Saturday, November 9, 2013

Bama, FSU, and everyone else

Well thanks to the kind folks at Rent-A-Center and a generous $600 overdraft limit the household has been blessed with a 47 inch LG bundle of LED joy. And you know what that means?!?!? College football blogging is back!!! And just in time for the craziness!!!! Let's start with a break-down of the Alabama/LSU game!!!

I said this about Alabama on August 7th:
"1. Alabama - I have nothing to add here. They are number one till someone proves otherwise"

I said this about Alabama on September 15th:
"On their second drive of the 2nd half Alabama went 83 yards for a score with 58 of those on the ground. Alabama finished with over 230 yards and became another opponent to run the ball for over 200 yards. Alabama only had 83 yards rushing at the half. This running created 35 minutes of possession for the Tide on 66 plays. Alabama controlled this game, although it did not seem like it on the surface. The offensive play-calling was great, and Alabama took what they wanted, when they wanted it."

I said this about Alabama on October 6th:
"Alabama put up 181 yards rushing, allowed .7 yards a rush, and McCarron completed 15 of 16 passes for 4 touchdowns. Just when we thought the Tide had rolled out...."

I said this about LSU on September 29th:
"The BAD for LSU:
1. The defensive line. I don't think they played without passion, they just got man-handled by the offensive line. I counted a total of 5 times the entire game that LSU got any type of pressure. FIVE out of a whole game. And 4 of those 5 times resulted in incomplete passes. The better unit prevailed today.
2. The LSU defensive backfield. How many times can you fall asleep on your assignments? Do these kids understand when to play zone and when to play man coverage? 
3. LSU run defense. In watching the LSU defense try to plug up the running holes I was reminded of quote from Sheriff Buford T. Justice from Smokey and the Bandit when cops were trying to close a road block around the Bandit. Justice said, "You sum'bitches couldn't close an umbrella." Yeah, it was that bad. I could have ran through those holes. "


And those LSU thoughts were from the LSU/Georgia game. Some things never change.

Well this year's edition of LSU/Alabama had intrigue till mid-way through the 3rd quarter this year. And anyone (myself included) who ever thought that LSU had a chance of being an upper-echelon team this year ate a heaping helping of good old fashioned crow.

The first half was great football. Both teams were playing hard, both teams were making plays and on the surface it seemed this game was a toss up. But I was never confident that LSU was going to hang with Bama the whole game. McCarron missed 2 wide open receivers in the first half, not because of anything LSU did, just because McCarron overthrew. LSU committed 2 turnovers, and were lucky that the game was as close as it was in the first half. The second turnover by LSU when the ball got snapped when Mettenberger was trying to change a play was flat out silly. LSU has played in big games before right? I sure wish they would act like it sometimes. But the real difference in the game was the play on the line of scrimmage. LSU kept it close in the first half, but I don't know how. The Alabama offensive line was making holes the size of Mack Brown's Texas in the LSU d-line, and I counted at least 6 times the Bama defensive blew up a running play by being in the backfield or put pressure on Mettenberger. The difference in the first and second halves is that Mettenberger was able to complete the passes under pressure in the first half. I want to give props to Alabama S Collins, he was ALL OVER the field; shedding blockers, making one on one tackles, and breaking up passes.

At half it was 17-14 and the only question was: Which coaching staff was going to make the adjustments?

LSU scored 3 points in the second half, does that answer that question?
Alabama scored 21 more points....question answered again!!!

Now let me be clear, I don't think the LSU defense necessarily got out-coached, they got out physicalled. Un-typically....or maybe it is typically by this point and time of the season. Yeldon ran wild through the LSU defense line in the second half and so did Drake. The seal blocks around the edge were fantastic, LSU defenders were missing tackles and Alabama dominated the second half. I even wrote in my notes that if LSU did not score after it was 24-17 that the game was over. The momentum was going out with the Tide...or Rolling with the Tide however you want to think about it. It looked a lot like what I wrote about back on September 15th when the Tide beat the Aggies.

There is one thing the LSU coaches should be embarassed about, and that was the fake punt by Alabama. It was 4th and 2, Alabama calls a time-out instead of taking the five yard penalty....Why would they do that? Hmmm...it's obviously a punt and an extra 5 yards for the kicker wouldn't be a bad thing.....Then the Goon that CBS hires to commentate these games even calls out.."I bet it's gonna be a fake...." AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!?! IT WAS A FAKE!!!! For Christ-sakes Les Miles, you are the master of fakes and trickery and you don't see this coming?!?!?! What the hell man??!?! I also want to say, that while I don't think Chavis called a bad defensive game for LSU... why does LSU not blitz...oh I don't know...EVERY SINGLE DOWN?!?!? The defense sucks on a 4-man rush!!! PERIOD! Can't help you with the run defense though, those players have just got to want it and they don't. But we saw an Alabama team that DOES want it. They looked awesome and they put this game away and proved that they ARE still the number 1 team in the country, and will be until someone proves other-wise....Florida State we are looking at you....

