The 2012

TaxSlayer.com TaxSlayer LLC (formerly known as TaxSlayer.com) is a privately held tax preparation and financial technology company based in Augusta, Georgia. The company offers online tax preparation technology for American consumers and tax professionals, allo ...

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, the 67th edition of the game, was a post-season American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, held on January 2,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

EverBank Field TIAA Bank Field is an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida, that primarily serves as the home facility of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and the headquarters of the professional wrestling prom ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. TaxSlayer.com was named the corporate title sponsor on September 1, 2011. The game, which was telecasted at 1:00 p.m. ET on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

, featured the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

versus the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. The game was a rematch of the

2007 BCS National Championship Game The 2007 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, 2007, and featured the top-ranked Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes against the 2nd-r ...

, where Florida emerged victorious. Florida's head coach for the 2007 game,

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

, was named head coach at Ohio State in November 2011 and took over the Buckeye football program in the 2012 season. As such, this game is sometimes referred to as the Urban Meyer Bowl.

Teams

The Buckeyes finished fourth in the Big Ten Leaders Division, while the Gators finished the season third in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division. The two teams have played once before, in the 2007 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. In that game, No. 2 Florida defeated No. 1 Ohio State 41–14 to claim the 2006 national title. Some referred to the game as the “Urban Bowl” or “Traitor Bowl” by Gators fans because Urban Meyer had been hired as the new Ohio State head coach less than a year after leaving Florida. Luke Fickell served as the interim head coach for Ohio State, while Brian White served as the interim offensive coordinator for Florida and called the plays, since offensive coordinator

Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in ...

had left to take the head coaching job at Kansas. Ohio State and Florida were tied 7–7 in the first half, but dominant special teams play - including a kickoff return and blocked punt return for a touchdown - led the Gators (7–6) to a 24–17 victory over the struggling Buckeyes (6–7). It is the first time since 1999 that Ohio State has had a non-winning record, and the first time since 1988 that Ohio State had a losing season. It was Florida's 32nd consecutive winning season dating back to 1979. The Buckeyes will not be eligible for a 2012 bowl game or the Big Ten title. The Gators will return in 2012 with a new Offensive Coordinator, Brent Pease, and a new starting quarterback.

Ohio State

Florida

References

{{Florida Gators bowl game navbox

Gator Bowl Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games Florida Gators football bowl games

21st century in Jacksonville, Florida January 2012 sports events in the United States