Survive and Advance!
It wasn’t easy, and in some cases it was down right ugly, but in week 10 the college football world held its collective breath as the nations four premier teams all found a way to keep their dreams alive, as Alabama escaped LSU, Oregon outscored SC, ND squeaked by on 3OT, and K-State walked away with win, but a concussed star QB.
What We Learned:
Alabama is not invincible. There are teams out there that can challenge them, and the talk of them being able to beat teams in the NFL is utterly outrageous. That said, Alabama proved yet again why they are the best college football team in the nation this year. With their backs against the wall in the absolute hardest place to win in the country, they found a way. That is what championship teams do. Nobody gets out of a season untested in today’s game, and on Saturday night, Alabama was tested. They passed with flying colors.
Additionally, we also got a good glimpse into what kind of team Notre Dame is. Before even looking at the opponent, we have to hand Notre Dame some credit. They played very poorly, but they found a way. If a team wants a BCS year, they need to find ways to do that. Notre Dame did. The Irish defense had its worst outing of the year, and Brian Kelly went back to playing musical chairs with the QBs – not a good recipe for victories, but hey, they were tough enough to get past it. That said, does anyone truly believe that ND is a top 2 team? I sure do not. Boy have they gotten better, and it looks like they finally hired a coach that can get them in championship discussions, but as we have maintained much throughout the year, they are not quite there. Yet. If all four teams were to finish the regular season undefeated (unlikely), it is our feeling that Oregon would deserve to play Alabama in the National Championship game.
What Stood Out:
Oregon’s err….defense? We get that SC is a great offense. Best QB, best two WRs, really decent backs, but 51 points? That is not championship football, and outings like that set off the warning bells for us here at http://sullyscollegefootballpage.com We immediately dropped West Virginia in our poll earlier this year when they gave up 63 points to Baylor, and while we are not giving Oregon the same treatment because it was SC, 51 points is still a concern. A big one. We have been touting the improved Oregon defense all year, but on Saturday nobody saw it, which begs the question of whether it is even there. If a team wants to be competitive enough with Alabama to have a chance to win, our advice would be to take a look at what LSU did – TACKLE. If a team misses tackles like Oregon did this past weekend, they have NO shot at beating Bama. Oregon has the potential, perhaps more than anyone in the country, to upset Alabama on a neutral field, but they had better play flawlessly if they want a chance to do that. What they did this weekend will not be close to enough.
SCFP Gusty Performances of the Week:
Zach Mettenberger – If someone was going to toss the rock for 298 yards and a 1-0 TD/Int ratio, at the beginning of the season the most popular guess probably would have been that Matt Barkley would do so against Bama on January 10th. That isn’t how things shook out, as Mettenberger overcame questions about not just his team, but himself as the future QB of LSU on Saturday night. He alone kept LSU in control of the game on Saturday night. In fact, at one point LSU converted 7 third down conversions of 6 or more yards against Alabama. 7! Doing that against Alabama is close to incomprehensible, but becuase of the Tigers new found vertical game, they did it. Zach gets a giant pat on the back from us, and he showed why so many people thought he was going to be the answer to the poor offense LSU has displayed over the past few seasons.
Landry Jones – Jones is coming off of a tough week where his team lost to ND, and the questions about his legitimacy as an elite QB came back to the forefront of fans minds. He answered by leading his team to a decisive victory over a much improved Iowa State team (compare coaches Gene Chizik 6-19 to Paul Rhodes 24-24 @ ISU) by throwing for 400+ yards and 4 TD’s. Oklahoma is still alive for a BCS bowl game, and as you may have previously saw, we actually project them to play the guy up above in the Sugar Bowl. Landry gets our second pat on the back for his gutsy play.
Johnny Manziel – Last but not least, and usually first (speed) is Johnny Football himself. He kept up his trend of keeping A&M more than competitive in the nations best conference this week when he threw the ball for 311 yards, and ran for another 129. Mississippi State was pansted yet again by a superior opponent (they were annihilated by Bama last week), and this time it was A&M. Our advice to Manziel is to keep his phone booth handy, (Superman changes in a phone booth) because he is going to need to put on his superman costume, yet again, if A&M is to beat Bama on Saturday!
Christmas Wrapping:
Lets string this one up by simply saying this: Alabama is still the best team, but they are not going to walk into the championship game untested. Besides A&M this coming Saturday, they still will likely need to face Georgia in the SEC Championship game. Make no mistake about that one – it won’t be easy. Georgia is superbly talented on both sides of the ball – talented enough that many of these Bama kids will see them again. On Sunday. When Georgia is cooking on both sides of the ball like they are now, I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. However, if there is one team up to the challenge, it would have to be Bama. That game, assuming it happens, is going to be highly exciting. If Aaron Murray brings his A game, BCS chaos may ensue.
On the other side of the country, Oregon still seems to be the second best team, though, as we said, they need to play better defensively. It was one game against a really good team – okay. Now Oregon needs to show us something different by stopping teams. They still need to play Stanford and Oregon State, so that is an opportunity they will get. If college football were a beauty pageant (more than it already is) Oregon would have nothing to worry about, as Notre Dame and Kansas State are proverbial brides maids when it comes to their style of winning, but the key thing here is that they are winning. Oregon has no breathing room for a slip up, because if they do, one of the other two teams just mentioned is going to be more deserving of a shot. Plus, I don’t think any BCS Bowl game, especially the championship game, will mind taking Notre Dame, who happens to be the ultimate cash cow of college sports. They do wonders for TV ratings. The finish to this season is going to be quite a ride – can’t wait to meet you back here when it is finished!
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