College Football Week 13 (Rivalry Week) discussion

[digamma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I can't really recall any loss more ... disturbing ... in 42 years.

It reveals a very ugly truth in bright bold colors: as far as football is concerned the ACC doesn't belong in the same league with the SEC or in the same sentence with the words "major conference".

I can't think of any rational defense (that doesn't involve $$$) for it having a guaranteed BCS bid at this point.

I still don't have any doubt that GT is the best team in the conference right now over the course of a 12 game season, problem is that doesn't equate with being a top tier team. All the Jackets, or Clemson, do at this point is cheapen the Orange Bowl by being there.

While I think I'm generally more of an optimist about GT sports than you are, I really disagree with you on this one. I am frustrated by the loss, but really not nearly as disappointed as I thought I'd be.

The fact that GT's front seven on defense is grossly undermanned is nothing new. See Miami, Clemson, Vanderbilt, and FSU. Outside of Derrick Morgan, there is not one player there who, at this point, would start for anyone in the top half of the ACC. Yet, they've bandaged things together and masked things pretty well. Tonight was really horrible in the front seven. Horrible. That said, it would be nice if the SEC refs could have found a flag for the several holding penalties even my wife spotted.

On offense, the injury to Nesbitt was unfortunate and really the difference in the game. Jaybo has a head for the offense, but his body just doesn't match. He's undersized, a step too slow and his arm just isn't strong enough. Without that INT and ensuing TD, it's a different ball game.

Now to the end game. I've gotten multiple texts questioning the playcalling. Second down pass long was questionable, and maybe third down two, but Nesbitt put two catchable balls out there. And could have easily drawn a flag on both plays. Fourth down is just unfortunate and a bad break. That's a play Thomas makes 98 times out of 100.

Aside from the problems on the front seven on defense, part of which is just youth, I've never felt better about GT football. Even after 1990 or 1998 or 2000. This is still a young team, even if Dwyer, Morgan and Thomas leave early. I think GT wins that game tonight more times than they don't. And I didn't feel that way in 2007, 2005, 2003, 2001, etc.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by bob

This really reminded me of the Gailey / Reggie Ball era. Toss it deep and pray for Calvin Johnson miracle catch or pass interference. I don't really understand the play call here at all given the time left and the fact that Tech was on the UGA side of the 50.

Nah, a Gailey team quits at the half and it's a 51-3 debacle.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The question might be where they'll be showing them, as they're rumored to be bound for Versus if Comcast completes an acquisition of NBC Universal.

The ratings this year have been a mixed bag, with the USC game being the most watched in 3 years (4.5 rtg) and the WSU game being one of the least watched games in their history (1.3 rtg, worse only than Nevada earlier this year and a 1.2 against Duke a few years back)

But there's definitely a decline from the 6's they drew what now seems like a very long time ago.

Versus eh? Damn...

Although I get Versus in HD so it wouldn't be a big deal to me personally I can see understand that might affect them nationally.

I do agree with Matthean that it would be nice to have a good Pac-10 game on each week nationally, although they are typically on one regional cable channel or another in my neck of the woods (South Carolina).

I'm kind of mad that it was only this week I found out I could actually watch the secondary ABC Saturday night game on ESPN2 standard definition. When the other game looked better I kept checking ESPN2 HD and it would just show ESPN News but on ESPN2 SD they actually showed the alternate game like they were supposed to. If I'd known that I wouldn't have missed Oregon-Arizona last week, among others through the course of the season.

[Eaglesfan27]

A rather boring game, but USC is up 14-0 after 3 quarters.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sheesh. UCLA's QB tries to throw a pass forward, but gets pressure on him and end up throwing it sideways into the ground where his man picks it up for a big gain.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Inadvertent whistle caused that play to be ruled dead on replay and UCLA chose to replay the down. Next play, Craft throws a pick to Pinkard.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Dola check out Kirk's rant on Game Day this morning. It is spot on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNs0qlWADJI

I think he's right about their relevancy. But I do think the "talent" statement is a cop-out. Notre Dame was more talented than most of the teams they played this year. Sure they aren't as talented as the SEC defeneses and other elite teams, but there is no reason to go 6-6 with that group with that schedule. This is a team that had the talent to win 9-10 games and didn't.

[Eaglesfan27]

USC takes a 21-7 lead on a 2nd TD by Allen Bradford. Less than 2 minutes left in the game. Not the blowout I would have liked to have seen, but still happy to see the team get the win.

