The oft-used adage, "You can throw the records out the window when these two meet!" proved true this weekend. We had bowlless teams pulling big upsets (Mississippi State, N.C. State), hated rivals spoiling great seasons (South Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia) other big underdogs putting major scares into title contenders (Auburn, Texas A&M), overtime thrillers (LSU-Arkansas, Tennessee-Kentucky, BYU-Utah), and scintillating to-the-wire nailbiters (Arizona-Arizona State, Missouri-Kansas, Notre Dame-Stanford). Rivalries bring out the best (and sometimes worst: Arizona-Arizona State) in competitive college football, and this weekend ended up as the best of the season to date. There were some HITS too, and players giving beyond their all to beat their hated rival, as the intensity level ramped up several notches from normal. Great entertainment.
The home career of Tim Tebow at Florida came to a close today. Urban Meyer and many others have commented that there will never be a player like Tebow, who will go down as one of the top 5 college players of all time. And that sentiment is right - Tebow is part fullback, part tailback, part quarterback, part coach, and even part linebacker. His blend of talent is totally unique, and could be labeled as "power passer". Unlike most quarterbacks, he goes right at you, eschewing finesse and skirting tacklers to take them head on, and his passing is much the same way - intense, powerful, like he's throwing fastballs while mixing in an off-speed pitch once in a while. He plays QB the way Hines Ward plays receiver. And he'll make a mean addition to the wildcat offense of an NFL team in the very near future. But what sets him apart even more is his character, integrity, and leadership. Bobby Bowden called him the greatest leader in the history of college football. And his off-field reputation of selflessness - going out of his way to reach out to prisons, the poor, and people overseas with the message of hope and salvation in Christ while loving them with genuineness and no pretense - is well-known. His commitment to integrity and upright character only bolsters that witness and message. Tebow himself would say he'd want to be remembered far more for what he's done off the field and how he's made Jesus known far and wide, than for all his on-field accomplishments. Today he wore eye black with the verse Hebrews 12:1-2 written on it. The verses read:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
As Verne Lundquist pointed out on CBS's telecast, it's a very appropriate choice considering the day and the setting. I'm sure Tebow did that intentionally. But the "crowd of witnesses" at the Swamp today, for Tebow, is only symbolic of the cloud of witnesses from Heaven, and his Savior, looking on, motivating his play and, most importantly, his life.
Another player in the same class as Tim Tebow, albeit without the raw power he brings, is Colt McCoy. He's a dangerous dual threat QB - a better passer than Tebow and a completely different type of runner - and he's an incredible leader and strong Christian too. McCoy may have taken the Heisman lead by carrying Texas past their biggest upset threat of the year on Thanksgiving night. A Vince Young-type performance.
Speaking of that game, you have to be impressed with the fleet of young skill players Texas A&M has. The next 2 years are looking bright for the Aggies.
Six undefeated teams remain, even after a weekend filled with upsets and near misses. I've come to the conclusion that the reason so many are left is the utter mediocrity of the rest of college football. After today, no one-loss teams remain. Nine have 2 losses. Then come a slew of three, four, and five loss teams, many of whom (I'm looking at you, SEC) have beaten each other to a pulp. It's amazingly difficult to determine who is better than whom. The bowls should have some interesting matchups to offer, but even they won't completely sort out the mess of mediocrity.
It appears that the Nike R&D department decided that this week would be a new uniform design test week, with at least 5 teams unveiling new, and in some cases, downright strange designs. Here's my take on the looks:
LSU: Gold helmets and all-white shirt and pants combo. The look would have been incredibly sweet if it weren't for the purple stripe that makes a U around the back of the pants.
Florida: White helmets were nice. Blue jerseys and pants not so much. And the extra-wide white stripe looping around the top of the pants gives it a failing grade. Weird.
Miami (FL): Um, no. Dual-color jersey numbers? Oddly placed pant stripes, with different colors on each side? What's with Nike and odd-looking pant striping?
Virginia Tech: The all-white (helmet, jersey, pants) looks sharp, and I liked the overall look. But letting maroon bleed to orange at the top of the jersey numbers? Why? Nike apparently also has a fetish for two-color numbering.
Missouri: The strangest of the bunch. Steel gray helmets with a black M and black striping, white jerseys with gray sleeves and numbers, and gray pants with black stripes. The oddest part, however, might have been the very small but very glaring yellow stripe on the gray sleeve. Looks out of place. The worst uniform of all.
In summary, how many more Oregons do we need? Please, Nike, stop!
Speaking of uniforms, will someone start a petition on behalf of couch potatoes everywhere demanding Boise State to stop wearing all blue on their blue turf? Even in HD it's blinding trying to discern where player ends and field begins. And that's before the snap. Afterward it's a swirling blue tornado. Maddening to watch.
If Alabama manages to get past Florida and whoever they'd play in the BCS championship, their methodical drive to the winning TD against Auburn will go deep into Alabama lore as "The Drive".
From the "that's a shame" department, Temple dropped their final game of the season to Ohio, their first loss in MAC play and a loss which kept them from the MAC championship game. The Owls had put together a great season (finishing 9-3) and a MAC championship would have been more than deserved. Al Golden, Penn State alum, has done an incredible job rebuilding what was once a program on life-support.
While I was driving today, I heard an ad on FOX Sports Radio for their college football wrap-up show. The gist of it was "if you have boring family outings and wife-driven household chores, and grudgingly have to miss some college football, tune in to us." Now, I like the wrap-up shows (watching one now in fact), but the general attitude of family and responsibilities being a bother or a nuisance irks me. What will you remember years from now - South Carolina waxing Clemson or watching your daughter blow out the candles on her 2nd birthday cake? What is more meaningful - watching Miami wipe the U off South Florida's helmet, or serving your family by taking care of your house? C'mon, men - step up and prioritize the right things! Keep sports in the right place!
BCS bowl forecast:
Nat'l Champ: Florida v. Texas
Rose: Ohio State v. Oregon
Sugar: Alabama v. Boise State
Fiesta: Penn State v. TCU
Orange: Clemson v. Pittsburgh
And of course that will change drastically after next week, with 5 BCS conference championships up for grabs.
Next: picking championship week, look for it Wednesday late-night.
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