OK, well, we're a few days into 2012, and the plan for the year is more efficiency and organization.
A good thing, since we haven't been together here since late November.
As soon-to-be-former-presidential-wannabe Rick Perry says: Oops.
So first things first: catching up with what was written and not posted, before offering new stuff. We’ll catch up some more over the weekend. That’s plenty of time to wiggle through the old – and hand to God, untouched and unedited – stuff.
OLD STUFF, Part I (untouched since Dec. 10)
There was a plan to offer some analysis before the SEC champeenship game, but time crept up and it wasn't completed and posted.
So here, in italics, is what had been done before kickoff on Saturday, and then the postgame wrap.
It's about 55 degrees and sunny in Atlanta, absolutely perfect weather for football.
OK, for tailgating, since the SEC championship is in the Dome. But the fans should be in prime form with exquisite hydrating weather.
This
http://www.macon.com/2011/12/01/1806514/strange-things-happen-in-big-games.html
pretty much covers yours truly's thoughts, with a few addendums, most about the spread.
People are yakking about it being 13.5 or 14, and missing the point.
For one, we are, of course, talking about the No. 1 team in the country with dominant facets facing a so-so top-15 team,
The thing is that 14 points in gambling is substantially different than 14 points in the actual game.
Remember: Georgia beat Ole Miss and Mississippi State by 14, and those sure weren't dominant or even comfy wins.
Two touchdowns can be two plays, five yards, a late touchdown. Even 21 points can be a close game: 14 points and a late touchdown.
It's like boxing. One guy can be really kind of in control, but all the other guy needs is one solid punch to change the face of the match.
LSU will either come out smoking, and see if Georgia can handle it, or the Tigers will be a little sluggish as a huge favorite and see if Georgia can take advantage.
People hate cliches, but this one does come down to a non-existent memory for the Dogs. They have to literally worry about winning that play. Forget the last one, ignore the next one.
They can't miss blocks, at all. They can't drop third-down passes. They can't fumble. They have to get touchdowns, not field goals.
They can't let somebody roam free. They can't guess where LSU's DBs are going to be. They can't miss a tackle, especially on special teams.
Fast and in control. Aggressive yet patient.
Intensity won't be a problem. Channelling that into smart play is the key.
Aaron Murray needs to take off about a half-dozen times, just go. Drop back, bounce once, and throw or go.
The receivers not named Malcolm better be ready, and better make plays, and better block downfield.
The running game is what it is, a mess. Which makes you wonder if Georgia might have something up its sleeve to take advantage of that.
And that's when I ran out of time and then out of actual memory
As it turns out, we can thank old Arizona head coach Dennis Green for giving us a simple wrap up for many games, and LSU-UGA fits:
They are who we thought they were.
It goes for both teams.
Georgia was a decent team, ranked in the teens. LSU was a special team that is unflappable, talented, and well-coached that plays hard.
Maybe it took a half to really get going. Maybe LSU needed a threat. Maybe LSU was toying with us all.
Yeah, the Tigers may be THAT good.
Georgia was successful for a quarter and a half, but the Dogs really weren't playing that well. They were 1 for 2 in field goals, the passing game was quite off, and it was hard to tell whose fault it was, the receivers or the quarterback.
That's not a good sign.
The running game's plays weren't as creative as they needed to be, and the Bulldogs collection of backs is lacking. The lack of a run game eventually put all the heat on QB Aaron Murray, and thus on the offensive line to protect.
Third quarter, breakdown, scramble, fumble, LSU touchdown. And for all intents and purposes, ballgame. Next possession: two incompletions, 7-yard scramble, punt, 47-yard punt return, wretched punt return fundamentals, four plays, touchdown, officially ballgame.
The Tigers, though few Bulldogs would admit as much, came out more energized and aggressive on defense in the second half. They waited out the first half, watched what Georgia was doing, adjusted and pinned back their ears.
Oddly, Georgia had more second-half yards than first half yards, but those came in the fourth quarter when LSU was just clock-watching.
That the game wasn't a nail-biter is no surprise for a variety of reasons, including that this title game is rarely a nail-biter. The average margin entering Saturday was WHAT points. It's worth reminding some that Georgia has won this game by 27 points and by 20 points.
And yeah, LSU is that good. Les Miles and his staff are that good. They made better adjustments, and their players - here it comes - executed better. Yes, they have better players.
And yes, Georgia could have stayed with LSU, except what couldn't happen did: one return changes the momentum, a turnover deep adds to that as much as the ensuing touchdown did. Soon enough, the avalanche began.
No, the second half wasn't pretty for Georgia in any form or fashion. But let's note that Arkansas was the No. 3 team in the country and was ambushed the same way, maybe worse because the Razorbacks were better than the Bulldogs.
LSU is a team of the decade, and showed that it wanted to prove as much, no matter the speculation that it would make the BCS title game with a loss. The Tigers are for real and should have earned any missing respect with what they did Saturday.
