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Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Knowshon needs a big game against Tennessee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nobody asked me, but:
1. Knowshon needs a big game against Tennessee: We’re only halfway through the season but already you can see the Heisman Trophy story lines starting to form. The media is starting to fall in love with the Big 12 quarterbacks and that’s understandable because they, especially Chase Daniel of Missouri, are all playing lights out. Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno struggled against Alabama (34 yards on nine carries) but everybody is going to struggle to run against the Alabama defense this year. Georgia was off last week while the other guys were piling up big stats. Despite having a tender elbow, Moreno needs to shine against Tennessee on national television and get back into the minds of the Heisman voters. More importantly, a big day by Moreno gives Georgia the best chance to win.
2. Defenses have adjusted to Tebow: Last year’s 28-24 win by LSU over Florida in Baton Rouge was one of the most hard-hitting, intense football games that I have ever seen. I’m hoping that we’re going to see a similar one Saturday night when the two teams meet again in The Swamp. This is a huge game for Florida’s Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, after his two crucial turnovers played such a big part in the 31-30 loss to Ole Miss at home two weeks ago. But I’m hearing from around the league that after watching Tebow dominate last season, defenses have made a couple of subtle adjustments so that the running lanes he used to find inside are no longer there. The good defenses, and LSU is certainly one of those, are going to force Tebow to give up the ball or take a pounding. I will be very interested to see Tebow’s final numbers on Saturday night.
3. Tommy Bowden really needs a win: I’m not prepared to say that Thursday night’s game with Wake Forest is the biggest of the Tommy Bowden era at Clemson, but it’s certainly in the top two. The Tigers (3-2, 1-1 ACC) have had almost two full weeks of soul searching after blowing a 17-9 lead and losing to Maryland at home 20-17 back on Sept. 27. Another loss doesn’t mathematically eliminate Clemson from the ACC championship game, but the Tigers would be 1-2 in the league with Georgia Tech (4-1), Boston College (4-1), and Florida State (4-1) coming up in the next four weeks. This team was the ACC’s best hope of a national championship contender. Guys like RB James Davis of Atlanta came back to school in order to make a run at a championship. What happens to this team if that dream disappears? That is why this is a monster game for Clemson.
4. I don’t understand the love affair with Southern Cal: Some of you brought this up to me more than a week ago. I tend to ignore the weekly inconsistencies of the polls because I believe things shake out about right over the course of a 12 or 13 game schedule. But I can’t understand why the Harris Poll, one of the two used in the BCS formula, has jumped Southern Cal back up to No. 8 ahead of Georgia, whose only loss is to No. 2 Alabama. Southern Cal lost to a team (Oregon State) that was a 25-point underdog. Here’s the problem. Have you looked at the rest of the USC schedule? The best team the Trojans play the rest of the way is probably Notre Dame (4-1) and the Irish have also benefitted by a weak schedule. Given that the SEC and the Big 12 are head and shoulders above the rest of the BCS conferences, I refuse to believe that a one-loss Southern Cal could finish ahead of a one-loss team from those leagues.
5. BYU will bump into a glass ceiling: BYU has a nice team. They are fun to watch and Max Hall is a really good quarterback. But the Cougars, even if they go undefeated, are not going to play in the BCS championship game. Their two wins against BCS competition are Washington (0-5) and UCLA (2-3). Unless TCU (5-1) gets back into the Top 25, BYU will only play one ranked team this entire season, that coming in the final game with No. 13 Utah (6-0). BYU and Utah and No. 15 Boise State (4-0) are all in good position to finish in the Top 12 and earn an at-large spot in a BCS game. All three of those teams are good enough to hold their own should they get chosen for a BCS game. But let’s not get carried away and start putting one of those teams in the national championship game. I heard enough that talk about Hawaii. And you saw how that turned out.
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