More Sugar Please

Well well well, the biggest frauds in college football showed up again last night. Save for a few lapses late in the first and pretty much the whole second quarter I'd say LSU dominated that game...but didn't we expect that really???

The LSU secondary was really unbelievable last night - even when Quinn had time in the pocket he had nowhere to throw it to. The Tigers came to play last night and to make a point heading into next year. Although the golden boys of USC will most certainly be the favorites next year, look for LSU to be right there with them. Great game and even better adjustments at half by Les Miles and team - I was starting to get worried that Miles was going to get outcoached out of his pants by Weiss last night, but not so. The fake field goal was great - it was too bad they ended up with another, shorter field goal, but it doesn't matter much now.

If there was ever any doubt in your mind about how strong of an arm Jamarcus Russell has, those should be put to rest. He may have the strongest arm I've seen in a long time. He was great last night and he probably scored himself some points in terms of draft status.

The officials had a rough night last night, particularly in the first half. There were some pretty bad calls and one outrageous reversed call that shouldn't have been reversed (INT by LSU on the 1 yard line). That was Oregon/OU-esque there - the ball clearly never touched the ground.

I know some of you are Terry Bradshaw/Howie Long fans - I like Howie too, I think he's great in the booth, but last night was pretty bad. Fox is pretty smart from a business perspective in that they get these games and then just use their NFL guys to call the games. It was almost uncomfortable at times watching these guys try and call this game. Last night was a perfect example of the vast differences between the college and the pro game fom the perspective of the booth.

Sweet Home Alabama:
So Nick Saban pulled a "Nick Saban" yesterday and bolted back to the college ranks. You know, this wouldn't be bad except for his insistance that he was staying at Miami. I'm not dogging a guy for taking a better opportunity, but at least keep your mouth shut until you've made that decision - now he just looks like an ass. Nevertheless, he's a great coach and has proved that at the college level. It makes me wonder why good, proven college coaches would jump so quick to that next level - parity and salary cap are the two biggest things that make the NFL so much harder, especially when these coaches take jobs at the lesser teams (Arizona, Miami, Cleveland, etc.). The one thing I will say is that this made the SEC just that much better now - I imagine Saban will have this team competing within a couple of years...if he stays that long.

Happy New Year!

Well folks, THAT was a marathon of college football!!! Some great games (last night's) and some not-so-great games. How many of you are wishing we could have seen USC and OSU - I know I am. But before we can go into all of that gooey goodness we have to talk about those damn Longhorns.

I don't know what to say about that Texas team. It was certainly an exciting game, no doubt about that. But, I'm not sure that's a good thing for the Texas football team. Yes, the win was "big" in that it stopped a potential 3-game losing streak and they wouldn't have had 10 wins for the sixth straight time, but other than that it was almost meaningless – and it showed in the first half play.

Let's be honest, this team was VERY mediocre against a pretty mediocre (and statistically terrible) Iowa team. The first half was utterly atrocious - I cannot for the life of me understand why it consistently takes this team a quarter or more to get "warmed up" for a game. I heard Mac on the radio beforehand talking about how they're healthier than they've been since the third week and how they had their most physical practices for the year. Well it certainly didn't show.

Don't get me wrong, there were definitely some really good moments - obviously, as they won the game. In the second half Colt looked very good - one thing on him, it seems after every game I'm looking at his stats and thinking "when in the hell did he do all that". He's not as flashy, but he can definitely put up some numbers. Our defense decided to show up a bit in the second half as well; they played with 110% more intensity in the second half when compared with the first.

With that said, this was a 6-6 Iowa team that finished the season 1-5 after losing to Indiana (yes, Indiana).

This team definitely confirmed a lot of suspicions around their weaknesses in this game, but they also showed a lot of strengths as well. Next year will be very interesting - here are some of my observations/thoughts going into spring ball and next year:
- With exception to the front line the defense is really bad in all respects. The pass defense is simply offensive, especially considering we have the Thorpe Award winner back there – and by the way, whoever made the final decision/vote to give this award to Ross obviously never watched him play pass defense beyond 5 yards, he’s terrible in pass coverage 10 yards and beyond. How in the world did Cordell (number 80) get around him AND Griffin and outrun them?

- I have officially thrown in the towel on Jamal Charles as the next big back – this guy cannot be the future of this running game. Don’t get me wrong, he’s very talented, but if I have to watch him dance to the sideline for a pickup of dick, I’m going to puke. I can see this guy in more of a Romance Taylor-type of role – that TD pass to him is a perfect example of how to use him in special situations. Did you see him just blow right by that corner? Nuts. I know there’s a few stud power running backs in the wings, but we need to get them in and acclimated early – which is the exact opposite of what Brown typically does, but he’s got to do something. We can’t even consistently pick up 2 yards running the ball when we need to. This was all proven in the second half when Texas simply refused to run the ball - they knew they couldn't.

- Offensive Game Plan – I know we’ve hit on this before many times, but after this game, it deserves more ranting – memo to Greg Davis: if you continue to run the zone read you are simply stupid. We’ve all had our doubts from day one about Davis’ coaching abilities, but last night might have been the nail in the coffin. The play calling was utterly ridiculous. Go back and look at each time they ran the zone read and handed off to Charles (because no one in the world is worried about Colt keeping the ball – he’s horrified to), I guarantee you that the total yards they got from those combined plays was in the negatives. It was so painful to watch. Good coaches create schemes and game plans that suite their talent level – we are not even close to doing that. And my gosh we are predictable...STILL! We didn’t even try and establish a running game in the second half because we knew we couldn’t. I think Greg Davis has a lot of work to do during the off season – I just don’t know if he’ll do it. I predict we’ll see the same set of 30 plays next year that we’ve seen all year. CAVEAT: The one thing I will say that was bittersweet was the reverse/end around to pick up that crucial first down late in the fourth. Ballsy call and I liked seeing that, but the bitter part is that it was probably one of only 2 or 3 plays where we felt we could get it. In other words, we HAD to run that play to pick up the first.

