after the laughter
Damn it. Much in the same fashion as Joey, I had myself an encomium planned for the UVA win over FSU. It's Wednesday. By the time I spruce it up with enough jokes to make it something other than a repeat of the obvious, it'll be 2015, and I'll have to write another one.
Here's a couple points that need to be made, though:
1. I can't really compare this game to any other I've experienced in the Groh Era. There were incredibly "fun" wins, such as what happened in 2002 against Maryland and West Virginia. 2003 saw some important "staying power" wins against Pitt and VT. But this was just monumental. The only thing I can liken it to in my time at UVA was beating Duke on Valentine's Day 2001, 91-89. The crowd created an atmosphere that made you think anything was possible, and UVA played the kind of game they always seem to need against a superpower: get out ahead early and hang on for dear life. It was a great win in a season that was satisfying, but could hardly be called "magical." And moreover, winning a game against Duke, receiving a retro Nuggets T-shirt from ebay and a package of cookies in the mail from mom was about as good of a Valentine's Day as I was able to muster up during my Steel Reserve-intensive 3rd year of college.
2. Ahmad Brooks may have a little Lavar in him in terms of his hype/production ratio, but there's no doubt that he gives us a swagger that was sorely missing in our last two games. Moreover, with him and Vince Redd in at LB, Al Golden was able to rotate enough guys so we weren't completely tanked in the 4th quarter.
3. Jeff Bowden, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for not running the ball. Sporting Fool points out that FSU gains something along the lines of 270 yards every time they play UVA. And even if he didn't watch UM or BC gametapes, he had to at least seen SportsCenter. So after an inevitable 58-yard run to tie the game, he puts the ball in the hands of Drew Weatherford, who throws the ball 59 times, with three killer picks (which could've easily have been doubled). Although I'm sure this will change next year, this was the first game against FSU I've ever seen where a pass that hangs for more than 20-yards isn't an automatic TD caught by someone who can run a 40 faster than it takes me to spell his first name.
4. Marques Hagans played the best game at QB in UVA history, hands down. Okay, maybe it was the QB-ing equivalent to Cappadonna's verse on "Winter Warz": on the verge of chaos, alternating between freestyling and script, sometimes baffling, other times astonishing. And after it's over, everyone thinks the same thing: "no way he ever tops this. He knows it. We know it." The stats themselves were nice, even though 27/36-306 is the type of numbers Cody Hodges can throw up in a half. That being said, you could make the argument that Tony Carter did just as much to win the game for us. T-dot Carter can expect more than a few Christmas cards with a Charlottesville postmark.
5. It's not over for you yet, Groh. FSU was easily the biggest win since Groh was able to field enough talent to realistically compete with Top Ten programs, but in order for it to go down, it had to be a home game on ESPN at 7:45 PM on the most batshit day for college football in the last few years. It was a perfect storm. Now let's see you do it on the road. And if you think I'm asking too much from these guys, check Vegas: the #23 team in the land is a 1.5-point underdog to a 2-4 team that lost its last game by 55 points. It's not a secret that UVA's biggest road win of the last two years was against last year's Georgia Tech team.
Anyways, onto the BlogPoll, courtesy of All Things Longhorn....
1. What would it take for you to vote someone other than USC #1 in the poll? If you already are, what would it take for USC to regain the top spot on your ballot?
Hmmm...loaded questions much? It's almost pointless to ask what Texas has to do in order to achieve #1 in the BlogPoll as long as USC keeps winning. The bigger picture sees them clinging on to #2 like a someone at latter-day Veterans Stadium who just ate an undercooked chicken wing.
But who can overtake them? Fortunately, wiser heads have prevailed since VT was getting all the plaudits in Plauditville for laying the wood to Ohio and Duke. This is still a team that got called out on the CFB blackhole that is "PTI" as a "team that always loses." They're getting lucky in that the win in Morgantown is gaining credibility by the week. But waxing the Big East champ only makes you this year's Utah. They'll get every opportunity to show and prove in the upcoming months. Tomorrow, they've got a date at Byrd with a Maryland team that may or may not have gotten their shit together. After that, you have home games against a bonafide legit BC and vengeance-minded Miami who no one has paid a lick of attention to in months. Add to that a trip to Scott Stadium, and before you start a-chucklin', if there's one thing UVA does well, it's play at home. Get past all of that and more than likely, it's a de facto away game in Jacksonville against FSU. Good luck, guys...but if they run the table, I don't see how they're turned away.
