Legge's Thoughts: BYU is Better than the Dawgs? Um... Prolly Not.
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ATHENS - Georgia was off, but there was fun all over college football Saturday.
Alabama is the best team in the nation, and it sure doesn’t seem close. In fact, Alabama is approaching being as good as LSU was a year ago. That’s not hyperbole - I will get to that soon - its legit. This is a machine-like Alabama team.
LSU stood no shot Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Bama was out for vengeance, and they got it by the time the first half was over. The question is if Florida can put its best game of the season together in a few weeks to challenge Alabama.
I don’t think that will happen. The major issue with the Gators here of late is that that they seem to not play well in the first half (save the UGA game). In their last three games, Florida has not looked great in the first half against Vandy, Kentucky or Tennessee during the first two quarters. Maybe it takes a second for them to get going.
Alabama is going to jump all over anyone they play from the start. Florida can beat Alabama - I do think that’s possible. But it is going to be a major challenge to be sure. I wonder what the line will be for that game. Something like 14?
Then there’s the ACC where Clemson used turnovers to jumpstart their scoring for the night. Virgnia Tech used three quarterbacks - in other words more signal callers than scores. This was a solid night for the Tigers, but they still need to improve their play. The defense simply does not seem like it once did. Same for the offense, but Trevor Lawrence is so exceptional not just with throwing, but also with his legs. He’s a heck of a player.
Still, Clemson seems a step or two slower than a season ago. They will have a major challenge in front of them with Notre Dame. The deep, explosive plays… the really quick scores... they just are not there the way they once were for the Tigers. There is no obvious thing missing, but Clemson isn’t explosive the way they have been in the past.
Now then, Notre Dame continues to be steady. The 45-21 win today over Syracuse was workman like. The Irish have never won a conference title… could that happen in Charlotte? I don’t think it is at all out of the question.
The problem for the Irish is that it seems like the entire team is predicated on Ian Book, who is a heck of a college quarterback. I can’t name another Notre Dame player. The running back looks solid, but this is all about Book.
The Irish are playing as well or better than anyone not named Alabama.
Texas A&M avoided a black-eye loss on the Plains today. That would have been a difficult loss to explain away. South Carolina rolled over and died in Lexington, and then hired former UGA TEs coach Shane Beamer.
But the Arkansas-Missouri game was, well, wild. The fact of the matter is that Arkansas should have put the game away in the fourth quarter. Up 14 with 13:15 to go - that’s a game you have to put away.
But that didn’t happen, and all of the sudden the entire fourth quarter was nuts. Missouri scores 21 unanswered points to grab a TD lead. 13 plays and four minutes later Arkansas scored to get within a point.
Would Sam Pittman go for the win? Yes Sir. Two-point conversion was good, and Arkansas looked like they had won back a game they’d lost. But Missouri took the ball back down the field in seven plays to knock down the game-winning 32-yard field goal.
I will admit that I was unaware of the importance of this game. This, apparently, is a big-deal game for both programs. I was listening to the Missouri broadcast, and the crew kept talking about how big a deal the game was for Missouri.
OK, good for those two programs if that’s the case. They need rivals - because they certainly don’t have any others in the league.
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But the feature of the day, for me at least, was the BYU-Coastal game. The amount of hyperventilating about this game from the national boys certainly eclipsed Alabama-LSU. Couple of things: first, BYU is a team that can really score. The QB is the real deal. Second, BYU really has not played much of a schedule. That’s not on them exclusively, but when you choose not to belong to a conference when a pandemic hits is what it is. Third, Coastal certainly has not played much of a schedule, either, but they do have a 15-point road win at Kansas and a win at Louisiana.
This was a great matchup between two group of six teams. This was not an exhibition of teams that belong in the College Football Playoff. It was probably not a showing of two teams that deserve to be in the New Year’s Six. It was a fun game that got a lot of attention. It showed that college football is more than just SEC power teams slapping one another around each weekend.
