I get that Texas A&M has had a helluva year on offense. Sumlin knows what he’s doing. Manziel is a helluva talent. But still…
It took Texas A&M going to the SEC to validate Big 12 offenses. Took A&M going to the SEC to prove that prolific Big 12 offenses weren’t the result of porous Big 12 defenses.
The Aggies led the SEC in scoring (44.8 points per game) and total offense (552.3 yards), ranking third nationally in both categories.
“We’re really proud of the way they went into the SEC and played the way they did,” said OU linebacker Tom Wort. “I’m proud of the way they handled themselves and kind of represented the Big 12 in a little way.”
I’d find the chest thumping a little more authoritative if they’d have mentioned how the other Big 12 refugee handled those big, bad SEC defenses, but somehow there’s no mention of Missouri’s 2012 performance anywhere in the article.
And this?
Six straight SEC national championships, including a Florida victory over OU four years ago in the Big Bowl, have established the idea that Big 12 offenses don’t travel. That the spread concepts that flourish outside the SEC won’t work in the league that features big, mean and fast defenders.
How you can mention the SEC’s national title run, which included two schools running spread offenses, and act like nobody in the SEC has ever run the spread before in the same paragraph is a pretty neat trick. And, again, Sumlin’s offense springs from the Hal Mumme tree, which got its major college start at Kentucky.
I can’t figure this part out, either.
“We have a lot of talented offenses in our league and a lot of good quarterback play,” Norvell said. “That allows the teams to play the style of offense that we play. I’m not saying the SEC doesn’t have that type of quarterback, but it doesn’t seem they’re exploiting that position as much in their league as we are in ours.”
No offense, but Alabama and Georgia exploited that position just fine. Their quarterbacks will finish this season earning the top two passer ratings not only in the conference, but in the country.
Point here isn’t that Texas A & M’s offense wasn’t prolific. It was. But there are plenty of ways to skin that “offense succeeds in the SEC” cat. Most, though, involve having a really good quarterback as a starting point.
Get The Picture 
3rd in the SEC west.
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Happened to hear Big 12-er Doug Gottlieb on the radio for about, literally, 60 seconds yesterday–just enough to hear him confirm the no-qbs-in-the-SEC meme. Then he ticked the two that might be: Bray, Murray…and for Murray, he added: “You think Aaron Murray is going to be a pro? I mean, did you see that game the other day? Some of those throws, I thought he had his eyes closed.” And here the Nebraska fans on the Corn Nation game thread (who watched the whole game) were posting that he was the best QB they’d seen all year and threw amazingly accurate deep balls. But the Big 12, you know, they have Nick Florence and maybe Landry Jones and…who else is going to be a pro again? Collin Frigging Klein???
I turned it off after that because if Gottlieb could watch the Cap 1 Bowl with his eyes apparently closed, I decided I could listen to the radio show with my ears closed.
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An open mic and a contract doesn’t make one a CFB expert.
Murray is an incredible QB, but I would bet his mechanical issues may have more to do with his NFL future than his height or arm strength.
On the other hand, maybe the Vikes will draft him and fix that.
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Mechanical issues?
Not sure what you mean there…he’s fundamentally sound. He had footwork issues when he was a Fr., but those seem to be corrected.
Murray’s biggest issue is one of his biggest strengths…his smarts and attention to detail. Taking away the Florida game…where I think he tried to hard not to be meticulous and ended up throwing a couple of bad picks…most of his INTs have come because he trusted the play call and the looks he had seen on film more than what was actually happening on the field. Look at the pick 6 against Nebraska…he did exactly what he was supposed to do…looked off the RB and trusted the call. The problem was that the D read the play perfectly and when he turned to throw to the spot, the defender was there instead of our player. To me, that’s not on him at all. That pick is on the OC and not being able to disguise the play. (That’s not a knock against Bobo’s ability…but against that particular call and the set up tendency.)
Anyway, I think Murray will wow them at the combine with arm strength and accuracy. He throws a really great out and that back shoulder throw is almost perfect. He could be a really good fit in an NFL offense.
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It’s also on the players not executing the play properly. There were two players who were supposed to block the NU LB–McGowan and a lineman, not sure who, Lee, I think– and they both whiffed. Then Marshall somehow fell down in addition to that. It took three offensive players’ fails to allow one defender to blow up the play.
