Hawaii got their wish

[BYU 14]

The Bows got their BCS bid, but probably one of the worst matchups for them I could imagine. Georgia has been playing well of late, has some big wins (Florida, Kentucky, Auburn) and a talented cadre of running backs. Hawaii will give up yards on the ground, plus the Sugar bowl is a long way from their Island oasis. Hawaii struggled on the road against the likes of Louisiana Tech 5-7, Nevada 6-6 and San Jose State 5-7.

Brennan is damn good and Hawaii will get there points, I just don't see them being able to stop Moreno and Brown from running wild.

Georgia wins 48 - 31

[TroyF]

The Bows got their BCS bid, but probably one of the worst matchups for them I could imagine. Georgia has been playing well of late, has some big wins (Florida, Kentucky, Auburn) and a talented cadre of running backs. Hawaii will give up yards on the ground, plus the Sugar bowl is a long way from their Island oasis. Hawaii struggled on the road against the likes of Louisiana Tech 5-7, Nevada 6-6 and San Jose State 5-7.

Brennan is damn good and Hawaii will get there points, I just don't see them being able to stop Moreno and Brown from running wild.

Georgia wins 48 - 31

I think Georgia rolls em. But Georgia struggled against Vandy, right? And Hawaii was lucky to beat La Tech.

This actually feels a lot like last year with Boise St. and the Sooners. Boise St. was undefeated, but had a huge comeback win against San Jose St. and barely beat Hawaii and Wyoming. OU was 11-2. They probably got screwed out of a better BCS game or even the title game when they got jobbed at Oregon. They came into the game with 8 straight wins.

We all know how it turned out.

I think your score is probably the accurate one. But with this college football season, I wouldn't bet on it. Regardless, Hawaii certainly got what they wanted. This game means millions for them and the conference. It also puts them on a national stage which should help out with recruiting, win or lose. Even if they lose 63-7, they'll get a lot of benefit out of the game.

[Toddzilla]

I'm kinda sad that Hawaii didn't get into the Rose Bowl - USC/Hawaii would have been a monster game for the ages.

[Klinglerware]

I'm kinda sad that Hawaii didn't get into the Rose Bowl - USC/Hawaii would have been a monster game for the ages.

Not so sure about that. USC played them a couple times this decade, and I think spanked Hawaii the last time they played.

At least, Hawaii is helped somewhat by Georgia not having seen Hawaii's offense yet.

I wonder if Georgia's scout team is going to have fun pretending to be the Hawaii offense in practice. The scout team QB may never again throw that many passes in his life...

[Galaxy]

One thing about Hawaii's passing game is that the receivers will change their routes without Brennan having to audible or change the play when they line up.

[Klinglerware]

One thing about Hawaii's passing game is that the receivers will change their routes without Brennan having to audible or change the play when they line up.

Yes, that is one of the hallmarks of the run and shoot. Hawaii's receivers do not get as much credit as they should: they have to read and react to the defense as well.

[korme]

BOISE ST - OKLAHOMA ANYONE

[Young Drachma]

Yes, that is one of the hallmarks of the run and shoot. Hawaii's receivers do not get as much credit as they should: they have to read and react to the defense as well.

+1

It's fun to watch them go to work.

[TazFTW]

One thing about Hawaii's passing game is that the receivers will change their routes without Brennan having to audible or change the play when they line up.

And if he did audible it would be in Samoan.


Yeah, USC thumped Hawaii twice in recent years. Of course, if I remember correctly the game in USC had Chang at QB and he sucks. Then the game in Hawaii was Colt/Graunke's first year. June started Graunke and ran the ball for most of the first quarter. I would think that if Hawaii played USC this year it would at least be a closer game.

As for the Sugar Bowl, it'll be interesting to see what gameplan Greg McMackin comes up with and if it doesn't work how quickly he can make adjustments.

[Vegas Vic]

This actually feels a lot like last year with Boise St. and the Sooners.

I think there's a difference, but Hawaii will have a chance to prove it on the field.

In Boise State's case last year, they had very good offensive balance with quarterback Zabransky and their passing game, and a fine running back in Ian Johnson. They were only a 6 point underdog to a blue collar OU team who fought their way back into a BCS game with a gutsy late season run. OU wasn't blowing people out last year, they were scraping out a lot of close wins with Paul Thompson at quarterback. I still chuckle when people talk about this as one of the greatest upsets of all-time, considering that a 6 point underdog won the game 43-42 in overtime, and finished the season undefeated and ranked #5.

