Matchup: Alabama DT vs. Georgia Center
27 September 2008If you want to see a human wrecking ball in action, watch Alabama’s defensive tackle Terrance Cody against Georgia today.
Cody is 6-5, 365 lbs, but that’s only the half of it. He is a terrific technician, with a feel for angles and leverage and pad level.
His specialty is driving the center back into the quarterback’s face or the running back’s cutback lane. He doesn’t make a lot of tackles or sacks, but he breaks down the blocking schemes and allows others a free run to the ball.
Against Arkansas last week, Cody manhandled the Razorbacks’ All America center Jonathan Luigs. Against Georgia today, he faces freshman Ben Jones, who is like a Vienna sausage on Cody’s breakfast buffet.
Unless Jones sprouts a cape and an “S” on his chest, Cody might be the disrupting force that allows Alabama to pull off the upset.
You want a playoff?
25 September 2008There will be seismic repercussions from today’s USC loss to Oregon State.
And that’s a benefit of the current BCS system. If there were a March Madness-type playoff, this would be annoying for USC, but it wouldn’t really change much — they would likely make it to the dance anyway.
Instead, it’s a massive shift in the national championship picture. Every week in the regular season has that potential. Now USC fans have to watch the SEC and Big 12 and hope for other juggernauts to falter.
Last year gave us similar titanic moments in the regular season. USC was bumped out of the national championship picture by Stanford. West Virginia fans had their travel booked for the BCS Championship Game in New Orleans, but then the Mountaineers lost their regular season finale to Pitt. LSU fans, hoping against hope that WVU would lose, were ecstatic, and saw their Tigers overpower Ohio State in the Dome for the Crystal.
You want a playoff? This IS a playoff!
How Oregon State beat USC…
25 September 2008Holy smokes! Oregon State just beat USC, 27-21!
Here’s how they did it… Oregon State offense: 1) QB Lyle Moevao made quick decisions and fired the ball with velocity. There was no time for USC’s pass rush to close on him, nor for the Trojan secondary to close on his receivers.
2) RB Jaquizz Rogers would squirt through holes before USC’s defense could close them. He would dart from side to side as he approached the hole, which did two things: It set up blocks, and it widened defenders enough for him to pop out the other side. 3) The Beavers pounded a terrific play, where a wide receiver would motion across the offensive line, then block the end man on the line on the play side. (That defender doesn’t need to be smashed because he has contain.) Normally, a lineman or tight end does this. Having a WR do it gave the Beavers an extra big blocker at the point of attack. OSU defense: 1) The defensive line sold out to blast off the ball and penetrate, disrupting blocking schemes for run and pass.
2) The defensive backs and linebackers played aggressively, not worrying about complex schemes. They would see and attack. 3) USC tried to take advantage of this aggressiveness by having QB Mark Sanchez pump fake on play action passes to get the safetys to bite, then throw over the top. Problem: OSU’s safetys didn’t bite on the pump fakes.
This was no fluke. Oregon State out-coached USC, then they out-played them.
War Eagle!
21 September 2008Our crew from College GameDay on ESPN Radio was on the field for Auburn vs. LSU. Folks, if you’ve never seen a game at Jordan-Hare stadium, add it to your bucket list.
The pregame festivities were spectacular, especially the appearance of Auburn’s War Eagle. It flew around the stadium to the roar of the crowd, and then dove onto the center of the field to devour a tasty morsel placed there.
I won a national championship in college, and played twelve years in the NFL, so I’ve seen a little excitement. But I was in awe, with chills running down my back and a grin on my face that wouldn’t go away.
It’s a tradition that dates back to the Civil War, where an Auburn student was wounded fighting for Robert E. Lee in the Battle of the Wilderness.
Legend has it that when the soldier awoke after the battle, the only living thing in sight was a wounded baby eagle. He collected up the eagle, brought it home, and nursed it back to health. Eventually, he returned to Auburn and became a member of the faculty; he and his eagle became well-known to the students.
Years later, at a critical point in the 1892 game against Georgia, the eagle broke away from its master and flew around the stadium. The Auburn faithful recognized the bird and called out its name, cheering, “War Eagle!”
Then, alas, the bird died. Auburn faithful beleive that he gave his all to help Auburn defeat Georgia that day, 10-0.
So Auburn’s mascot is indeed the Tigers. But their battle cry, “War Eagle!”, is one of the most moving traditions in college football. Anyone would be richer for having experienced it in person.
LSU QB Jarrett Lee’s amazing adventure…
21 September 2008LSU QB Jarrett Lee was just awful in the showdown at Auburn. In relief of starter Andrew Hatch, Lee only completed one of his first nine passes, with one interception returned for an Auburn touchdown. There was no reason to hope for anything better.
But sometimes things change on a single play. For Lee, that play came in the third quarter.
Down 14-3, Lee dropped back to pass. Spencer Pybus blitzed from the blind side. Lee didn’t see him. It was set up as a teeth-rattling sack, and another disappointing failure for the freshman signal caller.
But the ball cleared Lee’s hand an instant before Pybus drilled him, and found its way into the hands of Chris Mitchell, who took it in for an LSU touchdown.
