TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Bowl Championship Series should have seen it coming. Any national championship game featuring a third-string quarterback, 21 penalties and Al Gore was going to be ugly.

We're talking Minnie Pearl-ugly, though, for what was billed as the "first unified national championship game." What fireworks and aggressive Secret Service agents couldn't provide in excitement, Tennessee did Monday in beating Florida State 23-16 in the winner-take-all Fiesta Bowl.

The Vol Nation rose up in the desert to claim its first national championship since 1951, while back home in Knoxville, "they're probably tearing the town up right now," according to Tennessee tailback Travis Henry.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden lost for the first time in five tries at Sun Devil Stadium and provided an unerring summation.

"We were a very, very rusty football team," Bowden said after enduring 12 penalties and three turnovers from his usually efficient Seminoles. "But they were, too."

THE NO. 2 SEMINOLES (11-2) HADN'T PLAYED in 44 days since ending the regular season with a victory over Florida. The top-ranked Vols (13-0) hadn't suited up for a month since winning the SEC Championship Game.

But that's what you got when the BCS wanted to move the Fiesta Bowl off its usual New Year's Day slot to Monday to give it its own television slot. Meanwhile, sharp players dulled in the desert.

"Both of us laid off too long," Bowden said.

Even Tennessee couldn't win it like a champion. With 1 minute, 29 seconds left, Henry fumbled the ball away at the Florida State 11. Hordes of Seminole fans heading for the exits, changed directions and headed back toward their seats amazed at their fortune.

But Florida State put to rest any miracle with a fitting climax -- or shall we say nosedive. Marcus Outzen, the third-string quarterback, promptly threw an interception. Still, with less than a minute to go, Florida State had stopped Tennessee a yard short on third down, but a Seminole reached out and grabbed tailback Travis Stephens' facemask.

The personal foul sent the Seminole fans to the exits with finality.

Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer comes out on top. (AP)

"I feel like we lost this game more than they won it," Florida State offensive guard Jason Whitaker said. "It slipped through our fingers. I'd rather have somebody beat us bad."

Tennessee basically made three plays the whole night. Offensive MVP Peerless Price caught a 76-yard pass to set up the Vols' first touchdown, then toasted the FSU secondary for a 79-yard score in the fourth quarter. Throw in cornerback Dwayne Goodrich's 54-yard interception return for a touchdown and that was basically it.

THE PLAYS ALLOWED TENNESSEE'S DEFENSE to focus on Outzen, who gamely tried to hang in but just didn't have the physical tools to play for a national championship. Outzen, a sophomore making his third career start, finished only 9-of-22 for 145 yards. Only one of those passes went to receiver Peter Warrick for a paltry seven yards.

"Who showed up?" Price said, half aiming his comments at Warrick. "Who showed up? They talked and talked, but who showed up?"

Outzen had his problems, but so did the rest of the Seminoles. A majority of FSU's 12 penalties for 110 yards came on false starts. Most of those were caused by a cache of Tennessee fans hunkered down in the north end zone.

When FSU did threaten, Tennessee fans drowned Outzen out half the time.

"We couldn't hear," Outzen said. "My center couldn't hear me. It felt like four steps forward and a leap back. I remember it being second and 42 at one point."

Tennessee was far from perfect, committing four turnovers and nine penalties. But if those mistakes canceled out Florida State's, then Price canceled out the Seminoles. The latest in a long line of great Tennessee receivers caught four balls for 199 yards. His two receptions were the two longest pass plays of the season for the Vols.

"Coming into the game we had a chip on our shoulder," said quarterback Tee Martin. "We were two-time SEC champions and still didn't get respect. I don't think it was sloppy play. That's what you get when you have great players, and we have great players."

IN THE END, IT WAS ALL ABOUT SPIN. The Fiesta came up with the curious "unified" tag only after the upsets of Dec. 5 made it so. The coaches poll automatically awarded its final No. 1 ranking to Tennessee. The Associated Press media poll made it official early Tuesday morning.

Gore might have used the game to unofficially kick off his presidential candidacy. He caused almost as much of a stir as the Vols. His Secret Service agents virtually took over Sun Devil Stadium before the game, scouring the premises for contraband. After his team won, Gore and his henchmen elbowed their way into the interview room, where Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer took a call from Bill Clinton in what amounted to a photo opportunity for the vice president.

In the end, the most admirable person on the field was Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis. Missing as many as three starters in the second half because of injury, Chavis did what he always does -- mixed blitzes with press coverage and a bit of zone. Against the inexperienced Outzen, a safety was usually dropping into coverage at the snap to help on Warrick, who came into the game with 1,232 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.

"One of the finest defensive backs in the country went man-to-man and shut down one of the best receivers in the country," Chavis said of Goodrich. "It put us right where we want to be. Now we've got to go win a second one."

Somewhere, John Cooper must be kicking himself right now. By the looks of things, his multitalented Buckeyes could have walked into the Valley of the Sun and kicked either team's rear end without dirtying a jersey. A bad game in November against Michigan State relegated the Buckeyes to a No. 2 final ranking in the AP poll.

IF NOT FOR THAT MONUMENTAL UPSET, Ohio State could have made a run. But ...

"All year long we've been called a team of destiny," Fulmer said. "It wasn't always perfect, it wasn't always the prettiest, but it says a lot about our character.

"Our kids believed in themselves all year long starting with Syracuse. We said we don't have to be the best team in the country. We just have to be the best team on Saturdays, or the Mondays, that we play."

Keep that calendar open, Phil. Next year's championship game in the Sugar Bowl is on a Tuesday.

Dennis Dodd is a senior writer in SportsLine's Kansas City bureau.

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