- I remember observing this a few years ago – is it me or does it seem like we’re running at about half the speed of a lot of other teams? This was especially apparent to me during the first half of the game. It’s like they could have given a shit what happened – I know that’s not the case, but that’s what their body language was saying to me. Look at the defensive intensity between the first and the second half – why can’t we play an entire game like that?

- Killer Instinct – This team has none. I know it makes for exciting television, but why isn’t this team going in and blowing teams out? Yes, I know we did against Rice and Sam Houston state, etc. I’m talking about the average competition we play. Sure we’ve had a few big wins like Oklahoma, but then there was Nebraska (tough road game), Texas Tech (and they’re down this year), Kansas State (we saw the Kansas and Rutgers games), Texas A&M (we saw the Cal game) and Iowa (6-6) - we either lost close ones or had to put up a big comeback to eek out a win. If these team is going to get back into the upper echelon of teams next year it’s going to have to and blow teams out like TCU, Central Florida and those conference games listed above.

- Colt – OK, this may upset some people, but I’m not sure that Colt McCoy is as good as we would like to think. Sure, he’s had some very big games this year where he’s put up huge numbers. And I’m not even counting the Ohio State game as a blemish as it was his second game EVER. I’m not saying he’s no good, obviously he’s pretty darn good to break the freshman TD record (most TD passes in season), but I think there are still more questions about him. He came up big IN THE SECOND HALF of last night’s game, but again, how good is Iowa? I’m not doubting, I’m just skeptical. I also wonder how much better Colt was than Snead. Kirk Bohls from the statesman wrote a great article before the game about how Brown mismanaged Snead and his playing time and development. I think that’s so true – he may end up being a flop, but I just wonder how good he could have been. I know it was his first season and he’ll most likely only get better (and bigger/stronger I hope) - I’m just saying I’m not ready to anoint him as one of the best QBs in the country just yet.

In short, I have no idea what to think about this team going into Spring and Summer. Offensive line and secondary are the two biggest unknowns as we’re losing almost all of those guys – and I’m not too broken up about that. We do have Cedric Dockery coming back from injury next year who’s been a pretty consistent talent on the O-line, but other than that who knows. I’m very eager to see some of the young guys coming in next year – there will be lots of opportunities for those guys I think.

How about some of the other games and stories:
- Memo to Minnesota athletic director – firing your coach for the way that team lost the bowl game (huge comeback by Tech) after signing him to an extension less than a year ago is going to make it hard to find a top-notch coach to come coach there. That decision making was utterly ridiculous. I don’t get schools anymore, they want the quick fix and in a BCS bowl every year. Well guess what, your Minnesota, it ain’t going to happen EVER. Chalk up Minnesota right next to Alabama as schools with unrealistic and dumb administrators – they will both be taking steps backwards now.

- How about those Boise State Broncos – what a game that was!!! Can’t believe they pulled that out. Yet again, you gotta love the going for 2 for the win – ballsy and in this instance, quite effective. Thompson looked pretty shaky throughout this game throwing 3 INTs and fumbling once. You had a feeling that this game meant more to BSU, but man, give OU credit for hanging tough throughout the game and even taking the lead. Can’t believe the last play in regulation, unbelievable.

- I know we haven’t seen OSU/Florida play yet, but man did USC look good or what? They looked like the best team around right now – chalk them up to the clear #1 coming in next year.
Hey Michigan, you still screaming for a rematch game? Nice game, next time try showing up.

- So in looking at a quick glance at how conferences are doing – Big 10 looks to be pretty good, although there are no real front runners. The Tenn and Arkansas losses were unfortunate for the SEC, but they still have Florida and LSU in some big games. Meanwhile Wisconsin pulled off a great win over the Hogs. 12-1 season for the Badgers, not bad. Big 12? Not so much.

- Boy I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to not watch the big game with Wake Forest and Louisville tonight.

- LSU/Notre Dame is the one game I am very much looking forward to tomorrow night – should be great. Geaux Tigers!

- Penn State had a very impressive win over Tenn as well – that was the by far the best that the PSU QB has looked all year. Look for them to be up in the top 15 or so to start next year.

- I think I might get dead last in my college bowl pick ‘em game.

NFL NOTES:
- Did you see Tiki Barber’s game on Saturday? Then you must have dish network. He was unbelievable (237 yards). Unreal for a “last game” performance.
- Best Wild Card game of the year: Jets at Patriots. Although most would like to see an upset, look for New England to turn it on here.
- Will they give the ROY to VY after his abysmal performance on Sunday? Maybe so...
- Worst Wild Card game of the year: Giants at Eagles. How can you not go with the Eagles with the way they are playing right now. Even with their 3rd-string QB in they looked good.
- Hey Dallas, in case you didn’t know, you have to win in the playoffs to keep moving on. Give it a shot. I say the Cowboys find a way to win this one somehow.
- I’m still sticking with San Diego to win it all until I see otherwise – they are good in every aspect of the game.