As for UGA/Bama, I'll probably say that UGA has the upper-hand, mostly because their offense might be the only one in the conference that can be called "functional," while most of the other thought-to-be contenders have fans running to grandma's homemade snuff film for comic relief. Of course, as long as Florida's bus makes it to Jacksonville, it's never a cakewalk for the Dawgs. However, if Urban has Chris Leak continuing to play the Square Peg at Circle High School, we can dub the trip from JAX to Gainesville "The Trail of Tears."
After that, it's a very manageable schedule, with the biggest test coming at home against Auburn, who's "rejuvenated" in the sense that they haven't lost to anyone on national TV in over a month. I'm not sure if the SEC is strong enough for UGA to overcome Texas should they both finish undefeated, but knowing the agita it'll cause certain readers of Sexy Results!, I'll just quote Ted Kennedy and say, "we'll drive off that bridge when we get to it."
2. Which of the undefeateds is most likely to remain so? Who is least likely?
Part one: Texas. Hands down, considering that the Big XII and Big East are probably buying team charters from the same shortbus dealer this year.
Which leads us to the next question, and although Taco Tech seems like the obvious answer, it's only because it's the right one. You could argue that UGA or Bama has to be the answer since even if they go unbeaten in the regular season, they'll play each other in Atlanta. But that's too far down the road, and Tech's gonna lose three days from now. It might not be a blowout, and in all honesty, Tech's probably got the best chance to knock off Texas, since they at least have a good gimmick. But right now, we have every right to be skeptical seeing as how their win over a historically dejected Cal team in 2004 is the only big win I can recall for these guys. And their best win to this point wasn't a valiant comeback a la UCLA/Cal or USC/ND nor a gangbusters stomping a la UGA/UT. More like a "let's get on the team bus as quickly as possible" nailbiter along the lines of VT/NCSU. Also, I'm fairly certain the best way to beat a far more talented team is to slow the game down and keep the offense off the field. Good luck with...all of that.
3. If you were running the BCS system, would you let the computer rankings factor in margin of victory? Why or why not?
I'm not down on including it because I think that standard will have coaches running up the score. That's horeshit. How are you gonna tell 3rd-string QB Joe Fistfuck to go in there and take a knee when that's about the only time he'll ever see the field? If it means that much to the opposing coaches, go ahead and put your guys at risk to stop them. And besides, when a team "runs" up the score, it gives the GameDay people something to talk about the following year with a "revenge game." Also, MOV can tell you a lot about where a team stands. Were people skeptical when UVA beat WMU and Cuse by a combined 13 points? Yes. Did they have a right to be? Of course. Were they proven correct? Abso-fuckin-lutely. While there's something to be said for gritting out victories, it's not something that's recommended eight out of eleven games. For examples, it's one thing for UGA to beat South Carolina by two, but what if that happened against MSU, Vandy and UL-M? Are they still #4?
In other news, considering that the job market isn't exactly booming for people with an entertainment law focus and poor grades in practice areas such as Civ Pro and Legal Responsibility, I've often thought about the dream job of working in an upscale liquor store in a college town. Really, do I get more pleasure out helping out indigent clients or seeing the purchase of the DZ in front of me at the Five Points Bottle Shop: 18-pack of Coors Light in the "camo case," 10-pack of B to the E, bottle of Evan Williams, bottle of Smirnoff Vanilla.
Of course, judge lest ye be the only person at the Bi-Lo, wearing a UVA tie tucked into a UVA t-shirt in order to purchase potential "victory wine" during halftime. Okay, that's a lie...there did happen to be someone else in the Bi-Lo, and as luck would have it, she's a law student. Hopefully one who doesn't spend much time in the Law Library talking to her friends.
