Posts Tagged ‘LSU Tigers’

So let me see if I’ve got this straight.

If LSU beats Georgia, LSU and Alabama will play for the BCS title. Simple. Unless some anti-SEC sentiment leads voters to match LSU against Oklahoma State (and everyone suddenly gets amnesia about the Iowa State game).

But this doesn’t preclude the possibility that LSU may play Oklahoma State in the BCS game even if Georgia upsets LSU. Why? Because at least one SEC school will go, and Nick Saban getting snubbed is funnier, and if you dare put both LSU and Alabama in the BCS final when neither even won its conference, you’ll have red noses and exploding clown feet falling from the sky (thank you, Larry), and even the BCS has its limit when it comes to humiliation. I think.

So really, what Saturday’s SEC championship comes down to is this: Barring some complete, multi-touchdown, oh jeez, Curly-just-dropped-the-TNT-powder-in-the-pancake-batter-again-collapse by LSU against the Bulldogs in the Georgia Dome, the Tigers are really only …

Continue reading Weekend Predictions: LSU over Georgia, and BCS ducks »

Aaron Murray brings something to Georgia's offense far more important than statistics. (Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com)

ATHENS – Several weeks ago, when Georgia was looking like Liberty Bowl bait and Mark Richt was waiting for that first thrown rock through his office window, Aaron Murray did something rather unexpected. He prophesied an SEC championship game for the Bulldogs.

We can’t be certain if this should be attributed to Murray’s unwavering confidence or the fact that he had just been hit in the head 37 times by Boise State. But the sophomore quarterback walked out of the Georgia locker room after the Bulldogs had just laid a 35-21 egg against Boise State at the Georgia Dome to open the season, met up with his former high school coach and uttered these words: “Coach, we’re going to the SEC championship.”

At that point, Robert Weiner, Murray’s coach at Plant High School resisted temptations to alert medical personnel who might still in the Georgia Dome. He had …

Continue reading After Boise State, Murray foresaw Georgia in SEC title game »

Aron White, Christian Robinson punctuate UGA's return with school flag . (Johnny Crawford)

This is the column that I didn’t think I would be writing six weeks ago, when Georgia fizzled and nearly self-destructed at Vanderbilt, and a five-game winning streak seemed like the furthest thing from Mark Richt’s mind.

This is the column that didn’t seem plausible three months ago when I looked up at the scoreboard and saw, “Boise State 35, Georgia 21” after looking down on the Georgia Dome field to see a Bulldogs team get beat physically by a Mountain West Conference team and play flat emotionally — the worst possible exacta for a hyped-up season opener.

This is the column that says Georgia can beat LSU.

This is not to diminish anything LSU has accomplished this season. How can one diminish an SEC team going 12-0? The Tigers have played and beaten seven teams that were ranked at the time they played. That includes No. 3 Oregon to start the season (40-27), No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa …

Continue reading Georgia has far better than ‘puncher’s chance’ against LSU »

Hello and welcome to that special time of year, and I speak of course of when we overindulge on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes au gratin, Mr. Potato, potato chips and onion dip, creamed corn, that string-bean-mushroom soup-Styrofoam-onion-ring thing that nobody really eats but the dog loves it when you mix it in his kibble, probably something with cheese, rolls (three kinds), margarine (light) and three to seven desserts, after which we fall face down in our plate of Cool Whip remnants and lapse into a tryptophan coma … until we wake up at 3:45 a.m. and scream, “NOOO! I OVERSLEPT! Play-doh goes on sale at Toy Zoo for 39 cents in 15 minutes! Where are my keys!?!” And then you take one step and suddenly there’s a strange jingling sound coming from your stomach.

If you're in this picture, you really need to get a life.

By the way, if you go to Walmart on Black Friday, just don’t tell Paul Johnson, or he might punch you. (Actually, after Johnson …

Continue reading Stuffed Predictions: Dogs over Jackets; LSU and Bama roll »

Isaiah Crowell had only two carries against Kentucky before leaving. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)

This is not to short-change the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry in any way. Whichever school wins the annual game owns 12 months of bragging rights — or to be more precise, mocking and taunting rights.

But no matter how big the Tech game is to Georgia, the potential LSU game next week is bigger. Ten years from now, whether the Bulldogs won an SEC championship in 2011 will carry far more weight than whether they defeated the Jackets, rivalry banter notwithstanding.

That’s why Georgia coach Mark Richt has to answer a difficult question this week: Should the Dogs rest running back Isaiah Crowell against Tech?

The Bulldogs have to believe they have a chance to win the SEC championship because, even if they’re a heavy underdog to LSU or Alabama, it’s not far-fetched to believe they can win one game in the Georgia Dome. But without a reasonably healthy Crowell — and with Carlton Thomas lost in a …

Continue reading Should Georgia rest Crowell against Tech for SEC title game? »

Legend has it that W.C. Fields was lying in a hospital bed, his organs significantly pickled, when somebody walked in and was astonished to see Fields holding a Bible. When asked why he suddenly had interest in the Bible, Fields responded: “I’m looking for loopholes.”