[bhlloy]

Good game UCLA, if you had a QB the scores probably would have been reversed.

Nice to see Neiuheisel still being a dick, calling TO's with 52 seconds left and down 2 touchdowns and not letting SC kneel it out. If somebody gets hurt in the pointless plays that will follow.... HAHAHAHAHA FUCK YOU.... asshole.

[Eaglesfan27]

Love it. USC tried to run out the clock by taking a knee with 51 seconds left, but Slick Rick called a time out. So, next play USC with a PA long TD pass from Barkley to Williams.

[bhlloy]

what a douche. what a complete douche. that is the funniest fucking thing I've seen on a football field in a long time.

[bhlloy]

DOLA - Rick caused this. Let's see CR and Bug on here trying to defend this one. Your coach is a classless douchebag.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

DOLA - Rick caused this. Let's see CR and Bug on here trying to defend this one. Your coach is a classless douchebag.

Word. This is all on Slick Rick.

[bhlloy]

for those keeping score, he just called another timeout with 13 seconds left, down by three scores and there has already almost been a bench clearing brawl. stay classy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by digamma

I am frustrated by the loss, but really not nearly as disappointed as I thought I'd be.

I, on the other hand, feel very much as though if this GT team couldn't beat this UGA team then realistically we have very little chance of stringing two in a row together again in my lifetime.

Outside of Derrick Morgan, there is not one player there who, at this point, would start for anyone in the top half of the ACC.

Did Morgan even play tonight? If he did, nobody noticed. Even the best we've got in the front seven was rendered meaningless by a pretty average (and I'm being kind) Georgia line and after tonight if he leaves early then he's an idiot unless he just wants one decent NFL contract and a relatively short pro career.

On offense, the injury to Nesbitt was unfortunate and really the difference in the game.

I disagree completely. The difference in the game was the absence of a legitimate major conference D1 defense. Hell, the absence of anything that even poses as a legitimate major conference D1 defense. The relative offensive explosion by Vanderbilt wasn't an aberration, it was reality.

Aside from the problems on the front seven on defense, part of which is just youth, I've never felt better about GT football.

And I'm near a new low, coming to grips with the harsh reality that we're an entertaining team capable of winning in a virtually irrelevant conference but we could be that by playing in the Sun Belt or the SoCon for that matter, screw pretending that we belong anywhere in a conversation about legitimate big time football. And that's something I never accepted until tonight.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I am sorry, but I just realized that GT has a starting Qb named Josh and a Backup named Jaybo....one is white one is black, and if you gave 100 people on the street who are not GT fans a guess I am betting less than 5 get which is which...

Fair enough. But in the stereotype reinforcement category, I thoroughly enjoyed the FSU defender whose first name is literally 'Mister.'


BTW - was this unofficially hideous alternate uniform day or something? I have missed plenty of games over the last few years, but i saw MANY bizzare unis out there today. Flordia, Missouri, Va Tech being the most prominent. None of those were permanent changes... were they?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

BTW - was this unofficially hideous alternate uniform day or something? I have missed plenty of games over the last few years, but i saw MANY bizzare unis out there today. Flordia, Missouri, Va Tech being the most prominent. None of those were permanent changes... were they?

Florida looked like Kentucky, I can't imagine that was anything permanent.

[MrBug708]

I love it! Pete carroll just made the media look stupid for defending him uin the stanford game. What a jackass...lol...certainly was in his right, but he played everyone like fools for his woe is our team routine after stanford

At least its back to a rivalry again where we need phantom whistles to bail them out.

[Swaggs]

Miami's jerseys were awful, as well.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

DOLA - Rick caused this. Let's see CR and Bug on here trying to defend this one. Your coach is a classless douchebag.

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Word. This is all on Slick Rick.

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I love it! Pete carroll just made the media look stupid for defending him uin the stanford game. What a jackass...lol...certainly was in his right, but he played everyone like fools for his woe is our team routine after stanford

At least its back to a rivalry again where we need phantom whistles to bail them out.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I love it! Pete carroll just made the media look stupid for defending him uin the stanford game. What a jackass...lol...certainly was in his right, but he played everyone like fools for his woe is our team routine after stanford

At least its back to a rivalry again where we need phantom whistles to bail them out.

