Georgia has come roaring back from its disappointing 0-2 start, winning 10 straight games and grabbing an SEC East championship along the way.

The reward? A chance to play top-ranked LSU. An unbeaten LSU team that’s knocked off the likes of Oregon, West Virginia, Alabama and Arkansas.

On Monday’s Scripps Legends Poll conference call, the Legends discussed the top 7 ways Georgia could pull off the upset.

1. Keep showing improvement

Vince Dooley: Georgia has become a much better team as the season progressed.  And they’re a much sounder football team in the last two or three ballgames than they’ve been and they’re playing with a lot of confidence.

Gene Stallings: Well, I think Georgia really improved.  In fact, I think they’ve probably improved more than anybody in the conference.

Pat Dye: Georgia is the third best team in the SEC right now.  They’re close to probably being as good as Arkansas on offense and a tremendous amount better on defense.  But Arkansas has played all of these teams and Georgia hasn’t.  Arkansas handled South Carolina pretty good when they came over.  So, it’ll be interesting to see.  Who you play has a lot to do with the way you look.

2. Stop the run and contain Jordan Jefferson

Dye: Plus I think Georgia can stop the run or be more consistent stopping the run than anybody in the conference except Alabama.  I think LSU is two touchdowns better with Jefferson playing quarterback all the time and his ability to run the option and run the read play and he’s throwing the heck out of the football.

3. Follow Aaron Murray’s lead

Dooley: Murray, their quarterback, throws the ball well.  He’s broken all kind of records at Georgia on touchdown passes.  He’s got a lot of confidence and he can scramble.

Dye: Well, I feel the same way Vince does.  I think Georgia may have a better chance of beating LSU than Alabama or somebody else because of their quarterback and their ability to throw the football. There’s no question, LSU is going to get pressure on Murray but he has the ability to scramble and move around and that’s a big factor.  But with LSU and Alabama and I say Georgia, too, I don’t think you can beat those defensive football teams without a quarterback that can make plays. But I think Jefferson has given LSU that ability now.  And certainly Georgia has got that ability in Murray because he’s good and they’ve got good wide receivers and good skilled people.

4. Take advantage of home field in Atlanta

Dye: I think Georgia will have some advantage with the home field advantage and playing in Atlanta, but LSU is going to have a lot of folks there, too.

5. Be better on special teams

Dye: If I had to say that there was real difference in the ball game, I’d say it was in the specialty teams where LSU is second to none in the nation – in the kicking game.  There’s a tremendous psychological warfare in this ball game.  I think Coach Miles has done a good a job of having his team ready to play every week as anybody that I’ve seen in a long time in this conference.

6. Play loose

Dooley: Georgia is in a good position if they can play loose and go in and throw it around some. LSU is heavily favored.  LSU, as we all know, has just incredible playmakers – they’ve got so many of them.  It ought to be a good game. I think it’s going to be a real good football game, a tight game, that Georgia’s got an outside chance to win.

7. Catch LSU off guard

Dooley: It’s always good if you can play tougher competitions, but I think Georgia has an outside chance to win the game with LSU sandwiched between Arkansas and what will be the national championship game.

Dye: I do think that winning the Southeastern Conference championship is a big deal to everybody in this conference.  It’s not just winning a national championship; it’s winning the SEC because they give a ring for that, too.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, sonny kennedy photography)

The legendary voters in the Scripps Legends Poll have spoken. LSU and Alabama are the clear-cut choices at No. 1 and No. 2.

After capping off regular season play with resounding victories, LSU received all 19 first-place votes and Alabama tallied all of the second-place votes in the rankings.

“We’ve been saying all year long that LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the country,” former Georgia coach Vince Dooley said. “With what they both have done to SEC competition this season, I’m not sure how you can put any team ahead of them in the polls.”

Despite a win over Notre Dame, No. 4 Stanford dropped a spot behind Oklahoma State. The third-ranked Cowboys face their toughest test next week in a showdown with No. 13 Oklahoma.

Virginia Tech came in one spot behind Stanford, making its first top five appearance of the season, after the Hokies clinched a berth in the ACC title game. No. 6 Oregon moved up a spot and also clinched a spot in its conference title game after a 49-21 win over in-state rival Oregon State.

