Originally posted by: destrekor
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: rocadelpunk
http://www.sundaymorningqb.com...y/2007/12/3/12023/0450
No, no, not again. The worst result of last year's mythical championship game was the growth and perpetuation of this absurd notion of superior "SEC speed," based not on the collective 40 times and shuttle drills of hundreds of players on a couple dozen teams that make up the SEC and Big Ten, but on a handful of plays in a single game that was decidedly outside the season-long patterns of both participants, and not demonstrably decided by "speed" (unless you're willing to suggest Tennessee and Arkansas were done in a week earlier by "speed," too, which was at least as plausible). These conferences need to play more often.
Anyway, then, the foolish geographical chest-thumping only lasted a few days before the onset of the offseason relegated it to the safe obscurity of message boards and occasional comment thread. This time, do not expect the partisan sons of the South to fall quiet at any point over the next month prior to the Buckeyes' "rematch" (ugh) with LSU; for a sampling of the inane vitriol to come, check this comment thread, or any SEC board, or let the usually sage Gator fans at Saurian Sagacity sum it up in a series of smug that doesn't even apply to their own team:
One would think the false sense of inevitability that followed Ohio State prior to last year's championship (or USC the year before that, or that very, very fast Miami team in 2002, or, I don't know, LSU, Ohio State, West Virginia, USC, Oregon, Michigan, Oklahoma, California, Florida or LSU again prior to stunning upsets over the last three months) would demonstrate the virtues of humility to fans everywhere, and lead them to stop for a second to recognize - last year's anomalous championship beatdown is a great example of this - that anything can happen in one game, on one night, and "anything" will not necessarily reconcile itself with the accumulation of disparate performances that precedes it. It only adds to the accumulation; it doesn't define it. Based on everything we know from the dozen "samples" on both sides leading up to last January, that Florida team couldn't beat that Ohio State team by 27 points again in a whole season of trying. There's a reason the Gators were underdogs, and it's not because they kept the fast guys under wraps when squeaking out wins against South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Based on everything we know from both teams' performances this season, Ohio State and LSU should be a close, hard-hitting game between two of the few teams that still operate largely from traditional two-back sets on offense and do not hesitate to run old-fashioned isos, counters and traps into the line. It's an interesting collision of style and persona between loose cannon Les Miles and icy, understated mercenary Jim Tressel, and their emphases on emotion, "poise" (as Miles likes to repeat to his oft-flagged charges) and discipline. But it will be decided by the side that executes and catches the right breaks under the specific set of circumstances that unfold on Jan. 7, at which point, of course, that team will be instantly refashioned into gold-drenched superheroes with inherent abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Naturally: We are the champions! These are the myths we make.
But the athletes, the speed, all of that is a given. LSU and Ohio State have both turned in top ten recrutiting classes each of the last four seasons. They've all got the athletes. They've all got the speed. The differences in raw talent on this level are nil. This championship, like all championships, will be about combining management, strategy and execution in the moment, and probably a bounce or timely flag or two. Not as catchy as "SEC Speed," but anything more precise than wrongheaded, bumper sticker hubris rarely is.
You just quoted some random dudes blog?
the best point that is brought up though:
anything can happen in a single game. this season proves that. and was proved with Florida last year. OSU did not play like how OSU played in the regular season, they were sloppy, and were also missing Ginn. Now true, the offense was heavily built around Ginn last year, and that changed this year with introducing numerous capable players, but our beloved Beanie Wells definitely wants to fill in for the lack of Ginn.
either way, many times over an underdog will win a game, but the same number of times the poll favorite will likely win too. It's the consequence of single-game plays.
It would have been cool to play USC in the Rose Bowl, because OSU players USC next year too. That's hopefully gonna stand out amongst the shitty non-conference games scheduled around it: Youngstown, Ohio University, and Troy. seriously? blah