We have some house cleaning to do before we get to what happened yesterday.
It has been a long time since I was as mad about a football game as I was at the end of the Auburn/Georgia game two weeks ago. It was not that Georgia lost. It was how Auburn won.
Cam Newton is as good as any college football player I have seen. (That includes Tim Tebow).
However, the way that Nick Fairley played in that game was disgraceful. The fact that the refs let it happen was disgraceful. The sight of seeing Mark Richt yelling at the refs because of their lack of control of the game was laudable, and the way the Georgia players went after Fairley after the hit on Aaron Murray was to be expected.
Auburn has a good team, but with all of the rumors around Newton, and with the thug-like way they finished the Georgia game, I’m not sure they have the character of a champion.
I was lucky enough to be at the game last night, and besides the stands not being full, it was everything a rivalry should be. Neither team has had a memorable season; however, pride was on the line between the hedges. Georgia did not play well on defense and their tackling didn’t look any better than it did last season under Martinez. However, I think all Georgia fans have learned the value of a victory this season, and getting the win was all we could hope for last night.
Justin Houston and AJ Green showed out in what will most likely be their last game in Sanford Stadium, while the maturation of Aaron Murray continued to be evident. Tech made some good plays, and Paul Johnson has to be one of the most aggressive coaches in college football. It is easy to love a coach that will go for it on fourth down and try to win the game rather than to not lose the game.
There were some iffy calls, especially the ball spotting on the fourth and short play in the second quarter, however, as coach Richt said after the game, you can’t leave it close enough to depend on the spot. If Georgia could have converted the fourth and short, and not had two fumbles in the red zone, we would have put the game away in the third quarter, and I would not still be cold today. However, this team does not do things the easy way, and you have to credit Tech for battling back from down two touchdowns in the second half.
The decision to run the ball at the end of the game rather than take a knee was curious. Had Tech managed to score and convert the two-point conversion, Georgia coaches would be getting killed today. As it was, the Dawgs escaped with the victory and advanced to their 14th consecutive bowl game.
Not sure where the Dawgs will play, but making the bowl is important for the fact that Murray needs the chance to continue to practice with receivers other than Green since he will be playing on Sundays next year.
With one week to go in the season, here are my predictions for the BCS bowls, and other games of interest.
Florida will play in the Gator Bowl and Tennessee will play in the Music City Bowl because those venues will sell out easily with defacto home teams playing in them. By that rule, Georgia should be playing in the CFA Bowl, but I think it will most likely be the Liberty Bowl against Central Florida.
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin v. TCU
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech v. Stanford
Sugar Bowl: Arkansas v. Ohio State
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska v. UCONN
BCS Championship: Auburn v. Oregon
Coming Wednesday: A retrospective on the Bulldogs 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tomorrow We're Going to Party Like its 2006
Okay Georgia fans, here is the history lesson for the weekend.
In 2006, the Georgia Bulldogs, led by a freshman quarterback, traveled down to the Plains to take on Auburn.
Georgia had just lost a game at Kentucky, and faced the possibility of not making a bowl game.
Auburn was ranked #5 in the BCS, and had intentions on making a run at the national title.
The Dawgs crushed the Tiger’s hearts in 2006, and I would not be surprised if history repeats itself tomorrow.
Georgia has not had an historic season in 2010, but they are a good team that has not played up to their potential. However, the Georgia offense has been clicking on all cylinders recently, and has the ability to keep up with the high-powered offense Auburn will feature.
Georgia’s defense is not great, but it will not have to be to win the game on Saturday. If Auburn punts three times, Georgia will win the game. This game is going to be high scoring and very entertaining.
For Auburn, everything has broken just right for the Tigers, on the field at least. Auburn has won an overtime game against Clemson. Auburn won a fourth quarter battle with South Carolina, and won an amazing game against Arkansas.
Auburn can clinch their spot in Atlanta by beating the Dawgs on Saturday.
Of course, there is one small problem. Cam Newton is a question mark. At 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon, Auburn’s AD said the school “were not commenting on Cam Newton’s status” for the game against Georgia.
It never crossed my mind this week that Newton would not play, but that seems to be a strange quote.
