WHEW! I'M WORN OUT
What a day of down-to-the-wire cliffhangers, one after another. The game that looked to be the best matchup, 'Bama-Florida in the SEC title game, turned out to be the most lopsided game of any importance today. Here are some of my thoughts after this very wild day of college football;
1. Colt McCoy & the Texas Longhorns are the luckiest team of the day. They got 2 huge breaks in the last minute of the game, Nebraska kicked off out of bounds to put the ball at the 40-yardline. After a 19-yard completion, Nebraska was flagged for a horse collar violation for another 15 yards. Both calls were correct by the way. Then McCoy & company proceeded to burn the remaining clock in the most bizarre fashion I've ever seen. They were so lucky the replay official bailed them out, allowing their kicker a shot with 1-second put back on the clock, so he could kick the game-winning 46-yarder. Nebraska has the lamest offense on a winning team in college football, 5 first downs & 106 total yards, pathetic. But in the end, they almost pulled it off, their defensive game plan was brilliant. Not that Nick Saban needs it, but the Cornhuskers gave 'Bama a good blueprint on how to stop Texas in their tracks. I'm sure the rest of the Big-12 is glad DT Ndamakong Suh has played his final conference game, 12 tackles & 4.5 sacks, the guy is the most dominant defensive tackle I've seen in a decade.
2. The Florida Gators were the most disappointing, losing 32-13 to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The game wasn't as close as the score would indicate. From the 1st play from scrimmage, the Crimson Tide rolled. RB Mark Ingram got back into the Heisman mix with 113 yards rushing, 76 receiving & 3 touchdowns. QB Greg McElroy was also up to the task at hand. Their defense kept Tim Tebow bottled up all afternoon, the Gators were never a threat after halftime. I make Alabama a 7 1/2 point favorite in the BCS Championship game.
3. My BCS Bowl predictions are as follows:
Rose Bowl----Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl----TCU vs. Florida
Fiesta Bowl----Iowa vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl----Cincinnati vs. Georgia Tech
BCS Championship----Texas vs. Alabama
Now, if we had a playoff, it would've looked like this:
#1 Alabama vs. #8 Ohio State (winner plays Cincy-Florida winner)
#2 Texas vs. #7 Oregon (winner plays TCU-Boise winner)
#3 TCU vs. #6 Boise State
#4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Florida
I like the 2nd version better, how about you?
4. Georgia Tech prevailed over Clemson, led by C.J. Spiller, 39-34 in another thriller, scoring the winning touchdown with 1:20 left & then held off the Tigers. The Yellowjackets beat Clemson for the 2nd time this season. Spiller scored 4 touchdowns & ran for 233 yards. Tech countered with QB Josh Nesbitt's 103 yards, RB Jonathan Dwyer's 110 yards & 3 combined touchdowns. The 2 teams combined for 656 yards rushing & it wasn't the old "3 yards & a cloud of dust" either, lots of long runs.
5. The biggest comeback of the day came in the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game with the Bearcats remaining undefeated, besting Pitt, 45-44. Sadly, it could've have been an overtime game, but on the point after try by Pitt, the snap was fumbled & the try failed, with 33-seconds remaining Cincy scored the tying touchdown. They didn't miss the PAT & won the Big-East Championship & a BCS automatic bowl bid. Cincy was down 31-10 near halftime when Mardy Gilyard returned a kickoff 99-yards for a score. Gilyard also caught a touchdown & a 2-point conversion to tie the game with less than 6-minutes left. Freshman RB Dion Lewis carried an amazing 47 times for 194 yards & 3 scores. This game didn't feature much defense, but considering it was played in a blowing snowstorm, the offense was pretty amazing.
6. The Conference USA title game was won by East Carolina, 38-32. Houston gave one of their poorest efforts of the year, 2 missed extra points & 4 turnovers crippled the Cougars. Houston QB Case Keenum became only the 2nd passer in NCAA history with over 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. He was 56 of 75 for 527 yards & 5 touchdowns. He finished with 5,449 yards, 43 touchdown passes & only 9 interceptions. Keenum, only a junior, may come back depending on coach Kevin Sumlin's future in Houston, he's been rumored to be linked to several job openings.
7. USC finished a disappointing season losing at home to an inspired Arizona Wildcat team, 21-17. This is the 1st time in Pete Carroll's reign the Trojans lost twice at home. They finished 6th in the PAC-10. See, all that bad karma crap I spouted during the off-season appears to be right, other than beating Ohio State(another bogus team) in week 2, how did they impress voters at all?
8. I think Tim Tebow & Colt McCoy played themselves out of any Heisman contention. If I were voting tonight, it would be 1. Mark Ingram-Alabama 2. Ndamakong Suh-Nebraska 3. Toby Gerhart-Stanford. No quarterbacks, the ones who were contenders, all had less than Heisman-like performances today.
