Rivalry Weekend 2012

If there's one thing we know about here at 365SIO, it's rivalry games. That's what started this blog in the first place. Of course, the rivalry that berthed this site hasn't been much more than a one-sided slaughter for the past few years, but I digress.

This week is full of interesting matchups and storylines, but I think it’s safe to assume that there are three or four games that will be getting the majority of the attention. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up.

Florida –Florida St.

No. 5 Florida will travel to Tallahassee to take on No. 10 Florida St. in a game that could have BCS Championship implications should chaos rear its ugly head at any point in the remainder of the season. The Seminoles don’t have a shot at getting to the big game, but a win for the Gators is essential to putting them in prime position to play for it all should a couple of other teams go down in the coming weeks. A loss by top-ranked Notre Dame this weekend would move No. 2 Alabama up a spot, followed by Georgia, and leave the Gators sitting pretty at No. 3. From there, Florida would be poised to slip into the second BCS title game slot after the SEC Championship, when either the Crimson Tide or the Bulldogs go down. Another all-SEC BCS title game probably isn’t what the rest of the country wants to see, but at this point, it is a possibility. However, the Gators already weak offense will continue to stall this weekend, when quarterback issues become a factor. I like the Seminoles to pull off the victory, thereby eliminating the chance of another SEC monopoly in the title game.

Alabama- Auburn

The Iron Bowl returns to Tuscaloosa this week, but the game won’t be what everyone is talking about come Monday morning. The Tide will be too much for the Tigers, and the latter will finish the season out with no conference wins. I don’t expect coach Gene Chizik to be retained after this season, and a blowout in Tuscaloosa could speed the process up significantly.

Georgia-Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech’s quirky offense makes it an unusual game to prepare for, but the Bulldogs are two victories away from the BCS Championship game. This one might seem close for the first half, but Georgia will adjust and end up cruising to victory.

That leaves one more game to talk about.

Notre Dame – USC

The Fighting Irish will travel to sunny California to take on the pre-season No.1 USC Trojans. After several disappointing losses, can USC have gotten any further away from competing for the championship? While a victory here would do little to make up for what has become an incredibly disappointing season, an upset of No. 1 Notre Dame this weekend would go a long way in cooling the ever intensifying heat of Lane Kiffin’s coaching seat. Last week I would have picked USC to get the win, but since QB Matt Barkley went down with a shoulder injury against UCLA, I've flipped my pick to the Irish. USC will make it a competitive venture, but inexperience at the QB position will eventually be the deciding factor.

That’s all for now folks.

Until next time, Roll Tide.

One Week Makes All the Difference

When Texas A&M knocked off No.1 Alabama last week in Tuscaloosa, SEC fans across the country saw their conferences aspirations for a seventh consecutive BCS title game appearance fade away. As the Aggies exited Bryant-Denny Stadium to a chorus of chants uplifting Johnny Football and his team's upset of the top ranked team in the land, the SEC's unprecedented streak of six straight BCS championships had apparently come to an end.

Fast forward seven days, and the conference with six straight titles has been given new life. It was a long shot, but did anyone ever think that both the BCS No.1 and 2 would go down and give the SEC another chance at making history?

Well, that's exactly what happened when the unranked Baylor Bears thrashed No.1 Kansas St. 52-24 and the Stanford Cardinal upset the No.2 Oregon Ducks in overtime 17-14. Maybe CBS commentator Gary Danielson shouldn't have cursed the Ducks last week when he made the remark that he could see the Oregon head coach smiling all the way from Tuscaloosa, as the Aggies managed a 4th quarter goal line stand and defeated the Crimson Tide 29-24. I for one, thank you Mr. Danielson.

So what now? How about an Alabama - Notre Dame BCS championship game? It would mark the 40 year anniversary since the two played for title, and I cannot think of a more tradition filled atmosphere than what that potential game would offer. Two of the top teams of all time squaring off once again for all the marbles.

But, it's still a little early for such talk. Alabama has still got to get by a struggling Auburn team and then defeat a resurgent Georgia Bulldogs squad that has seemingly been firing on all cylinders since their embarrassing loss to South Carolina earlier in the year.

Then there's Notre Dame. The Irish will travel to the Coliseum next week to take on a depleted USC team that may be without it's starting quarterback.

What does all this add up to? Well, it means that chaos is only a game or two away from rearing it's ugly head once again.

Should Notre Dame lose to the Trojans, and should Alabama defeat Georgia in the SEC championship, would the Florida Gators be next in line and offer us another all SEC BCS title game? Well, Florida would have to get by Florida St. first, but it could happen. I can hear the rest of the country now, "Oh no, not again."

It's all too much for me to handle at this point, so I think it best to take the remainder of the season one game at a time.

Next up, the Iron Bowl.

Until then, Roll Tide!

Win Some, Lose Some, and the BCS Title Picture

Now that I've had a few days to digest the most recent loss for the Crimson Tide and I've cooled down a bit, I've decided to write a column that will hopefully be filled less with disgust and more with non-biased commentary, if I am indeed capable of such a feat.

