2012 Gator Bowl Spread

In a matter of days, the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl turned quickly into the Urban Meyer Classic. Is it pure coincidence that just before the Gator Bowl matchup between Ohio State of the Big Ten and Florida of the SEC was announced that Ohio State unveiled former Florida head coach Urban Meyer as its new mentor?

Coincidence or not, the interest in two 6-6 teams has been heightened with the story of Meyer watching his new program take on his old one.

This will be the Gators’ ninth appearance in the bowl, which shares their name, but the first appearance since 1992. These two programs have met just once before, with Florida posting a 41-14 win over Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game.

A look at our latest college football odds shows Florida favored by 2 points, while the total has been posted at 44 points.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes come into this game off three straight losses to finish fourth in the Big Ten Leaders Division (3-5). Most recently, Ohio State dropped a 40-34 contest to rival Michigan – then hired Urban Meyer as head coach, who is expected to lead the team in the bowl game. The Buckeyes were 1-4 away from home, dropping the last two.

Defensively, the Buckeyes are a respectable 26th nationally in points allowed (21 points per game) and give up 329 yards per game (186 passing, 143 rushing) while recording 23 sacks and forcing 17 turnovers.

C.J. Barnett leads this unit with 69 tackles, while Andrew Sweat has 68 stops and Jonathan Hankins has 64. John Simons leads with seven sacks, Bradley Roby and Orhian Johnson each have three interceptions and Ryan Shazier and Travis Howard has two forced fumbles.

On offense, Ohio State ranks just 75th in scoring (25 ppg) while compiling 320 yards per game (196 rushing, 124 passing). The run game is anchored by Braxton Miller, Dan Herron and Carlos Hyde with a combined 1,840 yards and 16 TDs on 5.0 yards per carry.

Miller completes 50 percent of his passes for 997 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions, while the offensive line has allowed 40 sacks. The top receivers on the team are Corey Brown and Jake Stoneburner with 14 receptions each for a combined 398 yards and eight TDs, while Devin Smith has 12 catches for 247 yards and four scores.

Florida

The Gators started 4-0 under new head coach Will Muschamp, but faltered during the meat of their schedule, going 2-6 the rest of the way with five losses against current top-25 teams to finish third in the SEC East (3-5). Florida was 1-4 away from home but 5-3 in the state of Florida.

Florida ranks 25th nationally in scoring defense (21 points per game) and gives up 299 yards per game (167 passing, 132 rushing) while recording 22 sacks and forcing 12 turnovers – three of which were returned for TDs (Jaye Howard, fumble; De’Ante Saunders and Jelani Jenkins, interceptions).

Jonathan Bostic leads this unit with 86 tackles, while Ronald Powell has five sacks. Matt Elam leads with two picks and two forced fumbles while adding 72 tackles.

Florida ranks 72nd nationally in scoring offense (26 ppg) while recording 334 yards per game (190 passing, 144 rushing). John Brantley has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,912 yards and 10 TDs with six INTs. The offensive line has given up 23 sacks.

Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps anchor the running game with a combined 1,329 yards and eight TDs on 5.3 yards per carry, while Rainey and Jordan Reed are the top receiving threats with 28 receptions each for a combined 657 yards and four scores.