As a person who played small college athletics I can assure you that the players at Coastal are working just as hard as everyone else in college football. They are getting up early. They are lifting the weights. They are doing the work.
It is just that fewer people are watching the games. That, I can tell you from my experience, does not at all take away from the gratification of victory or the pain of defeat.
Smaller schools just are not as good, and that’s OK. Let’s celebrate Coastal for what they are - a great story, and a team that’s having a magical season - before we start comparing them to the likes of Miami and Georgia - God forbid comparing them to Alabama right now.
That’s the trap FOX’s Joel Klatt fell into earlier this week. I’ve already talked about his ridiculous take that UGA being in the top ten is “laughable” - Georgia is ranked No. 10 and No. 11 by the two traditional polls… So, I mean - there is no need to rehash a lot of that. Then he tweeted: “(The) disrespect for BYU is real, and I don't understand.”
Then this:
“This notion that BYU is not anywhere close to as good as Georgia, I'm not sure that's the case.”
Also this take on FS1 this week:
“Everyone’s been like: Boy, Georgia’s been great the last few weeks. I’m like: pump the breaks. You beat a South Carolina team that just fired their coach. You played a former assistant in Mike Bobo (Note: I have no idea why this matters… was Bobo supposed to help Georgia somehow? Please explain further.). You beat Mississippi State by seven. Mississippi State beat Vandy by seven. That’s a winless team that’s just fired their coach. Mississippi just beat Mississippi State by the exact same score…
“I just think that this notion that Georgia has earned that spot… is false.”
Does that mean that Iowa State, a team with two losses, one of which was to a Sun Belt school, has “earned” their way into the top ten? Miami? Oklahoma and their loss to 4-6 Kansas State? Indiana? Northwestern?
You would need three of those teams to jump UGA to knock the Dawgs out of the top ten (by the way, Georgia is the best win for both Florida and possibly Alabama)… which three of those is better?
Miami? OK, maybe. What about Oklahoma? They are playing better. Do we 100% know that Cincinnati is better than those teams, or are we just putting them in there because they are undefeated? That’s OK. It is pretty clear the Bearcats are pretty good.
But use your words and explain which team is better rather than talking about how “bad” UGA is. Georgia’s got six wins - all but one of them by ten points or more.
Again: “This notion that BYU is not anywhere close to as good as Georgia, I'm not sure that's the case.”
Joel - let me set your mind at ease and assure you that BYU is not anywhere close to as good as Georgia. BYU just lost to Coastal.
Coastal.
No disrespect to Coastal. But Coastal.
Could you imagine if an SEC team lost to Coastal this year? Could you imagine if an SEC team lost to a Sun Belt team ever (more on that in a moment)? We don’t have to imagine if a Big 12 team lost to a Sun Belt team… one of the two teams playing for the Big 12 title this year has a loss to a Sun Belt team.
Back to the times when an SEC team was beaten by a Sun Belt school: It has happened three times in the last four seasons - Georgia State 38-30 over Tennessee in 2019; App State 20-15 over South Carolina in 2019; and Troy 24-20 over LSU.
None of those teams were close to being in the discussion of being in the College Football Playoff. None of them were in the discussion of being a top ten team. None of those teams had “real disrespect” they had to deal with.
They just were not good teams. All three had coaches on the hot seat immediately.
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Do you remember the reaction after LSU’s loss to Troy? I do. It wasn’t pretty because good teams and programs simply don’t lose to Sun Belt schools. Again, no disrespect to the Sun Belt, but that league isn’t crowning any national champions in football any time soon.
And yet, we were led to believe that BYU - a team that lost to a Sun Belt school Saturday - should be in one of the New Year’s Six Bowls? We were led to believe that BYU - a team that lost to a Sun Belt school - should be in the discussion for being in the top ten?
Based on what? That they score? I mean, BYU pounded Navy. That was a beating. I have watched a fair amount of the Cougars, and they are a top 20 team for me (Coastal is as well). But top 20 teams are not the same as top ten teams.
