Thursday, December 6, 2012

College Football Week 14 Review

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Alabama beat Georgia and will now face Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game.


Last weekend marked the final games played before the BCS bowls were announced. Several conference championship games were played, but other teams still had their final games of the regular season. Six teams in the BCS Top 25 lost, but only half of them were upset. (12) Nebraska got dominated by unranked Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, (17) Kent State fell in the MAC Championship Game to (24) Northern Illinois, and (23) Oklahoma State was upset by Baylor in a regular Big 12 showdown. As for the other teams to lose, (3) Georgia lost to (2) Alabama in a heartbreaker in the SEC Championship Game, (16) UCLA lost to (8) Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and (18) Texas fell to (6) Kansas State on the Wildcats' senior night. With the announcement of the BCS Bowls just a few days ago, most teams won't be playing until late December or the first week of January. But this upcoming weekend features a very special game between Navy and Army. The game will be broadcasted on CBS and will feature Navy's prolific run game.

BCS Top 10:
1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
3. Florida Gators
4. Oregon Ducks
5. Kansas State Wildcats
6. Stanford Cardinal
7. Georgia Bulldogs
8. LSU Tigers
9. Texas A&M Aggies
10. South Carolina Gamecocks

Top Three Performances by Team or Player:
1. Alabama Crimson Tide- The Tide rolled over Georgia and put on one of the greatest displays in SEC Championship Game history. Running back's Eddie Lacy and T.J Yeldon combined to rush for over 330 yards and three touchdowns. It was a tough game that came down to the final play, but in the end the Tide will be returning back to the BCS National Championship Game.
2. Wisconsin Badgers- Not many people saw this win coming. Not only did the Badgers avenge their loss against Nebraska from earlier in the season, but they put on an absolute "NebrAsskicking." The Badgers are still the only school to win the Big Ten Championship Game and will be returning to their third straight Rose Bowl. In the 70-31 blowout win, the Badgers rushed for nearly 550 yards and eight touchdowns. Eight. Freaking. Touchdowns.
3. Stanford Cardinal- Nerd Nation will be the Pac-12 representative in the Rose Bowl this year. This program has proved that they don't need Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck to be successful. Coach David Shaw has done a fantastic job with the program and freshmen Kevin Hogan has done just as good of a job running the offense. Stanford beat UCLA for the second time in seven days to advance to Pasadena.

Top Three Disappointments by Player or Team:
1. Nebraska Cornhuskers- Wow!!!! How do you go from being ranked No. 12 in the nation and expected to make it to the Rose Bowl, but then allow 70 points in a blowout loss? Their opponents didn't throw the ball once in the second half and still managed to add 28 points. Pathetic display of football from a team that thought they were good enough to play in a BCS Bowl.
2. BCS Bowl System- Don't care if I sound like a broken record, but this year's display of games should prove why the system is corrupt. The fact that the Capital One Bowl and Cotton Bowl feature better matchups than four of the six BCS Bowls is absurd. We want a playoff system, and we want it now!
3. Georgia Bulldogs- So close! Why couldn't the Bulldogs do America a favor and knock off the untouchable Crimson Tide. Now we are either left with another SEC team winning the NCG, or Notre Dame....When does next season kick off?

Game of the Week: Alabama vs. Georgia

The SEC Championship Game lived up to the high expectations. The winner had a spot reserved in the National Championship to take on Notre Dame.  After a scoreless first quarter, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray opened up the game just a minute and a half into the second quarter with a 19 yard touchdown pass to Jay Rome. Alabama running back Eddie Lacy quickly answered with a 41 yard touchdown run, while kicker Jeremy Shelley drilled a 22 yard field goal to give the Crimson Tide a 10-7 lead at the half. The pace picked up in the second half and Georgia answered with back-to-back touchdowns by Todd Gurley and Alec Ogletree. Alabama would answer, but this time it was the Tide's other running back, T.J. Yeldon, with the score. After a successful two-point conversion, the Bulldogs only led 21-18 going into the final quarter. Three seconds into the fourth quarter, Lacy scored his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run. Just two minutes later though, Gurley and Georgia answered back to go up 28-25. With only three minutes left in the game, Alabama  scored the would-be game winning touchdown when AJ McCarron threw a 45 yard bomb to Amari Cooper. Georgia drove the ball all the way up the field, but a careless mistake to catch the ball inbounds ended the game with the ball on Alabama's five yard line. It was close, but not good enough to send the Bulldogs to the NCG. Roll Tide!


BCS Bowl Matchups:
National Championship Game- Alabama vs. Notre Dame
Rose Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Stanford
Fiesta Bowl- Oregon vs. Kansas State
Sugar Bowl- Louisville vs. Florida
Orange Bowl- Florida State vs. Northern Illinois

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