In Hawaii's case, I think they might be more of a one-trick pony, and if Georgia can come up with a good defensive scheme (and superior athletes like Georgia has) against their run-and-shoot offense, then Georgia will win this game relatively easily.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As much as I hate to think about the hype it would cause locally (as anything beyond putting one foot in front of the other is major news here), I believe Moreno has a chance to get at least 200 yards rushing here & maybe more depending on how Richt divides the carries.

[dawgfan]

The advantage Boise State had last year and Hawaii has this year is having a huge edge in motivation. Both are undefeated teams looking to prove all the nay-sayers and doubters wrong. Both are playing very good teams that didn't get to the BCS game, their ultimate goal.

I'm sure Hawaii can win, but I think Georgia should win, and by a comfortable margin.

[Passacaglia]

BOISE ST - OKLAHOMA ANYONE

huh?

[BYU 14]

The advantage Boise State had last year and Hawaii has this year is having a huge edge in motivation. Both are undefeated teams looking to prove all the nay-sayers and doubters wrong. Both are playing very good teams that didn't get to the BCS game, their ultimate goal.

I'm sure Hawaii can win, but I think Georgia should win, and by a comfortable margin.


I think this years Georgia is much better than last years Sooners and vice/versa for Hawaii vs last years Boise State.

This thread does pose some interesting points, like JIMGA said, if Richt rides Morenp he easily could get two bills, Hawaii just does not have the speed on Defense to consistently maintain leverage and take away cut back lanes. Washington and Boise both ran well (especially early) and Georgia has a much superior running game to those schools. Give Hawaii credit, they made some adjustments that slowed both teams down as the game wore on, but I don't see that happening to the Dawgs.

Hawaii's receiving corp is wothout a doubt one of the best in the nation and they are all very adept at making adjustments to the coverage. Let's face it, you will to be creative as the basic options, Cover 2, quarters, Cover 3 (cloud and sky) and basic types of man/zone combo won't get it done. Hawaii has seen it all and has answers for all of it. The key will be can Georgia pressure Brennan. I think they can, and will Georgia's secondary be able to make up ground when Hawaii's receivers beat them (which will happen) I think the answer to both questions is yes, which equates to at least 3-4 stops of the Rainbow Offense, which will be plenty if Georgia controls the ball for huge chunks of time.

With two BCS teams over the last two years though, the WAC definitely benefits, and this will only help them continue to grow. I almost wish BYU, Utah and Wyoming would go back to the WAC taking TCU with them. Then ship Idaho, New Mexico St, Utah State and Louisana Tech to the Mountain West to enjoy that shitty TV deal they have.

That would give the WAC 6 potentially very good teams (Hawaii, BSU, BYU, Utah, TCU and Fresno) and a lot more credibility.

[dawgfan]

Washington and Boise both ran well (especially early) and Georgia has a much superior running game to those schools.
Mmm, gonna have to disagree with you on that one. Georgia's running game is probably superior to Boise State's when you consider the difference in schedules and conferences. But it's not clear at all that Georgia's running game is superior to Washington's. Check the numbers:

Rank Name Games Att Net Avg. TDs Ydspg
17 Washington 13 537 2640 4.92 27 203.08
29 Boise St. 12 494 2306 4.67 34 192.17
36 Georgia 12 469 2145 4.57 29 178.75

[cartman]

That is kind of funny that the WAC has stepped up with Boise State and Hawaii, as the conference was left for dead when the "elite" WAC teams left to form the Mountain West.

[dawgfan]

That is kind of funny that the WAC has stepped up with Boise State and Hawaii, as the conference was left for dead when the "elite" WAC teams left to form the Mountain West.
Is it? Seems kind of like Solecismic's Sol-8 come to life - a low-level conference with a handful of good teams that post gaudy records by dominating their conference.

Maybe that's just the "elitist" BCS conference fan in me talking, but I have my doubts that Hawaii or Boise State could consistently crack the upper half of the Pac-10.

[cartman]

Is it? Seems kind of like Solecismic's Sol-8 come to life - a low-level conference with a handful of good teams that post gaudy records by dominating their conference.

Maybe that's just the "elitist" BCS conference fan in me talking, but I have my doubts that Hawaii or Boise State could consistently crack the upper half of the Pac-10.

