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Tuesday Question - The BCS Champ Will Be ...
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Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Jan 6, 2009
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Tuesday Question ... And the BCS Championship Game winner will be … ?
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Pete
Fiutak
Q:
And the BCS Championship Game winner will be … ?
A:
Florida. I've said Florida is the best team in the country for the
last two months. I've said Florida is the best team in the country even
after the loss to Ole Miss (which I blame on my being in Gainesville;
Florida always loses when I'm there). I've said Florida is the best team
in the country even after its one really good win, Alabama,
suddenly looked not-so-hot after the Sugar Bowl. Fine, so I'm wavering a
bit since I don't think this Oklahoma team is anything like the past few
tremendously talented teams that came up with stunning duds in the BCS
spotlight, but with the Big 12 South coming up with a lousy bowl season
(and I'm sort of including a Texas team that was looking to make a
statement yet struggled against a good, but flawed Ohio State), I still
like the Gators. The time off will be the key. Notice how it took a
while for Texas to get its offense moving? How about the Texas Tech
offense that was good against Ole Miss, but not its normal self? How
about the Missouri attack that was ice-cold against an overmatched
Northwestern? Teams with great offenses tend to struggle after having a
month off, and I also think the Florida defense will have something to
do with the problems.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q:
And the BCS Championship Game winner will be … ?
A:
Florida, 38-28. Both offenses are going to score. The difference will
come on defense and special teams, where the Gators have an edge in both
areas. Plus, recent history suggests that Urban Meyer and his staff are
more reliable in games of this magnitude than Bob Stoops and his staff.
It would be unwise to discount Oklahoma’s four straight BCS bowl losses
as a fluke. At some point, one team will need to step up and make a big
spot, and that team will be Florida. Look for LB Brandon Spikes to have
a huge night before declaring for the NFL, and the speed of ends
Jermaine Cunningham and Carlos Dunlap to cause problems for that
talented Sooner O-line. Remember, Brian Orakpo and Texas had success
getting to Sam Bradford back in October. If Percy Harvin’s ankle is
100%, the Gators will win by double-digits. If Oklahoma hasn’t solved
its season-long problems defending kickoffs, the outcome won’t be in
doubt in the final 15 minutes.
Matthew
Zemek
Q:
And the BCS Championship Game winner will be … ?
A: The BCS championship game winner will be Oklahoma
haters.
This Gator-Sooner showdown was just a nice, pleasant
championship game for the longest time. But over the weekend,
something happened that gave OU's fiercest and harshest
critics--the ones who absolutely rip the program to shreds when
it loses a bowl game (despite winning conference title after
conference title and being extraordinarily consistent at a very
high level, something only USC and Ohio State have been able to
match this decade)--a considerable amount of ammunition.
It's not completely fair, but one can see it coming a mile away:
A young man named Dominique Franks is about to become
responsible for sending his team into a deep, dark ditch of
despair. Oklahoma doesn't deserve the fate it's about to
experience, but Dominique Franks has already become one of the
stupidest people of 2009.
Franks, a sophomore cornerback, said over the weekend that Tim
Tebow rates below the Big 12's batch of big-time quarterbacks.
Perhaps he was just trying to be candid, but there's really no
excuse for an Oklahoma Sooner football player to be popping off
before a mammoth bowl game, especially a title tilt.
Not when Alabama coach Nick Saban fired up Utah with a pointed
reference to "a real BCS conference" in the days leading up to
the Sugar Bowl.
Not when Oklahoma's last national title game--played in Miami's
Dolphins Stadium against a team with a Heisman quarterback--also
turned into an ugly blowout loss.
Not when that 2005 Orange Bowl also involved an incendiary
statement made by a Sooner player in the weeks before kickoff.
Not when Sooner defensive lineman Larry Birdine, just before
taking the field with USC, called the Trojans' offense
"average."
Not when USC's "average" offense proceeded to utterly humiliate
an OU team that up and quit even before halftime, by a score of
55-19.
Dominique Franks, meet Larry Birdine. Larry Birdine, Dominique
Franks.
Bob Stoops tried to defend Franks, saying to the assembled
media, "You guys lead young guys into a lot of questions."
Yo, Bob--why didn't you just tell your team not to make any
statements that would wave the red flag in front of the raging
bull on the other side of the divide?
I admire what you've done with OU, coach Stoops, and your
program has taken far too much abuse after recent bowl losses,
but with that having been said, there are no excuses to make in
this case. After the 2005 Orange Bowl and the Larry Birdine
gaffe, there should have been no way in tarnation for a Sooner
player to give a prodigiously talented opponent an extra shot of
emotional juice.
"Tarnation" is not, of course, a real word, but it's a really
nice cartoon word. So as a memorably angry cartoon figure once
said, "Say yer prayers, rabbit!"
This time, Yosemite Sam has a point. Dominique Franks is about
to become hossenfeffer.
KJM Singleton
Q:
And the BCS Championship Game winner will be … ?
A:
Oklahoma … or at least
it was until OU cornerback
Dominique “The Human
Bulletin Board” Franks
opened his mouth Sunday.
Franks called the best
player in this game (but
only its second-best QB) Tim
Tebow a “running
quarterback.”
To quote Tebow after
Florida’s lone loss: A lot
of good will come out of
this.
Since the Ole Miss defeat he
has a 22-2 TD-INT ratio,
including no picks in
Florida’s last six games.
His arm looks fine.
Dominique, you’re a good
corner (four picks). I
suggest you do something
you’re used to: backpedal
quickly away from these
statements.
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