The Newton situation could bring the Tigers together, or it could be a distraction that brings their focus away from the Dawgs.
I won’t predict that Georgia will win, because that hasn’t worked out very well. But I think history has a tendency to repeat itself.
In 2006, the Georgia Bulldogs, led by a freshman quarterback, traveled down to the Plains to take on Auburn.
Georgia had just lost a game at Kentucky, and faced the possibility of not making a bowl game.
Auburn was ranked #5 in the BCS, and had intentions on making a run at the national title.
The Dawgs crushed the Tiger’s hearts in 2006, and I would not be surprised if history repeats itself tomorrow.
Georgia has not had an historic season in 2010, but they are a good team that has not played up to their potential. However, the Georgia offense has been clicking on all cylinders recently, and has the ability to keep up with the high-powered offense Auburn will feature.
Georgia’s defense is not great, but it will not have to be to win the game on Saturday. If Auburn punts three times, Georgia will win the game. This game is going to be high scoring and very entertaining.
For Auburn, everything has broken just right for the Tigers, on the field at least. Auburn has won an overtime game against Clemson. Auburn won a fourth quarter battle with South Carolina, and won an amazing game against Arkansas.
Auburn can clinch their spot in Atlanta by beating the Dawgs on Saturday.
Of course, there is one small problem. Cam Newton is a question mark. At 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon, Auburn’s AD said the school “were not commenting on Cam Newton’s status” for the game against Georgia.
It never crossed my mind this week that Newton would not play, but that seems to be a strange quote.
The Newton situation could bring the Tigers together, or it could be a distraction that brings their focus away from the Dawgs.
I won’t predict that Georgia will win, because that hasn’t worked out very well. But I think history has a tendency to repeat itself.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
SEC Picture and Predictions
Alabama’s loss to LSU yesterday means that the path to Atlanta and the SEC title game is wide open. Five different teams could still end up playing for the title in the Georgia Dome.
Here are the scenarios:
Simplest Route: Three teams control their destiny.
For South Carolina and Steve Spurrier, it is simple: beat Florida and make history. South Carolina is one of four SEC schools to have never played in the SEC championship game, which started in 1992. One win against the Gators would clinch South Carolina’s spot, and justify Spurrier going to Columbia in the first place. The loss on Saturday to Arkansas means nothing for South Carolina who would have had to beat Florida to make it to Atlanta either way. (FYI Dawg fans, had Georgia beaten Florida, Georgia would be a South Carolina loss to Florida away from playing in Atlanta, even if they lose to Auburn…)
Florida’s route is just as simple. Beat South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday, and you go back to Atlanta for the 3rd straight year.
Auburn is the other team that controls their destiny. All Auburn has to do is beat either Georgia or Alabama and they will play in Atlanta.
A little more complicated:
LSU’s route to Atlanta is more difficult. First, they need to win out, which means beating Ole Miss and Arkansas to finish their season. Secondly, LSU needs Auburn to lose their final two games, which would mean losing to Georgia and Alabama. In this scenario, LSU would finish with one conference loss while Auburn and Alabama would finish with two conference losses.
So you are saying there is a chance:
Alabama needs as much luck as you can have over the next three weeks to find themselves in another SEC title game. Like Arkansas, Bama first has to win out, which would include beating Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Secondly, Bama needs Auburn to lose to Georgia this weekend. Lastly, Alabama would then need LSU to lose to Arkansas or Ole Miss, giving the Tigers two losses. In this scenario, all three teams would have two losses, and all three would have beaten each other, but no team would have loss to both teams. Confused? Look at it this way:
Auburn would have beaten LSU.
LSU would have beaten Alabama.
Alabama would have beaten Auburn.
AND all three would have one more loss.
Since there would be a three-way tie, with no team losing to both of the other teams in the three way tie, we would go to the second tie breaker, which is record within the Western Division of the SEC. Auburn would be 4-1, Alabama would be 4-1, while LSU would be 3-2. This would eliminate LSU, and then the tiebreaker would be head to head between Alabama and Auburn, which Alabama would win by way of their supposed victory in the Iron Bowl.
Not exactly the most likely scenario, but still possible for Tide fans.
Here is what is going to happen.
