College Football

[mojoween]

35 minutes ago, Popples said:

Dawgs vs. Frawgs! I hope it can live up to these two games. 

Meh.  Hopefully it’s another good game but the matchup is the least interesting possibility.  IMO.

[Stats Queen]

I’m a Georgia Bulldog, so of course I’m beyond thrilled we won, but man, we got lucky. My BIL is a Buckeye, and I felt bad for him.

OSU was excellent tonight. I think CJ Stroud deserved the Heisman Trophy. He is an amazing quarterback.

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Stats Queen

[Crs97]

Best thing about those two games is that we now don’t have to listen how Alabama should have been one of the four.  Those four teams were crazy competitive, well matched, and excellent.

[Chit Chat]

I was surprised that Georgia let OSU score that many points on them.  I thought their defense was better than that.   FWIW, I felt bad for OSU's kicker.  That's a tough one to have to live with, but if the offense and defense had done their job, it wouldn't have had to come down to a final field goal try.  

[roamyn]

9 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

I was surprised that Georgia let OSU score that many points on them.  I thought their defense was better than that.   FWIW, I felt bad for OSU's kicker.  That's a tough one to have to live with, but if the offense and defense had done their job, it wouldn't have had to come down to a final field goal try.  

We controlled that game for three quarters.  I think the defense finally got tired, but what happened to the offense in the 4th?  That’s something Day is gonna have to address with his staff.

At least we didn’t get blown out like TTUN did last year against UGA.  But losing in this fashion is almost worse than losing by two scores.

[DrSpaceman73]

I had no rooting interest in any of the teams but the games were exciting. 

And I was impressed with cj stroud. Hoping my colts can draft him.  

Edited January 1, 2023 by DrSpaceman73

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, roamyn said:

But losing in this fashion is almost worse than losing by two scores.

I understand!  Whether it's NFL or college, it's so disheartening when our teams blow a big lead (Buc's do it frequently!)  OSU played a great game, even though I know that's not much consolation at this point.  

3 hours ago, Crs97 said:

Best thing about those two games is that we now don’t have to listen how Alabama should have been one of the four.

A lot of us Bama fans knew that we shouldn't have been in the top 4.  We are happy that the Tide did well yesterday and finished strong.  I cannot state enough how proud I am of the guys who played that could've easily sat out.  I hope that sends a message to other players on how much it means to be there for your team.   

My hat's off to Kansas State on their success in the Big 12 this season.  I don't follow the other conferences very closely, so it's nice to see our guys play teams other than the SEC.   

[Calvada]

Michigan lost because of early mistakes.   I know as a Big Ten person I'm supposed to root for Big Ten schools in bowl games, but I always enjoy a Michigan loss.  I cannot stand Harbaugh.  

I think the loss of Harrison really affected OSU.  I don't know how that isn't targeting.  It seemed to be the exact definition of targeting - the defender lowering his head, leading with the helmet, and a blow to the head.  I've seen less egregious plays called targeting.  I don't watch much PAC-12 football, but is that how their officials would have called such a play during the regular season?  

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, Calvada said:

Michigan lost because of early mistakes.   I know as a Big Ten person I'm supposed to root for Big Ten schools in bowl games, but I always enjoy a Michigan loss.  I cannot stand Harbaugh.  

I think the loss of Harrison really affected OSU.  I don't know how that isn't targeting.  It seemed to be the exact definition of targeting - the defender lowering his head, leading with the helmet, and a blow to the head.  I've seen less egregious plays called targeting.  I don't watch much PAC-12 football, but is that how their officials would have called such a play during the regular season?  

Whether it was targeting or not I don't know.  

But if Harrison doesn't leave the game I think osu wins.  

And that was one of the few stroud mistakes. Meant to throw it out of the end zone and didn't throw it far enough 

[Chit Chat]

On 12/31/2022 at 11:08 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

TCU gained a nation of bandwagon fans today. I'm on the train!

There will be a lot of SEC fans pulling for them too!!  As much as I'd like to see the championship stay within the SEC, I'll make an exception for this game!!  

[Carey]

The starting line is Georgia -13.5 with an over/under of 60.5 or 61.5.  There's no reason to post my pick now (though tomorrow is not promised, injuries in practice are not unprecedented), but if I had to, I don't see myself picking Georgia outright.  I think they'll defend the title with success but not by 14 or more points. 

TCU is for real (and who knows what they could've done in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  They should have success but Georgia's defense is much better than Michigan's defense.  Furthermore I hardly think Georgia is going to have as many blunders as Michigan had in the Fiesta Bowl

[mojoween]

A come-from-behind victory in the pirate ship stadium.  Rest easy, Coach.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

They should have success but Georgia's defense is much better than Michigan's defense.

