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Monday, December 8, 2008
Defense gives Florida the early edge on OU
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ll break down the BCS national championship and the other important bowls as we get closer to the dates, but here are some quick impressions on the final weekend of the regular season:
1. Florida gets the early edge because of defense: You will hear over and over in the coming weeks that Oklahoma was the first team to ever score more than 60 points in five straight games. But who were they scoring those 60 points against? Here are the national defensive rankings for those five Oklahoma opponents: Nebraska (66), Texas Tech (72), Oklahoma State (86), Missouri (99), Texas A&M (113). The best defense in the Big 12 this season was Texas at No. 50. The best defense Oklahoma faced all season was No. 2 TCU, which held Oklahoma to its lowest point total of the season (35, which was matched by Texas). You can counter this argument by saying the offenses were just THAT GOOD in the Big 12. My point is that Oklahoma just hasn’t seen a defense like Florida’s, which is ranked No. 9 (279.31 ypg).
2. Tim Tebow should win the Heisman Trophy again: I don’t think he will because too many people sent their ballots in early and too many of the 900-plus voters just look at the big numbers. But I’m telling you that what Tebow did this season surpasses all of the great numbers he put up winning the Heisman a year ago. After the loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27 Tebow put himself on the line by promising that no one would play harder the rest of the season. And with Florida trailing 20-17 to Alabama in the fourth quarter last Saturday, Tebow would not let his team lose. When it comes to the whole package-talent, heart, competitiveness—this kid is one of the top 2-3 I have ever seen.
And here is the kicker: Here are the final national rankings of the defenses that Tebow faced this season: Alabama (3); Tennessee (4); South Carolina (11); Florida State (13); Ole Miss (15); Miami (25); Georgia (28); Vanderbilt (29): LSU (36); Kentucky (37); Hawaii (59); Arkansas (73). Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford faced one defense this season (TCU) ranked in the top 49. Tebow faced 10 of them.
3. If Oklahoma wins the BCS national championship, a 12-1 Texas should get a share: The BCS Standings were never designed to do what the Big 12 did last week. They were used to break a three-way tie for the Big 12 South and, because Northern Division winner Missouri was so bad, Oklahoma was virtually given an express ticket to the national championship game. I’m not saying that Oklahoma doesn’t belong there. But Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field and that should stand for something. So here is the answer. The Associated Press media poll finished 1) Florida, 2) Oklahoma, 3) Texas. The 65 voters in the AP poll are not bound by the BCS championship results. If Oklahoma beats Florida for the BCS title, the AP championship should go to Texas. There is nothing wrong with a split national championship. Southern Cal was No. 1 in both human polls in 2003 and did not get into the big game. The AP poll gave the Trojans their championship. That would be the right thing to do here.
4. The ACC championship should move to Atlanta: The ACC announced that over 50,000 tickets had been distributed to Saturday’s conference championship game in Tampa between Virginia Tech and Boston College. But in a television shot the league just had to love, the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium was very empty. There is an offer on the table from the Atlanta Sports Council to play the ACC championship game in the Georgia Dome the week before the SEC championship game. Yes, there would be all kind of logistical problems because of the three big rivalry games (Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson) that are played with the SEC at the end of the season. But the ACC has to get that game out of Florida because it just isn’t working. After one more game in Tampa (2009) it will move to Charlotte in 2010. It should do better there because of the central location but weather is a concern.
5. Auburn needs to hire Turner Gill, but it won’t happen: When Turner Gill got to Buffalo that football program was, by every measure, the worst in Division I-A football. Friday night Buffalo did the unthinkable and beat undefeated Ball State to win the MAC championship. Gill played for Tom Osborne and learned his football in the Nebraska system. He has already interviewed with Syracuse and will interview with Auburn this week in New York. I spoke to him Saturday and while he said all the right things about Buffalo, it was clear to me that he is looking for a new challenge. If Auburn is going to compete with Nick Saban, it’s time for the school to think outside the box. I just don’t see that happening at Auburn.