Whatever, if your coach is calling TO's and trying to get the ball back, why wouldn't we try to get the first down/score?

Funny, didn't realize that phantom whistle play would have given UCLA 14 points. You are a hell of a sore loser my friend.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I love it! Pete carroll just made the media look stupid for defending him uin the stanford game. What a jackass...lol...certainly was in his right, but he played everyone like fools for his woe is our team routine after stanford

At least its back to a rivalry again where we need phantom whistles to bail them out.

The difference is that Harbaugh never went conservative. He went out of his way to work to get to 50. Pete tried to go conservative and just run out the clock. Rick chose to call a timeout, and got what he deserved.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I have been saying for some time that ND on a national level is irrelevant. I think the Big Ten is going through some of the same issues. ND can't be a 8 win team. They have to be 10 wins at worst and start to deal with USC on a consistent enough basis to where ND would actually be favored. It's going to take a lot from whomever they bring in to do that. It's only their own egos that they keep trying to deem themselves on a different level than everybody else. I'm all for them sucking until NBC, or whoever finds out it's not worth it to sign a deal to show ND games anymore.

College football has clearly changed dramatically in the last 10..15..20 years, and Notre Dame has lost a ridiculous amount of ground. The Big East and BCS most of all need to tell them to go f*** themselves. Leave them out in the cold and see how quickly they are knocking on the door of the Big 10.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

\

Funny, didn't realize that phantom whistle play would have given UCLA 14 points. You are a hell of a sore loser my friend.

Also, this. UCLA couldn't move the ball all game. Even if the whistle didn't happen, there is no certainty they would have scored from the 25. Even if they did, I don't know of any 14 point TD's.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I love it! Pete carroll just made the media look stupid for defending him uin the stanford game. What a jackass...lol...certainly was in his right, but he played everyone like fools for his woe is our team routine after stanford

At least its back to a rivalry again where we need phantom whistles to bail them out.

Shouldn't have called a time out. If you force a team to play their cards this is was happens.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The difference is that Harbaugh never went conservative. He went out of his way to work to get to 50. Pete tried to go conservative and just run out the clock. Rick chose to call a timeout, and got what he deserved.

For the record, I don't have a problem with what Harbaugh did last weekend, and I would have much rather a clean 21-7 win than a 28-7 win with the near brawl in those circumstances.

Really, how do you justify taking a TO in those circumstances if one of your seniors gets a serious knee injury that destroys any shot at the NFL? "uh, yeah sorry, we had no chance to win but I was trying to send a message"

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Whatever, if your coach is calling TO's and trying to get the ball back, why wouldn't we try to get the first down/score?

Funny, didn't realize that phantom whistle play would have given UCLA 14 points. You are a hell of a sore loser my friend.

I'm a sore loser? I wasn't the one who had to jump on here to suddenly defend my coach from criticism. Like I said, carroll was certainly in his right to go for it, its just amusing to watch you guys try to rationalize what he did so quickly. Almost as if you knew what he did was an asshat move...

I think the curse of cade is finally at rest.

Good luck next week guys!

[bhlloy]

Thanks, you too. If Brehaut is the real deal you could be a force next year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And while I'm on the subject anyway, there's this somewhat disturbing bit taken from AJC columnist Jeff Schultz post-mortem

Tech coach Paul Johnson downplayed the significance of this game earlier in the week. He believes everybody should focus on the big picture, and that picture includes conference championships and competing for BCS bowls, not just bragging rights over big brother from Athens. “I don’t want to leave the wrong impression because I do realize that the game is important and I know for a lot of our fans that this is the game they want to win,” Johnson said. “[But] we want to get to the point where our program is bigger than one game. We want to win the game, but we want to do some other things that just beating Georgia won’t do for you.”

I think CPJ is a downright brilliant offensive mind but truth is I'm not sure he gets some of the intangibles that are part of major college coaching & at this stage of his career if he doesn't then he never will.

Last year's bowl debacle and the complete lack of preparation for it was chilling. He seemed to treat the game as a reward, not something you're supposed to be doing, admittedly taking it easy on practice & foolishly assuming that he had players with the same mindset that he had at Navy instead of quite a few players who fancied themselves as legit D1 players who would fall in love with their own press clippings.

More worrisome are quotes like the one above. Hello? You're playing in the ACC, there isn't even anyone in the fucking conference who gives more than a passing rat's ass about winning it or going to the Orange Bowl on an automatic bid for that matter (okay, maybe Duke & Wake Forest but anyone else? Seriously?)