I think the OSU game was a wake-up call for Georgia.  They will learn from those mistakes and probably come into the championship guns blazing.  Here's hoping that TCU can stop them! 

[Chit Chat]

Here's an article about the kicker from OSU and why he missed the field goal.  I still feel bad for him.  

[Bastet]

If Lincoln Riley doesn't dedicate every second of his off-season to figuring out how to fix USC's fucking defense, I am going to lose my mind next season.

Nothing like a game I have to set my alarm to get up for like it's a damn work day instead of my last day of the year-end break (and, with snoozing, since it is a game rather than work, I still missed half of the first quarter), and then this fourth quarter crap.

I mean, this season was still a great turnaround from the past several years and I expect more good things to come, but damn; way to just give away a game that was in the bag.

[Salacious Kitty]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

If Lincoln Riley doesn't dedicate every second of his off-season to figuring out how to fix USC's fucking defense, I am going to lose my mind next season.

Nothing like a game I have to set my alarm to get up for like it's a damn work day instead of my last day of the year-end break (and, with snoozing, since it is a game rather than work, I still missed half of the first quarter), and then this fourth quarter crap.

I mean, this season was still a great turnaround from the past several years and I expect more good things to come, but damn; way to just give away a game that was in the bag.

Yup, the defense let them down again. The secondary, especially, needs a ton of upgrades. 

[twoods]

Didn’t their defense have a lot of injuries as well?

[Carey]

While I agree on Lincoln Riley needing to fix the defense, it's an offensive game.  As for the injuries, that's football.  USC's defense wasn't great all year

[AimingforYoko]

20 minutes ago, Bastet said:

If Lincoln Riley doesn't dedicate every second of his off-season to figuring out how to fix USC's fucking defense, I am going to lose my mind next season.

Could be worse. You could be a Purdue fan. Yikes.

[Carey]

Well, LSU > Tulane.  Though the latter actually used to be in the SEC

[Stats Queen]

8 hours ago, ChitChat said:

There will be a lot of SEC fans pulling for them too!!  As much as I'd like to see the championship stay within the SEC, I'll make an exception for this game!!  

I think everyone but us Bulldogs will be rooting for TCU. I would if I wasn’t a Bulldog. The have been truly impressive.

[Carey]

1 hour ago, Stats Queen said:

10 hours ago, ChitChat said:

There will be a lot of SEC fans pulling for them too!!  As much as I'd like to see the championship stay within the SEC, I'll make an exception for this game!!  

I think everyone but us Bulldogs will be rooting for TCU. I would if I wasn’t a Bulldog. The have been truly impressive.

Meh.  I'm rooting for a good game.  TCU winning would be nice, but Georgia repeating would be sweet.  It would validate the consistent nature of the SEC.  It would be the only time someone did so in the 4-team playoff era.  Unless TCU wins the 2023-2024 CFB season.

Speaking of sweet (and I guess consistency):

 

[Popples]

She's baaaack! 

 

[Carey]

Georgia is favored by 12.5 over TCU.  The champs opened at -13.5 but the line moved soon after that.  The over/under is 62.5, up from either 60.5 or 61.5.

While there's no hurry to pick, I might finalize my selection before the weekend.  I don't know if TCU will lose by that many, if at all.  I thought the O/U was too low, but that might be accurate

[mojoween]

10 years ago (10 years!) on this date I had some thoughts (with all due respect to ‘Bama grads) 

I hate Nick Saban.  I hate Alabama.  I hate the SEC.

This game sucks.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

10 years ago (10 years!) on this date I had some thoughts (with all due respect to ‘Bama grads) 

?? What am I not remembering?

Edited January 8, 2023 by ChitChat

[Carey]

1 hour ago, ChitChat said:

?? What am I not remembering?

I remember the next day for sure.  It was brief; I said I fell asleep while Notre Dame was playing, and the response was pretty much you weren't the only one

[mojoween]

8 hours ago, ChitChat said:

?? What am I not remembering?

Notre Dame (who my mother loves so I was rooting for them, also Mike Golic, Jr. was a senior playing in that game), getting absolutely pasted by Alabama pretty much from minute one.

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Notre Dame (who my mother loves so I was rooting for them, also Mike Golic, Jr. was a senior playing in that game), getting absolutely pasted by Alabama pretty much from minute one.

