Okay, well that answers a few questions I've had all season long: Since Alabama has so effortlessly crushed their opponents this season, what will happen if/when they need to exert effort (they'll lose); since Clemson has so effortlessly crushed their opponents this season, are they actually any good (oh yeah, they're good). Man, anything Clemson wanted to do, they did--right down to the expertly crafted long drive to kill the clock at the end of the game. Breath-taking is an apt phrase, I am breath-took-en. Alabama didn't even play bad in the 1st half: Tua threw two bad interceptions, but he bounced back pretty well and still moved the ball. But Clemson's offense just blew through Alabama in a way I haven't seen in years. That forced Saban to go for TD's instead of FG's and it just destroyed the Tide machine: built for dominance, not clever creativity. A fake FG? Nick Saban went for a fake fg?!? (*) Weird: less then 5 minutes into this game, Clemson was up 14-7 and they'd already punted once.
What was this game like? I'm gonna reach back to the 2014 World Cup: Spain rolls in as the defending Champs and the 2-time Euro champ (meaning they've just won the toughest competition in the world 3 straight times), while the Netherlands roll in with their usual bunch of talented head-cases, who all seem to hate each other. Feels like Spain is gonna get a good opening result at the next Cup...Netherlands win 5-1. Game was never close, Dutch up at the half and straight pummeled Spain for the final 45 minutes. I bring this up because that was the last time I remember a balls-out, undisputed cock of the walk just getting blasted like a Rocky villain.
Or how about this one: 2005 French Open semifinals. Federer is on his way to his peak, undisputed #1, crushed at multiple Wimbledon, Australia and US Opens, just needs the French (back when Gaston Gaudio was the man at Roland Garros) to complete the slam, gets to the semis against some unranked schlub named Nadal...Federer goes down in 4 sets to the man that then goes on to be the best in the history of the French Open. Federer got handled in a way that no one had seen him get handled in a long long time. And its not that Federer played bad, quite the opposite, just turns out that Nadal was one of the best ever though no one knew that yet.
So, is it over for Alabama? Oh, fuck no! What??? I fully expect Alabama to finish in the top 4 for at least five of the next ten years (5? Dude, that's a low ball). I expected that before this game, still expect that after this game. I'll say the same for Clemson, I fully expect Dabo to dig in a build a mighty castle there. So they're both here to stay.
I'll go ahead and guarantee that they'll meet next year in the Playoff. And that game will likely answer all my questions about next season: can Alabama bounce back? Can Clemson keep it going? Will (Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State) be good enough to crack the top 2?
Alabama should rule the SEC West for the foreseeable future. Auburn will have a good year every once in a while, LSU and A&M, too, but I got Alabama winning 4 of the next 5 SEC titles, don't you? In the East, I can see Florida jumping Georgia next year, but I expect them to finish in the top 2.
Clemson will win the ACC. (I don't even care who finishes 2nd)
I think Oklahoma is still gonna be good (they'll re-load) and Texas looks to be moving in the right direction. The rest of the Big 12 is probably playing for 3rd place.
I think Ohio State keeps going without Urban Meyer. Felt like he was more of a distraction than a plus last year, seems like his deal with Ohio State will keep him out of coaching and thus possibly able to come back to Columbus if need be, so I think moving on will be kinda painless. I expect the Buckeyes to be better next year and crush the Big 10. (I'm curious to keep an eye on Nebraska, could be a waking giant)
Notre Dame will probably be similar next year playing a similar schedule, seems very possible to me they go undefeated again and get back in Playoff contention.
So what do we got? Alabama, Clemson are locks to have the talent to be worthy of a Playoff appearance. I'll take Ohio State and the winner of Oklahoma-Texas to round out the semi-final. That leaves Notre Dame, the Pac-12 winner, the winner of UGA-Florida and Central Florida complaining about not getting their chance. And, uh, I reckon that's what every year will look like for most of the next decade in college football.
The duopoly is here for a while. Long live the duopoly!
(*) Do you get why Saban's fake FG is so strange? Saban doesn't need trick plays because he has 5-6 All-Americans on his offense, he expects to get 1st downs every time out anyway. If he's resorting to tricks it means he can't get it done--he's already given up! If it had worked there would be have been a ray of hope, but if it doesn't work...shit, you didn't even get 3 points out of it...and, man, Bama fans don't feel like that very often. That play was the white flag, the announcement that the game was over, a most un-Saban-like display.
No comments:
Post a Comment