It was a freak occurrence. A game-winning blocked field goal, which was the second blocked field goal of the game, that won it for the Gators and put them one step closer to the National Championship.

Or did it?

The fans lost it when the final field goal hit the ground, but I wonder how many of those fans are thinking this win was not convincing enough. With so many one-loss teams, UF can't really afford to struggle, even in victory. That's especially true with I-AA Western Carolina coming up on the schedule. That might hurt the Gators in the BCS, and so might this narrow victory over USC. Many people will say the Gamecocks outplayed the Gators. Many will say that a team entitled to play in the championship game should not struggle this much on its home field. Texas Longhorns fans would have preferred a UF loss, but they'll take this too.

You know what else didn't help?

Georgia going into Auburn and thrashing the Tigers. Auburn is the only team that has beaten UF this season. Now that loss looks even worse for the Gators, especially when you consider that Texas lost to only Ohio State and Notre Dame's only loss was to Michigan.

The Gators had to make a statement today. They did make one, but I'm not sure it was the statement they were intending to make. The Gators proved that their defense will bend and bend and bend, but hardly ever break. UF showed a lot of character today, coming behind to win a game against a quarterback, Blake Mitchell, who was on fire.

Dallas Baker, Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell, and DeShawn Wynn showed up on offense. Meyer said this was one of the best offensive performances from his team, excluding some mistakes made in the red zone. He said Chris Leak played his best game as a Gator. I would have to disagree considering he threw a costly interception and should have thrown at least one, probably two, more.

With Tim Tebow's success carrying the ball, the Gators once again proved that there may not be an offense as talented as UF's. Talent doesn't always translate into points, but it does translate into controlling the clock and momentum. I think the Gators used short, over-the-middle routes to perfection today. Few teams in the country can turn short yardage into big yardage the way Florida can. UF has the capability to play with anyone and beat anyone.

But will they have that opportunity?

You can look at almost every Gators game and find areas that need improvement. It doesn't matter. The Gators keep winning. Usually they intercept key passes. Today, they blocked three kicks. That makes five blocked kicks (two of them are punts) in the last two weeks.

UF's pass rush wasn't great today. The coverage was pitiful against Sidney Rice and Kenny McKinley. That doesn't matter. UF won.

However, in the eyes of the coaches and the Harris Poll voters, this may not have been enough.

The old expression is: "A win is a win."

That's no longer true now in the days of the BCS.

Urban Meyer knows the BCS window opened with Rutgers beating Louisville.

"It's time to start talking about that," he said.

UF needed to make a statement today. We'll find out tomorrow if they made the right one.

A win isn't always a win.