Need more proof of the Bama dominance? 
First half yards: LSU - 232
                        Bama - 193
End of game yards: LSU - 284 (only 52 yards in the second half)
                              Bama - 372
Bama rushing yards: 193
LSU season average: 148.4

LSU rushing yards: 43
Bama defensive average: 101.9

LSU Time of possession: 26:09
Bama Time of possession: 33:51

And WHY for the love of God is Mettenberger still in the game at the end?? He got hit HARD like 3 out of 5 plays, I don't know because I stopped tracking plays at that time. But I do remember seeing him drag himself off the field. Where does LSU go if they lose him? Makes no sense to me at all.

I also want to mention LSU S Loston who actually made 2 really good plays in this game. (If you remember this is the guy I credited with almost single-handedly blowing the Georgia game) So anyways I made good notes about him for blitzing and blowing up running plays and he was solid in the pass game, and then he rewards me with a late hit that SHOULD have got him thrown out of the game for targeting a defenseless player. Ridiculous. He kind of encompasses the entire LSU season this year, flashes of brilliance laced with stupidity and bad play.

Roll Tide. 'Nuff said.

So it's been a couple weeks since I have been on here and I am NOT going to try to re-cap everything that has happened. I am going to look forward and give a break-down of what I feel are the teams to watch in the BCS picture going forward. I will also try to predict the Top 5 of the BCS. Then I will give my personal Top 4 (ie; who the play-off teams would be) and my reasons.

Teams to watch in the BCS:

Teams at the top:
Alabama - it's theirs to lose isn't it??

Florida State - it's theirs to lose to Alabama right??

Stanford - THAT was the Stanford team I have been looking for all year! And once again, it is proven that a fantastic defense will stop any offense. Football is a physical sport and if you can't play in the trenches you can't win.

Oregon - They are not out of it yet

Baylor - They have an offense AND a defense. Only the strength of schedule worries me. I have neglected Baylor all year and I intend to make up for that by Wednesday.

Auburn - They have the kind of running quarterback that Alabama hates. And I want someone to look me in the eye and tell me that ANY 1 loss SEC Champion does not belong in the BCS Championship game.

Mid level teams:

Missouri - And I want someone to look me in the eye and tell me that ANY 1 loss SEC Champion does not belong in the BCS Championship game. Unless that team is from the SEC east....and has played the type of schedule Missouri has....and we are assuming Missouri can beat Alabama or Auburn....

Teams that need some help:

Ohio State - GET'EM outta here!!! Put them in a bowl against UCF and everyone will realize what I have been saying all along. The AAC is tough....and Ohio State is OVER-RATED

Clemson - I had this to say about FLORIDA STATE on August 7th:
"Florida State is another team in transition, albeit a very talented team in transition. The defense is an absolute monster with 19.6 pts allowed in 2010, 15.1 pts allowed in 2011, and only 14.7 pts allowed in 2012. They are also bringing in great classes, #1 in 2011, #2 in 2012, and #9 in 2013. BUT, the defense has lost defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, and the defensive line is completely new, but not completely in-experienced. The entire staff has gone through an over-haul and even a new offensive coordinator has been brought in. The bright spot is a freshman qb named Winston who is looking to be the Florida version of Johnny Manziel, minus the sharpie. The schedule is favorable with only a road game to Clemson, a road game to Florida, and a season opener at Pitt to be wary of. But, as we all know, Florida State has a talent for sleeping on sub-par opponents (see NC State last year) and giving it all away. So what does all this mean for the Seminoles? I have no idea, but we should know soon enough."

Too bad for Clemson we are finding out that the Seminoles seem for real. I mean Winston brought them back against BC and then he and the Noles went INTO Death Valley and dominated. So unless FSU slips, Clemson is out.

My bold prediction is: The National Champion comes out of these 9 teams listed above. Bold, I know, you can hold your applause....

So how is the BCS going to look tomorrow?

1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Stanford
4. Baylor
5. Oregon

Here are what my 4 playoff teams would be: (a bigger breakdown will come next week)

1. Alabama
    Reasons: Eye test, record, assumed conference champ, strength of schedule
2. Florida State
     Reasons: Eye test, assumed conference champ, record
3. Stanford
     Reasons: Assumed conference champ, record, strength of schedule
4. Baylor
     Reasons: Eye test, assumed conference champ, record
Oregon gets in if the B12 conference continues to suck (Texas Tech - I am looking at you folding up like a lawn chair) and Oregon wins out

So the last time I was here I made some predictions and I ended up going 6 and 7 for that week which makes my season average of picking games: 34-18 for 65% 

For the rest of the year I am hoping the blog will go something like this:

Wednesdays: Games to Watch and Predictions
Sundays: Break down of the game of the week and other BCS notables as well as BCS predictions
Mondays: Opinion of the most recent BCS from Sunday night, the teams I think should be top ranked and a closer look at anything of note from the weekend ie: specific teams, conferences, etc...etc....

It's great to be back!!! I hope everyone that was reading this is back as well!!! It's going to be a wild ride from here to the bowls!!!

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And as always, please feel free to leave any comments below! If you are having trouble leaving a comment look me up on Facebook or email me at collegefootballfanweekly@gmail.com

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