Clash of the Titans Part Deux: Florida Vs. Oklahoma

Picture courtesy of the AP

Soon after Florida gutted out a win against top-ranked Alabama, they learned they would be facing Oklahoma in the BCS National Title Game.

Florida battled the #1 ranked Crimson Tide, endured an 112 yard effort by Bama tailback Glen Coffee and a 125 yard performance by freshman receiver Julio Jones, and came back to win 31-20. As a fan of the Florida Gators, I have to say that this was the best game I've seen the team play since they won the national title over Ohio State in 2006.

Why?

Because it saw Tim Tebow do what he'd never done in his career: come back from a second half deficit to win a game. Before Saturday, Tebow had never beaten a team after the Gators trailed in the second half. He came close against Auburn a year ago, only for the defense to fold on the Tigers' final drive. In the other games, Tebow never drove the Gators down the field enough to threaten the opposing team's lead. This time, however, was different. When the graphic was shown during CBS' broadcast that attested to his struggles in leading comebacks, it was as if Tebow knew it was there; it was as if the defense knew, too. Tebow finished the fourth quarter 5-5 for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while the defense, fresh from being gashed by Coffee and Jones during the previous quarter, held Alabama to one yard in the final frame.

One yard.

I wrote on Saturday that Tebow was a great player; I still believe that, and you'd have to be crazy not to think that. However, the Gator defense is pretty damn great, too; they were facing adversity, too, not just Tebow. This proud unit had allowed Bama to score twice in the third quarter, on drive of 97 and 62 yards, as the Tide took a 20-17 lead and look poised to break the will of Florida en route to the SEC championship. However, the defense responded strongly, forcing Alabama into consecutive three and outs, with the first being punctuated by a sack by Jermaine Cunningham. The unit, led by Brandon Spikes, stood up just as Tebow stood up for the offense. For that, they deserve all of the credit in the world. Last year's defense wouldn't have managed the effort that this year's did.

And speaking of offense, give Riley Cooper, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez, Jeffrey Demps, and, hell, the whole offense credit for stepping up in the absence of Percy Harvin. The most electrifying player in the country was forced to sit on the sidelines due to injury, and guys stepped up to fill his shoes. It wasn't always pretty, but they got the job done. Look at it like this: without its best player, Florida's offense still managed 31 points. Not too many teams can do that. Now, Florida faces what could be its toughest test in the Oklahoma Sooners; in a lot of ways, they're a lot like Florida. As much as has been made about the Gators' scoring binge during the past two months, Oklahoma's topped it, rolling up 60 points in 5 straight games and setting a FBS record for most points scored in a season with 702. Like Florida, they've been on a tear since their only loss of the year, winning seven straight by a combined score of 419-205. Also like Florida, they've got talent at every position; they've got a Heisman favorite in Sam Bradford, three good tailbacks in Moses Madu, DeMarco Murray, and Chris Brown, and four players with at least 600 yards receiving. Another--Quentin Chaney--has 467. In short, they are insane on offense, and Florida will have a tough test on its hands in order to contain this unit, particularly at tight end.

However, defensively is where the Sooners have struggled. While Florida's winning streak has been a well-rounded triumph of offense, defense, and special teams, Oklahoma's offense has carried it for most of its streak. Their defense has played better against Missouri and Texas Tech, but it surrended 35 points to Kansas, 41 to Oklahoma State, 35 to Kansas State, and 28 apiece to Texas A&M and Nebraska. Suffice it to say, the Sooner defense has given up a lot even as they've lit up the scoreboard themselves.

Unfortunately, these stats should be taken with a grain of salt; games aren't played on paper, and the bowl games are entirely different from the regular season. With a month to prepare, anything can happen, and rest assured, the Sooners will be prepared to play come January 8th. If the regular season had an effect on bowl games, Florida would've taken care of Michigan in the Capital One Bowl; Oklahoma would've handled West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl as well. Both of these teams know that that extra month changes the game entirely. Oklahoma--riding a four-game BCS bowl losing streak--will have something to prove when they face the Gators. Hopefully, it'll be a great game.

