Tebow looks back.

From a Wendell Barnhouse article (h/t The Wizard of Odds), we discover that Tim Tebow has learned how to downplay a loss.

“I learned it was a long season, playing every game, every down, I learned a lot,” Tebow said. “I got a few bumps and bruises. The only game I didn’t feel healthy for was Georgia.”

(photo courtesy Star-Telegram/Ron T. Ennis)

42-30, dude.  Deal with it.

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Envy and jealousy: calling the Hawgs edition

One of my favorite bloggers, The Wizard of Odds, shoots and scores with a fabulous line from this post:

… We can only imagine that advanced lessons of “Baby Razorback” will include directions on how to file a Freedom of Information Act request in an attempt to chase away a football coach.

Nothing but net, sir.  Nothing but net.

Fun Florida facts

In doing the research on the Top 10 SEC games series I’ve been posting, I came across two interesting factoids about Gator football.

First, did you know that Florida has never beaten a top-ranked team in the regular season? It’s true, per the WWL.

Mark Of Futility
Including Saturday’s 28-24 loss to LSU, Florida has never beaten a top-ranked team in the regular season, going 0-6. They are 2-1 vs No. 1-ranked teams in bowl games.
Month, Year	Opp	Result
Oct. ’07	LSU	L, 28-24
Sept. ’02	Miami	L, 41-16
Nov. ’99	FSU	L, 30-23
Nov. ’93	FSU	L, 33-21
Oct. ’59	LSU	L, 9-0
Nov. ’42	Georgia	L, 75-0

On the other hand, in the five times that an AP-ranked SEC school has defeated a conference rival that was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the same time, the Gators have been the victims on three of those occasions – including, I’m pleased to note, the first time the Gators were ranked #1, at the hands (paws?) of the Dawgs.

No doubt this must be what Stewart Mandel means when he refers to Florida’s “big-picture tradition.”

Rare Upset
In the football rich tradition of the SEC, this is surprisingly only the fifth time that an AP-ranked SEC school has defeated a conference rival that was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the same time. Florida has been knocked off three times, and this was the second time LSU was upset.
Year	Opponent	Opp. rank	No. 1	Won by
2007	Kentucky	17	LSU	6
1997	LSU	14	Florida	7
1994	Auburn	6	Florida	3
1985	Georgia	17	Florida	21
1959	Tennessee	13	LSU	1

Slick Rick and that river in Egypt

Let’s play a game. Can you spot the biggest whopper in this story?

Here are a few choices:

The following season, Neuheisel made Stevens sit out the first half of the opener against Michigan. In retrospect, Neuheisel said he wishes he had benched Stevens for three games to make a statement to the entire program.

“I’m not saying we should not look at the misdeeds, but it didn’t take a look at all sides.”

Neuheisel, who said he declined the Times’ interview requests and had yet to read the series…

…He said much of the Times’ information has come as a shock to him and that he wishes he had held people more accountable. He reiterated that he was unaware of most of the issues regarding Williams and Pharms, who has since served jail time for robbery and still has an arrest warrant in Washington for driving under the influence…

…Neuheisel, hired as Washington’s coach in 1999, did not recruit any of the athletes profiled in the series and maintained that finding athletes with character was a high priority.

He comes off looking worse in an article where he’s given the opportunity to defend himself than he did in the Times series.

He’s got one thing right when he notes that “there’s ‘no telling’ what the result of his interviews with UCLA would have been had the series run before he was hired.” No shit – I bet the AD is suffering from a massive case of buyer’s remorse this morning.

The 10 best SEC games of 2007: #6

November 3, 2007: LSU 41, Alabama 34

Call this one the Revenge of the Coonasses.

Saban vs. Miles.

Of course, this game had nothing to do with the coaches. Just ask ’em.

This was payback, not matter how much Saban tried to protest.

“It ain’t got nothing to do with me,” he said in a fiery post-game news conference that bordered at times on a lecture. “I don’t coach LSU anymore. I coach Alabama. I’m going to do a good job coaching Alabama. We’re going to recruit good players. We’re going to have a good team. We’re going to have a good program.

“So, it’s got nothing to do with me. Nothing.”

Absolutely.

“That had nothing to do with who coaches the teams,” Miles said. “This was about two football teams and position in the West.”

Sure. Whatever you say, Coach.

For a game that wasn’t decided until just over a minute to go, the stats tell a strange story. LSU outgained ‘Bama 475 yards to 254 and held the ball more than 33 minutes. The Tide averaged a miniscule 0.6 yard per rushing attempt. John Parker Wilson was a weak 14-40 throwing the ball, although he did manage 3 TD passes.

You have to look a little deeper. LSU was -1 in turnover margin. The Tigers racked up an incredible 130 yards in penalties (Alabama, on the other hand, was penalized only twice for 15 yards) which went a good way towards negating the advantage in yardage that LSU enjoyed. The rest of that was wiped out by two big plays in the return game: a 61 yard punt return for a touchdown that gave the Tide its last lead in the fourth quarter and a 51 yard interception return that set up a ‘Bama touchdown in the last minute of the second quarter.

LSU sacked John Parker Wilson seven times. None were bigger than the last two:

1st and 10 at ALA 32		John Parker Wilson pass incomplete.	34	34
2nd and 10 at ALA 32		John Parker Wilson sacked by Tyson Jackson at the Alab 30 for a loss of 2 yards.
3rd and 12 at ALA 30		John Parker Wilson sacked by Chad Jones at the Alab 3 for a loss of 14 yards.

Which led to this ugly drive description…

DRIVE TOTALS: Alab drive: 3 plays -29 yards, 01:01 Alab FUMB

Two plays later, Jacob Hester went over for the winning score.

So many games don’t live up to the pregame buildup. This wasn’t one of those.

Just remember that it was never about the coaches.