If were that simple, then why hasn't the MAC, C-USA, or Sun Belt come close to getting a team BCS eligible?

[Klinglerware]

With two BCS teams over the last two years though, the WAC definitely benefits, and this will only help them continue to grow. I almost wish BYU, Utah and Wyoming would go back to the WAC taking TCU with them. Then ship Idaho, New Mexico St, Utah State and Louisana Tech to the Mountain West to enjoy that shitty TV deal they have.

That would give the WAC 6 potentially very good teams (Hawaii, BSU, BYU, Utah, TCU and Fresno) and a lot more credibility.

Yeah, what a difference a decade makes. I wonder if part of the Mountain West's downfall was getting rid of the "bottom-feeders". With more parity throughout the conference it's a little more difficult to go undefeated (typically the only way a non-BCS school would get consideration for a BCS bid).

[dawgfan]

If were that simple, then why hasn't the MAC, C-USA, or Sun Belt come close to getting a team BCS eligible?
Good question. Obviously Hawaii and Boise have gotten pretty good to dominate their conference like they have, and no team in those other conferences have been able to really distinguish themselves from the pack to the same extent (though Central Florida is getting there).

The other part is OOC schedules - most teams in those lower-tier conferences schedule a number of tough OOC away games to help pay the bills. Hawaii has the difficult task of getting upper-tier teams to agree to home and away deals, and they don't seem as willing any more to accept a lot of one-off away games with BCS schools.

[JonInMiddleGA]

But it's not clear at all that Georgia's running game is superior to Washington's. Check the numbers:

And then look beyond the first line of numbers.

UW faced several of the top run defenses in the country(#2 Oregon St, #3 Ohio State, #4 USC, #25 Boise, #26 UCLA) only really performing exceptionally well against one of them (Ohio State). And by that I mean significantly exceeding what those teams allowed per game on average.

Georgia, meanwhile, exceeded the average allowed by at least 50% against #10 Florida, #11 Georgia Tech, and #24 Auburn, only #34 Alabama was able to hold them near their average.

Hawaii, meanwhile, is actually ranked #39 in run defense but they score so much it's hard for teams to stay with their run game if they get behind too far. Plus there's a quality of opponent factor.

UW ran for 261 on Hawaii, I have to think Georgia has a good chance of going well over 300 yards and could have a shot getting closer to 400 if Richt doesn't allow himself to be outcoached.

I don't like them damned Dawgs even a little bit but Moreno is scary good, the best I've seen there since you-know-who. With even an average game in the bowl, he'll have more single-season yards than every RB in school history except Walker & Garrison Hearst ... and he's a freshman that still doesn't look to me to have matured physically yet. That's frightening (from my seat anyway).

[TazFTW]

Enough with the negative waves...

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Hasn't the state of Georgia seen enough of June Jones?

[dawgfan]

And then look beyond the first line of numbers.

UW faced several of the top run defenses in the country(#2 Oregon St, #3 Ohio State, #4 USC, #25 Boise, #26 UCLA) only really performing exceptionally well against one of them (Ohio State). And by that I mean significantly exceeding what those teams allowed per game on average.
Sure, but UW's run game improved quite a bit as the season progressed:

vs. Syracuse: 302 (207.8)
vs. Boise State: 133 (114.9)
vs. Ohio State: 142 (77.1)
vs. UCLA: 124 (115.4)
vs. USC: 100 (79.2)
vs. Arizona State: 146 (100.9)
vs. Oregon: 164 (136.5 avg)
vs. Arizona: 236 (138.0 avg)
vs. Stanford: 388 (169.3 avg)
vs. Oregon State: 85 (74.9 avg)
vs. Cal: 334 (151.9 avg)
vs. WSU: 225 (162.3 avg)
vs. Hawaii: 261 (131.7 avg)

And regardless of their rankings, I think doubling, or nearly doubling yearly averages in 4 of their last 6 games shows that this was a team running the ball extremely well by the time they played Hawaii.

Anyway, I'm not saying I think UW's running game is necessarily better than Georgia's - there's an argument that could be made there - but it's certainly not significantly worse.

[Buccaneer]

Enough with the negative waves...