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I see what you did there, BD. 🙂
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Do either Notre Dame or Bama run “Big 12” offenses?
The answer, I seem to recall is “NO!”
Thus endeth the lesson.
Oh, not that they will need it, but Roooooooollllllllllll Tahd.
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There are a lot of “SEC is down” memes going around these days. Those Pac12 teams think they could hang, ACC fans are counting wins by Louisville and ND as ACC wins. Big 12 thinks that because TAMU won a couple of games that OU and Texas are suddenly better than Bama. The only schools that seem to have gotten the picture are the Big 10 schools, with Delany announcing they will be taking their ball and going elsewhere for bowls in the near future.
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Wait, really? We’re going to have fewer SEC/B1G bowls in the future? That is great news if true. It’s absurd having three match ups with them.
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I believe that was reported recently.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/21491901/big-ten-looking-to-diversify-its-bowl-lineup
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Yeah, Delany is upping the chances for Big-10 bowl superiority by not playing the SEC. For him, that’s a huge compliment to the SEC even though it is left-handed. Do you think he has any idea how that reverberates in the country and the recruits?
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I would be more interested in what he says if he mentioned that the Pac-12 and Big-10 decided to make the Rose Bowl competitive again. Refusal to see what that tie-in does to their competition phobia image just puts more recruits interested in the SEC.
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Two step process for running the spread successfully in the SEC.
1. Implement the spread
2. Recruit a Heisman-winning Quarterback to run it.
IT’S JUST THAT EASY!
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Fire Mark Richt! He won’t recruit a Heisman spread offense QB!
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Truncating my own name is GOLD Jerry…GOLD!
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I see what you did there.
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🙂
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That’s not the issue with CMR the issue is we had had our chance to play ND and we fucked it up
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And if we would have spiked the ball we had a better chance plain and simple it’s just flat out disgusting
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Last night’s game really proved the BIG12 superiority meme too. QUACK!
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This is so stupid. How is an offense that has a QB that never played a snap in the Big 12 and a coach that was never a HC in the Big 12 a “Big 12” offense?
And as long as we are making broad generalizations about things…what are we defining as “SEC defenses”?
Against Florida, Alabama, and LSU, A&M only put up 334, 410, and 418 respectively…roughly 150 to 200 yards below their season average and all under 5.5 yards per play. Hmmm….considering those were 3 of the 4 SEC defenses ranked in the top 25 of total defense this season…and A&m went 1-2 versus them….Maybe I’m being simplistic, but it could be that when you have a good offense, there is a better chance it will not work against a team with a really good defense…and there tend to be more teams with really good defenses in the SEC and this year didn’t nothing to change that.
Where did they rack up the HUGE yardage totals in conference? 716 vs. Arky, 671 vs. Auburn, 693 vs. Miss State, and 647 vs. Mizzou. Meh.
What’s really interesting to me is that no one has looked at the counter argument? If SEC offenses are ‘so bad’ compared to Big 12 offenses, why did A&M give up more total yards per game and more yards per play in conference play in 2012 than they did in the 2011? Wait…what?!? You mean that Texas A&M and Mizzou’s defense in conference play didn’t get better against the sorry offenses in the SEC? No…they both got worse. Mizzou had a slight improvement in yards per game(420.1 in 2011 to 408.3 in 2012…h/t to Kentucky), but gave up more yards per play. (5.37 in 2011 to 5.79 in 2012).
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+1
Good analogy. I may have to borrow this, if you don’t mind.
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Very good Irwin…and btw Texas A&M D has played exceptionally well
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I was really skeptical of the Sumlin hire, but…he got the job done. His best coaching move of the year may have been naming Johnny Football the starter.
The funny thing is this…had the Aggies stayed in the Big 12, they’d likely have played for a national title.
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Would A&M have spent the $$$ on a new staff if they were still in the Big12?
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I don’t really have a clue. You think different?
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No they wouldnt have the money they have now in the SEC
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“The Aggies lost to Florida 20-17 and LSU 24-19. But they routed Arkansas 58-10, Auburn 63-21 and Mississippi State 38-13. They nipped Ole Miss 30-27. And on Nov. 10, A&M went to top-ranked Alabama and won 29-24.”
Quite the resume- because nobody else could have beat Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State or Ole Miss. Give them credit for beating Bama, but the Aggies lost to a team that UL Layafette almost beat. That’s pitiful.
