MIAMI - This was the ugliest game you've ever seen for the first 40 minutes. This game was a train wreck. A slow-paced, whistle-filled, commercial-clogged mess of a game.
This was a game that had a timeout called by each side just before a punt and then saw UF get flagged for roughing a punter.
This was a game that had Louis Murphy flagged for enthusiastically signaling he just made a first down.
This was a game that saw Tim Tebow double his interception total on the season in just 23 minutes of game time.
"A lot of nasty," tight end Tate Casey said. "Probably the worst ball we played all year."
And then the last 20 minutes happened.
In that time, the game that you thought ditched you - the speedy, back-and-forth, smooth-flowing game - returned. Both teams scored touchdowns to keep the game tied at 14. Percy Harvin became that liquid, cuts-like-a-razor running back who burned Oklahoma for a combined 64 yards on back-to-back plays. The UF special teams got a rally-killing field goal block from Carlos Dunlap. The Sam Bradford-led Sooners opened up the fast-snap offense with success.
The game you wished would hurry up and end suddenly became a jewel worthy of a crystal trophy.
Ugly or pretty, gritty or flashy, mind-numbingly boring or edge-of-your-seat exciting, the Gators are the 2008 National Champions.
"It's just a dream come true," wide receiver Louis Murphy said.
But the first part of the contest was more of a nightmare than a dream. There was a lot of bad about this game, from bad refereeing to bad sportsmanship, bad fan etiquette and even a mistimed jet flyover during the third line of the national anthem.
Oklahoma fans booed while Murphy was cramping on the ground in the third quarter.
UF fans booed during Oklahoma's fight song after Sooners fans remained quiet during the Gators'.
Both sets of fans booed after referees couldn't figure out how to get the clock to read the correct time, and the lethargic tempo of the game got to the players.
"The slow pace of the first half, that really wore down on the defense," said defensive end and the game's Defensive MVP Carlos Dunlap. "It got us to the point where you want to think about pointing fingers."
But in the end, the ugly duckling turned into a graceful swan for UF.
The Gators cemented their legacy as the best team in the country. Years from now we'll be wondering how in God's name Mississippi came into The Swamp and upset the national champions. At the end of the evening, when the clock struck midnight, all was well for the men in orange and blue.
The only ones who still think this game was hideous, a disaster, a game that will be forgotten in 15 years?
That would be the Oklahoma Sooners.
"Quote maybe?"
For UF, though, the end result is all that matters. They leave South Florida as national champions for the second time in three years.
Now that's beautiful.