Why? They hurt your feelings? If Hawaii and their fans wants to be viewed anywhere close to like how most good programs are viewed, then you have to take the hits as they come. But having Hawaii in a major bowl is embarassing enough, esp. considering how soft of a schedule it plays and even with that, it struggled to beat really bad teams. No, Hawaii is third-tier program that got lucky and got ignorant fans that can't figure out why everyone is picking on them. So there. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Why? They hurt your feelings? If Hawaii and their fans wants to be viewed anywhere close to like how most good programs are viewed, then you have to take the hits as they come. But having Hawaii in a major bowl is embarassing enough, esp. considering how soft of a schedule it plays and even with that, it struggled to beat really bad teams. No, Hawaii is third-tier program that got lucky and got ignorant fans that can't figure out why everyone is picking on them. So there. :)

Well said, and if Hawaii somehow proves us wrong, then I'm sure we'll hear you Hawaii fans gloating. Of course, I think Hawaii's chances are much worse than Boise State's last year.

[st.cronin]

I expect Hawaii to give Georgia a good game, and it would not surprise me if they won. Hawaii is not a 1-year wonder; they are now 23-3 over the last two seasons. With June Jones as their coach they are 5-0 in bowls. They deserve this chance, and I expect them to make the most of it.

[TazFTW]

Why? They hurt your feelings? If Hawaii and their fans wants to be viewed anywhere close to like how most good programs are viewed, then you have to take the hits as they come. But having Hawaii in a major bowl is embarassing enough, esp. considering how soft of a schedule it plays and even with that, it struggled to beat really bad teams. No, Hawaii is third-tier program that got lucky and got ignorant fans that can't figure out why everyone is picking on them. So there. :)

What hurt feelings? I'm just thinking postively, you gotta believe brah. My comments were toward Jon and since he hates Georgia and wants to see them lose then he needs to believe that Hawaii can beat them. If this college season has proven anything its that shit happens.

[TazFTW]

Well said, and if Hawaii somehow proves us wrong, then I'm sure we'll hear you Hawaii fans gloating. Of course, I think Hawaii's chances are much worse than Boise State's last year.

May Juice Williams go Vince Young on your team. :p

[finkenst]

Is it? Seems kind of like Solecismic's Sol-8 come to life - a low-level conference with a handful of good teams that post gaudy records by dominating their conference.

Maybe that's just the "elitist" BCS conference fan in me talking, but I have my doubts that Hawaii or Boise State could consistently crack the upper half of the Pac-10.

it is the elistist bcs fan i nyou...

how do you explain the ACC for most of the 90s while FSU was dominating it year in and year out? MIami, as well, in the Big East before VT finally stepped up

blah blah blah

[JonInMiddleGA]

What hurt feelings? I'm just thinking postively, you gotta believe brah. My comments were toward Jon and since he hates Georgia and wants to see them lose then he needs to believe that Hawaii can beat them. If this college season has proven anything its that shit happens.

Honestly Taz, there's a few games each year that I wish could end in a scoreless tie and this is one of them (although damned sure not a pairing I would have expected in advance, it's just so ... random).

But before that seems to be too personal, a couple of things should probably be stated for posterities sake (I've got no idea who has/hasn't heard me say either of these before).
1) I've advocated splitting the current D1 into two separate divisions for at least a decade or more. One for, failing a simpler term right now, "football schools" and one for "schools that happen to have a football team".
2) I felt the same way about BYU's title in '84 that I feel about the notion of Hawaii's undefeated season being worthy of putting them in some sort of national picture: I found it laughable then (albeit with more disgusting end result) and I find it laughable now.

Point being, it's not about Hawaii specifically (although I do find the team & some of its antics hard to take at times).

[dawgfan]

it is the elistist bcs fan i nyou...

how do you explain the ACC for most of the 90s while FSU was dominating it year in and year out? MIami, as well, in the Big East before VT finally stepped up

blah blah blah
I guess I must be missing something, because I fail to see how your example invalidates my argument. FSU was clearly superior to the rest of their conference for much of the '90's. Not that surprising, as that run was one of the more impressive college football dynasties.

[DeToxRox]

Rasheed Wallace had a fit last night post Pistons game, dropping numerous f bombs and proclaiming LSU and OSU suck and the BCS is a sham because Hawaii didn't get in the title game.

And no, I am not lying.

[korme]

huh?

Well, someone beat me to the punch, but you're pretty fucking stupid if you don't understand what I meant by that.