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I see what you did there. I was sooooo ready to get on line & buy me one ah them there fancy UL Laf t-shirt’s and wear it around everywhere I thought there might be a gatah lurking…and then that damn punt block with the ball hanging perfectly in the air…
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This is just more of the same kind of bullshit that Martinez was spouting after Georgia beat Nebraska. These guys have competitive natures and if it means lying to themselves about reality, they have no problem doing it.
It beats admitting you’re second rate. Maybe their mamas will believe it.
The bottom line is not which offensive or defensive scheme is superior,( schemes can be adjusted and manipulated) but who has the finest atheletes. Remember that great offense from Haiwaii a few years ago?
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Wait, I thought Nebraska beat Georgia. Martinez bitch-made the UGA defense and imposed his will on us.
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One thing appeared to be true based on the Cap One Bowl – offenses are allowed to play a lot faster in the Big XII than they are elsewhere. Refs allow them to get over the ball and go. I think you’d see Big XII defenses close the gap a bit if that weren’t true.
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Very true. Richt got in the ref’s ear about it very early on in the game, and still they only slowed down a tad. I will say, that something that may have been missed on the telecast was that Richt got nose-to-nose with the head official. I mean, it was Bobby Cox style – and the crowd ate.it.up.
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I think Richt was in the ref’s ear because NU scored their first touchdown after the 25s playclock had expired. It was a missed call.
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+1
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A conference can’t win 6 MNC in a row, plus a slew of other bowl games and OOC match-ups, without a little rhetorical pay-back when a few cracks appear in the armor. Martinez thinks Nebraska’s better because they played Georgia even for a half. B12 supporters, who laughed at Texas AM for leaving the B12, suddenly want to claim them as family to bask in their reflected glory. It’s odd, but it’s ultimately entertaining.
All that said, I think AM and Alabama both lose, leading to an eruption of “SEC is done” stories. Hope I’m wrong, but it’s going to happen at some point anyway. Might as well get it over with.
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Wrong on AM, spectacularly. Fun to watch. Hope Monday makes me 0-2.
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The Aggies are supposed to be loaded with draft prospects. Manziel is probably not their best player. I really like watching him play, but wonder if you couldn’t insert another mobile qb (say an uninjured Connor Shaw) into that system and have similiar results? Let’s see how Manziel and the Aggies do next year.
I read somewhere that Martinez made his comment about Georgia’s defense the day before the game. I’m not defending him, but if that’s true, I wonder if his tune has changed? Probably not. I think both Martinez and Pelini (or are those names of beverages and sandwiches?) made similiar comments after the South Carolina game last year.
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Martinez repeated the statement (along with a few other players) after the game as well. I guess they’re used to 36 minute games, because they didn’t do much the last 24 minutes. :O
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Personally, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the SEC. All I care about is Georgia. So say what you will about the SEC, Big 12-ites. It’s all BS and everybody knows that anyway.
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This. I will never root for anyone who is a recruiting threat to UGA.
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Unless they are playing Florida.
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That would be a great sentiment to live by if it didn’t reflect upon the quality of UGAs schedule/wins and therefore reflect upon their national perception and therefore reflect upon recruits and poll voter’s perceptions.
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Funny, but SEC chest thumping didn’t do jack for us this year, did it? #schedulememe
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+1.
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this.
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Jarvis just declared for NFL.
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Watching this Under Armour game, Ogundeko just committed live to “University of Clemson.” Not familiar with that school. Brice looks pretty good, although he did throw a pick on a screen that looked awfully similar to what AM did against Nebraska.
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Next time you have the urge to fire Mike Bobo, think about this: We scored 529 points this season. In 1990, under Ray Goff, we scored 185.
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Hoped against hope Jarvis would come back. UGA will need him next year: Clemson, Cocks, LSU, FU. He brought equal amounts of balls and class to Athens.
Imagine what he could have done staying healthy for 14 games in ’13!
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Stoops is a LOOSER
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It is funny though, as none of the B-12 schools cared when Mizzo and aTm left, but now that aTm dose good they claim them as theirs again. Guess they should have kicked Texas out and kept aTm, then they could have something to brag about.
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They cared when those schools left. What makes you think they didn’t? Kansas was so pissed at Missouri they refused to play them any longer, and that was one of the more entertaining and historic rivalries anywhere.
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