a five-wide set after Ginn's return and Leak hit Baker with a 14-yard TD pass.
The next time they touched the ball, the Gators let Leak, Tebow and scatback Percy Harvin all take direct snaps from center. Harvin later tucked it under his right arm and powered for a 4-yard TD.
When the second quarter began, Meyer immediately reached into his bag of tricks.
Florida put three running backs directly behind Leak -- a power-I-plus -- and gave the ball to the last one. DeShawn Wynn scored on the first play of the quarter, plunging into the end zone right in front of the Gators' band, for a 21-7 lead.
Ohio State returned to its roots and ran the ball. Antonio Pittman's 18-yard burst made it 21-14 with 13:32 left before halftime.
After that, kicker Chris Hetland, who was only 4-for-13 on field goal tries this season made good, from 42 and 40 yards on the Gators' next two possessions.
On the Buckeyes' next possession, Moss sacked Smith and forced him to fumble, and the Gators took over at the 5. Tebow faked a quarterback draw, rolled to the left and tossed a 1-yard TD pass to Caldwell.
At 34-14, fans on both sides were stunned as the teams ran to the locker rooms.