[sterlingice]

it is the elistist bcs fan i nyou...

how do you explain the ACC for most of the 90s while FSU was dominating it year in and year out? MIami, as well, in the Big East before VT finally stepped up

I think this argument deserves a little more than just offhand dismissal. Both the Big East and ACC were garbage for most of the 90s but people still gave Miami and FSU tons of credit for beating up on schedules that were much weaker than the other major conferences (SEC, Big 10, Big XII, Pac 10).

It's not to the same level as the WAC where there is one middle ranked team and then maybe another near the bottom. But there were quite a few years where it wasn't that different with a really high Miami/FSU and then maybe another team or two in the 15-25 range.

SI

[k0ruptr]

I heart this thread :D

[k0ruptr]

dola, the only things I really want to add is that You definitely have to be a "smart" receiver to play in this system, cant be all athletic and no brains. and the other thing really doesnt relate to this thread, but I just find it amazing that Colt broke the All time TD record, and other career records in only 3 seasons, instead of the usual 4.

[CU Tiger]

I think this argument deserves a little more than just offhand dismissal. Both the Big East and ACC were garbage for most of the 90s but people still gave Miami and FSU tons of credit for beating up on schedules that were much weaker than the other major conferences (SEC, Big 10, Big XII, Pac 10).

It's not to the same level as the WAC where there is one middle ranked team and then maybe another near the bottom. But there were quite a few years where it wasn't that different with a really high Miami/FSU and then maybe another team or two in the 15-25 range.

SI

HUH?
During the 90s the ACC consisted of
Clemson
Wake
UVA
UNC
Maryland
GT
NC State
Duke
and FSU

During that decade
Clemson had 3 seasons of 9 wins or more
UVA had 3 seasons of 9 wins or more
UNC had 4 seasons of 9 wins or more
GT had 2 seasons of 9 wins or more
NCSU had 3 seasons of 9 wins or more


Thats 5 teams with at least 2 9 win seasons each in a decade.
And 15 9+ win seasons OUTSIDE OF FSU. That means most years there were at least 2 teams outside of Tallahasse with 9 wins. Remembering this was in an 11 game era.
And they had an OOC record of over .700 (including FSU) and .625 excluding FSU

Its nice to think that the ACC was just a basketball conference with FSU thrown in but that was patanetly false and revisionous history to suggest.

Quite bluntly it is a testament to HOW good FSU was that they did what they did against the ACC in thee 90s.

[Vegas Vic]

With June Jones as their coach they are 5-0 in bowls.

And here's a little tidbit for you, all five of those bowl games were in Hawaii. Now, don't get me wrong, Hawaii squeezes out every drop of home field advantage during the regular season and in their home bowl game appearances, but they've been a rather pedestrian team when they cross the pond. This year, they survived at Louisiana Tech (45-44 in overtime), at San Jose State (42-35 in overtime) and at Nevada-Reno (28-26).

We'll see how they do after their 4,200 mile trek to New Orleans, where they'll be playing in front of an 80% Georgia crowd. The only other top 10 team they've played in recent history was against USC two years ago, where they lost 63-17 at Aloha Stadium.

[k0ruptr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTclwnY9CvY&eurl=http://www.ryanparkersongs.com/
best youtube ever, from the guy who made shady brady and bill belicheat.

[BYU 14]

And here's a little tidbit for you, all five of those bowl games were in Hawaii. Now, don't get me wrong, Hawaii squeezes out every drop of home field advantage during the regular season and in their home bowl game appearances, but they've been a rather pedestrian team when they cross the pond. This year, they survived at Louisiana Tech (45-44 in overtime), at San Jose State (42-35 in overtime) and at Nevada-Reno (28-26).

We'll see how they do after their 4,200 mile trek to New Orleans, where they'll be playing in front of an 80% Georgia crowd. The only other top 10 team they've played in recent history was against USC two years ago, where they lost 63-17 at Aloha Stadium.

Beat me to it, playing your bowl game at home is a huge advantage. On top of then usual things like the travel, game time and an intimidating crowd, there is now the added week of all the distractions of Hawaii. While for the Bows, it is been there, done that.

I still think Hawaii has a chance as they are a very composed team that doesn't get rattled if they get down, and with those receivers they are always a threat to break. U-Dub bottled them up good for almost an entire half, but one of them eventually steps up.

Still Georgia's game to lose.

[st.cronin]

And here's a little tidbit for you, all five of those bowl games were in Hawaii. Now, don't get me wrong, Hawaii squeezes out every drop of home field advantage during the regular season and in their home bowl game appearances, but they've been a rather pedestrian team when they cross the pond. This year, they survived at Louisiana Tech (45-44 in overtime), at San Jose State (42-35 in overtime) and at Nevada-Reno (28-26).