Moving on, MOAR BCS:

- Texas coach Mack Brown should tell Kirk Herbstreit to shove it. I know I would if I were old, white, and named Mack Brown. It's easy for Herbstreit to say that Texas should just "get over" being screwed out of the BCS Title game, but that's because he isn't one of the 50 or 60 Texas team members who got left out. Hopefully, Mack uses this to criticize both the assinine way that the Big 12 handles tie-breakers and the BCS itself. In terms of the former, what hare-brained tie-breakers leaves things up to a bunch of computer votes? Why not something more concrete like margin of victory, number of ranked team defeated, or opponent won/loss records? Anything but leaving it up to the God-awful BCS to decide which team should make the conference title game.

- The BCS is still horrible. Forget the talk about how the BCS got it right. It didn't. No system that leaves six other teams with legitimate arguments out of the title picture got it right. Texas has a case, as do USC, Texas Tech, Boise State, Utah, and Penn State. Hell, Boise State didn't even make a BCS bowl game. How's that for disrespect?

- Speaking of which, it is an absolute joke that Ohio State gets to make another BCS bowl game, not when Boise State was higher than them in the standings, and was undefeated. It's a travesty that the Broncos don't even get a national stage to prove themselves, while viewers get so see the Buckeyes falter against yet another good team. At least Boise State can claim beating Oregon at Autzen Stadium as a signature win; OSU can claim what, beating a one-man team in Michigan State, despite losing to Penn State and getting humiliated by USC? Fantastic. I understand it's about the money, but come on; I didn't see the 2006 Fiesta Bowl with empty seats when BSU beat Oklahoma. They may not have the fanbase that OSU brings, but they'll damn sure sell out their ticket allotment. Plus, does anyone outside of Columbus really want to see Terrelle Pryor harrassed time and time against by Nagurski Award winner Brian Orakpo? This game might be over by halftime.

- And the most intriguing non-BCS Bowl game is.......Oregon/Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl. The Cotton Bowl (Texas Tech against Ole Miss) is somewhat interesting, but I think the Rebels are little overmatched there. The Holiday Bowl is usually a damn good game to begin with, and this one features two great offenses. Oregon is 4th in the nation in rushing offense, 8th in total offense, and 7th in scoring offense; Oklahoma State is 7th, 7th, and 8th in those categories respectively. First team to 45 might win, or they might not. It may take over 50 to win.

Gary Danielson is Campaigning Again

"I'm not watching the [National Championship] game if Florida's not in it."

Come on, people. A little objectivity would be nice.

Tim Tebow= Man

As I sit here writing this, Florida is set to win the SEC Championship, up 31-20 right now with under 3 minutes left. Dead the talk about Tebow being clutch; the guy just led the Gators down the field for a touchdown to extend Florida's lead. Credit should go to the defense for holding up and stopping Wilson from having a big day, and for bottling up Alabama's running game outside of Glen Coffee (who is a beast in his own right). But, still, Tebow's just a great player; he's put this team on his back, with no Percy Harvin to help out. Guy like Louis Murphy, Riley Cooper, and Aaron Hernandez have stepped up (as has Jeffrey Demps), but Tebow is the engine that makes this team go. He's truly a great player.

Shakedown Saturday: Postseason Edition Week 1

I had a good regular season; went 38-13 overall, which makes for a 74.5% correctitude rate. Now, we're in the postseason:

Florida 28
Alabama 23

Missouri 31
Oklahoma 55

Ball State 37
Buffalo 17

Boston College 23
Virginia Tech 14

Pittsburgh 24
Connecticut 28

Pete Fiutak= Fool

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There are still media personalities drinking the Weis Kool-Aid and drowning by the cupful.

Charlie Weis just isn't all that bad a head coach.

Weis might not be pretty, he might not be warm and fuzzy, and he might take arrogance to a whole new level, but above all else, for good and mostly for bad, he's more demanding and has set the expectations higher for Notre Dame football than the harshest of Irish fans could ever try to create.

He made it clear from the start of his tenure that anything less than a national championship is unacceptable in South Bend, and he's right.

