"Number Two" -- literally

[cf-62]

Yesterday, two of the better football teams in the country shredded their opponents on national tv (well, one of the games was on Fox, but still...).

Keep in mind that these two teams (USC and Georgia) are the two teams screaming the most that they're the team "left out" of the national championship game (even though Georgia didn't even qualify for their conference championship GAME) -- and I looked forward to seeing them play yesterday.

Well, both of them did their schools, their teams and their coaches a disservice. Taunting, personal fouls, and pretty much boorish behavior from the teams and the fans prove that both of these teams are squarely where they belong -- outside the national championship game.

For Georgia, in particular, this was the second game (out of three that I saw them play this year) that the team acted completely classless.

Now, I am a big fan of both Mark Richt and Pete Carroll, but both of them showed a little too much encouragement for their teams' actions. I hope they look at these debacles of on-field team behavior and take action.

So here's to you Number 3 and number 4!!!!

You guys showed us that you really deserve the title of "Number TWO!"

[billybreen]

To what are you referring? I watched both games and didn't see anything particularly boorish.

[Channing]

I saw USC flip into the endzone I think, and I saw UGA celebrate after sacking the QB, but I did not see anything that was beyond the scope of a normal big time matchup.

I am glad Mark Richt found a way to get UGA energized . . . it would have been possible for them to suffer a let down because they were in a matchup with Haw rather than a bowl they might have felt they deserved to be in (i.e. UMich last year).

In fact, I was listening to the Heard this morning, and he LOVES USC, and he said that some of the things USC did were unnecessary, but he didnt mention UGA once.

[cf-62]

To what are you referring? I watched both games and didn't see anything particularly boorish.

So, to put my biases out there, I wish the NCAA would adopt North Carolina's high school rule -- taunting is a 15 yard penalty PLUS the taunter is ejected. No warnings, no tolerance (and I really don't like zero tolerance rules).

Dive over the goal line (or flip into the end zone)? Ejection
Helmet to helmet tackle AFTER the whistle? Ejection
Unnecessary roughness in a blowout? The coach gets ejected

Again, I like the coaches, but Richt has shown a propensity this year to whip his guys into a froth and then just let them go uncontrolled -- and you saw that in late hits yesterday (and the team end zone celebtrations in Jacksonville earlier this year).

The announcers STARTED to call him on it, although over a less meaningful situation. They were mad at the pass on the 4th and goal play. Worse than that was the continued blitzing and late hits georgia kept putting on their opponent (even though not all of them were called).

I think both coaches got their teams to play with big chips on their shoulders yesterday -- and, really, for no reason at all. Given the system, their games were COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS!!!!! There is no 3rd place trophy, and the "starting poll position" had nothing to do with either team NOT being in the championship game. Georgia didn't qualify for their conference title game, and USC lost to two terrible teams, including the last game of the season

[Channing]

So, to put my biases out there, I wish the NCAA would adopt North Carolina's high school rule -- taunting is a 15 yard penalty PLUS the taunter is ejected. No warnings, no tolerance (and I really don't like zero tolerance rules).

Dive over the goal line (or flip into the end zone)? Ejection
Helmet to helmet tackle AFTER the whistle? Ejection
Unnecessary roughness in a blowout? The coach gets ejected

Again, I like the coaches, but Richt has shown a propensity this year to whip his guys into a froth and then just let them go uncontrolled -- and you saw that in late hits yesterday (and the team end zone celebtrations in Jacksonville earlier this year).

The announcers STARTED to call him on it, although over a less meaningful situation. They were mad at the pass on the 4th and goal play. Worse than that was the continued blitzing and late hits georgia kept putting on their opponent (even though not all of them were called).

I think both coaches got their teams to play with big chips on their shoulders yesterday -- and, really, for no reason at all. Given the system, their games were COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS!!!!! There is no 3rd place trophy, and the "starting poll position" had nothing to do with either team NOT being in the championship game. Georgia didn't qualify for their conference title game, and USC lost to two terrible teams, including the last game of the season

Are you even a college football fan? You think a BCS bowl victory, even if it is not the championship, is meaningless to a school? UGA was out to prove a point, and it was a point well served.

Starting position may not have mattered in this particular matchup, but it is very important (see Auburn a few years back). Both UGA and USC have cemented a high starting position for next year (probably top 5 for both teams).

This is big time college football. This is just about as large a stage as there is - it isnt high school football. If you can show me anywhere that UGA has been accused of playing dirty I'd be interested to see it. I have never heard that accusation levied against Mark Richt. Late hits result from playing hard. Sometimes a 250 lb Linebacker cant quite stop his momentum. As for the touchdown celebration in Jacksonville - you clearly have no knowledge of the history b/w UGA and UF. UGA was trying to break a tradition of losing, and if gettin the entire team involved is what was necessary so be it. They took teh penalties and got pushed back - but the team was motivated and fired up and ended up winning that game too.

[A-Tex Devil]

I think both coaches got their teams to play with big chips on their shoulders yesterday -- and, really, for no reason at all. Given the system, their games were COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS!!!!! There is no 3rd place trophy, and the "starting poll position" had nothing to do with either team NOT being in the championship game. Georgia didn't qualify for their conference title game, and USC lost to two terrible teams, including the last game of the season

It's not completely meaningless so long as the AP is outside of the BCS. Georgia and USC, as well as OU and to some extent VaTech, all have a shot -- albeit it very very tenuous -- of winning the AP National Championship if LSU wins in a stinker against Ohio State.

In the unlikely, but possible, event that one of those 4 schools do win the AP, the AP national championship, although not the BCS, will be recognized by those schools, banners will be hung, heck, maybe even rings will be distributed. So it goes beyond proving the BCS wrong --- these teams still have an ever so slight chance of pulling out a national championship, and their only way to get there is to pound, and I mean POUND, their BCS opponent. Illinois and Hawaii were lambs to the slaughter.

[Lavabe]

I think both coaches got their teams to play with big chips on their shoulders yesterday -- and, really, for no reason at all. Given the system, their games were COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS!!!!! There is no 3rd place trophy, and the "starting poll position" had nothing to do with either team NOT being in the championship game. Georgia didn't qualify for their conference title game, and USC lost to two terrible teams, including the last game of the season

Huh? What? USC (not the Gamecocks, but the Trojans) won all of its November, December, and January games:

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result
09/01/07 vs. Idaho L.A. Coliseum W, 38-10
09/15/07 at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb W, 49-31
09/22/07 vs. Washington State * L.A. Coliseum W, 47-14
09/29/07 at Washington * Seattle, WA W, 27-24
10/06/07 vs. Stanford * L.A. Coliseum L, 24-23
10/13/07 vs. Arizona * L.A. Coliseum W, 20-13
10/20/07 at Notre Dame South Bend, IN W, 38-0
10/27/07 at Oregon * Eugene, OR L, 24-17
11/03/07 vs. Oregon State * L.A. Coliseum W, 24-3
11/10/07 at Cal * Berkeley, CA W, 24-17
11/22/07 at Arizona State * Tempe, AZ W, 44-24
12/01/07 vs. UCLA * L.A. Coliseum W, 24-7
01/01/08 vs. Illinois Rose Bowl W, 49-17

Including the last game of the season?? UCLA in 2006 was another matter completely, but they beat UCLA this season. Stanford, OK, I agree, but Oregon terrible? I wouldn't go that far (ask South Florida).

Cheers,
Lavabe

[CMS2478]

So, to put my biases out there, I wish the NCAA would adopt North Carolina's high school rule -- taunting is a 15 yard penalty PLUS the taunter is ejected. No warnings, no tolerance (and I really don't like zero tolerance rules).

Dive over the goal line (or flip into the end zone)? Ejection
Helmet to helmet tackle AFTER the whistle? Ejection
Unnecessary roughness in a blowout? The coach gets ejected

Again, I like the coaches, but Richt has shown a propensity this year to whip his guys into a froth and then just let them go uncontrolled -- and you saw that in late hits yesterday (and the team end zone celebtrations in Jacksonville earlier this year).

The announcers STARTED to call him on it, although over a less meaningful situation. They were mad at the pass on the 4th and goal play. Worse than that was the continued blitzing and late hits georgia kept putting on their opponent (even though not all of them were called).

I think both coaches got their teams to play with big chips on their shoulders yesterday -- and, really, for no reason at all. Given the system, their games were COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS!!!!! There is no 3rd place trophy, and the "starting poll position" had nothing to do with either team NOT being in the championship game. Georgia didn't qualify for their conference title game, and USC lost to two terrible teams, including the last game of the season

I disagree with you 100%. These games are not meaningless and you keep mentioning all these late hits.......The Dawgs were penalized only twice for late hits. Besides, I am tired of all the flags of late hits on QB's anyway...I don't want to see anyone playing dirty, but it is football and we have gotten to the point where we need to just put diapers on the QB's because we baby them. I am not saying that Georgia deserved to play for the national championship bc I don't think they did. But I didn't see anything dirty or disrepsectful like you mentioned. No more than any other football game.

[ugadevil]

You've got to be kidding me? I thought the UGA/Hawaii game was played with a high amount of sportsmanship and that both teams respected each other. There were numerous shots in the game where the guys would help each other up or talk during stoppages of play and seemed like they liked each other.

If there's anyone on the field who was acting in a classless way, it was a player for Hawaii. Number 29, Keenan Jones, had no business being on the field the way he played last night. When covering a punt, he led with his helmet and knocked out Mikey Henderson, before Henderson even had a chance to catch the ball! Then, he got up and celebrated the hit like he'd actually done something good. The idiot should have been ejected for that play. I believe he was called for penalties the next two times he was on the field. All this from a special teams player who had basically no impact on the game.

I think that people have adopted a feeling that UGA is classless because of one play this year and they've held it against them all season. You think they're classless now, or you thought the play against Florida was classless and now that has distorted your opinion of them for the remainder of the year? Anyone who normally follows Georgia football would say that there are a lot of times when our players and coaches play without any emotion and look too uptight.

And the whole issue about UGA not even making their conference championship game is getting old. It's not like LSU went undefeated in the SEC and beat every team by 50 points while doing it. LSU lost two conference games, the same as UGA, it just so happens that the Tigers lost to a team who wasn't as competitive in their division so it didn't hurt them. You don't think Georgia deserves a chance in the title game, fine...but don't act like it's such a stretch for them to think they should have a shot.

[A-Tex Devil]

LSU lost two conference games, the same as UGA, it just so happens that the Tigers lost to a team who wasn't as competitive in their division so it didn't hurt them.

BINGO! This is why the "Georgia didn't win the SEC argument" doesn't fly when arguing the relative merits of their season versus LSU. If we have a rule that conference champions can't play in the BCS title game, fine, I'm all for it. But we don't. Georgia beat the 2 teams LSU lost to and vice versa. Georgia had a tiebreaker with one of the teams they lost to, LSU had the good fortune to lose to lesser teams. Is that good or bad? The cards fell more perfectly for LSU, but LSU's winning of the SEC holds no water for me if you are arguing that they are "better" than UGa.

Man, I wish UGa and USC had played in the Rose.

[cspan37421]

Poor sportsmanship was everywhere to be seen on TV yesterday, especially Hawaii's #29. But not exclusively. Go ahead, say it's football. Fine. But there is a better way, and I'd like to see less of what there is and more of what it could be. As far as I'm concerned, the hot-dogging, taunting, smack-talking, etc., belongs in the realm of pro wrestling. You don't need it to play well, or even play at your best.

[Jarhead]

...I am tired of all the flags of late hits on QB's anyway...I don't want to see anyone playing dirty, but it is football and we have gotten to the point where we need to just put diapers on the QB's because we baby them.

I have watched a lot of football (haven't played since high school), and I think that the enforcement of the rules bend toward defensive players when it comes to the quarterback. Just listen to the coaches and the on-air analysts. They are always talking of the strategies for getting the QB out of the game. You gotta' hit the QB, they say, and they do, and the referee can't disconnect the flag from his jock. If the same rule that applies to hitting the kicker was applied to hits on the QB, the offense would just march down the field, on penalties. Not a pleasant thing to watch, but a late hit is a late hit. Once the ball leaves the hand, or foot, any subsequent hit is late. Momentum of the tackler is no excuse. If we don't like it, change the rules. It's nonsense to say that the kicker is any more vulnerable than the QB.

The rest of this thread is about the ridiculous championship procedures in the Bowl Championship Subdivision of the NCAA Division I. There are 32 bowl games this time around. That means that 64 teams will play in post season bowl games, and we still will argue who the real national champion is. In a tournament, it's one and done. In the BCS system, it's one and both done. Only in that NCAA subdivision is it decided who plays in the championship game by media people and computer programmers. Every other other sport, professional, college, or high school, has some sort of rational playoff system (except maybe for golf and NASCAR).

The powers that be keep throwing up road blocks that preserve the present system. I haven't heard any one give a valid reason for saving it. Sorry for the rant, but in the heat of this thread's discussion, I thought it was appropriate. I haven't seen a thread on the topic of football playoffs, recently, so I just brought it up. Maybe I should have started a thread. Maybe I will, later.

[CMS2478]

I have watched a lot of football (haven't played since high school), and I think that the enforcement of the rules bend toward defensive players when it comes to the quarterback. Just listen to the coaches and the on-air analysts. They are always talking of the strategies for getting the QB out of the game. You gotta' hit the QB, they say, and they do, and the referee can't disconnect the flag from his jock. If the same rule that applies to hitting the kicker was applied to hits on the QB, the offense would just march down the field, on penalties. Not a pleasant thing to watch, but a late hit is a late hit. Once the ball leaves the hand, or foot, any subsequent hit is late. Momentum of the tackler is no excuse. If we don't like it, change the rules. It's nonsense to say that the kicker is any more vulnerable than the QB.

The rest of this thread is about the ridiculous championship procedures in the Bowl Championship Subdivision of the NCAA Division I. There are 32 bowl games this time around. That means that 64 teams will play in post season bowl games, and we still will argue who the real national champion is. In a tournament, it's one and done. In the BCS system, it's one and both done. Only in that NCAA subdivision is it decided who plays in the championship game by media people and computer programmers. Every other other sport, professional, college, or high school, has some sort of rational playoff system (except maybe for golf and NASCAR).

The powers that be keep throwing up road blocks that preserve the present system. I haven't heard any one give a valid reason for saving it. Sorry for the rant, but in the heat of this thread's discussion, I thought it was appropriate. I haven't seen a thread on the topic of football playoffs, recently, so I just brought it up. Maybe I should have started a thread. Maybe I will, later.

I have seen too many times this year where a defender is running full speed at the QB and just as soon as he releases the ball the defender does everything in his power to pull up and avoid contact with the QB, but runs into him and the QB falls down and here comes the yellow flag. It disgusts me because it looks like a kicker being taught to fall down with any contact and now the QB's are doing it. If you are running full speed and the QB throws the ball while you are say, 1 yard away....there is no person that is capable of stoping on a dime and avoiding contact. If it is a dirty hit then yes throw the flag, but like I said I have seen incidents where the defender has even held his arms up in the "surrender" position as if to show the ref they are trying not to hit the QB and bc they run into them like a kicker they get flagged....it's ridiculous.

[chattpanther]

The announcers STARTED to call him on it, although over a less meaningful situation. They were mad at the pass on the 4th and goal play. Worse than that was the continued blitzing and late hits georgia kept putting on their opponent (even though not all of them were called).

The ANNOUNCERS should be ejected for being so stupid as to make a comments regarding the 4th and goal play for Georgia. First of all, I promise you that if the role was reversed, Hawaii (or any other team for that matter) would do the same thing if they had the opportunity. Second, the announcers and all of the media have spent the last month and the whole first half of the Georgia/Hawaii game talking about the Hawaii vs. Washington game where Hawaii was down by 21 points and came back to win. Going into the half the announcers remarked that Hawaii has the ability to put the 40 points on the board needed to win. In my opinion, Georgia put their second string in way too early and wasn't aggressive enough on offense in the second half.