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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Jan 1, 2018 22:32:17 GMT -6
It was a really fun game to watch - momentum going back and forth, particularly in the 2nd half. That short kick at the end of the first half came back to haunt the Sooners. Yeah...I'd kinda like to have that 3 points back.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 2, 2018 11:34:15 GMT -6
So I woke up this morning thinking maybe I’d fly over to Atl next week and watch the championship game. Checked on Stub Hub. Tickets start at 2k and that’s for high row seats in the end zone. Back in 81 the last time Georgia won a championship tickets cost me forty bucks apiece.
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Post by catmasters05 on Jan 2, 2018 11:46:35 GMT -6
Congrats Oscar. What a great game. Go Dawgs!!! UGA must have been studying some tape of Josh Bloom and how to block a kick up the middle of the line!
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Post by wildcat1997 on Jan 2, 2018 13:24:18 GMT -6
If anyone wants to rewatch the game I recommend watching the coaches film room on WatchESPN. It has coaches like Gary Patterson, Dana Holgerson, Major Applewhite, Bret Bielma and others breaking down every play and it's really eye opening and reveals how much of a chess match a football game really is. link
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Post by acutrackfan on Jan 3, 2018 8:57:09 GMT -6
I really enjoyed this game. Unfortunately, I wasted 3 plus hours on the total beat-down that was the Alabama-Clemson game. My wife said "is this game ever going to end". That was the way I felt about it, but I was determined to make it to the end and see if something resembling an offensive game plan ever showed up. It did not.
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Post by bogeyman on Jan 3, 2018 9:55:06 GMT -6
I was somewhat disappointed in the outcome of both games primarily because I've learned to despise almost everything about the SEC hype. A couple of observations that say more about me than anything else. 1) Oklahoma scored 48 points vs the vaunted Georgia defense and with just a little creativity could have scored 60-70 points. I think Mayfield's health limited some possibilities. 2) the Alabama/Clemson game was advertised as a probable defensive game (and it was) and was extremely boring. If defense wins championships, then Alabama has an advantage over Georgia. Saban outcoached Swinney which is saying something in my book. (I'm a huge Dabo fan.) All that to say this; the OU/Georgia game was very entertaining, the Bama/Clemson game not so much. I like offense but see the need for defense. I hope the Cats are building a balanced team but I sure miss our offensive powerhouses. I was hoping against hope that OU ( and the Big 12 way of playing) could prevail but alas...
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Post by Outsider on Jan 3, 2018 10:03:57 GMT -6
I was surprised how much offense dominated the Rose Bowl and defense dominated the Sugar Bowl. Oh well, Over all I thought this has been a good bowl season and the Championship should be interesting for sure. All of this confirmed why I still prefer college football over the NFL. There is just so much diversity and unpredictability. I found myself really preferring the bowl games that are still played in outdoor college stadiums instead of all the new NFL indoor ones.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 3, 2018 10:38:50 GMT -6
RE Georgia’s vaunted defense. Georgia struggled for a half against one of the most prolific offenses in NCAA history, a team whose style of play was unlike what they have seen all year. Dawgs made adjustments at half time, brought more pressure and went man to man on OU receivers and pretty much shut OU down. The Sooner offense scored 10 points in the second half in two over times.
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Post by Outsider on Jan 3, 2018 10:47:21 GMT -6
Yep, I was quite surprised just how well Georgia adjusted at the half. Still, by the fourth quarter I said that this was going to be a game of whoever has the ball last wins. One thing that actually surprised me about OU was how well they did on the ground as well as the air, admittedly that was more first half but still...
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 3, 2018 10:53:05 GMT -6
Yep, I was quite surprised just how well Georgia adjusted at the half. Still, by the fourth quarter I said that this was going to be a game of whoever has the ball last wins. One thing that actually surprised me about OU was how well they did on the ground as well as the air, admittedly that was more first half but still... I was equally surprised a how well Georgia did through the air. Fromm. Was lit, as the “kids” say.
