I guess I shouldn’t have gotten used to the near-perfect weeks. This week I got embarrassed with a poor, poor record of 12-6. 109-30 is the count now and puts me back in the barely passing category of .78. This is the way the college football gods keep hotheads like me in check. The gods of this great game favored a few others today with some outrageous finishes and oddly upsetting outcomes.The story of the day is Arkansas’ near victory over Florida… but I’ll get to that later. First, I must defend my most frustrating loss of the day. Texas squeaks by a Bradford-less Oklahoma 16-13. Last year it was the battle of the outrageously impressive offenses, now it was the battle of the outrageously overrated offenses. I guess some say great defenses, but it certainly seemed like underperforming offenses to me. I’m always against should-a, could-a, would-a, but Bradford is worth more than 3 points to his offense. He maybe only worth 4, but that’s one point more than their final deficit. I’m just saying, Bradford plays more than two series, Oklahoma wins the Red River Rivalry.
Now we get to the meat and potatoes, Arkansas Razorbacks v. the Florida Tebows. Oh wait, that’s not their name? I could have swore it was. Was this Tebow’s final push for the Heisman? That’s what the early blogroll is saying, but I actually say the opposite. I’ll root for the Razorback and have become somewhat of a Razorback apologist, but the Razorback defense comes into this game as one of the worst in the SEC. IF Tebow was all that EVERY SPORTS ANALYST/ANNOUNCER/SIDELINE REPORTER says he is, they should have won this game by 55 points. Instead, we see a terrible Arkansas defense look really good. For the most part, it was the fact that the Razorback D played really well, no one can take that away from them. But shouldn’t Tim Tebow, the Savior of us all (pictured above in all his glory, and yes, that is bacon coming out of his hand), light up a defense no matter what? Tebow didn’t play that outstanding until the final drive, and even in the final drive, he was okay. Not outstanding. I didn’t see anything that would make me jump out of my chair and agree with all those analysts. Everyone is saying that the last drive shows he should win the Heisman, but “the best player in college football” shouldn’t ever even be in that situation in the first place.
I have to get this in because it really was important. I never say this unless it is an absolute certainty that a call affected the outcome of a game, but two really bad phantom penalties affected the outcome of this game. I swear that I will blame my own mother for the loss of a game before I’ll point the finger at the official. It’s a tactic that’s overdone and almost always misused. If you saw the game, you know which two penalties I’m talking about. The pass interference and personal fouls against Arkansas that led to Florida’s tying touchdown. When Verne Lundquist goes against his bias for Florida and Tebow and says that the call was terrible, I’ve got to believe he’s right. They were so bad I had several friends (none Arkansas fans) who called me and tried to have me explain what just happened because they truly didn’t know. Unfortunately for Arkansas and Alabama, Texas, Boise State, and USC, the referees certainly handed the opportunity to the Gators on a silver platter. They did have to execute and Arkansas missed their opportunities yes, but at the end of the day, the difference is shown in a single stat: Hogs 10 penalties for 92 yards (3 of which were on key win-or-go-home drives for the Gators), and Gators, 3 penalties for 16 yards. Stats never lie.
ONE MORE TEBOW RANT: I am sick and tired of everyone talking about how “Tebow finds a way to win.” I’ve heard it said many times today about the end of that game. How about “the Florida offense finds a way to win?” Why is it always Tebow’s responsibility when they win, but never his responsibility when something goes wrong? I recently heard a college football analyst reflect on a short crossing pass where Tebow threw the ball behind his receiver by about 3 or 4 yards. His response was, “that receiver OVERRAN the route.” So apparently, Tebow threw the ball in the right location, but the receiver was wrong. Like’s like punching someone in the face and getting mad at them for running into your fist. It would have been about a 7 or 8 yard game against LSU last week. It’s absolutely ridiculous how much love this guy gets. The bummer is, I actually like the guy. I think he’s a great human being, but, like Brett Farve, announcers and analysts have this absolute love affair with him. It’s difficult to hear so much praise for one person. It’s time to stop looking at the man, and look at the team. Because the team’s pretty good. He helps it, but the TEAM is still in 1st. At least for now. Bama may jump you this week Gators.