Non-AQ’s Boise State and Houston followed at No. 7 and No. 8.

Arkansas had the biggest fall in the rankings, dropping six spots to No. 9 after suffering a loss at top-ranked LSU on Friday, 41-17. LSU will face No. 10 Georgia — which made its first top 10 appearance of the season — in the SEC championship game.

The inaugural Big Ten championship game will feature No. 12 Michigan State and No. 14 Wisconsin. The Badgers seek revenge in a rematch from earlier this season, which Michigan State won.

No. 24 Florida State and No. 25 Southern Miss reentered the top 25 after two week absences from the rankings.

Georgia Tech and Notre Dame dropped out.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, rjaffray)

After a chaotic weekend for several top 10 teams in the Scripps Legends Poll, three SEC West teams sat atop the rankings.

LSU remained the unanimous No. 1 team and Alabama moved back into a familiar spot at No. 2. No. 3 Arkansas made its highest showing of the season, giving the SEC West all three teams at the top of the rankings.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen three teams from the same conference in the top 3, let alone from the same division,” former Auburn coach Pat Dye said. “It just shows how strong our conference is down here in the SEC.”

Oklahoma State was stunned Friday night by Iowa State in double overtime, 37-31, handing the Cowboys their first loss and dropping them three spots to No. 5.

No. 7 Oregon fell three spots as well after its game-tying field goal attempt went begging as time expired against USC. The win vaulted USC four spots to No. 13. No. 12 Oklahoma also suffered its second loss of the season at Baylor on the Bears’ late game-winning drive, dropping the Sooners seven spots and out of the top 10.

No. 17 Clemson fell 10 spots — the most of any team this week — after being blown out at North Carolina State, 37-13.

All the chaos in the top 10 helped No. 4 Stanford move back into the top 5, just one week after it suffered its first loss at the hands of Oregon. However, Oregon still controls its own destiny in the Pac-12 North.

Virginia Tech moved up three spots to No. 6, followed by Oregon, Boise State and Houston. Michigan State rounded out the top 10 after a four-week absence.

No. 22 Baylor and No. 23 Georgia Tech moved back into the Scripps Legends Poll rankings this week, joined by No. 24 Notre Dame, which made its first appearance in the top 25 of the season.

Southern Miss, Florida State and Cincinnati fell out of the rankings.

Moderator:  John, USC probably has a better chance against Oregon maybe than Stanford now that we saw what Stanford did, right?

John Robinson:  SC has two really good receivers.  One of them is kind of hurt, Robert Woods has a sore shoulder, but Marqise Lee and Woods are two very good receivers.  Oregon is going to play them man-to-man and they’ll be with them and I’m not sure how good or how proficient any college team is right now against a good man-to-man coverage with a lot of pressure.  But SC has a chance to match you scoring-wise probably more than most teams.  They can put points on the board and they’ve got a runner now, a little guy, McNeal¸ that’s doing well.  And SC is playing well.  SC also did an interesting thing, they changed their outside linebacker position from a year ago 230 pound medium speed guy to – one of them is about 200 pounds and the other is 210. And so they’re playing basically in essence a Dime defense all the time.  They can have a load up defense occasionally.  But basically they have improved their speed and particularly on the edge on that outside perimeter, just outside the numbers there where LaMichael James hits that turning point and turns upfield.  They’ll be better there than they were.  They’ll play three freshmen at linebacker in this game.  And their middle linebacker is a young kid who has really great speed.  I think the key to the defense is – does their speed come closer to Oregon than it did a year ago?

Richard Billingsley:  I think this game is the game of the week.  What I’m going to be very interested in seeing is how Oregon comes out and plays – whether they can keep that same level of intensity that they played against Stanford because it was obvious the Ducks were very, very well prepared and ready to play that game against Stanford.  They won on the road and they just played their best game.  And it was a huge win for them.  I’m anxious to see if they can maintain their focus.