We'll see how they do after their 4,200 mile trek to New Orleans, where they'll be playing in front of an 80% Georgia crowd. The only other top 10 team they've played in recent history was against USC two years ago, where they lost 63-17 at Aloha Stadium.

Of course, two years ago they were a sub-.500 team. I understand your pov, and I guess we'll find out.

[hoopsguy]

May Juice Williams go Vince Young on your team. :p

That is a good way to get me cheering for Hawaii in this game :)

[TazFTW]

So apparently Hawaii has sold out its allotment of 17,500 tickets. I say apparently because it seems UH gave back some of the tickets thinking that they wouldn't sell them all. The numbers being reported from various stations are that 4000-5000 were given back and were quickly snatched up by Georgia fans.

I hate Herman Frazier.

[Vegas Vic]

55,000 Georgia fans and 17,500 Hawaii fans. That should be interesting.

[dawgfan]

And then look beyond the first line of numbers.

UW faced several of the top run defenses in the country(#2 Oregon St, #3 Ohio State, #4 USC, #25 Boise, #26 UCLA) only really performing exceptionally well against one of them (Ohio State). And by that I mean significantly exceeding what those teams allowed per game on average.

Georgia, meanwhile, exceeded the average allowed by at least 50% against #10 Florida, #11 Georgia Tech, and #24 Auburn, only #34 Alabama was able to hold them near their average.

Hawaii, meanwhile, is actually ranked #39 in run defense but they score so much it's hard for teams to stay with their run game if they get behind too far. Plus there's a quality of opponent factor.

UW ran for 261 on Hawaii, I have to think Georgia has a good chance of going well over 300 yards and could have a shot getting closer to 400 if Richt doesn't allow himself to be outcoached.

I don't like them damned Dawgs even a little bit but Moreno is scary good, the best I've seen there since you-know-who. With even an average game in the bowl, he'll have more single-season yards than every RB in school history except Walker & Garrison Hearst ... and he's a freshman that still doesn't look to me to have matured physically yet. That's frightening (from my seat anyway).
Just wanted to point out that while Georgia ran the ball quite well on Hawaii, they fell far short of 300 yards or the 261 the UW put up on them, finishing with 159.

[Atocep]

Just wanted to point out that while Georgia ran the ball quite well on Hawaii, they fell far short of 300 yards or the 261 the UW put up on them, finishing with 159.


To be fair the game was decided fairly early and Moreno only got 9 carries because of it.

[dawgfan]

To be fair the game was decided fairly early and Moreno only got 9 carries because of it.
Sure, but then again with Georgia in control of the game you'd expect them to primarily run the ball and accumulate some big numbers.

My main point is to tweak JiMGa and BYU 14 a bit for presuming that the SEC team (Georgia) had a better running game ("much superior") this year than the Pac-10 team (UW).

Obviously doesn't matter that much because Georgia finished 11-2 and the UW 4-9, but I think that was far more due to Georgia having a very good defense and the UW having the worst defense in school history.

[dime]

months ago I said in a thread on here somewhere that if hawaii was put in a BCS bowl against a usc or lsu or some other elite/top 5 team, that they would get crushed by 40 points.

someone in this thread responded that my analysis was "the absolute stupidest thing ever posted in this forum". why? because last year, a boise st team much better than hawaii beat an oklahoma team that was not very good thanks to a hook and ladder miracle...or whatever his reasoning was, there was never really an explanation.

to that shlub, I say: SCOREBOARD.

I have nothing against hawaii, although I do think that june jones is an arrogant prick (but what college coach isn't?). I was actually shocked at how mentally and physically fragile colt brennan is, it looked like he was going to cry when the backup got a TD pass. You have to figure his draft stock is completely shot.

[Karlifornia]

Sure, but then again with Georgia in control of the game you'd expect them to primarily run the ball and accumulate some big numbers.

My main point is to tweak JiMGa and BYU 14 a bit for presuming that the SEC team (Georgia) had a better running game ("much superior") this year than the Pac-10 team (UW).

Obviously doesn't matter that much because Georgia finished 11-2 and the UW 4-9, but I think that was far more due to Georgia having a very good defense and the UW having the worst defense in school history.

Does everything in the whole world relate to U-Dub? Well, I shouldn't ask you....