Money is never a problem for a school with a $7 billion endowment. The spotlight is always on, above and beyond the NBC contract. The history and tradition are second to none, the school has a sweetheart of a deal with the BCS, and after years of rigid requirements, things have eased up just enough to make it possible to recruit just about anyone. Don't let anyone fool you with the garbage that a coach can't win big at Notre Dame anymore. It's the opposite. It's hard for a coach not to win at Notre Dame. And Weis knows this, but just winning isn't enough.

Help me out here, people. Charlie Weis has high expectations. That's wonderful, no sarcasm intended. However, you don't get to keep your job simply based on having high expectations for your team. Every head coach in the country has high expectations for his team. Since when did evaluating coaching prowess become about what the coach expects? But hold up. The foolishness doesn't stop there:

Of course, the USC near-miss only hid the program's major problems which were exposed last year. The overall athleticism is mediocre compared to the top programs. Brady Quinn really was a special player, and when he left, along with Jeff Samardzija and Darius Walker, the cupboard was not only bare, but it quickly became obvious that there was absolutely nothing to work with on the offensive line. While the defense was considered the biggest issue after getting torched by Ohio State and LSU in consecutive BCS games, in fact, everything needed work. Notre Dame wasn't just a player or two away.

This wasn't a case of Alabama this year, where a slew of tremendous young talents were able to blend up with a solid core of decent veterans to create something special. The base that Weis needed to get his era off to a hot start all left, and he wasn't able to restock the shelves right away. That's part his fault, a wee bit the fault of Ty Willingham's recruiting problems, and partly the fault of the program as whole for not recognizing that 2007 was necessary to start relatively clean with a slew of young players.

At least Fiutak didn't go into a full-on "Ty's fault" rampage. However, I'm not sure that it's just "part" Weis' fault. The buck stops with him, and he's the guy that's responsible for making sure that the team has the players it needs to succeed. All I heard the past two years was how great Weis' recruiting classes were, and how Notre Dame would be back because Weis was bringing the talent in by the truckload. He hasn't done anything with it, though; instead, he's followed the worst season in Notre Dame history with a 6-6 one. He might just be 6-7 if they run into the wrong opponent in their bowl game.

Here's the truth, in plain English: Charlie Weis isn't a good college coach. He's not good at developing talent, either. Weis succeeded in the pros because he's good at putting finished products in the best places to excel. In the NFL, the developing and maturing is already done for you; the only thing coaches have to do is put those guys in positions to make plays. That's exactly what Weis did during his first two seasons at Notre Dame, too; he took a group of guys that Ty Willingham recruited, and did what Ty could not: he put them in the best positions to succeed on the field. However, now, he's working from ground zero, and a big part of that is his fault. Instead of giving Brady Quinn's backups some reps during blowouts in 2005 and 2006, the Fighting Irish ended up with a quarterback controversy to begin their 2007 campaign. Their three quarterbacks--Evan Sharpley, Demetrius Jones, and Jimmy Clausen, combined for a total of two pass attempts. Because of Weis' lack of foresight during his first two years at head coach, ND had no clear cut starter at quarterback, no guy with any real in-game experience. The much lauded recruiting classes didn't turn up any impact players in the trenches, and given the Irish's pathetic rushing numbers, along with giving up 20 sacks this year, still hasn't come up with any. Weis is a professional coach trying to survive in a college game, with no idea as to how to interact with a team full of immature, 18-22 year old guys. Trying to convince anyone with a lick of common sense that he's somehow a good coach is akin to trying to sell salt to a slug. Weis is good at moving guys who are already molded for him; he's not so good at doing the molding himself. The crap youth argument Fiutak tries to push later in his article doesn't fly, either; Alabama has a young guys playing all over the place, and they're 12-0. Florida has the youngest team in the SEC, and doesn't have a single senior starting on defense; they're 11-1. This isn't to say that Weis should have done equally well with his crew, because Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are exceptional coaches. However, if Weis were a good coach, or even a mediocre one, Notre Dame wouldn't have gone 3-9 last year, and wouldn't be 6-6 this year. You don't lose to teams like Air Force, Navy, and Syracuse over that span if you have good coaching. Talent alone should be able to get over in games like that. Youth is an excuse for decent teams not being better; it is not an excuse for bad ones.

