Remember this movie? Throw in Jason Robards, a little Ray Bradbury, and a dude that looks an awful lot like Lee Greenwood and you've got a cautionary tale about desire! (Not a bad flick for a cool evening nearing Halloween). At any rate, the tale serves as a relevant warning to those young men who play football for academic universities and those old men who lead them...Reality came a-callin' this week in NCAA football.
Truth
Let's start with the truth of NCAA football in Week 7 of 2009. There's only one: ALabama is THE bad boy on the block. No one, to date, even compares. Yes, I know, Mark May and his merry band of blowhards were practically falling over themselves about USC AND Notre Dame. (Lou Holtz said it best to Mark May, "I think if Notre Dame actually won that game you wouldn't be nearly as complimentary" - seriously, Mark May is an idiot). At any rate - no one, not Florida, Not Texas, not Cincinnati, not Iowa, and most certainly not Southern Cal are playing anything close to the level of football the Tide is playing right now. If, after Florida nearly lost to the Razorbacks in the swamp, a mere three weeks after Bama absolutely manhandled them, the Tide doesn't get the majority of #1 votes in today's polls, then the voters simply aren't paying attention. Truthfully, Florida hasn't deserved the top spot all season.
Reality - the cold slap in the face
Texas - you took out Bradford early and you still could have lost to a 3-3 Oklahoma squad. The Longhorns haven't looked good against a team with a pulse all year long. The Big 12 is too tough for them to get through unscathed - especially when Colt McCoy came back down to earth.
USC - you let Notre Dame back in the game. First thing I read this morning...the likely title game will involved the SEC champ and USC. Everyone is assuming USC got it's annual gaffe out of the way and will cruise the rest of thre year. Really? Are we simply going to dismiss Oregon now? Really? Considering that USC, SHOULD have controlled the Irish offensive game but if not, at least run roughshod over it's porous defense. Neither really happened. USC is due for another loss. Notre Dame just isn't THAT good.
Notre Dame - sorry Charlie. Really, at some point you HAVE to look at a coach when he literally LOADS his team with top talent from all over the country and just can't win a big game. Here are the numbers...(courtesy of Tom Deinhart) "Since the start of the 2007 season, Notre Dame is 14-17. Weis is 1-15 against teams that finished the season with a winning record. And he's 1-9 against teams that finished ranked." Wow.
Virginia Tech - you STILL can't control the ball when needed. Tyrod really doesn't seem coachable at this point. He doesn't seem to know when to reach for the extra yard, opting for the sideline or a slide EVERY time. He doesn't seem to know when he should put his head down and run upfield (you can't pull off the miracle throw EVERY time). And, truth be told, Bud Foster shares some of the blame for the loss to GT. Paul Johnson put on an absolute clinic on triple option in the second half and VT had NO answer at all.
Florida - You're the University of Florida. You have superman at quarterback. You are the #1 team in the country (in theory). You're best downfield threat? Riley Cooper. Your best backfield threat? No one. It is painfully clear that neither Demps, Rainey, or Moody, even combined, come anything close to providing the threat that Percy Harvin did for the Gators last year. They might go undefeated into the title game because the schedule is that soft, but the Gators WILL run into a team that can outlast its defense and lookout - they will fall hard.
Ohio State - ummm...I don't even know what to say about that.
ACC - the only unbeaten team in league play is...wait for it...THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Big Ten - Iowa will lose to Ohio State and muck everything up for you.
I'm not ready to say anyone is a sure bet for the title game at this point. Bama is the lead horse with a big messy pack running way behind. Should be interesting!
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