[BYU 14]

Sure, but then again with Georgia in control of the game you'd expect them to primarily run the ball and accumulate some big numbers.

My main point is to tweak JiMGa and BYU 14 a bit for presuming that the SEC team (Georgia) had a better running game ("much superior") this year than the Pac-10 team (UW).

Obviously doesn't matter that much because Georgia finished 11-2 and the UW 4-9, but I think that was far more due to Georgia having a very good defense and the UW having the worst defense in school history.


I think the key numbers here are 4-9 :)

While maybe not superior, I still say Georgia's running game is better. Why? Georgia's backs are better, their line is better, therefore in the traditional sense, their running game is better. Locker got a lot of rushing yardage improvising and yes he had over 1000, and is a great weapon but a lot of yards came because he is just an athlete and was able to make things happen.

As a QB he is like a Bobby Douglas type, great runner, mediocre thrower. Combined running and throwing he had 254 YPG. The U-Dub runningbacks had just under 1800 yards.

Georgia's runningbacks had over 2000, their QB accounted for just under 200 yards a game. A more balanced attack than Washington and definitely better Defense.

I wasn't slamming your Huskies, they have a very good running game, and while a mobile QB gives you a nice additional weapon, it doesn't make your running game better than Georgia's.

[dawgfan]

I see where you're coming from, and I'd agree that if you're defining "running game" strictly by running backs then yes, Georgia is better.

The thing about Locker's rushing yardage that you might not know if you didn't watch that team all the time is that the vast majority of his carries were designed runs, either QB draws or shotgun option runs - very few were actually improvised scrambles.

And yeah, 4-9 and all that - but that was mostly due to a horrible defense.

[dawgfan]

Does everything in the whole world relate to U-Dub? Well, I shouldn't ask you....
Not at all, but there was a debate going about how the UW's running game compared to Georgia's, and now that we have more evidence for the argument I bumped the thread.

[BYU 14]

I see where you're coming from, and I'd agree that if you're defining "running game" strictly by running backs then yes, Georgia is better.

The thing about Locker's rushing yardage that you might not know if you didn't watch that team all the time is that the vast majority of his carries were designed runs, either QB draws or shotgun option runs - very few were actually improvised scrambles.

And yeah, 4-9 and all that - but that was mostly due to a horrible defense.

I admit I saw them only a few times but even on designed runs he can create yards from nothing.....If his passing improves the U-Dub offense could be scary. In the Hawaii game the announcers kept blaming his lack of throwing prowess on being a Wing-T QB in HS, which is typical ignorance of the modern Wing-T. BYU's last two starters (Beck and Hall) both played in the Wing-T in High school and can both throw the ball pretty well. Locker just wasn't called upon to throw and needs an intensive offseason of refining his mechanics.

There are rumors of Dewayne Walker going to Washington as D-coordinator. I would say that instantly upgrades your Defense if it happens.

[Karlifornia]

Not at all, but there was a debate going about how the UW's running game compared to Georgia's, and now that we have more evidence for the argument I bumped the thread.

Fair enough.....

[dawgfan]

There are rumors of Dewayne Walker going to Washington as D-coordinator. I would say that instantly upgrades your Defense if it happens.
Yeah, I'm extremely excited about the prospect of Walker coming to the UW. Defense has been a major problem at the UW for a while now, and Walker had an immediate and huge impact at UCLA. I don't think the UW has quite as much talent for Walker to work with as he had at UCLA, at least in terms of experience anyway, but I do expect he'd improve our numbers a fair amount.

And yeah, Locker really needs to work on refining his passing. He wasn't called on to pass a lot in H.S., and while he has a very strong arm and a tight spiral, his accuracy needs a lot of work and he needs to continue spending a lot of time in the film room working on reading defenses. But the offense should again be fairly strong (assuming all the new WR's are decent), so any defensive improvement should get the Huskies closer to becoming a bowl team again.

[k0ruptr]

the BCS money was well worth it.

[BYU 14]

the BCS money was well worth it.

Hey June Jones can get some new Carpet :)

[k0ruptr]

:D

[Vegas Vic]

I'll say this about the Hawaii fans. They stayed until the bitter end and gave their team a standing ovation after the game. You've got to admire them for that.

[sterlingice]

Well, really, they had a great season. Same with KU football for us, even if they lose tonight, we never could have imagined the season would end in the BCS, even with a loss.

SI