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01/02/2012 - Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Debose set a Gator Bowl record with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Florida hung on to beat Ohio State, 24-17, on Monday.
Debose's return up the left sideline in the second quarter gave Florida the lead for good and the Gators scored another special teams touchdown after Chris Rainey blocked a punt in the third quarter.
John Brantley completed 12-of-16 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown for Florida (7-6) and Rainey rushed 16 times for 71 yards. Linebacker Graham Stewart scored a 14-yard touchdown after Rainey's block.
Braxton Miller threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-23 passing for Ohio State (6-7) and Dan Herron carried the ball 12 times for 77 yards.
The game had been dubbed the Urban Meyer Bowl, named after the former Florida and incoming Ohio State head coach.
While Meyer didn't coach in the game, he certainly had an effect on it after recruiting much of the current Florida roster before resigning last January.
Meyer has already begun working at Ohio State, although the school let Luke Fickell finish his final game as interim head coach.
The Gators, who captured two national championships under Meyer, won their first bowl game under new head coach Will Muschamp, bouncing back from a 2-6 record in their last eight games of the regular season.
Ohio State lost its last four games of the season. The Buckeyes won't have another chance to play in a bowl game until at least 2013 after the NCAA handed down a one-year postseason ban for the memorabilia scandal that cost former head coach Jim Tressel his job.
Florida overcame two Brantley fumbles in the first half and his interception in the second. The first fumble came on the opening drive of the game after Florida had good field position on an out-of-bounds kickoff.
Ohio State recovered, but punted and Brantley led the Gators downfield for a 7-0 lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Deonte Thompson between two defenders in the end zone.
Herron fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive, but Brantley gave the ball back with his second fumble of the game two plays later.
The Buckeyes then tied the game at 7-7 on Miller's five-yard throw to DeVier Posey -- just the quarterback's third pass of the game to that point.
As quickly as the game was tied, however, Florida went back on top when Debose cut to the left sideline and scored untouched on a 99-yard kickoff return to make it 14-7 Florida.
Ohio State pulled within 14-10 on Drew Basil's 37-yard field goal with 15 seconds remaining in the first half.
On the first possession of the second half, and with the two nearest Ohio State blockers keyed in on one of his teammates, Rainey broke through to block Ben Buchanan's punt. Stewart corralled the ball on the left side of the field and rumbled 14 yards to make it 21-10.
Later in the third quarter, the teams exchanged turnovers again. Brantley was intercepted by Tyler Moeller on a tipped pass, but Posey fumbled three plays into Ohio State's ensuing possession.
Florida turned it into an 24-10 lead on Caleb Sturgis' 17-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Hall slipped out of four tackles on an 11-yard touchdown catch that drew Ohio State within 24-17 with under a minute to play, but an onside kick attempt failed.
Game Notes
The programs faced each other for only the second time. In the first meeting, Meyer's Gators beat the Buckeyes 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Game following the 2006 season...Florida was 3-5 in the SEC this season, while Ohio State went 3-5 in the Big Ten...The Gators improved to 20-19 in bowl games. They played in a bowl game for the 21st straight season, the second longest streak in the country behind Florida State, but hadn't appeared in the Gator Bowl since December 31, 1992...Ohio State fell to 19-23 in bowl games. The Buckeyes were playing in their 11th straight bowl game but first Gator Bowl since a 17-15 loss to Clemson in Woody Hayes' final game as head coach in 1978.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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