Ah, yes, that one!  They breezed into town calling us the "mobile homers," since they were the "golden domers."  (Clever, but Bama wiped the smirk right off of their faces.)  Sorry, but we don't take kindly to insults.  ;)

[Bastet]

19 hours ago, mojoween said:

10 years ago (10 years!) on this date I had some thoughts

One of the most "Ugh, who cares, I hate both teams" college championships in my lifetime.  (I'd have been rooting for Alabama in order to root against Notre Dame if not for the human turd Nick Saban making that impossible.)

[Chit Chat]

Yeah, he can be a turd to the reporters (they do ask stupid questions though), but most people outside of this state have no idea of the positive impact he's made throughout the state, and especially with the young men who have played football at UA.  

Saban was out of town, but back on campus the day after the F5 tornado went through T-Town in 2011, and I know firsthand that he was out in the area looking for all of his players to make sure they were accounted for (heard that from a guy working at the Rec center when Saban came in searching for his guys and making sure everybody else was okay).   People can hate on him all they want, but for those of us here, we see the good side of him, championships aside. 

[Carey]

I rather have a guy that doesn't come off as friendly than someone that's lame & boring, while being awful at his job

[Salacious Kitty]

I'd rather have a "lame and boring" guy who keeps his nose to the grindstone and does a great job over the flashy assholes like Saban. 

[Carey]

To each their own.  The problem is that it's touch to get attached & root long-term for a lame & boring guy because they don't ever last. 

Not that I can't root for them (I have), but they all get fired for their failure to meet simple standards in the sport

[Chit Chat]

22 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I'd rather have a "lame and boring" guy who keeps his nose to the grindstone and does a great job over the flashy assholes like Saban. 

Flashy?  I don't think so. Nose to the grindstone:  I think the guy eats, breathes & sleeps football!  Again, everybody sees him in a different light.  He does a great job for UA, his players, other athletes at UA, and the fans.  I think of the tax revenue alone for this state with all of the Bama merchandise flying off the shelves!  I've seen collegiate stores expand after he was with Bama for just a few years.  He's good for business!  He & Ms. Terry oversee the construction of Habitat for Humanity homes with each national championship Bama wins.  They established a foundation called Nick's Kids.  A winning coach and one who gives back to his community? Yeah, I'll take that kind of person.  

[Carey]

So the closing line is basically similar to the opening line.  It's 13.5 in favor of Georgia.  Over/Under is 62.5.  TCU does just enough to cover, but that's it.  Georgia might not need TCU for the over to hit as they repeat as champs.  Georgia wins 41-28

[xaxat]

I'm kind of puzzled by reports that Uga will not be at the game because it's too long of trip.

It's not like he is going to be stuffed in a crate and flying coach. I'm sure Georgia has a bunch of alumni who would gladly provide him private jet service to the game.

[Chit Chat]

22 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I'm kind of puzzled by reports that Uga will not be at the game because it's too long of trip.

I think that all sports should not have live pets as mascots.  Do they sedate him before putting him out there in front of that big, roaring crowd?  I wonder about that with all live mascots paraded around stadiums.  Uga will be much better off at home.  No need to subject his ears to that kind of crowd!  

[xaxat]

He's not the most charismatic presenter, but I think Nick Saban is pretty good at explaining the dynamics of college football to a television audience.

[Carey]

I guess I'll listen to whatever the halftime team says in terms of "What TCU needs to do to win make it competitive" though leads from Georgia teams aren't safe.  Except this isn't the GOAT of teams

[mojoween]

I am *begging* TCU to somehow turn this up in the second half and make it competitive.

[AimingforYoko]

Thanks for playing TCU, we have some lovely parting gifts...

[Carey]

38-7 looks like an ugly score. However? Man, it's only halftime

[twoods]

I just saw the halftime score and started to laugh. This is a surprise to no one. 

[Court]

Georgia struggling against Ohio State was the best thing for Georgia. It was a wake up call and they are playing their football. 

TCU please please make this a game in the second half. I'd like to enjoy this game.  Blowouts are boring. 

[Carey]

What a very lovely football game!

[Chit Chat]

21 minutes ago, Court said:

Georgia struggling against Ohio State was the best thing for Georgia.

That's what I said after that game.  Kirby Smart was pissed with his team.  It was the ass-chewing they needed.  Poor TCU.   And yes, people will question if they should've been in the top 4.   I will leave that for others to dissect.  

[twoods]

Score keeps getting uglier and uglier. Sucks for the TCU fans for paying to watch this.

[Carey]

I don't know.  It doesn't matter if TCU lost by 1 or by 60.  The results the same.  Georgia will leave victorious, and TCU will not.  The committee thought this team was one of the best four teams, and that's that.  At the end of the day, it's just football.  Life continues

[Carey]

After 5 months, 17 weeks, and over 10,000 miles of game travel, the Georgia Bulldog are your official 2023 National Champions!