Really, though, I don't know why it's so hard for the media to admit that it's wrong on this one. Hypnotized by the allure of Weis' four Super Bowl rings, the media tripped over itself to heap unending praise on the guy. Given his swaggering proclamations during his first press conference, I can't exactly blame them. They swooned over his presumed tactical genius, and some even predicted a Notre Dame win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl because "Weis with a month to prepare," would lead the Irish to victory over a proven, Jim Tressel-led Buckeye squad. 34 points and over 600 yards later, that theory was shot to pieces. However, it seems that there are still those unwilling to admit to being wrong, so instead, they're still trying to sell the rest of the sane world their brand of crazy. Unfortunately:

Dan Wetzel Brings the Win

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Seriously, though, this is an excellent idea, and it completely blows up the "there's no viable alternative" argument that the pro-BCS crowd likes to tout. If the FCS, Division II, and Division III leagues can do a 16 team playoff, then the FBS sure as hell can, too. I like the 11 conference champs + 5 at large plan, and even though I'd like to see a team like BYU in this bracket, I'd rather have the 17th and 18th teams having gripes than the 3rd and 4th. This year, there are no fewer than 8 teams (Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Boise State, Utah, Texas, Texas Tech, and Alabama) who have a case for making the BCS title game; only two of them are actually going to play in it, and another two--BSU and Utah--won't even be discussed as deserving teams. In a playoff, they would be able to make their cases on a weekly basis.

Look at Wetzel's bracket, and tell me that some of those first round matchups don't look good. Boise State and Penn State would be a good game, as would Texas Tech/Ohio State. TCU/Utah would be a great between two good non-BCS teams, and could possibly be the best game of the first round. Even Florida/Cincinnati has the makings of a good game, with the Bearcats--led by a great coach in Brian Kelly-- being the underdogs as they roll into The Swamp. From there, the future games are a fan's dream. In the second round alone, we could see:

Penn State/Alabama, or Boise State/Alabama
Florida/USC
Utah/Texas, or TCU/Texas
Texas Tech/Oklahoma, or Oklahoma/Ohio State

And don't even get me started on the possible championship games. Given these matchups, a playoff would be great for the fans, great for the schools, and great for college football in general. These are games that fans fantasize about; a playoff would actually make them happen. It would be a cash cow for the universities, who could reap the benefits of having their schools play and advance in the playoff. If you think the money made from March Madness is a lot, just think of how much money could be made from college football.

All of this begs the question: why are conferences so hesitant about a playoff, then? Save the BS about being concerned for the students, too; if schools truly gave a damn about the grades these kids made, March Madness wouldn't be as long as it is. Every other college football division has a playoff, and concerns are never raised about their grades. Personally, I think there's another motivation at work here: protection of the name brand. When most people think of college football, they think of the big names like Michigan, Ohio State, USC, and Notre Dame. Extending this logic further, we can say that the reverse is true, too: people certainly aren't thinking of the TCUs, BYUs, and Boise States of the college football landscape when they think of the sport. If a team like Boise State were to knock off one like USC, what would that do for a program's prestige? What would that do for a conference prestige? At least one upset is going to happen in every playoff, and a big team could be a victim of that. The same reasoning works to explain why big time schools don't schedule high-end non-BCS teams now, as well. Not only does an Ohio State loss to a team like BYU knock them out of national title talks, it makes the program look worse as a whole. Don't believe me? Look at Michigan last year; they took Florida to the woodshed in the Capital One Bowl, but has anyone forgotten that they lost to Appalachian State to start the year? If upsets like that happened on a yearly basis, people would start to question just how different BCS teams are from non-BCS teams, and examine if the gap between the two is as wide as the media would have them to believe.

So here we are, with the non-BCS teams vying for attention, and the BCS schools not even giving them tickets to the show. Four conferences-the Big 10, Pac-10, Big East, and Big 12-wouldn't even let talks of a plus-one playoff on the table, much less give it serious consideration. This is a travesty. There's no other way to say it, really; it cheats college football fans out of a chance to see great football, and it cheats non-BCS teams out of the chance to worth their worth on a national stage. I love college football, but the BCS is a joke solution to a serious issue. When a system screws up as much as the BCS has (the BCS got it wrong in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004, and left an undefeated BSU out in the cold in 2006 as well), would you continue to use it and hope that it doesn't screw up again, or would you replace it? Most people know what the answer to that question is.