It doesn't much diminish Georgia's season: 10 wins and a division championship. It seems like too many Georgia watchers would rather not be successful, just to get rid of Mark Richt.
Here's an Auburn text from Saturday: "if uga plays well tonight i think they r preseason #1 in league and top 8 overall ... yea let's fire richt ... bunch of idiots."
Indeed, I've never heard so much bitching and moaning about a 10-win team that won its division, turning around a brutal 6-7 team and horrible bowl loss. You play who you play, and people are grousing that the schedule wasn't a test. So you'd rather lose?
Or rather have Ray Goff back?
They both were who we thought they were. And Georgia is reminded of where it isn't.
Now, let's see what Mark Richt does next year after losing only one so-so offensive tackle, a decent guard, a quality center, a three-year tight end/one-year fullback, a defensive end, and cornerback, as well as a punter and two kickers.
Next season, we'll see what Richt brings, and then more of the whining might have some legitimacy to it.
LOOKING BACK (Old stuff II, untouched since Dec. 10)
The call on Tech-UGA was 34-24, Bulldogs. The final was 31-17, but mighty close to becoming - only because of executive offensive coordinator Mark Richt's philosophy - 31-20 or 31-24.
That after a sluggish first quarter, Georgia starts to roll. And should that happen, it'll get a little testy.
Georgia has to play to win, next week notwithstanding. It's always bad to take a week less than seriously because of having clinched something. Momentum and confidence.
It didn't get testy. Oops.
Items of analysis:
Tech has the No. 2 rushing offense in the nation, Georgia has the No. 2 rushing defense in the nation.
Tech has the No. 6 pass efficiency offense in the nation, Georgia has the No. 6 pass efficiency defense in the nation.
Georgia has the No. 4 total defense, Tech the No. 16 total offense.
Georgia was in control most of the game, but couldn't quite put it away.
Nothing new there.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS (Old stuff III, untouched since Dec. 10)
Quickie on the Heisman: The vote here was Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, and Andrew Luck.
I wish the ballot had five instead of three, but it's good that five players got the trip to New York.
Tyrann Mathieu will open next season as a favorite. If he can repeat his feats and avoids fake pot, he'll be back in New York and will be in the top two.
Quickie on the BCS: So how is it so bad that the top two teams made it, like they're supposed to?
Sure, it's close between Alabama and Oklahoma State, but logic - absent in nearly all of these discussions - dictates that Alabama's loss was better, although OSU didn't have seriously extenuating circumstances for the Iowa State game with the deaths of two women's basketball coaches.
As far as ranked opponents, four OSU opponents were ranked at kickoff and four are in the final BCS poll. For Alabama, four were ranked at kickoff and four now. So much for that argument.
Stanford played three ranked kickoff, and three now - note that USC is ranked in the AP poll, not in BCS because of probation.
But don't we keep hearing how tough the SEC is? On the other hand, the SEC was pretty top heavy, and mediocre or worse otherwise.
This goes back to what I've thought is the only legitimate option: plus one.
Have the "semifinals" on Dec. 27 or 28, 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, and then the winners a week later, not a day past Jan. 5.
Sorry, Boise State, not yet. Gotta play more than two games a year against top-30 competition. Ditto Houston.
So yeah, LSU vs. Stanford and Alabama vs. Oklahoma State works.
Sorry, the semifinals will come a few days after Christmas, and no, we can't be playing college football's final game after the NFL playoffs have started. That's just wrong in the real world.
The plus-one is the way to go. Been saying that for awhile. ...
Quickie, well, had a quickie on something else, and forgot. ...
Charlie Weis to Kansas? Wow. But somebody here has been writing all season that Weis is tremendous overrrrrrated - you thought I had something else.
Weis really, really must have wanted a head coaching job. Really. Then again, one can easily see the possibility of egos clashing with Weis and Will Muschamp.
Urban Meyer and Co. not only left with bare cupboards, they left with some of the cupboards. Does Muschamp have the patience to go through rebuilding? Can his extreme intensity survive mediocrity until things get better?
In 2012, UF is still behind South Carolina and Georgia, and probably Tennessee. Oh, the East will be interesting. ...
NEW STUFF
To address over the weekend:
1. I hate this 'can't beat a team more than once' crap. It's absurd. If Alabama beats LSU, it won't be become of an abstract like that.
2. Nobody has seen Mark Richt and Mike Malarkey in the same stadium at the same time. Thus, UGA and the Falcons are intertwined, and not really in a good way.
3. Richt's field goal decision against Michigan State should earn him a fine from his boss.
4. A bowl constant: people bitch about 'em, but people watch 'em and talk about 'em.
5. Winner of the Hallmark Sympathy Card for 2012 goes to Bill O'Brien, the soon-to-be Penn State head ball coach. He's not replacing a legend, he's cleaning up a sickening scandal. Either way, there's some masochism running through those veins.
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