So, big bad Alabama finally fell this past weekend to the then No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies came out strong, and had a 20-0 lead over the Tide by the close of the first quarter. I'm sure there were more than a few Crimson faithful who were covering their eyes at that point, but Alabama managed to make a game out of it in the end when they responded with 17 unasnwered points.

Of course we all know how the game ended. The Aggies pulled of the 29-24 upset of the No.1 team in the country and fixed permanent smiles across the faces of Oregon Duck fans everywhere.
The issue I find so hard to swallow is not that the Tide lost, but it's how they lost.
With about a minute left in the game, Alabama threatened to regain the lead after AJ McCarron hit Kenny Bell with a deep pass and set up first and goal from the six yard line. From then on, I was probably as confused as anybody.

Over the course of the next four plays, the Tide ran the ball only once. Even after McCarron scrambled to the two yard line on 2nd down, the Tide still deferred to the passing game. Call me crazy, but a team like Alabama, a team that prides itself on the power of its run game, abandoning the very asset that brought it to the dance just didn't sit well with me. Are you telling me that Eddie Lacy couldn't take advantage of that offensive line and pound his way for two yards into the endzone? Two yards!

Most people are saying it was over when the Tide took an off sides penalty shortly after giving the ball back to A&M, but in all honesty, in was over the second Alabama refused to run the ball. They were conceding that they could not fight for two yards on the ground against the Aggies.

In the aftermath, the SEC saw its BCS title hopes fade away. There will be no seventh straight for the most dominant conference in BCS history.

Sure, the possibility does still exist, but two of the top three teams need to lose and I don't forsee that happening. It's not because they're that good. Heavens no. It's because they don't play anyone, and for the most part, haven't all year.

Kansas State's best chance of a loss comes with a matchup against the Texas Longhorns. The probability of that upset happening are a long shot at best. Texas just doesn't have the experience.

Oregon will continue to roll through the Pac-12 unimpeded, and even with the obstacle of a conference title game looming, the Ducks will continue to put up ridiculous numbers. Razzle + Dazzle, no substance.

Notre Dame has by far the best chance of losing one of their remaining games, when they travel to the Coliseum to face the USC Trojans. Who'd have thought SEC faithful would be rooting for a Lane Kiffin coached team to pull of an upset so late in the season?

Still, even if Notre Dame falls to the Trojans, the SEC would still need one of the other aformentioned programs to faulter, and I just don't see it happening.

What does this all add up to? Well for me, it adds up to one hell of boring title game, as Oregon will steamroll Kansas St., and win their first BCS championship by at least 40 points.

Thank you Texas A&M. You played your heart out and that's all that can be expected in this great conference. Kudos to you. But know this, you are now a marked team, and Johnny Football has the bullseye squarely drawn across his back.

Unless your being coached by Les Miles, teams don't fair so well against Nick Saban the second time around.
Until next time, Roll Tide.

Happy Veteran's Day Sports Fans

Happy Veteran's Day to our prior and current service members. Above is a picture of me and my brother. A little Army/Navy rivalry does the family good. There is one thing we agree on: We both love Tennessee Football.

That's a picture of our family. My parents, my brother, his kids and his wife.

Today's post is about the present and the past. It's about what college football means to our service members.

Hawk and I disagree on sports matters. But when we were deployed it's what kept us at home. Our love of our teams is what gave us hope. It's what helped us get through every week. You can even say it's where our slogan here on 365 Saturday in October came from. Is it Saturday yet?

Every week we would count down the days until we could come back home to our loved ones. Come back home to the games we wanted to watch instead of the game the Armed Forces Network (AFN) decided to broadcast.

I remember the Third Saturday in October was set to air on AFN, but it was to be delayed. Hawk and I agreed not to check any scores or read any news so we could watch the game, trash talk and enjoy the event like it was happening live. Talk about a nightmare for a couple of guys who spent hours reading over every article we could get our hands on.

The time finally came for the game and our patience was to pay off. Then the AFN source feed, controlled in Texas, changed from sports to a religious program. You could imagine our horror. After calling every techie aboard the ship to try to get the game we finally took a look at the score. Of course, he was happy and I had to suffer another year of Bammer torment.

I tell you this to sum up how important sports are to those who are deployed. Not everyone has a professional sports team to cheer for. Just ask someone from Idaho. But all of us had our college teams.

College sports keeps us connected. With the states that are thousands of miles away. With the homes we left when we joined the military. With the traditions we grew up with. With the memories that help turn a day that would normally drag into a reminiscent comfort.

As a veteran, I am proud of those who have gone before me and made what we can do possible. They have ensured we can spend our Saturdays cheering our teams in the safe comfort of our homes.

Veterans like General Neyland who left his beloved Tennessee Vols in the peak of his coaching career to serve his country and help win the war.

So maybe you know someone who is deployed right now. Why not send them a little piece of home? A t-shirt, a hat, a DVD of their favorite football team. Believe me, it means the world to have that piece of home.

Until next time,

GO BIG ORANGE and HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

-Dusty 
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class
USS George H.W. Bush

What just happened?