It’s at Oregon.  So, I think that that’s an advantage for them.  USC is a very good team and they’re going to play Oregon a great game.  I noticed the line on that is Oregon by 16 and I thought that’s a lot of points.  I think it’s going to be a close game, to be honest with you.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the Trojans won, but it’s going to be a very, very good game.  I think it’s going to be a close game.

The Big Ten race is heating up, and this weekend’s games should have a major effect on which teams play for the Big Ten championship.

Coming off a big win in Happy Valley, Nebraska now takes on Michigan.

Richard Billingsley: The Nebraska-Michigan game is such a key game in the Big Ten.  Nebraska had that 17-14 win over Penn State last week and put them in a really good position for winning their division, but Michigan is playing very good football and it’s at Michigan.  I see the Wolverines are favored by 2 and I think that’s probably about right.  It’s going to be a key game in the Big Ten for the division race and the right to go to that championship game.

John Robinson:  I think its classic in terms of history – that stadium – Michigan and Nebraska – from a historical standpoint its big time.  But the conference has slipped a little bit and it just seems like the Big Ten is the one conference that doesn’t have a speed element in it.  I think they have some good teams and team that could come out and play, but they don’t have the speed element that Oklahoma State seems to have, Oregon, LSU – those teams that are ranked high and all have an unusual quality about them in that regard.  But I sure like Brady Hoke, I think he’ll return Michigan right to the very top.

Boise State’s 35-game home winning streak is over.

The Broncos fell to TCU in a thriller last weekend, 36-35, dropping them six spots in the Scripps Legends Poll to No. 11. Former UCLA coach Terry Donahue was on hand to give us a full report.

Donahue:  Well, it was a great football game.  It was really a terrific game – very much like the Oklahoma-Kansas State game the week before.  TCU came in there with a 21 game Mountain West winning streak and Boise had a 35 game home winning streak.  So, something was going to give.  They had played three times previously and all three games had been decided by a total of 11 points.  And, so, they were really competitive with each other.  And, as Vince said, it came down to a kicker who is not very good.  Boise doesn’t have a kicker and earlier in the game went for a first down conversion as opposed to kicking because they just can’t kick the ball well.  And I think that’s a factor in where they’re ranked – where they should be ranked – because they don’t have kicker.

But Boise is a good, solid team.  The one thing I thought TCU did to expose them that Georgia was unable to do in the opening game of the year, TCU had a couple of receivers – one player named Boyce – and he was just too much for Boise to cover.  And Boise gave up and inordinate amount of yardage.  They went into the game the No. 5 pass defense team in the country, giving up about 165 yards per game, or thereabouts.  When it was over, the sophomore quarterback for TCU has thrown over 400 and he just got them in a lot of man-to-man coverage and got them isolated with some sets. TCU has got a lot of good players as Fisher and all those guys know, they’ve got speed, they’ve got four or five wideouts that can all play, they go four or five deep at tailback.  They’ve got players.  Gary Patterson has done a terrific job evaluating talent.  And they had a good plan going into the game and they just battled like crazy and came away – went for two at the end of the game instead of putting the game into overtime – decided to go for two – made it on a real close play.  Boise got the ball, drove down, and the one thing that was really interesting at the end of the game – Boise was on the 50 yard line and Kellen Moore threw four straight incompletions which was really uncharacteristic of him and Boise State.  You just don’t see that happen very often.  It was a great win for TCU.

Ironically, too, is that the game was scheduled originally to be played down at Fort Worth and when TCU bolted and went to the Big East, the Mountain West voted to move the game up to Boise – kind of as a punishment or whatever to TCU and then TCU goes up and ends the 35-game winning streak.

Also, Martin was hurt.  And that was a factor – he’s their starting tailback and he couldn’t play in the game.  But the backup tailback did a good job and gained about 120 yards or something like that.  He played hard and played well.  But the Boise defensive front is very, very, good – the front four.  They have two terrific defensive ends and they’re good.  But the secondary and the kicking game is where they got beat.

Moderator:  Lavell, do you have any thoughts about the TCU – Boise State game?

