Sunshine statement

The two high-powered offenses fizzled and the two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks combined to throw four interceptions.

The track meet that was anticipated and all but promised was halted by punts, penalties, injuries, sometimes clueless officiating and the usual buzz killer -- television timeouts.

Fifty years after the Baltimore Colts versus the New York Giants, this was hardly the greatest game ever played.

When it counted Thursday night, though, a safety ripped an interception out of a receiver’s hands, quarterback Tim Tebow threw an old-fashioned jump pass and Florida defeated Oklahoma, 24-14, to win the Bowl Championship Series title in front of 78,468 at Dolphin Stadium.

Tebow recovered from two first-half interceptions -- he threw only two all season entering the game -- to take over the second half and secure Florida’s second title in three years and offensive player-of-the-game honors.

Florida’s BCS title win was the third straight for the Southeastern Conference and fourth since the 2003 season.

Gators fans chanted “One more year!” as Tebow, a junior, took his postgame bows. As a freshman in 2006, Tebow was a part-time, bull-in-a-china-shop weapon as a backup during Florida’s national-title run, but this championship was all his to savor.

After a 31-30 loss to Mississippi at home in September, Tebow vowed after the game that no player in the country would play harder than he would the rest of the season.

Florida then ripped off one win after another through Thursday night’s title victory.

“I promised the guys that I would go out and play with all my heart,” Tebow said. “I was so motivated tonight. . . . I can’t put it into words -- it was just an incredible night.”

Tebow was the man.

With the score tied at 7-all in the third quarter, he made runs of 12, 15 and 12 yards on a 75-yard scoring drive that ended with a two-yard run by Percy Harvin to put Florida up, 14-7.

He later led Florida to a field goal that put the Gators ahead, 17-14, in the fourth.

That was followed, on Oklahoma’s next drive, by the turning point in the game, when Gators safety Ahmad Black stole what looked like a completion out of the hands of Sooners receiver Juaquin Iglesias.

“The play of the game was Ahmad Black snatching the ball away from the receiver,” Florida Coach Urban Meyer said.

Florida took over at its 24 and Tebow then led a 76-yard drive to clinch the game, capping his brilliant second half with a four-yard jump pass for a touchdown to David Nelson with 3:07 left.

“It was the kind of drive that you have to have in a game as close as this one,” Meyer said. “It meant Oklahoma needed two touchdowns to win, and it took important time off the clock.”

Tebow completed 18 of 30 passes for 231 yards with two touchdowns, and also rushed for 109 yards in 22 carries.

“The biggest thing is his ability to run and scramble,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “They got players going left, players going right, and he keeps it. A lot of it is design and a lot of it is him.”

Harvin, nursing a sore ankle, led the Gators with 122 yards rushing.

The argument over this year’s national champion may rage on at Utah, Texas and USC, but the chance for a split title is virtually dead.

There was an outside shot, with a close Oklahoma win, that the Associated Press might have crowned a different champion. But when the final poll was released, Florida received 48 of 65 first-place votes and finished No. 1 easily.

Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team finished 13-0 after a Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, will hold a news conference today to discuss the way a controversial season ended.

Really, though, there’s nothing anyone can do now to deny one-loss Florida (13-1) its collection of victory spoils.

Oklahoma (12-2) will be kicking itself for weeks. The Sooners’ offense, which averaged 54 points a game this season, never got in sync. The frenetic, no-huddle style Oklahoma wanted to play was slowed early by the game’s crawling pace.

“Clock issues, they waved off a flag, whatever, it interrupted play quite a bit,” Stoops said.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the second quarter, Oklahoma blew two key scoring opportunities inside Florida’s 10. First, Gators defensive tackle Torrey Davis stuffed running back Chris Brown on fourth-and-goal and then, right before the half, Major Wright intercepted a Sam Bradford pass at the one with three seconds left.

“We had some opportunities to really make a difference in the first half, and came up short,” Stoops said.

Bradford said he should have never thrown the pass.

“I tried to force one in there when in all reality I should have thrown one out of the back of the end zone and taken three points,” he said.

Bradford, this season’s Heisman Trophy winner, completed 26 of 41 passes for 256 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

It wasn’t Oklahoma’s night. The Sooners had scored 97 touchdowns this year and 702 points, the most in college football’s modern era. They had scored 60 or more points in their last five games, but came up 46 points short of that against Florida.

This was the fifth straight BCS bowl loss for Stoops. He has lost three BCS national title games -- in 2003, 2004, 2008 -- since leading Oklahoma to its seventh national title in 2000.

“I’ll be glad to try again next year,” Stoops said. “If that’s the biggest burden I have to bear in my life, I’ll be a pretty lucky guy.”

