LSU

2012 College Football NCAA Championship and Other News

Well I was going to write on the College National Championship Football game today, that was played between LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide last night. Unfortunately, the game was extremely boring as LSU decided they were still on a holiday and never got out of bed. Alabama made LSU look like a NCAA Division II team had actually taken the field as the Tigers never scored. With a final score of 21-0, not much more to say about the game other than if Les Miles is the “Mad Hatter”, Nick Saban is the “Mad Genius.” Saban is the only coach since the inception of the BCS to win three National Championship titles. All indications point to Nick Saban being far from done with his winning ways. We know Saban will win again, we just do not know how long until he is hoisting the Championship trophy up again.

In NFL Football Playoff news, an update to my predictions from last week, I did pretty well. I correctly predictied the winners of three out of four games on the NFL Playoff Wild Card Weekend. In addition, two of my predicted scores were almost the exact scores of the game. The game between the Detroit Lions and the New Orleans Saints ended up being a final score of 45-28 in favor of the Saints. I had predicted that the score would be 42-28 in favor of the Saints. The score between the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals was 31-10 in favor of the Texans. I had predicted that score to be 31-14 in favor of the Texans. In addition, I predicted that the New York Giants would win over the Atlanta Falcons but thought the score would be much closer than the 24-2 final score in favor of the Giants. I truly had no idea the Falcons would not show up to play at all. The Falcons could not even convert a 4th and inches at all the whole game and they had multiple chances.

The only game that I completely missed on was the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was not the only one that was completely wrong about this game. The majority of experts and analysts also picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to win. After three bad weeks to end the season, my faith in “Tebow Time” had definitely diminished. I did not believe that Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos could pull of a victory to continue their dream season.

However, I was very wrong and the Denver Broncos accomplished what seemed to be the impossible. The Denver Broncos played their best game of the season, led by spectacular play of Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow threw for 316 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Tim Tebow rushed for another touchdown on the ground. The pass of the night was in overtime when after running on first down all game, the Denver Broncos trusted in Tim Tebow’s arm and threw on first down. Tim Tebow completed an 80 yard pass to Demaryius Thomas for the game-winning score. Thomas was Tim Tebow’s favorite target during the game, totaling 204 receiving yards for the game. The final score of the game ended up being 29-23 in favor of the Denver Broncos. The Tim Tebow Train survives but arrives in Foxboro Stadium this week. The playoff rematch should be interesting as we see if Tebow Time can finally overcome the Brady Factor.

Like every other NFL fan I have enjoyed this NFL season and the NFL playoffs have not disappointed me either. I would have not wanted to miss all the drama, big plays, and great games of this NFL. I am glad that we still have some football action coming up this weekend. I have to say my thank you again to the NFL owners and NFL players for reaching an agreement. Thank you for allowing us to have a football season this year because it has been one of the best.

Football and More Football

The punishment for Ndamukong Suh has been finally delivered and Suh will receive a ban of two games. Ndamukong Suh may be only one player but he is the leader of not only the Detroit Lions defense but also the overall team. Suh has changed the identity of the Detroit Lions from a laugh stock to a team that was respected. However, now Detroit is truly labeled the “Bad Boys” of the NFL and they have been give the identity of a team who plays dirty. No excuse can be given that justifies Ndamukong Suh stomping on another player because he is frustrated. I have no problem with a player playing hard but when a player starts to take cheap shots at other players, the player’s team should take some measures to keep that player under control. Ray Lewis is similar to Suh in the passion he has for the game. Ray Lewis plays with the same type of dominance Suh does in each game. Yet I cannot remember the last time I saw Ray Lewis do anything like Suh did on Thanksgiving Day. Ray Lewis plays hard, fast but keep his play clean. Ndamukong Suh may want to take some lessons from Ray Lewis on how to channel his anger and frustration in the right direction.

On a more positive note the Green Bay Packers are looking more and more like the greatest team in NFL History. The Packers look like they will go undefeated as I cannot see that there is any team that can beat them. When teams play the Green Bay Packers it truly reminds me of college football. The reason it reminds me of college football is because the Green Bay Packers play on a level that is so much higher than any other NFL team. On any given Sunday, a team comes to play the Green Bay Packers and before long the Green Bay Packers are up with a lead and never look back. If anyone wants to see an amazing, no mistake team in action, just watch a game with the Green Bay Packers. Barring an injury to Aaron Rodgers I do not see how the Green Bay Packers can lose a game this season. The Packers are truly poetry in motion to watch.

