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I've been quiet about college football games this year. I've been holding my breath over Missouri this year and kind of nodding along with Ohio State. Missouri is in a Conference Championship game for the 3rd time in 7 years. Ohio State has been the bully of its conference practically since I was born. I've been pretty lucky with their successes and don't need to rub it in.
There were three very important games for the football season yesterday. Any of them could have gone either way. Thanks to our "win or else" sports media, only the winners get full credit.
Ohio State- Michigan: Michigan looked unstoppable on its last drive. One pass after another to the left side of the formation and the Wolverines kept moving on and on. They score a touchdown with about 30 second left in the game. All they have to do is get the almost automatic one extra point and the game will go into overtime. Michigan instead lines up for a more difficult try for two extra points to win the game outright. I would have made the same decision. A pass goes up. The pass defenders on the left side of the formation are again nowhere to be seen. But this time the pass has been thrown to the right. The receiver is covered exactly the way the coaches draw it up. The cornerback is beside the receiver, forcing him to stay toward the middle of the field and the safety cuts in front at the last moment and intercepts the ball. Bad play call? Nervous quarterback throwing into double coverage? Whatever, Michigan won't get enough credit for the great game they played. I won't kid you. The one time a year when I actually root for the Buckeyes is when they play Michigan. But I know a fine game from an opponent when I see it.
Alabama-Auburn: I don't have a favorite in this match up. But Alabama has been the best team in the country for two years and most likely they're the best this year again. Auburn plays a heck of a game. In last quarter quarter they down a punt inside the one yard line. It looks like they are going to get great field position. Auburn guesses Alabama will blast the ball forward on the ground. Alabama's quarterback loops a pass over the defense and the receiver sprints 99 yards for a touchdown, within a few inches the longest possible play a football game can ever have. Looks like Alabama has won. But Auburn scores and the game is tied with seconds to play. Alabama's quarterback throws a nice pass and the receiver tries as hard as he can to get out of bounds before he's tackled to stop the clock from running. They have to hold up the game for several minutes to check the video to see if he made it. The refs decide he was safely out of bounds with a second to go. The game is tied with a long way to go to the end zone. Alabama could choose to just have the quarterback kneel down and end the half and worry about winning in overtime. Alabama could choose to throw one last long pass to the end zone. If it's caught they win. If it falls to the ground, overtime. If it's intercepted, surely they can tackle the defensive back before he can run 100 yards the other way. Tie game again with overtime to come. Or they can do what they did, try a very long field goal. It's safe enough. Make the field goal and they win. Miss it and the ball probably goes out of the end zone and it's a tie game. They send in the kid with the strong leg and kick. The ball falls short and it's fielded in the end zone with no time on the clock. All Alabama has to do is tackle the guy with the ball and they go into overtime. Except for some weird reason no one from the kicking team has followed the ball. There is no one near the Auburn man with the ball. He takes off like a shot. It takes a few moments before the Alabama players even realize the situation, and as the announcer uncharitably will say afterward, Alabama has no fast players on the field. They have "bunch of fat guys" out there to block and protect the kick. The Auburn man dodged one Alabama man and then could have trotted half the length of the field. There are plenty of his Auburn teammates ahead of him, but no one in sight to block. Alabama loses the game, its chance at a third straight conference championship and probably its hope of getting in the national championship game. Bad special teams coaching? Eleven Alabama guys on the field too caught up in the moment?
Missouri-Texas A&M: After last week's Texas A&M game against LSU, it was pretty obvious the way to beat them was to contain their quarterback Manziel. Not to try to stop him, which had been everybody's mistake last year, but to contain him. LSU forced him to run practically every play in the first half without letting him break through for any long runs. In the second half the kid was gassed, literally gasping for breath on the sidelines after every series. It looked like that was what Missouri needed to do as well. Keep Manziel from destroying them in the first half while wearing him out. At the half Texas A&M led 14-7, I wonder how many folks figured at that point that Texas A&M had as good as lost. As I would have expected Manziel got less effective as time wore on. Missouri scored 21 points in the second half to A&M's 7. Missouri goes to the Championship Game and A&M will get a nice mid-level bowl game somewhere. Manziel didn't have a huge game, but it wasn't anything like a bad game either. Johnny Manziel will not win another Heisman Trophy, so he's last year's news.
There were three very important games for the football season yesterday. Any of them could have gone either way. Thanks to our "win or else" sports media, only the winners get full credit.
