What we learned.........Notre Dame's home field advantage once again was instrumental in pulling the Irish out of the fire, Oregon's defense is not all that great, but probably good enough to get the Ducks to the National Championship game, and the LSU talent still wasn't good enough to make up for Les Miles' coaching gaffes!!
Notre Dame escaped another close call in South Bend in a game where the Pitt Panthers executed a perfect game plan, but couldn't overcome a phantom pass interference call and a high snap on a FG try in OT. Pitt moved the ball effectively all day but could not deliver the decisive blow when it mattered most. Notre Dame again found a way win against an inferior opponent at home as their magical season remained intact. The Irish continue to play a duel QB system, while rushing effectively, the offense continues to struggle. On the other side of the ball Manti Teo and company had issues slowing down a very balanced Pitt attack with Graham rushing well over a 100 yds and Sunseri completing big plays in the passing game. In the end ND won, but with the understanding there will be no HFA in LA at the end of the year!
The Ducks are who we thought they were! In a season where we thought Oregon dressed out a defense to go along with their explosive offense.... after a 62-51 victory in LA we discovered the Ducks are all about just outscoring the opponent. With Cal, Standford, Oregon St, and a home PAC 12 Championship game left it looks as if the Ducks will score their way to Miami.
On Saturday night in Death Valley it looked as if the Bengal Bayou Tigers where well on their way to REDEMPTION....but poor ole Les outcoached his talent again! LSU dominated 3 qtrs of this game controlling the time of possession by QB Mettenberger delivering deadly accurate passes on 3rd down....over and over! At times it looked as if Alabama offense could do as it wished, but due to the LSU 3rd down efficiency on offense.. AJ McCarron and Bama "O" could not establish any rhythm. Meanwhile Mettenberger and the LSU bunch were gassing Saban's "D" by executing a game plan that seemed to be the right formula to pull the upset. But with a 2 turnover edge, a 400+ yd offensive performance, Mettenberger's perfect QB play, the Bayou Tigers could not overcome a botched FG fake, a failed onside kick attempt, 2 missed FGs, and a stuffed 4th and 1 attempt...and of course AJ McCarron!
By Diddy Joe
ReplyDeleteLast night I watched one of the better games I've ever seen in college football. Alabama's win in the last minutes of the game was somewhat bittersweet. On one hand, you wanted to keep a SEC team undefeated so that it could play in the national championship. On the other, you wanted to see LSU win, because they outplayed Alabama. If Les Miles would have stayed in the locker room, LSU would probably have been the victor. Miles tried a fake punt that resulted in turning the ball over to Alabama. I can't believe he tried something like that against Nick Saban. Later in the game, he kicked a field goal when he should have punted. When his team got some momentum in the third quarter, he tried an asinine "on side kick." (I believe Mark May said that later on ESPN recap.) Somewhat later, with a fourth and a yard, he pulls his quarterback out of the game, goes into wildcat formation and tries to run it right up the gut. Boy, that was genius. In the last few minutes of the game, when LSU is pressing Ala's goal, he decides to go with another field goal. To my way of thinking, I would have passed on third and fourth down, trying to keep possession of the ball. I mean, if you're going for the win, go for it. LSU quarterback Mettenberger lit up the second quarter with an array of right on passes. His receivers had finally decided to hang on to the ball and some even made professional level catches. I believe he threw for twice as many yards as McCarron. After the unsuccessful field goal, Alabama, with less than ninety seconds on the clock, drove down the field for a touchdown. I'm sure that "The Drive" will go down in Alabama history and be shown as one of the greatest comebacks in college football. Probably be used to motivate athletic teams and businesses. The only thing it didn't have was Ronald Reagan playing George Gipp and telling them to get one for the gipper and yelling Roll tide roll!!
As you probably know, Georgia rolled over Ole Miss. They will probably be playing Alabama for the SEC championship. Bama still has to beat a very good Texas A@m team and Georgia has to dispense of Auburn, which in all likelihood should not be much of a problem. It could get real interesting, depending on what Georgia team shows up. Not much else.
Bama was let off the hook this weekend. I it is funny because it seems to me that LSU is the only team that is not intimidated by by Bama. Let see what happens against A&M this week.
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