Here's a couple points that need to be made, though:
1. I can't really compare this game to any other I've experienced in the Groh Era. There were incredibly "fun" wins, such as what happened in 2002 against Maryland and West Virginia. 2003 saw some important "staying power" wins against Pitt and VT. But this was just monumental. The only thing I can liken it to in my time at UVA was beating Duke on Valentine's Day 2001, 91-89. The crowd created an atmosphere that made you think anything was possible, and UVA played the kind of game they always seem to need against a superpower: get out ahead early and hang on for dear life. It was a great win in a season that was satisfying, but could hardly be called "magical." And moreover, winning a game against Duke, receiving a retro Nuggets T-shirt from ebay and a package of cookies in the mail from mom was about as good of a Valentine's Day as I was able to muster up during my Steel Reserve-intensive 3rd year of college.
2. Ahmad Brooks may have a little Lavar in him in terms of his hype/production ratio, but there's no doubt that he gives us a swagger that was sorely missing in our last two games. Moreover, with him and Vince Redd in at LB, Al Golden was able to rotate enough guys so we weren't completely tanked in the 4th quarter.
3. Jeff Bowden, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for not running the ball. Sporting Fool points out that FSU gains something along the lines of 270 yards every time they play UVA. And even if he didn't watch UM or BC gametapes, he had to at least seen SportsCenter. So after an inevitable 58-yard run to tie the game, he puts the ball in the hands of Drew Weatherford, who throws the ball 59 times, with three killer picks (which could've easily have been doubled). Although I'm sure this will change next year, this was the first game against FSU I've ever seen where a pass that hangs for more than 20-yards isn't an automatic TD caught by someone who can run a 40 faster than it takes me to spell his first name.
4. Marques Hagans played the best game at QB in UVA history, hands down. Okay, maybe it was the QB-ing equivalent to Cappadonna's verse on "Winter Warz": on the verge of chaos, alternating between freestyling and script, sometimes baffling, other times astonishing. And after it's over, everyone thinks the same thing: "no way he ever tops this. He knows it. We know it." The stats themselves were nice, even though 27/36-306 is the type of numbers Cody Hodges can throw up in a half. That being said, you could make the argument that Tony Carter did just as much to win the game for us. T-dot Carter can expect more than a few Christmas cards with a Charlottesville postmark.
5. It's not over for you yet, Groh. FSU was easily the biggest win since Groh was able to field enough talent to realistically compete with Top Ten programs, but in order for it to go down, it had to be a home game on ESPN at 7:45 PM on the most batshit day for college football in the last few years. It was a perfect storm. Now let's see you do it on the road. And if you think I'm asking too much from these guys, check Vegas: the #23 team in the land is a 1.5-point underdog to a 2-4 team that lost its last game by 55 points. It's not a secret that UVA's biggest road win of the last two years was against last year's Georgia Tech team.
Anyways, onto the BlogPoll, courtesy of All Things Longhorn....
1. What would it take for you to vote someone other than USC #1 in the poll? If you already are, what would it take for USC to regain the top spot on your ballot?
Hmmm...loaded questions much? It's almost pointless to ask what Texas has to do in order to achieve #1 in the BlogPoll as long as USC keeps winning. The bigger picture sees them clinging on to #2 like a someone at latter-day Veterans Stadium who just ate an undercooked chicken wing.
But who can overtake them? Fortunately, wiser heads have prevailed since VT was getting all the plaudits in Plauditville for laying the wood to Ohio and Duke. This is still a team that got called out on the CFB blackhole that is "PTI" as a "team that always loses." They're getting lucky in that the win in Morgantown is gaining credibility by the week. But waxing the Big East champ only makes you this year's Utah. They'll get every opportunity to show and prove in the upcoming months. Tomorrow, they've got a date at Byrd with a Maryland team that may or may not have gotten their shit together. After that, you have home games against a bonafide legit BC and vengeance-minded Miami who no one has paid a lick of attention to in months. Add to that a trip to Scott Stadium, and before you start a-chucklin', if there's one thing UVA does well, it's play at home. Get past all of that and more than likely, it's a de facto away game in Jacksonville against FSU. Good luck, guys...but if they run the table, I don't see how they're turned away.