Ohio State- Michigan: Michigan looked unstoppable on its last drive. One pass after another to the left side of the formation and the Wolverines kept moving on and on. They score a touchdown with about 30 second left in the game. All they have to do is get the almost automatic one extra point and the game will go into overtime. Michigan instead lines up for a more difficult try for two extra points to win the game outright. I would have made the same decision. A pass goes up. The pass defenders on the left side of the formation are again nowhere to be seen. But this time the pass has been thrown to the right. The receiver is covered exactly the way the coaches draw it up. The cornerback is beside the receiver, forcing him to stay toward the middle of the field and the safety cuts in front at the last moment and intercepts the ball. Bad play call? Nervous quarterback throwing into double coverage? Whatever, Michigan won't get enough credit for the great game they played. I won't kid you. The one time a year when I actually root for the Buckeyes is when they play Michigan. But I know a fine game from an opponent when I see it.
Alabama-Auburn: I don't have a favorite in this match up. But Alabama has been the best team in the country for two years and most likely they're the best this year again. Auburn plays a heck of a game. In last quarter quarter they down a punt inside the one yard line. It looks like they are going to get great field position. Auburn guesses Alabama will blast the ball forward on the ground. Alabama's quarterback loops a pass over the defense and the receiver sprints 99 yards for a touchdown, within a few inches the longest possible play a football game can ever have. Looks like Alabama has won. But Auburn scores and the game is tied with seconds to play. Alabama's quarterback throws a nice pass and the receiver tries as hard as he can to get out of bounds before he's tackled to stop the clock from running. They have to hold up the game for several minutes to check the video to see if he made it. The refs decide he was safely out of bounds with a second to go. The game is tied with a long way to go to the end zone. Alabama could choose to just have the quarterback kneel down and end the half and worry about winning in overtime. Alabama could choose to throw one last long pass to the end zone. If it's caught they win. If it falls to the ground, overtime. If it's intercepted, surely they can tackle the defensive back before he can run 100 yards the other way. Tie game again with overtime to come. Or they can do what they did, try a very long field goal. It's safe enough. Make the field goal and they win. Miss it and the ball probably goes out of the end zone and it's a tie game. They send in the kid with the strong leg and kick. The ball falls short and it's fielded in the end zone with no time on the clock. All Alabama has to do is tackle the guy with the ball and they go into overtime. Except for some weird reason no one from the kicking team has followed the ball. There is no one near the Auburn man with the ball. He takes off like a shot. It takes a few moments before the Alabama players even realize the situation, and as the announcer uncharitably will say afterward, Alabama has no fast players on the field. They have "bunch of fat guys" out there to block and protect the kick. The Auburn man dodged one Alabama man and then could have trotted half the length of the field. There are plenty of his Auburn teammates ahead of him, but no one in sight to block. Alabama loses the game, its chance at a third straight conference championship and probably its hope of getting in the national championship game. Bad special teams coaching? Eleven Alabama guys on the field too caught up in the moment?
Missouri-Texas A&M: After last week's Texas A&M game against LSU, it was pretty obvious the way to beat them was to contain their quarterback Manziel. Not to try to stop him, which had been everybody's mistake last year, but to contain him. LSU forced him to run practically every play in the first half without letting him break through for any long runs. In the second half the kid was gassed, literally gasping for breath on the sidelines after every series. It looked like that was what Missouri needed to do as well. Keep Manziel from destroying them in the first half while wearing him out. At the half Texas A&M led 14-7, I wonder how many folks figured at that point that Texas A&M had as good as lost. As I would have expected Manziel got less effective as time wore on. Missouri scored 21 points in the second half to A&M's 7. Missouri goes to the Championship Game and A&M will get a nice mid-level bowl game somewhere. Manziel didn't have a huge game, but it wasn't anything like a bad game either. Johnny Manziel will not win another Heisman Trophy, so he's last year's news.
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Aside from just those three you mentioned, there were a ton of good games this week. Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Duke-UNC, Oregon-Oregon State...
Man, and as good a coach as Saban is, he's going to have to build himself a better kicking game. I would never bank on a college kicker from 55, but all those shorties his team failed on.... (as they did in 2011 vs. LSU) probably should have reminded his players about the possibility of a returned miss on such a long kick - a rare event, but which had LSU pulled off earlier this year.