Urban Meyer: The Avenger

Article courtesy of the SEC Sports Hub Blog.

Urban Meyer has quickly moved up in the college football coaching ranks. He began his head coaching career at Bowling Green State University in 2001 before moving to Utah in 2003, and then to his current position with the Florida Gators in 2005.

Meyer's coaching attitude can be described in one word—Avenger.

During his time as a head coach, his teams have been nearly unbeatable when playing a team that beat them in the previous year.

In short, Meyer is terrific at finding out what went wrong in one year and correcting it the next. A factor that could greatly contribute to his success in avenging the previous season’s losses might come from his background.

Meyer has a degree in psychology, and there’s no doubting that his teams are ready to play when they enter a game against a team that beat them the previous year.

Florida’s latest victory, a 51-21 drubbing of defending national champion LSU, is a testament to that. The Gators lost in a 28-24 last-minute heartbreaker last year in Baton Rouge. You can bet that Meyer didn’t let his team forget it.

Statistically speaking, Meyer is one of the best in the business at avenging the prior season’s losses. He had perfect records in these type of games at both Bowling Green and Utah.

As a head coach at Bowling Green, he coached only one of these games. His 2001 squad lost to Western Michigan 37-28. In 2002, the Falcons beat Western Michigan in a 48-45 overtime thriller.

While at Utah, Meyer coached two of these games. His 2003 team lost to both New Mexico and Texas A&M. In 2004, his team not only beat these two opponents, but crushed them, winning 28-7 and 41-21, respectively.

At Florida, Meyer has been nearly as effective. His 2005 team lost three games: to Alabama in a blowout, to LSU, and to South Carolina. During the 2006 season, the Florida Gators beat all three of these teams.

In fact, Auburn is the only school in Meyer’s tenure that has managed to beat him in back-to-back years, doing so in 2006 and 2007. That gives Meyer a record of 6-1 in games against teams that beat him in the previous year.

If that statistic continues to hold true, the Florida Gators are in great shape in the SEC East race in 2008.

They’ve already avenged their 2007 loss to LSU decisively. The only other team on their 2008 schedule that beat them in 2007 is, ironically, the most important game left on their schedule: Georgia.

If history is any indication, a terrific run is in store for Meyer and the Gators.

Meyer the Avenger has already struck once in 2008. If he strikes the second time this year, it will put the Gators in position to win the SEC.

It might also put the Gators in the perfect position to play in the BCS National Championship Game for the second time in Meyer’s tenure.

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