Weekend Preview 6.1

Florida @ LSU

Viewer Rating: (1-5) This is most definitely a 5* game. LSU and Florida have seperated themselves from the rest of the teams in the SEC. Both teams have legitimate Heisman hopefuls in Tim Tebow and Glenn Dorsey. Furthermore, this game could eventually decide if one of these teams will play in the National Championship game and will most definitely have major implications in the SEC.

What you should watch: Tim Tebow’s bones. If they try to run him at LSU’s front seven, like they have against other teams this year, he is going to break something. Don’t expect the future presidential candidate, and present Florida quarterback, to have much success running at fellow Heisman hopeful Glenn Dorsey and company. This defense is the closest thing to an NFL defense that there is in College Football.

Florida’s offense will also have to deal with the craziness of Death Valley. Its hard enough going against the LSU’s great defense, but in that place it is almost impossible to put points on the board. They still have a fairly young team, and this is Tebow’s first true road test running the offense. I think they might struggle, especially early in the game.

No need for Tebow to pull out his signature move to pump up the crowd this week.

A lot of passing. Look for Florida to air it out this week because their only running threat right now is Tebow, and the Tigers defense has only allowed 1.3 yards per carry this season. In addition, I think LSU will try to take advantage of the young secondary for the Gators, which could be a lot younger if Joiner does not get to play because of his arrest.

Who you should watch: America’s favorite son Tim Tebow. Don’t worry. Unless you’re going to the game you’re going to see plenty of Tebow. The camera loves his beautiful physique and All-American crew cut. He’s a special player, I get it, but will he be able to will his team to victory against the top defense in College Football.

Tradition is SERVED

And people wonder why our two fan bases are so passionate about football, about every little nuance about our team, about our pasts, about our futures. People wonder why our blogsite is so important, at least to us.

One look at the following statistic recently posted by a Volquest.com boarder will tell you. Unreal numbers.

I-A WINS 1926-2006
(Teams not qualifying for the table are listed at the bottom)

—- ———————– ——- —- —- —- —–
Rank Team name Win-Pct Won Lost Tied Games
—- ———————– ——- —- —- —- —–
1 Tennessee 0.72835 631 225 33 889
2 Alabama 0.71892 628 237 28 893
3 Oklahoma 0.72076 612 227 33 872
4 Texas 0.70045 611 255 22 888
5t Notre Dame 0.72209 609 227 24 860
5t Southern Cal 0.69811 609 252 40 901
7 Nebraska 0.69602 602 257 21 880
8 Ohio State 0.73855 599 203 28 830
9 Michigan 0.72414 598 221 22 841
10 Penn State 0.70012 583 244 20 847
11 Georgia 0.65795 576 292 31 899
12 Louisiana State 0.64027 548 300 36 884
13 Miami-Florida 0.63856 532 297 19 848
14 Florida 0.61403 524 324 29 877
15 Auburn 0.61751 521 317 30 868
16 Miami-Ohio 0.64416 516 279 27 822
17 Arkansas 0.59683 515 344 24 883
18 UCLA 0.61092 510 319 32 861
19 Clemson 0.60209 505 329 28 862
20 Washington 0.59895 499 330 25 854
21 Georgia Tech 0.57554 498 364 25 887
22 Fresno State 0.59324 496 336 26 858
23 Mississippi 0.58605 490 342 28 860
24t Texas A&M 0.56754 484 365 32 881
24t West Virginia 0.57564 484 353 29 866
26 Boston College 0.59734 483 322 22 827
27 Colorado 0.57867 474 342 23 839
28 Utah 0.57220 464 344 23 831
29 North Carolina 0.54965 462 376 28 866
30 Michigan State 0.58374 459 323 30 812
31 Central Michigan 0.60051 458 301 22 781
32 Syracuse 0.57152 456 339 23 818
33 Maryland 0.53811 455 389 22 866
34 Tulsa 0.54152 453 382 20 855
35 Bowling Green 0.60190 452 291 47 790
36 Pittsburgh 0.54711 450 370 29 849
37 Army 0.54868 442 361 29 832
38 Texas Christian 0.51820 437 405 37 879
39 Texas Tech 0.50450 433 425 30 888
40 California 0.50633 428 417 24 869
41 Purdue 0.53998 423 358 32 813
42 Missouri 0.51285 422 400 34 856
43 Minnesota 0.52781 415 370 24 809
44 North Carolina State 0.49423 413 423 31 867
45 Rutgers 0.52904 412 366 14 792
46t Oklahoma State 0.49415 407 417 31 855
46t South Carolina 0.49590 407 414 32 853
46t Wisconsin 0.51271 407 386 33 826
49 Western Michigan 0.53627 405 349 18 772
50 Duke 0.49230 402 415 27 844
51t Navy 0.49162 395 409 31 835
51t Northern Illinois 0.51707 395 368 28 791
53t Iowa 0.49023 387 403 29 819
53t Virginia 0.47170 387 435 26 848
55 Utah State 0.48453 380 405 23 808
56t Ball State 0.52603 378 339 32 749
56t New Mexico 0.45927 378 447 22 847
58 Kentucky 0.46314 376 438 27 841
59 Louisiana-Lafayette 0.46512 369 426 22 817
60 Mississippi State 0.45652 366 438 24 828
61 Illinois 0.46675 365 419 28 812
62 Tulane 0.44083 361 461 23 845
63 Kansas 0.44537 358 450 34 842
64 Rice 0.42526 356 485 22 863
65 Vanderbilt 0.41856 334 470 31 835
66 Wake Forest 0.40844 330 484 27 841
67t Iowa State 0.41524 324 463 33 820
67t Kansas State 0.39667 324 498 20 842
67t Temple 0.42678 324 441 34 799
70 Eastern Michigan 0.45142 319 391 31 741
71 Northwestern 0.39193 306 480 19 805
72 Indiana 0.39418 305 476 27 808

