Freshman Year - SEC Championship - BuckRogersRTG's Blog

BuckRogersRTG's Blog

Freshman Year - SEC Championship

Posted on October 11, 2011 at 11:57 PM.

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Practice
Buck Rogers and the Florida Gators came through in week 13 with a big win over in-state rival Florida State. Rogers was able to over come some bad passes and lead the Gators to the victory. His performance has earned him more of the Coach's trust. The Gators' Head Coach was quoted stating, "Rogers is no longer a freshman, he is an experienced veteran and our field general". Rogers was able to practice through his nagging injured left shoulder in preparation for the Gators' rematch with Alabama.

Game - #7 Florida (10-2) vs. #1 Alabama (11-1)
The Gators got the ball first and Rogers led them down the field and into the end zone to take an early 7-0 lead. After getting the ball back, the Gators were once again driving down the field when Rogers was hit hard while rolling out of the pocket. The hit looked to re-aggravate the injury to his left shoulder that knocked him out of the game against South Carolina. Rogers was able to shake off the pain and come back in 2 plays later. Rogers connected on his second TD pass of the game to put Florida up 14-0.

Florida's defense was tough in the first half, once again getting the ball back without allowing the Tide to score. Florida HB Scott Smith broke Florida's single season rushing record on an 11 yard run late in the second quarter. A few plays later Rogers made his only mistake of the game when he got a little greedy and forced the ball down the field in an effort to take a commanding 21-0 lead. Alabama would turn around and get a late first half TD after the interception to make the halftime score 14-7.

Alabama once again struggled to gain a first down on their opening drive of the second half and Rogers took the Gators into scoring range when he converted a long 3rd and 15 play to inside the 1 yard line. HB Scott Smith would punch it in for the TD but the extra point would get blocked. 'Bama turned the ball over on downs deep inside Gator' territory as the fourth quarter began. HB Scott Smith busted free for big gain of 46 yards that would set up a Gator' field goal to extend the lead to 23-7 late in the fourth quarter.

'Bama would add a TD but failed on the 2 point conversion attempt on their next drive. After getting the on-side kick attempt, the Gators were able to run the clock down to win the SEC Championship 23-13.

HB Scott Smith was named player of the game with 93 yards rushing and 1 TD. Buck Rogers finished 10/17 for 137 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.

The Gators wait to see where the BCS Computers will send them. Can a 2 loss SEC Champion get enough points in the system to play for a BCS Championship?

SEC Championship Highlights: