College Football Thread

Carp said:
UGA OL has not been playing well either. Running game is nowhere near as dominant as last year. UGA lost a ton of talent to the NFL so some regression is to be expected. They aren't on Bama's level yet, least as far as year by year dominance (I mean only Clemson and OSU are on that level right now). But if they keep having top 3 recruiting classes, they'll be up there soon.
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The OL play has been really disappointing. It was a group that returned largely intact so the regression is annoying. I will say the OL has been hit particularly hard by injuries but even accounting for that, the play isn't what would have been expected.

The area where the talent dropoff hits hardest is at linebacker. Georgia lost the best linebacker in college football to the NFL in Roquan Smith. The dropoff has been huge. The linebackers were essentially MIA against LSU.

I actually don't think the talent regression at RB is big enough to account for the dropoff in the running game. Swift is a beast and Holyfield is extremely difficult to bring down. I think the OL play mixed with Chaney's natural tendency to neglect the power run game has really hurt the ground game.
 
Smart did engage in one of my least favorite coach defending their actions tactics. Smart said any questions about whether Fields should have been put in the game instead of Fromm was just "couch quarterbacking" with the implication being that his knowledge and experience is so much greater than that of fans that his decisions shouldn't be questioned.

This really annoys me when coaches do this. It's absolutely true that I'll never know a thousandth of what Smart knows about the game. It's also true that he sees these guys in practice every day. However, if I go to a restaurant and they try to serve be a cold, burnt steak, I don't need to be a trained chef to know that my meal is screwed up.

It was obvious to everyone after the first half that Fromm was lost out there and wasn't going to recover. You can say it was a bad day or whatever, but it was absolutely clear the offense wasn't going to do anything with him under center.

While I trust Smart's decision on which QB in general gives Georgia a better chance to win, that doesn't mean that's going to be true every single day. At halftime it was pretty clear that Fromm gave Georgia a 0% chance of winning. At that point there was really nothing to lose with bringing Fields in and giving him some meaningful snaps. That's not couch QBing, that just being able to accept the writing on the wall.
 
The little I've watched Fields, I don't think he would have helped in the least bit. And I honestly don't know that UGA would have even scored any points. Amazing athlete, but not a good QB as of yet.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
Well it’s hard to say because the SEC for the most part ducks marquee out of conference games as much as possible. Damn sure won’t be seeing any home and homes scheduled either. I am not disputing the fact that the SEC has on top, but that’s only because of Alabama. No other conference gets the benefit of the doubt like they do. When a ranked team loses to a non ranked team the result is the winner vaulting up the rankings and the loser falling back a little. Somehow Kentucky is a top 15 school haha. It’s a joke. Currently it doesn’t appear there are many great teams. Alabama is above everyone else. Clemson has been to the top mountain, but they seem vulnerable right now. Ohio State has been there for awhile now too. Talent wise they are right there with Alabama. The PAC 12 has been down and looks to be again.
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Kentucky has been pretty impressive and likely has two 1st round picks in next year's draft. Honestly, if it were Louisville with the same team and record, I doubt you'd have any problem with their ranking.
 
My top 10:

Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, LSU, scUM, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio $tate, Washington State, UCF
 
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. LSU
5. Michigan
6. Georgia
7. Oklahoma
8. Ohio State
9. Washington State
10. Central Florida

Obviously, Alabama/LSU is the biggest game of the week (Roll Tide!). Bama will have their biggest test to date in that one. Tiger Stadium under the lights is a challenge.

Georgia better not take Kentucky lightly. The Cats have a good defense and with the game in Lexington, that presents a test for UGA.

I don’t see Notre Dame losing before the playoff. Their biggest challenge will come from Syracuse.

Clemson will likely go unbeaten into the playoffs because the ACC is weaker that it has been the past few years.

I see Michigan beating Ohio State right now.

Oklahoma I think loses again because their defense is sooooo terrible.

UCF is annoying.
 
I hope Georgia doesn't take Kentucky lightly too. They're better this year than they've been in a long time. That being said, I'm glad Georgia is facing them now and not earlier in the season. Kentucky has some talented players but they don't have the depth of teams like Georgia, LSU, Bama, etc. Their elite players have to play way more snaps resulting in a lot more wear and tear.

Snell is a perfect example. He's one of the best running backs in the SEC but he's also had to carry the ball 179 times this year. That's 28 more rushing attempts (nearly 20% more) than the next closest back. For comparison, Holyfield has the most rushing attempts among Georgia's backs at 85. The extra rushing attempts add up and its shown with Snell being a bit banged up the last couple weeks.
 
Georgia Southern: Coming to a top 25 near you! (FINGERS CROSSED)

What a turnaround. I have underestimated the effect coaching can have on a team 10 fold over the years.
 
Just another week gone by and laughable rankings from then SEC commissioner...

LSU remains in the top 8, Kentucky barely moves at all, and somehow Florida remains ranked after getting blown out from Missouri.
 
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Yeah 3 loss Florida has no business in the rankings, even as respectable as they've played this year. UCF deserves to be top 8 at this point. Say what you want, but they are sending NFL draft picks every year and have the longest winning streak in the nation. They absolutely belong is discussing for a playoff spot as long as they keep winning.
 
UCF or someone outside the power 5 will never get in a four team playoff. They play in weaker conferences and don’t get chances to play the big boys because nobody will schedule them. UCF does play Stanford and Pitt next season though. Teams are not penalized like they should be for playing a weak out of conference slate and they stand next to nothing to gain by playing against a UCF or the like.
 
I think half the SEC, half of the Big X, and at least a dozen other schools would be undefeated if they played UCF’s schedule. That’s why I don’t think you can take them seriously.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
Just another week gone by and laughable rankings from then SEC commissioner...

LSU remains in the top 8, Kentucky barely moves at all, and somehow Florida remains ranked after getting blown out from Missouri.
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It really is ridiculous. I don't have a problem saying the SEC is normally the best conference, but no two teams from a conference that has a championship game should ever make a final field of four. These rankings constantly seem to be manipulated to produce that.
 
Krgrecw said:
I think half the SEC, half of the Big X, and at least a dozen other schools would be undefeated if they played UCF’s schedule. That’s why I don’t think you can take them seriously.
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Those kids can’t help who is on the schedule.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
UCF or someone outside the power 5 will never get in a four team playoff. They play in weaker conferences and don’t get chances to play the big boys because nobody will schedule them. UCF does play Stanford and Pitt next season though. Teams are not penalized like they should be for playing a weak out of conference slate and they stand next to nothing to gain by playing against a UCF or the like.
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Correct.
 
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