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

By the numbers

2 - BCS titles for Florida’s Urban Meyer

2 - Number of schools to win two BCS title games (LSU is the other team)

4 - Consecutive times the team ranked No. 2 has won the BCS title game

4 - Teams with a claim to national title

0 - Combined points in first quarter

5 - Consecutive BCS game losses for Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops

15 - Consecutive games with a touchdown for Percy Harvin

70 - Predicted over/under total

54 - Oklahoma’s season scoring average

171 - Harvin’s combined rushing and receiving yards

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Heisman watch

Last five non-USC Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks in bowl games:

*--* SEASON PLAYER, SCHOOL RESULT 2008 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma Lost in BCS Championship 2007 Tim Tebow, Florida Lost in Capital One Bowl 2006 Troy Smith, Ohio State Lost in BCS Championship 2003 Jason White, Oklahoma Lost in Sugar Bowl* 2001 Eric Crouch, Nebraska Lost in Rose Bowl* *--*

*BCS title game

Source: Los Angeles Times

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First quarter: Florida 0, Oklahoma 0

PASSING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Sam Bradford... 7-10, 64 yards

Florida

Tim Tebow... 6-10, 78 yards, 1 int.

RUSHING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Chris Brown... 4, 12 yards

Florida

Tebow... 3, 14 yards

RECEIVING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Manuel Johnson... 3, 22 yards

Florida

Aaron Hernandez... 3, 35 yards

Momentum: Oklahoma’s high-powered, no-huddle offense was forced to punt on both of its possessions. Florida, which started both drives inside its 20, turned the ball over with an interception before starting to move at the end of the quarter by utilizing tight end Aaron Hernandez.

Unanswered questions: Didn’t these teams come into the game with the top scoring units in the nation? Offensive lineman Duke Robinson was called for two penalties that hurt the Sooners. Florida offensive lineman Phil Trautwein also slowed a drive with two penalties.

Did you notice? Florida came out with an aggressive defense characterized by defensive back Major Wright’s big hit to break up a pass intended for Manuel Johnson. The Gators’ offense looked as if it was testing Sooners middle linebacker Mike Balogun.

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Second quarter: Florida 7, Oklahoma 7

PASSING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Bradford... 10-13, 82, 1 TD, 1 int.

Florida

Tebow... 5-7, 60, 1 TD, 1 int.

RUSHING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Brown...8, 66

Florida

Percy Harvin... 1, 45

RECEIVING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Juaquin Iglesias... 3, 23

Florida

Louis Murphy... 2, 44, 1 TD

Momentum: That’s more like it. Tim Tebow’s 20-yard pass to Louis Murphy gave Florida a 7-0 lead. Oklahoma came back to tie the score on Sam Bradford’s six-yard pass to Jermaine Gresham. Florida went into halftime on a high note by stopping two threats inside the six.

Unanswered questions: Who said Oklahoma couldn’t play defense? Sooners tackle Gerald McCoy dropped into coverage and picked off a pass. Florida’s defense showed why it’s ranked seventh. Tackle Torrey Davis stopped Chris Brown on fourth and goal from the one and Major Wright intercepted a pass at the goal line.

Did you notice? Tebow had another pass intercepted. That’s two for the game, as many as he had all season. Also, Gators multipurpose threat Percy Harvin is fast. Really fast. Wasn’t he supposedly nursing a sore ankle?

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Third quarter: Florida 14, Oklahoma 7

PASSING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Bradford... 4-7, 48

Florida

Tebow... 1-5, 11

RUSHING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Brown... 5-11

Florida

Tebow... 8-51

RECEIVING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Quentin Chaney... 1-23

Florida

Riley Cooper... 1-11

Momentum: It’s Tebow time. Oklahoma had a chance when the Gators were penalized for roughing the kicker, but the Sooners could not convert and Tebow took over. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner led a drive that culminated with Percy Harvin’s two-yard run for a 14-7 lead.

Unanswered questions: Why not have Tebow run it more often? The quarterback kept the scoring drive alive with runs of 13, 15 and 12 yards. He put the Gators close to the goal line with an option pitch to Jeffery Demps.

Did you notice? Tebow got the Gators -- and the crowd -- going with a demonstrative display after picking up 13 yards with just over nine minutes left in the quarter. On the ensuing drive, the Gators blocked a field-goal attempt to preserve their lead.

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Fourth quarter: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14

PASSING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Bradford... 5-11, 63, 1 TD, 1 int.

Florida

Tebow... 3-8, 76, 1 TD

RUSHING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Brown... 5-30

Florida

Harvin... 4-68

RECEIVING LEADERS

Oklahoma

Jermaine Gresham... 3-26, 1 TD

Florida

David Nelson... 2-33, 1 TD

Momentum: Oklahoma tied the score early in the fourth quarter on Bradford’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham. But Florida added a field goal, and safety Ahmad Black’s interception set up a drive that ended with Tebow’s four-yard touchdown to David Nelson.

Unanswered questions: What would have happened if USC played Florida? Tebow, Harvin and Co. against the Trojans’ defense? Sanchez and Damian Williams against the Gators’ secondary? Wait till next year?

Did you notice? Tebow’s 30-yard strike to Nelson during the final scoring drive showed the quarterback is more than a clutch runner. The Gators kept Oklahoma’s offense off the field and came up with a big turnover when it was needed most.

-- Gary Klein