There isn't ANYTHING that will ever be more important for Georgia Tech football than beating Georgia and there's NOTHING that will ever outweigh losing to them.

Lose that game & there's no national championship in the cards, there's nothing more than finishing least among one-loss teams at the absolute maximum, and if he doesn't get that then I don't know if he's really anything more than the ringmaster for a second-rate traveling circus that's moderately entertaining overall but is about as substantial or fulfilling as cotton candy. He's damned sure not the messiah about to lead a program to the promised land.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Thanks, you too. If Brehaut is the real deal you could be a force next year.

Eh, I'm on the prince bandwagon...but I also liked craft as well...so what do I know

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Eh, I'm on the prince bandwagon...but I also liked craft as well...so what do I know

Takes more than a Prince to be the king of LA...

[digamma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I, on the other hand, feel very much as though if this GT team couldn't beat this UGA team then realistically we have very little chance of stringing two in a row together again in my lifetime.

Only time will tell with this one, but the last minute of the first half told me that I'd much rather have our guy at the helm for the near future than their guy.

Did Morgan even play tonight? If he did, nobody noticed. Even the best we've got in the front seven was rendered meaningless by a pretty average (and I'm being kind) Georgia line and after tonight if he leaves early then he's an idiot unless he just wants one decent NFL contract and a relatively short pro career.

Well, to be fair, they ran away from him most of the night, and I would have liked to have seen just one token holding flag, but this is melodrama if I've ever seen it. This kid has been double and triple teamed most of the year. It isn't his fault that he's playing along side guys who would struggle to find the field on other teams.

I disagree completely. The difference in the game was the absence of a legitimate major conference D1 defense. Hell, the absence of anything that even poses as a legitimate major conference D1 defense. The relative offensive explosion by Vanderbilt wasn't an aberration, it was reality.

I can't disagree about the defense, but a Nesbitt offense can keep pace. A Jaybo offense can't. a 10-10 game, or even a 10-6 game is much different than a 17-3 game after an underthrown ball into double coverage. Everything from that point on was catch up ball.

And I'm near a new low, coming to grips with the harsh reality that we're an entertaining team capable of winning in a virtually irrelevant conference but we could be that by playing in the Sun Belt or the SoCon for that matter, screw pretending that we belong anywhere in a conversation about legitimate big time football. And that's something I never accepted until tonight.

And here's where a good night's sleep will do you good. This is just a severe overreaction. Teams in college football are volatile. It's part of dealing with 18-22 year old kids. A team playing for the Big East title was beaten by a team that finished 2-6 in the ACC. The Big Ten champ lost to a 5-7 team. A team playing for the Pac Ten title lost to a non-BCS school. The most consistent teams in college football are the worst teams. It's easy to be consistently bad. It's not easy to be consistently good.

Add a rivalry game to the mix where motivations get skewed and it's pretty easy to see wacky results. Heck, five out of the last six in this rivalry have been decided by one score or less. And four of those GT teams were quarterbacked by Reggie Ball. One of the worst GT teams in the last 13 years had the ball and a chance to beat a much better UGA team in 2004. The teams are just not that far apart. Again, much better than I felt 3 years ago or 13 years ago.

Also, keep in mind this GT team still only has six scholarship seniors. Losing Morgan, maybe Dwyer and Thomas could hurt also, but while maybe not an ELITE team, GT is still set to be a very good team for the next several years with an opportunity for everything to fall into place.

Losin to Georgia sucks, but losing to Georgia while 10-1 is much better than losing to Georgia while 7-4 or 6-5.

[bhlloy]

Prince looks pretty average to me, but that is a lot better than Barkley looks right now, so who knows. I think Brehaut is going to be a stud, but Rick needs to handle that situation right and make the right call in the offseason as to who is going to get most of the reps. I really think burning the redshirt on Brehaut hurts you, one of those QB's is probably stuck behind the other for the rest of his career.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

The Big East and BCS most of all need to tell them to go f*** themselves. Leave them out in the cold and see how quickly they are knocking on the door of the Big 10.

Works in theory, right up until they're on the outside of the BCS as an unbeaten team & the whole thing is busted without 'em. And I'd say that's about as likely as them avoiding a chance to play the martyr (and by doing so royally sticking it to their adversaries in the process) if anyone tries to play hardball with them any time soon.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

More worrisome are quotes like the one above.

