ATLANTA — Urban Meyer was right.

Off and on for the past couple of weeks, the Florida Gators head coach has openly lobbied for his team to play Ohio State on Jan. 8 for the BCS national championship in Glendale, Ariz.

Implode the current system if they don’t, he said.

At the half, the Florida coach was looking at the perfect scenario.

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His team was leading the Arkansas Razorbacks 17-7, and by the time everyone was in the locker room, Southern Cal had fallen to UCLA.

Only he and the Gators got the sunshine scared out of them by the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The momentum didn’t swing, it roared, just like the Georgia Dome but just not long enough.

Junior linebacker Weston Dacus picked off a Chris Leak pass, and the Razorbacks drove to the 2, where Darren McFadden again showed why he’s the most valuable all-purpose player in the country.

Out of the Wildcat formation, he saw no one lined up on Felix Jones, and after the snap, he fired the touchdown to Jones.

After each team punted, the Gators were in business at their 43 when Antwain Robinson sniffed out a shovel pass, picked it off and went untouched for the touchdown and a 21-17 lead.

It appeared the Razorbacks were in control and the light at the end of the tunnel was Bourbon Street. This evening they find out if it is Capital One or Cotton on New Year’s Day.

On their next drive, the Gators used a fake punt for a first down, all three of their timeouts and then punted from their 41.

That’s when they caught their first big break. Reggie Fish got confused on where he was, tried to field the punt at the 5, fumbled and Florida recovered for a touchdown.

Florida’s defense held the Hogs, and the Gators started at their 33. On first down, wide receiver Percy Harvin took a handoff and raced 67 yards for a touchdown.

Right about then, every human voter in the polls should have been writing Florida in at No. 2 in ink.

Not Michigan, which has already lost to the Buckeyes, but the Gators, who are the best oneloss team in the country.

After watching them Saturday night, there was no doubt they might not be as deep in talent as LSU, but they are just as fast and just as physical.

Give the Razorbacks credit, they never played scared.

They bellied up like big boys when they got behind by 17 in the first half, and they never showed a single sign of thinking they were out of it even when they trailed 38-28 with 9: 04 to play.

A flea-flicker from receiver Cedric Washington (who came to the UA as a quarterback ) to Felix Jones with 12: 29 left survived a review and made it 31-28.

The Gators didn’t lose their poise, though, and came back with some razzle-dazzle of their own for that 38-28 final score.

There are no excuses for the Hogs, and there shouldn’t be. Like this season, Saturday night was great.

McFadden’s right ankle injury hurt them, but it didn’t cost them the game.

Jacob Skinner’s blocked punt hurt, but it didn’t cost them the game.

Ironically, the first two times the Razorbacks made it here, they suffered just one each of those, and this time, they almost found a way to make both forgettable.

Football is about tackling and blocking, and when they had to, the Gators sucked it up and got the job done.

Their open-field tackling was sensational.

The offensive line gave Chris Leak more than enough time to find receivers, and it opened huge holes when called upon.

The defensive line collapsed on McFadden better than anyone all season (he was hurt against USC ).

Yet, it should be noted the Razorbacks fought to the end of a great season.

In years to come, when they look back at a 10-3 season, what will stand out is that all three losses were to teams that went to BCS bowls.

That includes Florida, which earned its shot at the national championship Saturday night, or implode the current system.