NEED WE SAY MORE???

Ghost of Neyland 

Programming Note

If the South Carolina - Kentucky game turns into a blowout (not likely), you may want to flip on over to ESPN2 to watch the next great college wide receiver, Julio Jones, in action.

 

His Foley team is taking on Daphne, and Auburn commitment Reggie Hunt, who ain’t too shabby himself.

TSIB Pick ‘em

Last week, Ghost of Neyland had the only above .500 record of the bunch at 7-3. Boomtown and Gobble Thunder landed squarely on .500, while myself and TSIB noob Vols to the Wall stuck up the joint at 4-6. The overall standings will be based on percentage points since we have a new poster and Double Dogs was out of town last week and couldn’t make his picks.

Overall Standings

1. Double Dogs (14-6, 0.700)

2. Tie: Ghost of Neyland, Gobble Thunder (19-11, 0.633)

4. Boomtown Madman (16-14, 0.533)

5. Crimson Daddy (15-15, 0.500)

6. Vols to the Wall (4-6, 0.400)

This Week’s Picks

SEC West Report Card

Progress Report for the SEC West……

Alabama (3-2, 2-1)
The Tide got off to a strong 3-0 start. Terry Grant emerged as the gamebreaker Alabama has sorely missed at running back the last several years. We glossed over the harbinger of offensive ineptitude that took place in the second half of the Arkansas game, due to the post game euphoria of the last second win. The signs were even more obvious in the OT loss to UGA, and they turned into big, flashing neon billboards of “OMG, our O is teh suxorzz!!” against FSU. Still, 3-2 after the first five is what most sane people thought going into the season, so middle of the road grade it is.

Grade: C+

Arkansas (2-2, 0-2)
The Hawgs had fourth-quarter leads in both their conference losses. The loss to Kentucky really hurt as they had the lead most of the game only to watch it vanish, with the help of a roughing the kicker call that led to a UK touchdown. They continue to be haunted by bad play-calling and non-existent QB play.

Grade: D-

SEC East Report Card

Progress Reports for the East

Georgia (4-1, 2-1)
Behind Arkansas and LSU, the Bulldogs have the best running game in the league, and Kregg Lumpkin hasn’t played since the opening weekend. They’re also incredibly young – especially up front offensively, which makes them very susceptible — but they’ve gotten a head of steam after the overtime win at Bama. Mark Richt always finds a way to win on the road, and they have the Vols in Neyland this weekend, where they ALWAYS play well. So, this weekend is a huge momentum game for a young team this season. Matthew Stafford is a dangerous quarterback, but his arm is very erratic, although his coach already has christened him the best QB he’s ever coached. Freshman RB Knowshon Moreno is the real deal, and Thomas Brown is heating up just in time to kill the Vols like always. This is a team on the verge.

Grade: C

Florida (4-1, 1-1)
If we were allowed to give “incompletes” for a grade, this certainly would be one. I mean, how do you grade a team that looked like absolute world-beaters against Tennessee in a 59-20 rout then struggled to beat the worst team in the league (Ole Miss) before dropping a game to disappointing Auburn? As VTTW pointed out earlier this week, beyond Tebow and Harvin, the Gators have offensive issues, and their defense is very young. A telling game will come this week where they’ll either grow up or regress against the class team in the league, LSU.

Grade: B-