Moving the Chains: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

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I’ve made it clear that I believe the 2008 Florida Gators are the best team ever.  

Had it not been for the unfortunate antics of Carlos Dunlap, Florida’s superb defensive end, the 2009 edition might have proved to be even better. 

The Gators were ranked as the top team in the country every week of the 2008 season except for the week after a narrow 3-point win over a solid Arkansas Razorback squad in their sixth game of the season.  

The #1 Gators finished the season undefeated at 12 – 0, the same record as #2 Alabama.  Both teams went through their respective 8-game gauntlets of SEC games without a loss.  They would break their tie at 12 – 0 in the conference championship game in Atlanta on December 5.

However, at 3:25 a.m. on December 1, just four days before the Gators’ biggest game of the year, Carlos Dunlap, the team’s best pass rusher, was charged with driving under the influence after police found him asleep at the wheel as his car sat idling at a stop light.  

Florida head coach Urban Meyer had no choice but to suspend Dunlap, the defensive MVP of the prior season’s national championship game and a potential first-round draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft, for the SEC championship game in Atlanta.  

It’s worth noting that Tim Tebow, the offensive MVP of last year’s national championship game, returned to Gainesville for his senior year with the goal of leading the team to an undefeated season and a second consecutive championship.  Brandon Spikes, like Tebow a 2009 team captain and the spirited leader of the defensive squad, returned for his senior year as well for the same reason.

On December 5, my wife and I were in the stands to see two SEC juggernauts – the  nation’s #1 and #2 teams – battle it out for the conference championship.  The Gators offense took the field first, but when running back Jeff Demps dropped an easy throw which forced a 3-and-out, it was obvious things would not turn out well for the team in orange and blue.  (Technically, the Gators were wearing white uniforms – which to this date I thought was a mistake.  No particular reason; I just did).

When the Gator defense took the field, it looked like they had already decided that losing the game was a foregone conclusion.  Alabama kicked a field goal on their opening drive, and scored a touchdown on their second.  For all intents and purposes, the game was over before the end of the first quarter.

The Gators simply had no life.  They looked deflated, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of them by the loss of Carlos Dunlap.

Final score: Alabama – 32, Florida – 13.  

#5 Florida went on to beat #4 Cincinnati, 51 – 24, and finish the season with a record of 13 – 1 and a #3 ranking.  Alabama went on to defeat Texas and win the National Championship.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.  Blah blah blah. 

All told, Cindy and I attended the SEC championship 13 times: 12 to see the Gators and once to see Auburn: in 2010, when the Tigers finished 14 – 0 and won the National Championship.  

You may remember that Auburn’s quarterback, Cam Newton, won the Heisman that year.  In the SEC championship against South Carolina, Newton was as dominant as one player has been since Barry Sanders carried the football for Oklahoma State.  

In the Tigers’ 22 – 19 win over #2 Oregon in the National Championship, Newton threw for 265 yards and 2 TD’s and added another 64 yards on the ground.  He went on to become the first pick in the NFL draft.  

But here’s the punchline: Cam Newton should have been a Gator in 2010.  He was on their roster in 2007 and 2008; in fact, he was Tebow’s backup his second season in Gainesville and the heir apparent to take over his position in 2009 – as well as the year after that, which happens to be the year Auburn won the National Championship.

But in November of 2008, Newton stole another student’s $1,700 computer; one month later, he transferred to a junior college rather than face possible expulsion.  

Newton was the quarterback of Blinn (junior) College in Texas for one year before taking his talents to another team in orange and blue: the SEC rival Auburn Tigers.  

So my point is this: had it not been for the antics of Dunlap and Newton, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think that the Florida Gators could have won the National Championship three years in a row, from 2008 through 2010, not to mention four titles in five years (they won in 2006 as well).

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.  Blah blah blah.