After that, Lee was a different player. He had a spring in his step. He threw with authority and accuracy, replacing his earlier wobbling floaters with tight, fast spirals.
And he led LSU to victory in a place they hadn’t won since the Clinton Adminstration.
What a difference a single play can make…
What if the SEC, Big 12, and Pac Ten champs are undefeated…
16 September 2008A fan emailed us at College Football Live today and asked a terrific hypothetical question: If the champions of the SEC, Big 12, and Pac Ten all go undefeated this year, which one would be left out of the BCS Championship Game?
If an undefeated USC wins the Pac Ten, they’re in. That leaves an awkward choice, since the SEC and Big 12 are clearly the two strongest conferences in the nation.
While voters aren’t supposed to look at the past to evaluate the present, they are human. And the past does indicate a clear path forward in a choice such as this.
The Big 12 champion has lost the last two Fiesta Bowls. The SEC champion has won the last two BCS Championship Games. If one conference gets the benefit of the doubt, it has to be the SEC.
Ohio State casserole…
14 September 2008As I watched the Buckeye offense flounder against USC, I couldn’t shake the question: Who are these guys trying to be?
With USC, it’s clear; they are optimized for a pro-style offense, with a line that can protect a pocket, a quarterback who can read coverages, and a play-caller who uses his talent within that scheme. It’s the same with West Virginia, optimized for the spread-option in focus, personnel, and play-calling.
But Ohio State is a casserole. They run a little pro, a little spread-option, a little this, a little that… They are pretty good at a lot of things, but not excellent at any one thing.
For example, they asked their classic drop-back passer, Todd Boeckman, to run some spread-option plays against the Trojans, which is like asking a dump truck to win the Daytona 500. It was sad to watch him get pounded with no chance for a decent gain. Those were wasted plays that served only to fire up USC’s defense and home crowd.
Against lesser competition, a patchwork offense works just fine because Ohio State’s overall talent level is greater. But against the likes of USC and LSU, being a jack of all styles – instead of a master of one — has not served the Buckeyes well.
Lessons for BYU: UCLA vs. Tennessee
12 September 2008You know the old joke: You: “Doc, it hurts when I do this!” Doc: “Then don’t do that!”
That’s how UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow made the adjustments that allowed the Bruins to beat Tennessee in their opener.
UCLA QB Kevin Craft threw four interceptions in the first half. He especially had trouble lofting the ball over the first level of defenders to drop it in to receivers running routes at middle distances. He hung the ball up too high, giving the safetys time to close the distance and make the play.
So at halftime, instead of trying to get Craft to make those throws better, Chow simply stopped asking him to make them at all. In the second half, almost every pass was a straight shot, with no defenders between QB and receiver.
Craft then looked like an All American, hitting one short throw after another, with very few attempts farther down the field.
The obvious counter from Tennessee would have been to walk the secondary up closer to the line, to take away the short passing lanes. But the Vols never adjusted, and it cost them the game.
UCLA plays BYU tomorrow, and I expect the Cougars to learn from Tennessee’s mistakes. Look for them to smother the line of scrimmage, and force Craft to prove he’s fixed the problem of hang time on longer throws.
“Classless dirtbag…”
12 September 2008Wow, Warren Sapp is never boring! SportsCenter just reported that the former Miami Hurricane called Florida coach Urban Meyer a “classless dirtbag.”
Miami played the Gators in Gainesville last week. Ahead 23-3 in the final minute of the game, Meyer sent out the kicking team for a 29-yard field goal. To some, it seemed that he was running up the score.
I say, nonsense. Florida has had kicking problems, only making 10 of 16 last year. This year’s new kicker, Jonathan Phillips, had never attempted a field goal in a college game. Getting him game exerience is critical to Florida’s quest for an SEC championship.
It’s the same for backup quarterbacks playing in garbage time of a blowout. If they just hand off, they’re missing the opportunity to operate the passing offense at game speed. But if they throw the ball, the coach is accused of piling on.
Again, nonsense. At some point, that backup QB may be asked to play for an injured starter. The more experience he can get running the entire offense – even in if it means throwing at the end of blowouts — the better prepared he’ll be when it counts.
I’m not for legitimately running up scores, but coaches shouldn’t be shamed into limiting game experience for key players.
Wisconsin at Fresno State; Big Ten credibility game…
12 September 2008The credibility of the Big Ten isn’t riding on the Ohio State vs. USC game. Any team in the country could be expected to lose to the Trojans in Los Angeles, especially with their star running back limited by injury.
No, the credibility of the Big Ten this week rests with 10th ranked Wisconsin vs. 21st ranked Fresno State.
The Badgers are accustomed to playing on the road in front of 100,000 screaming fans in places like Ann Arbor, MI, and Columbus, OH. When they do their walk through today in Fresno, they’ll see a stadium that would fit entirely inside a single concession stand in the Big House, and they’ll wonder how a great team could play in such a little place.
But that small stadium (about 44,000 capacity) puts those terrific Fresno fans within bad breath range of the opposing bench. Win or lose, the Badgers will be surprised by the volume from the crowd, and they’ll be shocked at the level of sheer nastiness put on them by coach Pat Hill’s Central California farm kids.
