Like Watching Rams Fight
Monday, January 8, 2007 at 11:28PM I'm sure you've seen those nature programs before, with the host heading off into the wilderness to catalogue the behavior of this or that beast. Occasionally the program happens upon some male rams in the middle of mating season, battling for the right to woo some terribly bored female.
The event isn't particularly sophisticated. Two animals identify each other, do that whole sizing-up thing and then get to the business of butting heads.
It's violent, impressive, dimwitted and short-lived.
Enter Monday night's BCS Championship Game between Ohio State and Florida.
Each team had a great deal of time in December and January to size the other up and then the skull-bashing show began. Florida quickly asserted itself and Ohio State spent the final 45 minutes pretending to participate but we all knew otherwise. The collisions left Ohio State dizzy and looking for retreat.
Ideally a football game is a bit of a boxing match, with the fighters sizing each other up, offering a series of feints, jabs, hooks, crosses and the occasional haymaker. Ideally there should be some thinking involved, some adjustment even as both sides take their licks.
This championship held no such drama. Florida stuck to its defense and a patient underneath passing game and overwhelmed Ohio State. The Buckeyes had no counter. They had no jab. They had no real punch to speak of. Simply erasure.
Unfortunately this means the game was a dud. Urban Meyer found something in his preparations and badly whipped the nation's No. 1 team. For that, the Gators are champions. Not complicated, not controversial. But also not compelling.
At least the Gators put to rest the controversy about whether or not they deserved a place at the championship game.
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Reader Comments (24)
Explain yourself please. I heard no such comparison when USC won the NC in a game in which they were heavily favored.
You hopeless homer!
Remind me not to hire you for my team should I ever become an AD.
Drama? There wouldn't have been any drama if OSU was putting a slap-down on Florida. It's what most analyst thought was going to happen.
Most of the unhappy people this morning are OSU fans and haters of the SEC.
Don't rewrite history to try to make a point. USC was a barely favored in the 2005 NC game against OU. The spread opened at 3 and was down to 1 point (even money in some spots) by gametime. Last time I checked 1 point is not "heavily favored".
Do some research...Ohio St on the other hand was heasvily favored at 8 points.
BTW, 8 pts. is not a heavy favorite in my opinion and, if you were to do some research you could do a better job of spelling.
Fla showed they were prepared for the game and didn't panic after Ginn's return. They showed a lot of poise in being able to come back from that and then deliver a thorough whipping.
I will say that I did predict a Fla victory because OSU's defense just doesn't come across a diversified attack like Fla's.
OSU's LB's were abysmal in zone coverage. On 3rd and 5 type situation, they were nowhere to be found in the middle of the field near the 1st down marker. I never saw a team get so many easy 3rd and 5-7 soft tosses in the middle of the field like Fla did. Also, OSU didn't even bother rushing the passer or blitzing. Their defense didn't do anything well.
CFR, I know you've been a big Meyer-proponent, and you had me sold on Meyer. I look like a semi-genius now because I told my friends a year ago that Meyer would have Fla contending for a title in 2006, after they claimed Meyer's system wouldn't work in the SEC.
That idea -- once the game isn't in doubt, it's much less interesting -- holds true no matter who is favored. Once it was clear OSU wasn't going to compete, the most interesting part of the game for me as a fan of neither school was seeing how grumpy Meyer could look and how lost Tressel could look.
And for a bowl game, 8 points is a large margin. For many regular season games, 8 doesn't mean much, but bowls are supposed to be somewhat even matchups, at least moreso than many regular season games, so an 8 point margin is big. Especially for the final game between the BCS 1 and 2.
Now is that saying the game was not compelling or that the Gators are not compelling?
He has already stated that in his opinion the game was a "dud". So what is not compelling?
If you want to be right about the point spreads then O.K. I'll send you your trophy.
I didn't read on this pac(1)0 homer blog how when USC blew out Arkansas that the game was a "dud".
BTW, the SEC has some fast-ass player don't they?
It was a dud because Fla pummelled OSU. I don't see why you are so upset about that fact.
And by "Meyer's system" I mean his offense. It didn't light the SEC up, but it was enough to go through the season to get them a title. People made it sound like Fla would lose 4 games a year using that system.
Yes, their defense is great, but their offense made plays when it needed, whether it was Tebow lowering his head for key first downs/TDs, or WR's running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
As for Florida, the two years prior to Meyer the florida offense averaged more points than Meyer's offenses the last two years. The last two years the defense has given up less points than the previous two years. That's what wins my friend. Defense has always been the path for championship teams.
As a fan with no vaunted interest in either team, I didn't give a crap after the first half ended. Neither did the entire apartment of people who were also watching. It was not a compelling game (indeed this entire bowl season was pretty boring). That is not a criticism of Florida or the SEC, it is a criticism of a blowout. LSU over ND wasn't exciting, and 'SC dominating Michigan wasn't exciting for the exact same reasons.
That's all he's trying to say.
war eagle.
Also, USCLink, while I agree the Rose Bowl wasn't a great game, I'm not sure it could be classified with the LSU/ND or OSU/FL blowouts. After all, it was 3-3 at the half. Michigan did flop in the second half, but the game wasn't that lopsided until later.