The quote is taken out of context. Listen to either the press conference from last week or the radio show (both available on Itunes) and you'll see he's saying the same thing you are.

Basically, his point is that he's trying to build a program that gets beyond measuring itself by how it does in one game. That means getting to a point where he's beating UGA consistently. And it means getting to a point of playing for national championships.

Of course Paul Johnson isn't perfect, and he made mistakes tonight. But you seem to fail to recognize he has the program in a much better place than it was two years ago tonight.

[digamma]

Dola...

And this isn't to say I'm not extremely frustrated. I hate losing to UGA more than anything, but I'm just arguing for some perspective here. You take the good and the bad, and the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. The good is that this is the first time since 1998 that GT has won 10 games. Has a chance to be the first time in any of our lifetimes (since 1952) that GT wins 12. Now it still sucks to lose to UGA, but to ignore the good is not productive either.

[Eaglesfan27]

I was all set to go to sleep right after this game, but that ending still has me fired up. Loved the loud crowd chanting after the game, "We are SC." It is 1:27 here, but sleep will probably still be an hour away.

Not that it matters, but SportsCenter had a pro USC slant and agreed that Rick should not have called that timeout and that he got what he deserved. You know recruits had to love that ending.

Speaking of ESPN, Lou Holtz thinks that ND should interview Pete Carroll. What dream world is he in? No way does Pete leave LA for ND.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by digamma

The quote is taken out of context. Listen to either the press conference from last week or the radio show (both available on Youtube) and you'll see he's saying the same thing you are.

Basically, his point is that he's trying to build a program that gets beyond measuring itself by how it does in one game. That means getting to a point where he's beating UGA consistently. And it means getting to a point of playing for national championships.

Of course Paul Johnson isn't perfect, and he made mistakes tonight. But you seem to fail to recognize he has the program in a much better place than it was two years ago tonight.

Truth is, I'd rather be 7-4 and have one of those 7 be game 12 than 11-1 and have that 1 be against that-which-should-not-be-named. Or 4-7 for that matter. Hell, I'd rather be 1-11 as long as long as that's the one. That's just the God's honest truth of it for me because the ACC title & the Orange Bowl aren't anything more than consolation prizes, the proverbial lovely parting gifts, Miss Congeniality caliber stuff. Better than Shreveport or Boise or Fresno but then again, what isn't? How many people can name the winner/place/details of a bowl game three years later? But I still remember Amp Arnold running in a two-point conversion to beat us 29-28 in 1976, still remember that soul crushing feeling after blowing a 20-0 lead.

Are they in a better place? Sure, they are, at least we can agree on that. After all, they won in Athens 12 months ago, and the most overpaid coach in college football history is gone (and even at $1 per year Chan would have been overpaid) but otherwise ... we still do the one thing that matters most with no consistency.

[dawgfan]

Washington State is just an unbelievably awful team. Washington didn't play very well in the 1st half - against a team with a pulse, they would've been trailing.

That said, our defense played well, holding the Cougs scoreless and never really allowing them to get anything going. Some pretty good defenses didn't do any better against the Cougs this year than we did, so an encouraging game for the Huskies in that regard.

Loved seeing Toby Gerhart rumbling all over Notre Dame - I never get tired of seeing the Irish lose. And Gerhart is just so easy to root for, love watching that guy play. He should be a Heisman finalist, and I'd have a hard time not voting for him to win it.

Turned the TV off after UCLA failed to convert on 4th down with a minute to go, so I missed all the fireworks at the very end of the game. I'm definitely on the USC side of things on this debate - Pete was trying to be the good sport and run out the clock in a game that was over, and Rick decided to get cute and call timeout. Well, in that case Rick your team better be able to defend the field if you are still playing to win. The ball was in UCLA's court as to whether to concede the game. Since they didn't, USC was within their rights to put the game out of any conceivable reach.

[TargetPractice6]

I just hate Tennessee. That is all.

[Karlifornia]

Ugh....it kills me. If Stanford could have just finished against Cal, then Toby would have the Heisman locked up. It's probably going to McCoy at this point. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but damn, it would have been sweet to see Toby hoist that trophy.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I have a real problem with the Coaches having any say in the BCS standings because they know the higher their conference members are, the more likely they are to get more than 1 team in the BCS. Which means more $$ for the conference.