As for UGA/Bama, I'll probably say that UGA has the upper-hand, mostly because their offense might be the only one in the conference that can be called "functional," while most of the other thought-to-be contenders have fans running to grandma's homemade snuff film for comic relief. Of course, as long as Florida's bus makes it to Jacksonville, it's never a cakewalk for the Dawgs. However, if Urban has Chris Leak continuing to play the Square Peg at Circle High School, we can dub the trip from JAX to Gainesville "The Trail of Tears."
After that, it's a very manageable schedule, with the biggest test coming at home against Auburn, who's "rejuvenated" in the sense that they haven't lost to anyone on national TV in over a month. I'm not sure if the SEC is strong enough for UGA to overcome Texas should they both finish undefeated, but knowing the agita it'll cause certain readers of Sexy Results!, I'll just quote Ted Kennedy and say, "we'll drive off that bridge when we get to it."
2. Which of the undefeateds is most likely to remain so? Who is least likely?
Part one: Texas. Hands down, considering that the Big XII and Big East are probably buying team charters from the same shortbus dealer this year.
Which leads us to the next question, and although Taco Tech seems like the obvious answer, it's only because it's the right one. You could argue that UGA or Bama has to be the answer since even if they go unbeaten in the regular season, they'll play each other in Atlanta. But that's too far down the road, and Tech's gonna lose three days from now. It might not be a blowout, and in all honesty, Tech's probably got the best chance to knock off Texas, since they at least have a good gimmick. But right now, we have every right to be skeptical seeing as how their win over a historically dejected Cal team in 2004 is the only big win I can recall for these guys. And their best win to this point wasn't a valiant comeback a la UCLA/Cal or USC/ND nor a gangbusters stomping a la UGA/UT. More like a "let's get on the team bus as quickly as possible" nailbiter along the lines of VT/NCSU. Also, I'm fairly certain the best way to beat a far more talented team is to slow the game down and keep the offense off the field. Good luck with...all of that.
3. If you were running the BCS system, would you let the computer rankings factor in margin of victory? Why or why not?
I'm not down on including it because I think that standard will have coaches running up the score. That's horeshit. How are you gonna tell 3rd-string QB Joe Fistfuck to go in there and take a knee when that's about the only time he'll ever see the field? If it means that much to the opposing coaches, go ahead and put your guys at risk to stop them. And besides, when a team "runs" up the score, it gives the GameDay people something to talk about the following year with a "revenge game." Also, MOV can tell you a lot about where a team stands. Were people skeptical when UVA beat WMU and Cuse by a combined 13 points? Yes. Did they have a right to be? Of course. Were they proven correct? Abso-fuckin-lutely. While there's something to be said for gritting out victories, it's not something that's recommended eight out of eleven games. For examples, it's one thing for UGA to beat South Carolina by two, but what if that happened against MSU, Vandy and UL-M? Are they still #4?
In other news, considering that the job market isn't exactly booming for people with an entertainment law focus and poor grades in practice areas such as Civ Pro and Legal Responsibility, I've often thought about the dream job of working in an upscale liquor store in a college town. Really, do I get more pleasure out helping out indigent clients or seeing the purchase of the DZ in front of me at the Five Points Bottle Shop: 18-pack of Coors Light in the "camo case," 10-pack of B to the E, bottle of Evan Williams, bottle of Smirnoff Vanilla.
Of course, judge lest ye be the only person at the Bi-Lo, wearing a UVA tie tucked into a UVA t-shirt in order to purchase potential "victory wine" during halftime. Okay, that's a lie...there did happen to be someone else in the Bi-Lo, and as luck would have it, she's a law student. Hopefully one who doesn't spend much time in the Law Library talking to her friends.
posted by Ian at 5:57 PM
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