Auburn will win one of its last two games and return to the SEC title game for the first time since 2004, when the Tigers went undefeated but got left out of the National Title game.
Florida will rise from the dead and crush the hearts of Gamecock fans by beating South Carolina this weekend and punching their ticket for Atlanta again. I am not rooting for the Gators, but history tells us that South Carolina cannot win in November, when it counts. There has not been a game that has counted more for South Carolina in the past twenty years, and I am almost sure they will wet their pants.
Too bad for South Carolina. Even though Lattimore is just a freshman and Garcia is only a junior, they will never get this close to an SEC title game again. Florida will be much better next year when their young players are a year older. Tennessee will improve under Derek Dooley. Kentucky (who beat South Carolina this year) will continue to be good. And the Dawgs are a heck of a lot better than their record and they will be an real contender next year.
I am rooting for South Carolina this weekend, because every school should get a chance to be in the spotlight, and this is the last spotlight the Chickens will see for a very long time.
Here are the scenarios:
Simplest Route: Three teams control their destiny.
For South Carolina and Steve Spurrier, it is simple: beat Florida and make history. South Carolina is one of four SEC schools to have never played in the SEC championship game, which started in 1992. One win against the Gators would clinch South Carolina’s spot, and justify Spurrier going to Columbia in the first place. The loss on Saturday to Arkansas means nothing for South Carolina who would have had to beat Florida to make it to Atlanta either way. (FYI Dawg fans, had Georgia beaten Florida, Georgia would be a South Carolina loss to Florida away from playing in Atlanta, even if they lose to Auburn…)
Florida’s route is just as simple. Beat South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday, and you go back to Atlanta for the 3rd straight year.
Auburn is the other team that controls their destiny. All Auburn has to do is beat either Georgia or Alabama and they will play in Atlanta.
A little more complicated:
LSU’s route to Atlanta is more difficult. First, they need to win out, which means beating Ole Miss and Arkansas to finish their season. Secondly, LSU needs Auburn to lose their final two games, which would mean losing to Georgia and Alabama. In this scenario, LSU would finish with one conference loss while Auburn and Alabama would finish with two conference losses.
So you are saying there is a chance:
Alabama needs as much luck as you can have over the next three weeks to find themselves in another SEC title game. Like Arkansas, Bama first has to win out, which would include beating Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Secondly, Bama needs Auburn to lose to Georgia this weekend. Lastly, Alabama would then need LSU to lose to Arkansas or Ole Miss, giving the Tigers two losses. In this scenario, all three teams would have two losses, and all three would have beaten each other, but no team would have loss to both teams. Confused? Look at it this way:
Auburn would have beaten LSU.
LSU would have beaten Alabama.
Alabama would have beaten Auburn.
AND all three would have one more loss.
Since there would be a three-way tie, with no team losing to both of the other teams in the three way tie, we would go to the second tie breaker, which is record within the Western Division of the SEC. Auburn would be 4-1, Alabama would be 4-1, while LSU would be 3-2. This would eliminate LSU, and then the tiebreaker would be head to head between Alabama and Auburn, which Alabama would win by way of their supposed victory in the Iron Bowl.
Not exactly the most likely scenario, but still possible for Tide fans.
Here is what is going to happen.
Auburn will win one of its last two games and return to the SEC title game for the first time since 2004, when the Tigers went undefeated but got left out of the National Title game.
Florida will rise from the dead and crush the hearts of Gamecock fans by beating South Carolina this weekend and punching their ticket for Atlanta again. I am not rooting for the Gators, but history tells us that South Carolina cannot win in November, when it counts. There has not been a game that has counted more for South Carolina in the past twenty years, and I am almost sure they will wet their pants.
Too bad for South Carolina. Even though Lattimore is just a freshman and Garcia is only a junior, they will never get this close to an SEC title game again. Florida will be much better next year when their young players are a year older. Tennessee will improve under Derek Dooley. Kentucky (who beat South Carolina this year) will continue to be good. And the Dawgs are a heck of a lot better than their record and they will be an real contender next year.
I am rooting for South Carolina this weekend, because every school should get a chance to be in the spotlight, and this is the last spotlight the Chickens will see for a very long time.
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