College Football

Fun game to watch last night with the Rose Bowl. Back and forth, back and forth. Congrats to USC for hanging in and pulling it off.

This game is a perfect example of play calling at the end. PSU is up by two scores. USC has no timeouts. PSU had three 3 and outs, plus 3 plays and a pick on 3rd down.
With an average of 45 seconds per play (the play, the ref spotting the ball and the play clock ran down to snap at 2-3 secs), if PSU takes 9 kneel down in a row and punts it would have left USC about a little over a minute to score both touchdowns to tie. The last touchdown they threw to the middle of the field because they had time. Take away that time and they have to throw to boundaries which is much easier to defend.

I am not say turn football into "Money Ball" and some math genius nerd is calling the plays but at some point when a team has no timeouts the game can be broken down to basic math.

A great game to watch. A great game for college football. And great statements by both programs rebounding from tough times.

S

 

My head says never pick against Alabama.

Everything else says Clemson can score. This year's squad has two NFL receivers on the outside and this may be Alabama's weakest secondary in a number of years.

Alabama may have the best front 7 ever. I have never seen that much speed and that much ability to get to the ball.

Alabama will be between a rock and a hard place. Play two safeties over the top and let the inside receivers, backs and tight ends kill you like last year in order to stop Williams and Cain on the outside.

Clemson will load the box and see what Hurts can do as last week he looked shell shocked in comparison to what he looked like all year. All year Alabama ran the ball and play action passed to the flat. For whatever reason (Kiffin) was throwing deep in routes. Hurts looked like post snap read confused him a little. They must fix that because Clemson drops lineman and brings linebackers while stunting. Weird combination but they get to the QB.

Which ever QB can move the chains and not turn it over. (Maybe like every other game we watch, LOL)

I'm going to call Clemson. But that usually jinxes someone.

Looking forward to it but at the same time it is the last game, sort of bumming.

S

 

The best national Championship game ever.

Bar none.

S

 

Great props to both squads. Both coaches. Both Universities.

As a fan of college football one could ask for nothing more.

S

 

Alabama missed Scarborough terribly. I said before the run game and that defense had protected Hurts all year. The kid is 18 years old. That is the only thing wrong with his game. He is 18. He will get older and get better. Alabama should be the odds on favorite again next year. Almost becoming repetitive.

I did not see the wear down form the 99 offensive snaps they talked about. I saw running three different plays from the same set with the same players. Stopped the first time, just about stopped the second time and their aggression taken advantage of on the third.

Hurts missed several open receivers. He also had the drop late in the game that hurt.

I give great credit to the Clemson offensive line. They took a beating all night against the best front 7 I have seen. Putting 21 on Alabama is a feat in itself, but putting 21 on them in the 4th QTR is unheard of.

I liked when Dabo took a shot at the Heisman committee. "I told you before he is the best player in the country". For me that had direction.

S

 

And then do the math. The last 3 Alabama possessions ended in incompletions. Clock stopped. Any two of those are run plays, even failed run plays, and there is no "2 minute drill" for Clemson.

Every staff needs a math guy with a calculator on the side line.

S

 

I'm all for best 2 out of 3 next year.

It was good year. I worked a lot and did not see as many games as I normally do but so it goes. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Clemson has a lot to replace. Alabama seems to reload every year.

S

 

With all the props, and the greatest game of all time, the only negative I can muster is the "Championship Hats". They must have been the ugliest freakin' hats I have ever seen. The designer must be the guy that does the convenience store hats that hang there for years. They were hideous. LOL

S

 

I agree. There were number of deep throws where Clemson was simply beat. Hurts missed/over threw on three or four. A lot of the errant throws is he runs first throws second. Sarkisian may be the guy that can fix his feet. A lot of his misses are mechanics. Mechanics can be corrected.

Not comparing the Alabama defense to the Ohio State defense, but I thought Clemson would have used the jet sweep a lot more. I think Alabama's defense with the speed up front would have stopped it from big gains but that outside guy Anderson would have had to respect it. He would have not been in the backfield on every play.

I work with a guy who has an uncle who played on the '92 title team at Alabama. We were trading texts all thru the game. The uncle said the long touch down to Howard was the wrong route. They bleed Alabama. He said the route was suppose go to the safety and clear the underneath route for #3. He texted it was the first time all year Hurts threw to the second option in his progressions. All year it had been first option not there take off.

I think Alabama is odds on favorite again next year. For the first time in a hundred years it may be easier to go undefeated in the SEC than in the ACC, Big Ten or anywhere else. The SEC as a conference has slipped a little and Alabama keeps getting better. The other conferences as whole are getting better. Clemson is the national champion, and deservedly so, but they were a snatch hair away from being a 3 or 4 loss team. Kid from Louisville steps out thinking he has the first. Kid at NC State misses a field goal. I think it was Wake Forest had the two late turnovers that Watson converted to TD's.

Looking forward to next year already.

S