Just not any of the people that matter.

Jason Whitlock Blasts ESPN, Takes Shots at Chris Fowler

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Bigging up Ball State? Good thing. Taking shots at ESPN analyst Chris Fowler? You be the judge. First off, though, he sets his sights on Fowler's employer:

Ball State's football season perfectly illustrated my problem with ESPN and why I believe the World Wide Leader is the most evil and destructive force in the sports world. It has driven and hastened the destruction of authentic, independent, democratic, courageous sports journalism.

ESPN is the enemy of the truth, and all who believe a pursuit of the truth is the lifeblood of a genuinely free society must stand against the Wal-Mart-ization of sports journalism.

I reached this conclusion when trying to figure out why Ball State quarterback Nate Davis isn't one of the top-five Heisman Trophy candidates and Ball State coach Brady Hoke isn't the front-runner for national coach of the year.

He then takes time out to personally attack Fowler himself:

What Fowler has done is ridiculous and reeks of the kind of simple-minded arrogance that permeates ESPN. Fowler has had his ass kissed for too many years. He travels around the country during football season and everywhere he goes, there's an Army of BCS sports information directors waiting to kiss his ass and tell him how great "GameDay" is.

He has never been a professional journalist a day in his life. He's a TV personality. He knows what someone else has told him. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I'd suspect he hasn't worn a jock since junior high school.

This is the combination that is killing the sports media. No journalism background, no real athletic experience and no backbone. No clue. Fowler wouldn't make a competent blogger.

I quoted these because they're probably the most gossip-worthy parts of Whitlock's article. However, they're also the weakest and most unnecessary. He's correct to point out that ESPN--given its role in sports news--has driven public opinion to the point that any player not in a BCS conference is sure to not get any love on the big stage. He's also correct to call Fowler out on the carpet for inexplicably dropping Ball State from his top 25 ballot after they'd beaten Central Michigan. However, the personal potshots just make him sound as though he has a bad case of sour grapes: ESPN dropped him three years ago, so now he's settling a few scores through this column. Put bluntly, Whitlock's inability to keep his piece professional detracts from an otherwise sound argument, an argument which Whitlock himself did not do justice.

Given that, let's examine it closer. As I've said on this blog before, there are a number of players who get overlooked in the 10 player shuffle ESPN does each week; if you're not in that shuffle, you're not getting attention. So while everyone knows about Graham Harrell, Tim Tebow, and Sam Bradford, they probably don't know about guys like Chase Clement (who, for my money, is a better college QB than Davis is) or Case Keenum. They probably don't know that James Casey--and not Jermaine Gresham or Chase Coffman--is the best tight end in the country by far. Why? Because players like this aren't from big time schools. This isn't to say that the Harrells and Tebows of the world don't deserve attention, but to say that other guys deserve attention as well. In this case, Whitlock is absolutely right about ESPN: because they're tied to so many different TV stations with so many different conference tie-ins, they do drive public opinion about which players are the best. This leaves everyone outside of this network out of luck. It also means that ESPN's competitors, such as FOX Sports, aren't able to provide countering viewpoints.

ESPN has so much sway because they're the only show in town. FOX Sports, who Whitlock now works for, gets the occasional Big 12 or Pac-10 game, but not near the amount of games that ESPN, which televises games on ABC in addition to its slew of home channels, does. FOX used to be able to claim sole coverage of the BCS bowl games, but with ESPN and the BCS recently working out a television deal, that advantage is now gone. It's a good thing if you're ESPN, but a bad thing if you want to see a more diverse array of players covered. If you want the non-BCS conference teams along with their players to get more love, it's probably best to look elsewhere, unfortunately. ESPN is the TV equivalent of top 40 radio right now, and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. They'll continue to drive public opinion, and fans will continue to see more of them same boilerplate analysis combined with the same boilerplate opinions on the best teams in the nation. And if you don't believe me, consider this: for all of the possible talk of Florida being screwed by the BCS even with a win over Alabama, two undefeated teams--Boise State and Utah--despite each having wins over ranked teams, won't even be in the discussion.