AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October > 13
Monday, October 13, 2008
Dawgs won’t beat Florida, LSU unless they fix penalty problem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second time this year (Sept. 27 was the first), we’ve had a “Shakeout Saturday” that turned the national championship race upside down. And to think, the first BCS standings of the season don’t come out until Sunday!
Here are just five things we learned over the weekend:
1. Georgia won’t beat LSU or Florida unless it fixes penalty problem: I can’t prove it but I believe Georgia’s penalty problems are making it tough for the pollsters to show them a lot of love. Let’s look at the facts. Statistically, Georgia dominated Saturday’s game with Tennessee. But mistakes and penalties allowed Tennessee, a team that is really struggling, to stay close. Georgia had 11 penalties in this game and now leads the nation with 63 in six games. I think the pollsters are looking at Georgia as a good team but not a great team because it makes too many mistakes and can’t put a team away. Really good teams make statements when they play. Florida, for example, made an emphatic statement Saturday night when it beat LSU. Georgia will not be able to have that statement game until it cuts down on the penalties and other mental errors. And frankly, it really doesn’t matter what the pollsters think about Georgia because the Bulldogs are not going to beat LSU or Florida if they don’t get this corrected.
2. Alabama will get its chance to be No. 1: I know Crimson Tide fans are mad today because Texas jumped over them in the polls after that impressive 45-35 win over Oklahoma which, for my money, may be the Longhorns’ biggest regular-season win the Mack Brown era. But sit tight, Bama faithful. Keep winning and you’ll get there. Why? Look at the rest of the Texas schedule starting this Saturday at home against a Missouri (5-1) team that now has its backs to the wall. No. 8 Oklahoma State (6-0), the team that beat Missouri, comes to Austin the following week. On Nov. 1 Texas goes to No. 7 Texas Tech (6-0). If the Longhorns survive that three-game gauntlet then there is a trap game at No. 16 Kansas on Nov. 15. And if Texas gets through all that undefeated it will probably have t play Missouri again in the Big 12 championship. It’s hard to see the ‘Horns going through that undefeated.
3. Florida found its identity Saturday night: If your team plays Florida in the coming weeks, what happened Saturday night at The Swamp should concern you. Until the 51-21 win over LSU, Florida was just a collection of very good players who couldn’t figure out what everybody was supposed to do. Now they know. In the final quarter of the Oct. 4 game with Arkansas Florida finally started using quarterback Tim Tebow not as their primary weapon, but as the man who can distribute the ball to a variety of playmakers that nobody can catch. Florida, my friends, ran for 265 yards against the best defensive line in the country (even though Ricky Jean-Francois was out with an injury). Florida’s identity from this point forward will be as a team with a big play offense with a defense that is getting better each week. The Gators were scary good Saturday night.
4. You’ve got to have a QB to win on the road—or anywhere, for that matter: Tennessee, LSU, and Clemson all lost on the road during the weekend. What do they all have in common? All are struggling with quarterback play. When you go on the road the quarterback has to manage the game against a hostile crowd and needs to make enough plays to give you a chance to win. Auburn lost at home to a bad Arkansas team Auburn but the problem was the same—quarterback. Tennessee, and LSU really don’t have that many options. Clemson is going to go with redshirt freshman Willy Korn against Georgia Tech after watching Cullen Harper struggle in the first half of the season. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is talking about taking a redshirt off freshman Barrett Trotter because things have gotten so bad. The game has evolved to the point where you can’t be average at the quarterback position and get by any more. The defenses are just too good. And while we’re on the subject: Why are there so many great quarterbacks in the Big 12 and a dearth of top level quarterbacks in the SEC? I don’t know the answer. I’m asking.
5. Defense gives South Carolina a shot at LSU: The headlines in Gamecock Country this week will be dominated by the fact that Stephen Garcia, the star-crossed quarterback, will finally get his first start for head coach Steve Spurrier. But the thing that gives South Carolina a shot in Saturday’s game with LSU is a defense that is ranked No. 3 in the nation (240.86 yards per game). Kentucky converted only one of 16 third down attempts in Saturday’s 24-17 win by South Carolina. Florida committed everything it had on defense to making sure that LSU running back Charles Scott did not beat them. Scott, the league’s leading rusher, had only 35 yards on 12 carries. Expect South Carolina to do the same and put QB Jarrett Lee into long yardage situations. Florida did that and made Lee look like a freshman quarterback again.
Services »