1. Colt McCoy & the Texas Longhorns are the luckiest team of the day. They got 2 huge breaks in the last minute of the game, Nebraska kicked off out of bounds to put the ball at the 40-yardline. After a 19-yard completion, Nebraska was flagged for a horse collar violation for another 15 yards. Both calls were correct by the way. Then McCoy & company proceeded to burn the remaining clock in the most bizarre fashion I've ever seen. They were so lucky the replay official bailed them out, allowing their kicker a shot with 1-second put back on the clock, so he could kick the game-winning 46-yarder. Nebraska has the lamest offense on a winning team in college football, 5 first downs & 106 total yards, pathetic. But in the end, they almost pulled it off, their defensive game plan was brilliant. Not that Nick Saban needs it, but the Cornhuskers gave 'Bama a good blueprint on how to stop Texas in their tracks. I'm sure the rest of the Big-12 is glad DT Ndamakong Suh has played his final conference game, 12 tackles & 4.5 sacks, the guy is the most dominant defensive tackle I've seen in a decade.
2. The Florida Gators were the most disappointing, losing 32-13 to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The game wasn't as close as the score would indicate. From the 1st play from scrimmage, the Crimson Tide rolled. RB Mark Ingram got back into the Heisman mix with 113 yards rushing, 76 receiving & 3 touchdowns. QB Greg McElroy was also up to the task at hand. Their defense kept Tim Tebow bottled up all afternoon, the Gators were never a threat after halftime. I make Alabama a 7 1/2 point favorite in the BCS Championship game.
3. My BCS Bowl predictions are as follows:
Rose Bowl----Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl----TCU vs. Florida
Fiesta Bowl----Iowa vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl----Cincinnati vs. Georgia Tech
BCS Championship----Texas vs. Alabama
Now, if we had a playoff, it would've looked like this:
#1 Alabama vs. #8 Ohio State (winner plays Cincy-Florida winner)
#2 Texas vs. #7 Oregon (winner plays TCU-Boise winner)
#3 TCU vs. #6 Boise State
#4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Florida
I like the 2nd version better, how about you?
4. Georgia Tech prevailed over Clemson, led by C.J. Spiller, 39-34 in another thriller, scoring the winning touchdown with 1:20 left & then held off the Tigers. The Yellowjackets beat Clemson for the 2nd time this season. Spiller scored 4 touchdowns & ran for 233 yards. Tech countered with QB Josh Nesbitt's 103 yards, RB Jonathan Dwyer's 110 yards & 3 combined touchdowns. The 2 teams combined for 656 yards rushing & it wasn't the old "3 yards & a cloud of dust" either, lots of long runs.
5. The biggest comeback of the day came in the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game with the Bearcats remaining undefeated, besting Pitt, 45-44. Sadly, it could've have been an overtime game, but on the point after try by Pitt, the snap was fumbled & the try failed, with 33-seconds remaining Cincy scored the tying touchdown. They didn't miss the PAT & won the Big-East Championship & a BCS automatic bowl bid. Cincy was down 31-10 near halftime when Mardy Gilyard returned a kickoff 99-yards for a score. Gilyard also caught a touchdown & a 2-point conversion to tie the game with less than 6-minutes left. Freshman RB Dion Lewis carried an amazing 47 times for 194 yards & 3 scores. This game didn't feature much defense, but considering it was played in a blowing snowstorm, the offense was pretty amazing.
6. The Conference USA title game was won by East Carolina, 38-32. Houston gave one of their poorest efforts of the year, 2 missed extra points & 4 turnovers crippled the Cougars. Houston QB Case Keenum became only the 2nd passer in NCAA history with over 5,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. He was 56 of 75 for 527 yards & 5 touchdowns. He finished with 5,449 yards, 43 touchdown passes & only 9 interceptions. Keenum, only a junior, may come back depending on coach Kevin Sumlin's future in Houston, he's been rumored to be linked to several job openings.
7. USC finished a disappointing season losing at home to an inspired Arizona Wildcat team, 21-17. This is the 1st time in Pete Carroll's reign the Trojans lost twice at home. They finished 6th in the PAC-10. See, all that bad karma crap I spouted during the off-season appears to be right, other than beating Ohio State(another bogus team) in week 2, how did they impress voters at all?
8. I think Tim Tebow & Colt McCoy played themselves out of any Heisman contention. If I were voting tonight, it would be 1. Mark Ingram-Alabama 2. Ndamakong Suh-Nebraska 3. Toby Gerhart-Stanford. No quarterbacks, the ones who were contenders, all had less than Heisman-like performances today.
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