I’m not sure why this story reminds me of Georgia. Maybe because at 0-2, nothing short of locusts overtaking the rest of the SEC East figured to leave the door open for the Bulldogs. Then came the Stephen Garcia-Marcus Lattimore-John Brantley trifecta of Old Testament plagues and suddenly Mark Richt had a loophole to drive his F-150 through.

W.C. and the Dogs found the loophole.

And now all the Bulldogs have to do is … beat Kentucky? This is sort of like the Allied Forces overrunning Eastern Europe and then being told, “OK. So there’s this nice little coffee and danish stand in Liechtenstein. Take over that, and we’ll declare you the winner.”

Georgia has won eight straight. It’s coming off a 45-7 win over …

Continue reading Weekend Predictions: Dogs roll, Falcons win boring (please) »

Les Miles' team is ranked No. 1 by the BCS.

Mark Richt's Dogs have won eight straight.

As Georgia fans begin to allow themselves to dream the impossible dream — beating LSU in the SEC championship game — here’s a clue about how big of an underdog the Bulldogs would be that week.

Todd Fuhrman, the senior race and sports analyst for Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, said Monday that he projects LSU to be a 10½-point favorite over Georgia at the SEC title game at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 3. That assumes the Dogs win their final two games against Kentucky (which would clinch the SEC East) and Georgia Tech (road), and LSU defeats Mississippi (road) and Arkansas (home).

Fuhrman, reached by phone on Monday, said the point spread will be about 10½ “unless something unexpected happens, like LSU struggles against Arkansas. The [SEC title] game is going to be played in the Georgia Dome, but in championship games there’s not a real home field advantage.”

Georgia fans might perceive the …

Continue reading Oddsmaker: Georgia would be 10.5-point underdogs to LSU »

Hello, and welcome back to another adventure of, “Yeah, I knew that would happen.”

Before getting to this week’s episode, “My Three Ideas To Fix Government: Um, uh … oops,” by Rick Perry, I have great financial news.

This is Weekend Predictions No. 11 for the season. And Friday’s date is 11/11/11. Ooh. Scary.

According to Chinese feng shui — OK, according to a story I saw about a chain letter going around that referenced the date being Chinese feng shui-friendly — calendar dates with repeating “1’s” in it are called “moneybags.” Word is that you need only refer this news to eight friends, assuming none work in State College, to assure yourself of riches, so sayeth, the proverb.

In gambling, this is what we like to refer to as, “A system.” Also bankruptcy.

Rick Perry should start with something easy: The Three Stooges.

My last system blew up. When Georgia started the season 0-2, I applied the, “They’re Toast” system and it didn’t work.  Two months later, the Bulldogs are going …

Continue reading Weekend Predictions: Number align for Dogs, Falcons »

Les Miles deserved to be in middle of the celebration after a 9-6 win over Alabama.

(UPDATED)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Notwithstanding that college football’s projected game of the century had the distinct look of a Liverpool-Chelsea soccer game, this night belonged to Les Miles.

Miles replaced Nick Saban, who had won a national championship at LSU in 2003. Miles won a BCS title himself four years later. But it seemed he never was fully embrace in Baton Rouge. Then came last November. A Miles-esque fake field goal in the fourth quarter led to a touchdown and a 24-21 comeback win over Alabama at LSU. And he just did it again.

Miles and the Tigers found themselves in the unusual position as the BCS’s No. 1 ranked team but a five-point underdog to No. 2 Saban and Alabama Saturday. Safe to say it will be the last time this season they will be an underdog — and the last time Miles has to hear, “He’s good, but he’s not Nick.”

In a meeting of two 8-0 teams, the Tigers won in overtime 9-6. …

Continue reading Miles and LSU beat Saban at his own game (UPDATED) »

It's time to weigh in with your predictions. Here's mine: Alabama 20, LSU 16.

Nick Saban looks a lot shorter on TV.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — I’m quite certain there’s drinking going on here.

I heard something crazy like 30,000 LSU fans made the five-hour-plus drive from Baton Rouge to Tuscaloosa for the LSU-Alabama game, even though most of them don’t have tickets. Given the number of people I saw out there tailgating, I’m guessing a lot of Bama fans are here just for the scene — and the beverages — as well.

Welcome to the game of the week, the month, the season, the millennium — whatever you want to call it. It won’t get any better than Alabama vs. LSU or Nick Saban vs. Les Miles the rest of the season, nor probably even at bowl time. It’s difficult to imagine even the BCS title game living up to the buildup or the match-up.

These are the two best teams in the nation. By the end of the night, we might still believe they’re the two best teams in the nation (notwithstanding the fact …

Continue reading LIVE: Alabama vs. LSU for division… and SEC, and BCS »