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Post by bogeyman on Jan 3, 2018 11:35:06 GMT -6
Yes that's one way to look at it. Adjustments at half time opened the field for Mayfield to run but he didn't, why? Huge holes left because of Georgia's one on one with receivers but Mayfield didn't run. Why? And let's see, Oklahoma gave up 52 points to Okie State, 41 to 1-10 Baylor, 35 to KState, 38 to Iowa State; why in the world shouldn't Fromm have thrown for 500 yards vs. that porous defense (didn't have to with Chubb and Michel). Different viewpoint. Georgia won and now play their sister in the SEC. SEC best conference in football, blah, blah, blah. Bowl games SEC-(5-6), Big 10--(7-1), Big 12 (5-3), PAC 12--(1-7). And then there is UCF 12-0, beat Auburn soundly even if score was closer. Auburn 40--Georgia 17, Auburn 26--Alabama 14.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 3, 2018 11:52:16 GMT -6
Yes that's one way to look at it. Adjustments at half time opened the field for Mayfield to run but he didn't, why? Huge holes left because of Georgia's one on one with receivers but Mayfield didn't run. Why? And let's see, Oklahoma gave up 52 points to Okie State, 41 to 1-10 Baylor, 35 to KState, 38 to Iowa State; why in the world shouldn't Fromm have thrown for 500 yards vs. that porous defense (didn't have to with Chubb and Michel). Different viewpoint. Georgia won and now play their sister in the SEC. SEC best conference in football, blah, blah, blah. Bowl games SEC-(5-6), Big 10--(7-1), Big 12 (5-3), PAC 12--(1-7). And then there is UCF 12-0, beat Auburn soundly even if score was closer. Auburn 40--Georgia 17, Auburn 26--Alabama 14. You left one out Georgia 28, Auburn 7 I didn’t see much open field for Mayfield to run in the second half. I saw him being contained and getting sacked 5 times. Are you sure we were watching the same game? When you have runing backs averaging ove 10 yards a carry, why pass at all? That’s probably my biggest criticism of Georgia’s offense.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Jan 3, 2018 14:14:01 GMT -6
I was really, really impressed with UGAs second half defense and OUs first half offense. Two plays changed the whole game around - the FG at the end of the half and the blocked FG. Oscar predicted the Dawgs would win on special teams and he was right.
I think Baker wore down - probably because of the flu. He just wasn't himself in the second half. Of course GA had a lot to do with it.
I can't think of a single Big 12 defensive player that could start for either Georgia or Alabama.
OU would have beaten Alabama. Georgia will win the National Championship. I'm done.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Jan 3, 2018 15:32:48 GMT -6
FWIW, like Mayfield, Georgia ‘s kicker was a walk on.
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Post by acutrackfan on Jan 3, 2018 17:00:41 GMT -6
While Mayfield WAS a true walkon at Tech as a freshman, I have always felt like calling him a walkon at OU is a bit disingenuous. We all know the story about him walking on at Tech when OU did not even offer him a preferred WO spot in Norman. Due to an injury to the starting QB, Mayfield started 8 games at Tech and did a very credible job. The moment the season was over, Tech offered him a scholarship to stay and in likelihood, be the starter there as a sophomore. Mayfield's Dad demanded that they give him a 100% guarantee that he would be the starter at TTU the next year and the Red Raiders would not give that guarantee.
When Mayfield's Dad, an OU grad, approached Oklahoma about him transferring there, they told him that they doubted that Tech would "release" him. When he asked Tech for his release, Tech DID tell him that they would not release him to another team in their conference. The "release" allows a player to move to another D-1 school and receive scholarship money -- they still have to sit out the 1-year FBS-to-FBS transfer year. Mayfield's Dad said that he would move Baker to OU and pay for it himself, because mean ol' Tech would not release their starting QB to a team in their own conference. If Mayfield had stayed at Tech, he would have been a scholarship player. If he had gone to any other school than OU (or another Big 12 school) he would have been a scholarship player. I think the "walk-on" at OU part rings a bit false to me - although it makes for a much more compelling story.
I am reminded of the quote from Gary Patterson -- "Ask about Mayfield's Dad. He's an arrogant guy who thinks he knows everything. If people knew the whole story, they might not have a great opinion of Baker or his Father".
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