Sunday Hangover “Quick 2 Times” Edition

I have had some sleep, and now am feeling a bit more human. On top of that, I have had time to peruse much of the internet opinion on the game, and it seems most are calling this one of the best games of the year. A true heavyweight title fight, with 2 great teams going hard at each other, landing haymaker after haymaker, body shot after body shot. Rocky and Ivan Drago Epic, this game was.

Who deserves the credit for making this game so excellent? On the LSU side, props to Jacob Hester, Kirston Pittman, Craig Steltz, Matt Flynn, and the O Line, who ground out key yards when they needed them. On the Florida side, full marks to Tim Tebow, who is a warrior; and Kestahn Moore, who gashed LSU often.

But the true credit in this game has to go to the coaches. College football fans were treated to two teams full of extraordinary athletes (both coaches in their third year, but still receive credit for recruiting many of those athletes), playing football at an extremely high level. When you see a team that keeps tripping over its own feet, committing stupid penalties, turning the ball over, committing frustration penalties like late hits, etc., the blame more often than not falls on the coach. And it should.

In this game, there were three turnovers. 2 interceptions were thrown, and both of those were on balls that were tipped (or ricocheted) into the air and gift wrapped to the defense. The one fumble was a good strip and recovery by the number one defense in the country.

Penalties? The Gators – normally the most penalized teams in the SEC – were only penalized twice for 8 yards. One of those was a costly pass-interference down near the Gator goal-line, but only 2 penalties all game. LSU was not nearly that clean, getting penalized 7 times for 61 yards. That is still not too many yards, especially considering that LSU committed 15 penalties for 91 yards against Tulane.

Those numbers tell us that you had two teams well schooled in the fundamentals and playing hard, disciplined football. The emotion of the night was unbelievable, and it would have been easy for an undisciplined team to get carried away, but it didnt’ happen on either side of the ball.

Fans were able to watch a chess match of the highest caliber available in college football. Urban Meyer had clearly learned the lesson of the last two weeks. He used Kestahn Moore extensively (12 carries, 79 yards), especially in the first half, and in clearly gave the LSU defense problems. Last week against Auburn, Moore had 3 carries total. Meyer still used Tebow, giving him 16 carries, but not nearly as exclusively as he had against Auburn and Ole Miss. Further, Meyer had Tebow throwing to more receivers than just Harvin, who had 7 touches including 4 receptions. The net result of all this distribution is that Florida gained 314 yards on a defense that had been allowing just 174 yards per game previously. They also scored 24 points on a team that had been giving up just over 6 points per game. Nope, the Gators came into this game well prepared and ready to play.

And what could one say about the coaching job Les Miles did last night? When I wrote a post on his place in the SEC coaching pantheon earlier in the week, I had no idea we were going to be treated to a tour de force like this. The Tigers were 5 of 5 on fourth down. They ran a fake field goal for a first down. A FAKE FIELD GOAL! What kind of nut calls for a fake field goal knowing that the entire nation saw his team run a fake field goal just two weeks before? Maybe the smartest nut in the building. Probably the best testament to the coaching job that Miles (and Gary Crowton) did was the final drive. When LSU got the ball at the 9:29 mark of the 4th quarter, it was a decision by the coaches to try to grind out and score with as little time left as possible. The final drive was 15 plays, and ate up 8:11. The drive was a masterful demonstration of determined, power football. It featured 2 fourth down conversions. The entire drive had only 2 passes. Hester had 8 rushes, Perilloux 2, Flynn, Scott, and Holliday 1 apiece. They spread the ball around, but the lion’s share went to Hester. And he delivered. It was a great picture of a coach trusting his player to get the job done when it mattered the most.

This is the sort of game that College Football fans live for. 2 great teams, going at it like titans. The greatest thing about this game? We may get a rematch in early December.