ALL TOP TEN TEAMS ARE TOP 20 TEAMS. NOT ALL TOP 20 TEAMS ARE TOP TEN TEAMS.
#math
And this discussion that BYU’s schedule is holding them back… if you want a schedule that you can depend on JOIN A CONFERENCE, or fake it for a year like Notre Dame.
Klatt again: “Georgia would trade quarterbacks for Zach Wilson in a heartbeat.”
Um….
That kid is a good player. He’s legit. But after what I saw tonight, I’m not sure Georgia would trade JT Daniels for him… not after tonight. Again - in a heartbeat? Why do we have to live in a world were we have to be so outlandish with our commentary? Is this all we do now? Just go to total extremes like Billy Joel circa 1990?
Can’t it be that Zach Wilson is really good (he is), and JT Daniels looks pretty good so far himself? I mean Wilson is out here jumping over people… but his team lost to Coastal. He didn’t do enough to lead his team, a legit team, to a victory over a Sun Belt team.
And we are ready to trade him IN A HEARTBEAT?
This is what we do.
Klatt again: “Does (BYU) need to have the bag man come in?”
Oh boy - yikes. You have to wonder if a broadcaster would talk like that about schools his network broadcasts.
Then Klatt: “If we actually had math that made sense; if you even understood math basically.”
Here’s some math that makes sense… all BYU had to do was go to a suburb of Myrtle Beach, not get any venereal diseases (Let’s be honest - this is Myrtle Beach we are talking about here) and beat a Sun Belt school to gain some serious national recognition as a real player on the national stage, and they couldn’t do it.
This isn’t about deflecting with criticisms about Georgia.
This is about BYU failing in very possibly one of the easiest walk-in games you could get to go to a New Year’s Six game. It wouldn’t have been certain (BYU would have still needed a few losses in front of them, and the didn’t get that tonight from Miami or Indiana), but BYU was “probably” headed to a NY6 bowl with a win over Coastal.
And they couldn’t do it.
I’m not sure if I understand math because I am a product of DeKalb County schools, but I am pretty sure that 22 is more than 17.
And, yes, BYU deserves credit for playing this game. So does Coastal. Notre Dame got credit for playing in Athens last year, but they lost. You have to win when you have to win. That didn’t happen to night for BYU.
BYU is not anywhere close to as good as more than a few teams. That, however, doesn’t mean they are exclusively “bad”. They are a fun team to watch that has had a wacked-out schedule. What is Klatt’s kick with Georgia? Why do you care? Like, what is the crusade you are on? What? Georgia’s not as good as last year?
No one has noticed until you said something about how overrated they are.
Why do we do this all of the time? Why does a microphone seem to always find someone with an irrational take? Where, besides Dawg Post of course, is the halfway intelligent discussion of college football, and why is it nearly never on TV?
Why can’t we talk about how much fun BYU is to watch without trying to shove them into something they are not? Perhaps we can wait and see next time?
Nah.
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SEC vs. Sun Belt since 2017
2019
W - 20-15 - App State at South Carolina
L - 55-0 - Arkansas State at Georgia
L - 55-3 - Georgia Southern at LSU
W - 38-30 - Georgia State at Tennessee
L - 42-10 - Troy at Missouri
L - 41-7 - Texas State at Texas A&M
L - 38-28 - Louisiana at Mississippi State
2018
L - 57-7 - Arkansas State at Alabama
L - 49-15 - Coastal at South Carolina
L - 48-10 - Louisiana–Monroe at Texas A&M
L - 70-21 - Louisiana–Monroe at Ole Miss
L - 56-10 - Louisiana at Mississippi State
L - 56-14 - Louisiana at Alabama
2017
L - 31-10 - App Sate at Georgia
W - 24-21 - Troy at LSU
L - 27-27 - South Alabama at Ole Miss
L - 42-14 - Louisiana–Monroe at Auburn
L - 45-21 - Louisiana at Texas A&M
L - 50-22 - Louisiana at Ole Miss
L - 41-7 - Georgia Southern at Auburn