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Gators-Sooners even at 7-7 at halftime

Fri 9th, January 2009

Miami, FL (Sports Network) - In a game between the last two Heisman Trophy winners and a pair of teams averaging close to 100 points combined, the BCS national title contest has been a battle of defenses, with top-ranked Florida and No. 2 Oklahoma deadlocked 7-7 at halftime.

Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman winner, threw for 28 touchdowns and was picked off twice all season, but he's been intercepted already a pair of times in this game. He's trying to guide the Gators to their second national championship in three years, but thus far Tebow has been stymied by the Sooners.

Sam Bradford, this year's Heisman winner, was intercepted near the goal line by Major Wright with just three seconds left in the half, squashing a possible scoring drive.

The first quarter resulted in a pair of Oklahoma punts and a Tebow interception as he was picked off by Nic Harris.

The offenses heated up early in the second, though. Tebow accounted for 86 yards of a 12-play scoring drive that stretched into the quarter. He culminated it with a 20-yard TD pass to Louis Murphy, who stretched the ball over the goal line as he was being tackled, 58 seconds into the period.

Bradford immediately responded by running an effective hurry-up offense, throwing a six-yard scoring pass to tight end Jermaine Gresham in the back of the end zone less than three minutes later. Chris Brown accounted for 45 yards on the ground during the march.

On the ensuing Florida possession, Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy dropped back in coverage for an interception on a short pass over the middle.

That gave the Sooners the ball at the Florida 36, and Brown ran 17 yards to the nine, and two more runs by the junior put the ball at the one, but the Gators came up huge. Brown was stood up on the next two rush attempts, with Torrey Davis stopping the running back in the backfield to turn the ball over on downs.

The Gators punted on their next series, and Bradford led the Sooners inside the 10, but that drive ended in disaster. Bradford's pass to Manuel Johnson near the goal line went off the receiver, and Florida safety Ahmad Black tipped the ball to Wright for the interception.

The Gators suffered a serious blow to their offense when Chris Rainey, the team's leading rusher this season, was carted off the field with a possible ankle injury. While being tackled by linebacker Keenan Clayton, Rainey's right leg bent backward on a play late in the second quarter.