USC hangs on, claims 12th national title
Capping off an undefeated season, the #1 USC Trojans came out of a slugfest victorious for their twelfth national title (fifth undefeated), topping the #2 Florida Gators 38-30 in San Antonio.
USC struck first blood after a John Plattenburg fumble recovery led to a 4 yard TD pass from Jalen Greene to tight end Pierre Russell.
USC would build a 21-10 lead at the half, and extend it on another TD pass from Greene to Dickerson. However, when USC looked to put the game away up 18, Florida clawed right back in the game. Swain Rolle picked off Greene at the Florida 5, and Dustin Gilmore ended the 95 yard drive with a Florida TD.
One half of USC's two headed rushing monster, Lamar Holycross, got on the board for USC with a 7 yard TD run to push the lead to 35-17 midway through the third quarter.
Heisman winner Will Grier finally got things moving, firing a 13 yard TD to Jomani Bomall, and after USC punted twice in a row, Grier hit freshman Andrew Chingon for a 38 yard TD to pull to 35-30 after failing to convert the extra point try.
With time running down in the fourth, a touchdown for USC would put the game out of reach. However, they had to settle for a long field goal from All-American Carlos Caldwell and he drilled the 56 yarder with just under a minute to go.
Down 8 with a minute to go, Grier moved Florida down the field with little difficulty. Grier threw a gorgeous pass to Darryl Ray (which broke UF's single season school yardage record) and moved down to midfield before finding Andrew McKenzie for a 16 yard pass over the middle. A spike later, Grier found Sam Crooks to get to the USC 25 yard line, though they needed a TD.
A few incompletions later, Florida was forced into a 4th and 1 situation with 10 seconds left at the USC 25. Needing a touchdown, Grier bided as much time as he could, but eventually pressure from USC's All-American linebacker Kenton Suber forced an errant pass and clinched USC's first national title in 14 seasons.
USC Coach Quinn Shea is the first CAC to win a national title and the first to reach the CFP. Greene threw for 347 yards and a pair of scores in being named the Playoff's most outstanding player. Dickerson caught 8 passes for 124 yards and both scores, while Holycross and Dontrell Marshall each ran for TD's.
Grier threw for 518 yards, 179 to Bomall, but it wasn't enough. Florida loses in the National Title Game for the second straight season, and for the third time in the past four seasons.
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Originally Posted by whughes |
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Is that a plug for Sony on your Florida picture there? 
I'm surprised Tech's QB threw for over 200 yards. Is Paul Johnson still there? They still running the flexbone? That is a lot of passing for a flexbone team
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Unintentional, I promise.
That's just a matter of me not editing my pictures, which I really should be doing a better job of. If you flip through the old Massachusetts State dynasty, you'll notice that a lot more.
As for GT, Johnson is still the coach and (I think) they still run the option. There's a chance their playbook might have been changed in the roster set to neutralize the option teams dominating in dynasty, but I can't confirm or deny that right now.
At some point before the start of season six I'll put out a big list of who is coaching where for everyone's reference.