We return back to college football to finish off this week’s post. I am convinced that we will have a rematch for the national championship game. Looks like LSU and Alabama will be the two teams playing for the national championship, barring a defeat of LSU in the SEC championship game. If LSU loses to Georgia in the SEC championship game, they will be bumped from BCS National title game. In the BCS polls, when you lose is just as important as to who you lose to. A loss for LSU would be catastrophic to their national title hopes. I doubt that this scenario will actually take place though, because LSU has been looking like the most dominant team all year long. The only other way we do not see the LSU and Alabama rematch is if Oklahoma State defeats Oklahoma this week and then Oklahoma State jumps Alabama in the polls. Even if Oklahoma State wins I do not see them surpassing Alabama to get an opportunity at the national title game. A defeat of a number ten nationally ranked team is just not enough for Oklahoma State to make the jump over Alabama. I am all for a rematch of the LSU and Alabama game. The last game was exciting with all the plays one would expect in a BCS national championship game. The rematch should even be more entertaining with each team having over a month to plan for the other team. We should be in for one of the most exciting games of the year.

Football is gearing up for some great finishes this year. The NFL playoffs should be exciting as some unexpected teams are going to make the playoffs for the first time in a few years. In addition, all the college bowl games should provide us with some great matchups over the holiday season. We have a great deal of good football to look forward to over the next few months as the start of the post season nears. Our football excitement meter should once again be on high

College Football is Here! Oregon vs. LSU Preview

The wait is over college football season is finally here and starts off with a bang. A great deal of great college games start the season off but none is more interesting than Oregon vs. LSU. I have heard all the experts pick Oregon to win this game. While I agree Oregon has a good chance to win the game, I will never count out the “Mad Hatter”, Les Miles. Miles has been known to have a few trick plays up his sleeve for big games and I am sure tonight will be no different. I am excited to see what kind of trick play Les Miles and company will pull out of his vault of madness. Les Miles is not the only coach that runs trick plays in college football games; He is just the one coach with the highest percentage rate of success with trick plays. The trick play factor Les Miles brings to any LSU game multiplies the excitement level. The execution of each Les Miles original trick play is truly a thing of beauty.

The game will be a battle between two great college teams.Oregon is a team that plays the college football game at such a high speed, sometimes it is hard for any team to keep up. Lamichael James is one of the best running backs in the country and Kenjon Barner can be a game breaker, given the right situation.  Darron Thomas is a quarterback who cannot only throw a good deep ball but also use his legs extend the play. Thomas is a very capable team leader and proven signal caller. The loss of Jeff Maehl (the Ducks 1,000 yard receiver) may limit the effectiveness of the Ducks passing game, but Oregon still has some capable receivers in Josh Huff, Justin Hoffman, and Lavasier Tuinei.

LSU will have to pick their poison on offense and decide whether they want to give up yards to James and Barner on the ground or Thomas through the air. The good news for LSU is that Oregon lost the majority of their offensive line this past year and that gives the Tigers a good chance to shut down the Ducks run game. In addition, LSU’s run defense is no slouch by any means. Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo make up a good defensive line and the linebacker corps can be stout. The battle between the Ducks offensive line and the Tigers defensive line should be one of the most interesting of the night.

On the other side, LSU will be without starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson due to him being suspended indefinitely. Jefferson is suspended for being arrested for participating in a fight outside of Shady’s Bar in Baton Rouge. Jordan Jefferson is facing being convicted of a felony on second degree battery charges. Starting in Jefferson’s place will be senior quarterback Jarrett Lee.  Lee is a veteran quarterback but is a definite downgrade from Jefferson who was expected to have a great season. It will be interesting to see how effective the offense is with Lee at the helm. LSU will also be without starting receiver Russell Shepard due to NCAA rules violation. The loss of Shepard will mean that the Lee will be throwing to a group of less experienced receivers. Hopefully, Lee can overcome the loss of Shepard and still lead the LSU Tigers to victory.

Both teams have their challenges to overcome when entering this game. LSU will have to overcome the absence of some key players and also have to try slowing down the Oregon Duck’s offense that plays on hyper-speed the whole game. Oregon will have to focus on hoping their offensive line holds up and that they find some holes in the LSU defense. The battle between LSU and Oregon should be one for the ages. I am excited to watch to see how the whole game unfolds. The game-changing turnovers, the momentum swings, and incredible plays should all be there. I would usually pick a winner in a game like this, but tonight I am just going to enjoy the game and the start of the college season. Tonight the men will be separated from the boys.