What just happened? I mean really? This is the same A&M team that lost to Florida and LSU. And here they are, in Tuscaloosa, coming up with the biggest win of their college lives.

You got to hand it to A&M. They played damn fine defense tonight. They played SEC caliber defense. Giving AJ MacCarron his first, and second, interception of the season. They played great offense against an amazing Bama defense.

And it all came down to an infraction of the neutral zone call in the end of the game. By the Tide. THE TIDE! The most disciplined team coached by the a man that puts the highest sense of respect on discipline shot themselves in the foot by jumping on the last chance to take home a win.

This is unbelievable. I am in some kind of shock.

As a Tennessee fan, you got to like seeing Bama getting a little humbling from time to time. But as an SEC fan, this is heartbreaking. We now have no undefeated teams left. We will probably miss a role in the National Championship. No seventh straight national championship. The rest of the country must be rejoicing right now.

Bittersweet.

Just a note to add: 

The Bear's last game coaching A&M was a loss too. To Tennessee.

Chalk another one up to bad coaching

 Tennessee beat Mizzou today. They had a far superior team. Sure, the defense sputtered in the second half, and sure Bray cracked a bit under pressure, but the fact is, Tennessee had the better team.

I really thought it would be the other way around. But sure enough, being a Tennessee fan watching the first half I was filled with hope. And it's like Bane said in the Dark Knight Rises, "There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope."

Bad coaching was why the Vols lost. A team with such athleticism should be competing for the SEC championship, not trying to keep their head above water. But teams reflect coaches. And Tennessee was confused.

You don't let the clock run down in fourth quarter with Tyler Bray and the arsenal at his disposal coming onto the field... with over 40 seconds on the clock... and great field position.

The General has turned off his TV. He won't even roll over anymore.

Now we all wait for the Monday morning press conference. We'll sit around the threads all day, waiting for news. Hoping for a little red-headed luck to head our way.

Obi-wan Kenobi couldn't even help us now.

God have mercy on our orange souls.

Pregame Nov 9

It's IS Saturday, and what a day it is. A lot of lopsided games in the SEC today, so I'm going to talk about the two that are going to matter. To me anyway.
Mizzou @ Tennessee
This is the one it all comes down to for the Vols. With a win here, you show the Tigers who's boss and let the world know that Tennessee hasn't dropped to the standards of Kentucky. With a loss, Dooley goes bye-bye by Monday and the Vols are back at sqaure one while all the Big Orange faithful sleep with visions of Chucky dancing in their heads.
The fact is, Mizzou is the stronger team coming into Knoxville. Tigers QB, James Franklin, looks to be back to full health as Mizzou comes to Rocky Top and that will mean trouble for Sal Sunsari's lack-luster defense.
The Tigers have something to prove, and seem to be more driven than the Vols. Case and point: Last week's bare-knuckle-brawl with Florida/ last week's broadway musical with Troy.
Both the Tigers and Vols have a bowl game oppurtunity hanging by a thread, and a loss for either team spells d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.
There is no doubt in my mind that Tennessee comes into this game with the better offense. They are a great running back shy of the best offensive unit in Tennessee history (going to hear an earful from the Manningites about that one). The offensive line is a thing of beauty. Brays arm is what NFL scouts drool over. And with all the targets he has to throw to (Patterson, Hunter, Rivera, ect) the receiving corp is as breathtaking as a clear autumn night high atop the Great Smoky Mountains.
But with a defense that can't stop a 50 year old Hershel Walker, the offensive unit is going to stuggle with daring come from behind victories that seem to never work in our favor.
If Derek Dooley really is responsible for our offense, and is now working more with the defense, we can only hope it, too, will turn to gold.
Tennessee has to put Mizzou in its place. For the sake of the SEC. It's a welcoming ceremony for the Tigers. And don't ever say we play "Old Man Football."
FINAL: 41-28 VOLS

Texas A&M @ Alabama
With last week's showing against Mississippi State, A&M proved they were well beyond the comparisons to a second teir SEC team. But they aren't yet quite a first teir either.
They have had tough losses against Flordia in week one (20-17 @home) and LSU (24-19 @home) and now they have to travel to the yellow hammer state to take on the best defense in college football. A&M right now is hanging in a strange SEC limbo, and a big upset win against Bama could be just the thing to push them to top.
There is a lot of speculation about how the hard-fought LSU game will affect Bama, but I think it's nonsense. This is the undefeated, defending national champions. Actually, that can't hold a candle to the fact that this a Nick Saban team. A football team reflects the attitude of the coach, and this team is nothing but focus.
Jonny Football showed he can make mince meat out of a secondary with last week's win against Miss. St. But here's the thing: In all their wins, the Aggies are averaging 52 points-per-game. But the wins come against teams not known for their defense. In their losses they're averaging 18 points. Now they're facing the best.
As a Vols fan, I can tell you, offense is awesome. But it don't mean jack-diddility-squat against a true-blue SEC defense.
This one is going to hurt their feelings, but get ready to hear rammer jammer. Early.
FINAL 35-17 ...Give 'em hell Alabama.




Until Next Time
Go Big Orange!