A few Alabama-Clemson thoughts

There’s not much more to say than ‘Wow, Alabama was pretty impressive Saturday night’.

But what, exactly, was going on there in the Georgia Dome?

From about January until July I was pretty bullish on the Tide’s chances for a good season, but changed my mind after the Jimmy Johns arrest.

I’m just about ready to change my mind again, but let’s take a look at a few tidbits from that game.

You could probably say the game really turned on Clemson’s first possession, when Jamie Cumbie fumbled and the Tide recovered. But what was Cumbie doing taking Clemson’s first handoff of the year? You have two of the best running backs in the nation and you’re handing off to a true freshman?

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, in true Tommy Bowden fashion, panicked way too early. How can a team with the aforementioned two best running backs have only 14 rushing attempts on the night? How can you give James Davis eight carries and C.J. Spiller two?

But really, even with those burning questions, the Tide was the story of the night.

The offensive line, long thought to be the team’s strength, was dominant. The bevy of Tide running backs were never hurting for running room.

John Parker Wilson looked poised and fantastic. It’s definitely better for him when Bama can run the ball as well as they were, and the pass protection was pretty good as well.

The defense was so much better than anyone - even Nick Saban - could have anticipated it’s really hard to describe.

So there’s definitely reason to think the Tide may have risen a little earlier than we all thought, but don’t bring out the anointing oil yet. The Tide has three pretty solid wins coming up (vs. Tulane and Western Kentucky, at Arkansas) but then goes to Georgia.

I still can’t see this team winning at Georgia or LSU, but you have to put the Tennessee and Auburn games back into the toss-up category at this point.

Football in this state definitely got a little more interesting last night.

The incredible lightness of being Wannstache

You may recall my second column of the year saying that Pittsburgh wouldn’t live up to the hype this year.

Even I didn’t think the 25th-ranked Panthers would fall apart so quickly.

In a game in which it led 14-0 early, had a 27-15 first down edge and a 393-254 total yardage advantage, Pitt somehow managed to lose at home to Bowling Green, a team last seen getting waxed 63-7 by Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl.

This is just more of the same for head coach Dave Wannstedt, who has made a habit of taking inexplicable losses over the course of his NFL and collegiate career.

All the talk in the preseason was that Wannstedt’s highly-rated recruiting classes of the last few years would start to make an impact, and that the Panthers would build on the momentum of their upset of West Virginia to propel them to a bowl game.

They still might make a bowl, but I’d say they proved unequivocally that they’re not to be taken seriously.

Pitt offensive coordinator Mike Cavanaugh has come under fire for his conservative play-calling, and rightfully so, but as Auburn fans know that kind of thing tends to get dictated from the top.

Wannstedt seems like a very nice guy and he was a very good defensive coordinator in the NFL and appears to be a good recruiter, but I’d say there shouldn’t be any doubt at this point that he has no business being a head coach.

But I think two quotes from the Associated Press recap of the game really tell the story well (and do a good job encapsulating the essence that is Wannstache):

“They gave us some unusual formations and we had a tough time adjusting to it,“ said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who seemed befuddled by the loss.

Unusual formations? Tough time adjusting? YOU’RE A DIVISION I FOOTBALL COACH, BROTHER.

If you’re a head coach at a BCS conference school and can’t figure out how to counter some MAC team’s crazy formations, you’re probably in trouble.

And Wannstedt and “befuddled” should probably come up in a word association test.

Secondly:

(Pitt running back LeSean) McCoy didn’t seem to like the conservative play-calling, which came after Pitt punted from the Bowling Green 35 and 34 early in the game.

“It would have been nice to get a touchdown but, you know, we follow the leader,“ McCoy said of Wannstedt.

McCoy rushed for over 1,300 yards as a freshman last year, but was limited to 71 yards on 23 carries yesterday.

No. 1: You’re telling me you can’t find a way to get one of the most dynamic players in the country the ball in space and see what he can do with it against a MAC team (even if that MAC team is pretty good, which I will acknowledge)?

No. 2: As Alabama fans no doubt remember from Mike Shula’s final underwhelming campaign at the Capstone, a pattern of conservative play-calling like that can lose you the team, as McCoy might be implying here.

Pitt could very well rebound and have a decent season, but at this point unless they win the Big East or come really close I’m not sure Wannstedt keeps his job.

News you can use ...

For those of you looking forward to the LSU-Appalachian State game tomorrow - although I’m not exactly sure why you would be - the game has been moved to 10 a.m. to get ahead of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Gustav. The game was to be shown on ESPN, but will now be shown on ESPN Classic, which you can still get on Channel 316 if you subscribe to Charter’s expanded sports package here in Lee County. Although I’m not sure why you’d do that either, unless you like setting money on fire.

Here’s the AP write-up:

Gustav looming, LSU moves up kickoff time Saturday
  BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU has moved up the kickoff time of its home opener Saturday against Appalachian State because of concerns over the approach of Tropical Storm Gustav.
  A spokesman for the school’s board said Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office asked for the change from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m.
  Spokesman Charles Zewe said the switch was required because of concerns over traffic, as evacuees are expected to be heading north through Baton Rouge.

And here’s a copout for you ...

I’m not going to pretend to understand all the bizarre tie-ins and some of the ways the at-large bids work, but I was going to try to predict all the bowl-games.

Instead, I’ll give you the BCS games, plus where I think each SEC team might go.

BCS National Championship Game:
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (I think these two will be the only undefeateds left)

Fiesta Bowl:
Missouri vs. Fresno State (I think the Bulldogs will go undefeated, and Mizzou’s only loss should come to Oklahoma in the Big XII title game)

Sugar Bowl:
Georgia vs. BYU (UGA gets to beat up on another overmatched non-BCS team in New Orleans). This could also potentially be a rematch of the World’s Largest Don’t Call it a Cocktail Party)

Rose Bowl:
USC vs. Ohio State (a nice rematch)

Orange Bowl:
Clemson vs. Florida (although the Orange could be stuck with either BYU or Fresno State)

As far as the other SEC teams go, with nine bowl bids to fill and likely having two teams in the BCS, two 6-6 teams are likely to get bowl bids.

Capital One Bowl: LSU
Outback Bowl: Auburn
Cotton Bowl: Tennessee
Peach Bowl: Alabama
Liberty Bowl: Ole Miss
Independence Bowl: South Carolina
Music City Bowl: Mississippi State

I don’t think they’ll manage to fill their slots for the papajohns.com bowl with Arkansas, Kentucky and Vandy all looking down.

Everyone else ...

I’m not going to actually try to project the non-BCS conferences, because for just about anybody that can be an act of futility. I will, however, give you who I think will win them.

Conference-USA: Tulsa (but watch out for East Carolina)
Mid-American: Central Michigan
Mountain West: BYU (BCS entrant)
Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic
WAC: Fresno State (potential second BCS entrant)