AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 01
Monday, October 1, 2007
We are headed to a BCS mess
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five things we learned over the weekend:
1. We are headed to a BCS mess: If Southern Cal and LSU go undefeated, then the BCS will have a limited amount of controversy. Yes, the South Florida fans will be upset if they go 12-0 and don’t get in. Ditto for Ohio State or Wisconsin or Boston College, etc. But it will be hard to argue that any of those teams is better than an undefeated USC or LSU. But if LSU loses or Southern Cal loses, then we are going to have a big old argument that will make last year’s Florida-Michigan debate seem very tame. I’m looking forward to it.
2. Stacy Searels is coaching them up: With all of those babies on the offensive line, Georgia had to hope that they would grow up in a hurry. They weren’t quite ready for a defense like South Carolina’s on Sept. 8. But they have gotten a little bit better every week. Nobody in the country is doing a better job of coaching his position that Stacy Searels at Georgia. The key to winning on the road in the SEC is the ability to run the football. Auburn proved that again Saturday night at Florida. Keep that in mind when Georgia goes to Tennessee on Saturday.
3. When No. 22 is on the field, Georgia Tech is a good team: Tashard Choice is to Georgia Tech what Darren McFadden is to Arkansas. When he is on the field the offensive line blocks harder and the Georgia Tech team plays with more energy. When he’s not on the field, as was the case at Virginia, things don’t seem to click. But if we know that, so does Virginia Tech, Miami, etc. That means that QB Taylor Bennett has to play better down the stretch.
4. This could be the best SEC East race ever: Going into October, all six teams have one loss or LESS. Kentucky is sitting on top and, after a trip to South Carolina on Thursday, has LSU, Florida, and Tennessee coming to Commonwealth Stadium. Everybody in this division has issues. Kentucky is just okay on defense. Florida’s weakness on the defensive front was exposed by Auburn. Tennessee can’t stop the run. South Carolina lost its best defensive player in Jasper Brinkley. Georgia is starting to figure some things out but is still young. Vanderbilt plays hard but could use another playmaker other than Earl Bennett. This is going to be fun.
5. Tuberville did it again: After Auburn lost to Mississippi State on Sept. 15 to go 1-2, some of the Tiger “faithful” were bemoaning the fact that the program was just falling apart. They looked over at Nick Saban at Alabama, who was getting all the media attention. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who was 21-3 in the SEC the past three years coming into this season, was suddenly dumber than a bag of hammers. Tuberville did have some problems on his team and went about looking for solutions. Then they go to Florida and knock off the No. 3 Gators. Tuberville has now won 9 of his last 10 games against Top Ten teams. He sure did get smart in just two weeks.
Services »