Now the wimps (putting it lightly) won't publish their final votes like in years past so we wont be able to see which ones are blatantly doing this.

And it's compounded by the size of conferences being uneven: you have the Big 12 coaches boosting their teams and the 8-team Big East has only 2/3rds the clout.

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Conventional rules do not apply to Notre Dame.

Interestingly, the BE stands to potentially make money with a Notre Dame loss, as it would eliminate them from Gator Bowl consideration and lock up the bowl and it's ~$2-5-million payday for the BE.

Funny how the financial fortunes swing so quickly. You guys beating Pitt potentially took a lot of money away, and this brought some back.

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Dola check out Kirk's rant on Game Day this morning. It is spot on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNs0qlWADJI

You guys were obviously watching this before, but I can't get it to work now. Just hangs. Anybody else?

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Logan

You guys were obviously watching this before, but I can't get it to work now. Just hangs. Anybody else?

It wouldn't load for me last night or just now.

[Dr. Sak]

I just watched it again...I'm using google chrome.

[Logan]

Thanks, I was on Firefox and just viewed it with Safari.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

If Wyoming beats CSU, they become Bowl eligible and head to a bowl game. They should've been already, but choked down the stretch. But if they win the Bronze Boot game, they'll claim the rivalry trophy for the first time in a while (I was at the last time they won) and they'll head most likely to the New Mexico Bowl.

Which is lame, but I'm all for seeing them on national TV for once and it'll affirm the work their new coach is doing.

I hope they don't choke.

Great season for Dave Christensen. A lot of Mizzou fans will root for Wyoming any time they aren't playing the Tigers.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I want to see bama lose today, then beat Florida and have Texas lose in the big XII title game.

Down with the BCS!!!

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

It won't destroy the BCS. It'll just be cited as why it's successful. But it'd be fun to see in any case.

Yeah, if you hate the BCS you really want to root for all the undefeated teams to keep winning. There can be five undefeated teams heading into the bowls and as many as four left at the end. That kind of shitstorm is what you need.

Originally Posted by Atocep

It's kind of funny to see all the death of the BCS scenarios thrown around each year, but the only thing that will bring down the BCS is if people actually stop going to and watching the games.

Nah, you just need some money. I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about the BCS games moving to ESPN and he said as long as the TV deals are in place, the BCS isn't going anywhere. I agreed -- then pointed out if Fox offered double the money for a playoff, the BCS would be gone.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Nah, you just need some money. I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about the BCS games moving to ESPN and he said as long as the TV deals are in place, the BCS isn't going anywhere. I agreed -- then pointed out if Fox offered double the money for a playoff, the BCS would be gone.

Nope. Wouldn't do it. Dreams of anything more than a +1 scenario are just that - dreams. There would undoubtedly be more money in a playoff simply because there are more games played. However, with the current setup the BCS conference teams have nearly complete control of how that money is funneled. A playoff takes that control away. Simply throwing money at the situation won't make the BCS go away. If fans stopped watching the games, however, you'd see change.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

The difference is that Harbaugh never went conservative. He went out of his way to work to get to 50. Pete tried to go conservative and just run out the clock. Rick chose to call a timeout, and got what he deserved.

But up two scores and throwing long, even if you're trying to avoid punting? It's still running up the score. Pete can't have it both ways.

There's no defense for anyone of them -- Pete, Harbaugh, Slick Rick -- they're all d-bags.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

BTW - was this unofficially hideous alternate uniform day or something? I have missed plenty of games over the last few years, but i saw MANY bizzare unis out there today. Flordia, Missouri, Va Tech being the most prominent. None of those were permanent changes... were they?

Missouri's were a one-time only, and I think the rest are too. They are all part of a Nike campaign to introduce their new "Combat" line of jerseys that are lighterweight and whatnot. There were 10 schools involved (all Nike clients) and Nike decked them out with special unis and designs along with a nice cash payment -- supposedly a $100,000 per school.

Each uniform had a "slogan." Missouri's slogan was "Beast Mode," which was a phrase the team was using since the summer. Now we don't know whether Nike picked up on the phrase for the uniform or Nike gave them the phrase. It's unclear.

Missouri's unis were supposed to be inspired by the B-2 stealth bombers that are based in Missouri. I'll admit they did remind me of the B-2. I just didn't like the grey on black and the lack of gold.