Do you get the feeling Oklahoma is a little too arrogant heading into tomorrow’s game? (Check out this ESPN article for comments made last week by Oklahoma corner Dominique Franks.) Is it even real arrogance at all, or simply false bravado used by the players to convince themselves they can match the Gators’ speed?
I’m not sure of the answer to that last question, but I have been a bit taken aback by the amount of trash Oklahoma is talking. In contrast, the Gators have been relatively tight-lipped; and why not? Nothing good can ever come from talking trash, which is why I was surprised to see anyone from either side do so.
Anyways, Franks said he believes Tebow would have been the fourth best quarterback in the Big 12 this year (behind Bradford, Harrell and McCoy) and a whole lot more:
“I think our quarterbacks are better. Just the way they conduct themselves and how they play on the field. I just think, playing against those guys, it’s a lot harder to prepare for those guys than it is for Tebow.”
I know this quote has already received enough attention, so I don’t want to waste any more time discussing it. But, really, how can a player be so clueless? Since he will be playing Tebow in the most important game of his life, you think he would be a little more informed about his opponent who, by the way, is not only the best quarterback in the country, but one of the best all-around college football players of this generation and maybe any other for that matter. And I’ve watched enough Tebow over the last three years to be sure of one thing: he will most certainly teach Franks a valuable lesson tomorrow night in keeping quiet.
Moving on. Enough with all these teams which won their bowl games recently and now all of sudden think they should be National Champs. Texas beat an average Ohio State team (and by the way, the Big 10 once again fared really poorly in the bowls this year, going 1-6 overall) and looked pretty average in the process. But now, all of a sudden, the Longhorns believe they are the country’s top team. Southern California wiped the floor with another lousy Big 10 team and, of course, now believes it is unstoppable. Oh, and mighty Utah navigated its way through the rugged Mountain West before beating an unmotivated Alabama team without its best player, so they too believe they are the nation’s finest.
You can criticize the BCS all you want and formulate your own playoff scenarios until you’re blue in the face, but the fact is the BCS considers every team using the exact same formula, a formula decided before the season started, and determined that Florida and Oklahoma were the top two teams. Again, every team was given fair consideration under the exact same rubric and two teams came out on top. The ones that didn’t need to learn how to deal with this fact.
And I’m not saying we should deny these teams the right to play for a national championship (I don’t, however, think a playoff would be good for college football, though that is a discussion for another time), just so, under the current system, they have nothing to complain about. They lost, period.
Why are the complaints of these teams so meaningful to me? Well, the other day one of ESPN’s analysts called the BCS Championship game “nothing more than a glorified exhibition game.” And, today, Rick Reilly used ESPN to declare Utah college football’s National Champion. The problem is, these complaints and declarations take a lot of attention away from two great teams that have had, by many people’s standards (in addition to those of the BCS), the best two seasons in college football this year. You may believe Utah deserves a shot, or that USC is really the best team, but what you cannot argue is that Oklahoma and Florida don’t deserve their own chances at glory as well. And, under the current system, you can’t possibly complain with the game that has materialized.
So, at least for now, let’s honor those teams and the tremendous seasons they’ve had, give the game the respect and attention it deserves and wait until the offseason to start clamoring over the BCS and all its flaws. As I write this today, we are nearly 24 hours away from a classic showdown, pitting the game’s most prolific offense ever (Oklahoma’s) against perhaps the game’s greatest player and competitor (Tim Tebow) ever; let’s start acting like it. Rather than complaining about what we don’t have, let us appreciate what we do: college football’s two most impressive teams playing on one night for absolutely everything.
KEYS TO THE GAME
This will most likely be my last “keys to the game” section, so I have singled out what I feel are the two most important aspects of the game heading into Thursday.
For the Gators to win, they absolutely must put pressure on Bradford. Amazingly, Bradford was only touched (not sacked, just hurried) once every 13 times he dropped back to pass this year. That comes out to about only three times per game and there is no doubt his extreme comfort in the pocket played a big role in his team’s record-setting offense. Guess which game Bradford was hit the most. If you said Texas, you were right. He was sacked three times in that game and, as a result, was hurried into throwing two interceptions in the Sooners’ only loss of the season.
For Oklahoma to win, they must hope their hurry-up offense can keep the Gators off balance. The speed with which the Sooners get back to the line of scrimmage is remarkable and is as hard to compete with as any offensive strategy in the country. Keep in mind, however, the Gators will be the only team this year to see the Sooner offense after having more than one week to prepare. Still, getting ready for that attack and actually matching up with it live are two totally different animals. If the Sooners can keep the Gators on their heels, it will be a shootout until the end.
Finally, since I consider Oklahoma’s pace vs. the Florida defense to be the most intriguing aspect of the game, I have included links below to two very interesting articles that consider the Gators’ strategy for preparing and dealing with the hyper-active Sooner attack. Enjoy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/sports/ncaafootball/06florida.html?_r=1
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/11226794
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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