LaVell Edwards:  Yes, I’d have to agree with Terry on that.  I saw the game and I didn’t think either team was as good defensively as they have been.  As Terry mentioned, they really did expose the secondary.  The size and the strength of the receivers of TCU was something.  It’s just ironic that a poor field goal attempt cost them millions of dollars the last two years because they missed a chip shot.  The missed field goal a year ago would have put them probably in the Rose Bowl as it turned out.  And to have something like this to happen again, probably took them out of a BCS Bowl Game.  It’s very unfortunate.  But just looking at it, I don’t think either team was quite as good defensively as what they have been.  And then that quarterback from TCU – it was the best I’ve seen him play all year.  I thought he had an outstanding game.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, All Things Purple )

Since losing its opening two games, Georgia has come storming back.

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs have won eight straight games and are one win away from clinching the SEC East title and a chance to play LSU in Atlanta. The voters in the Scripps Legends Poll say that Georgia is the most improved team in the country.

Pat Dye: You know, they played those two good teams and they really and truly should be 9- 1. They lost to Boise State and they gave the game to South Carolina. And South Carolina scored three touchdowns on defense and beat them 42 – 30-something. But after watching Georgia dismantle Auburn Saturday, it wouldn’t surprise me at all for Georgia to beat whoever they play in the championship game. They’re probably not as talented as Alabama or LSU, but they’ve got a quarterback that is better than anything Alabama and LSU’s got. And they’ve got all of their receivers back. If they improve any between now and then, it’ll be a helluva football game. That quarterback is good. I think the one at Arkansas is better. And here’s the other thing about Georgia – Georgia’s good enough on defense to stop Alabama or LSU from running the football. And that’s going to put that much more pressure on their quarterbacks. So, that’s going to be a really interesting football game in my opinion. Now, when I say that they can stop the run, they held Florida to minus yardage, Tennessee to minus yardage and us to less than 100 yards rushing on Saturday. So, they are for real on defense.

I think Georgia is probably two touchdowns better than South Carolina now. And Arkansas, I’m not sure they’re good enough on defense to beat LSU if both teams played their best. I know they’re good enough to score points against LSU with the quarterback and receivers they’ve got, they can score on anybody, but I’m not sure that Arkansas’ defense will stand up under the pounding they’re going to get from LSU. But the quarterback at Arkansas is better – so much better than the quarterback at LSU that that’s going to even things up a great deal. I’ve been impressed with Georgia all year long just from a standpoint of looking at athletes. Against Auburn, they played an almost perfect football game, but they’ve been beating themselves and hurting themselves during the course of the year. That’s the reason they had some close games against some of the folks that will tell you they were a lot more talented and it’s kept the public opinion and our opinion lower on Georgia. Now if they can keep that emotion and that focus that they had against Auburn on Saturday – there’s not a lot of difference between them and Alabama and LSU – talent-wise – across the board – secondary, linebackers, the defensive front, offensive front, they’re just as good as those other folks. They’re not as good as LSU or Alabama on team defense, but they’re not far behind. Their quarterback, if they can protect him against those other teams, they’ve got receivers and talent at wideout and probably the weakest and the biggest question mark about Georgia is their running backs. They had two that rushed over 100 against on Saturday.

Vince Dooley: Murray was very, very good against Auburn. Georgia, for the first time, has played a complete football game, solid football game. And as good as they have become, I’m still not sure they’re as good as Alabama or LSU or as Arkansas – but they are really, really good. They are definitely better than all the rest in the league by far. They’ll be very competitive in their championship game against LSU. I think LSU will beat them, but they can be very competitive. If things fall right, they may have a chance. But they’re very good in the league.

Moderator: How good do you think South Carolina really is?

Dooley: Well, you go back to when Georgia played South Carolina. We already talked about the turnovers and they were disastrous because they ending up in immediate touchdowns. South Carolina is not as good as Georgia. It’s just as simple as that. Georgia is better and has gotten better as the season has gone on. They’ve gotten a little more confidence as they’ve gone along so they are better than South Carolina.

Moderator: If Georgia played Boise next weekend, what would you predict, Vince?

Dooley: I think that they’d play them much, much, much better. I’m not sure if they would beat Boise. I think Boise would probably beat them one out of three. But the next time might be one of the three so who knows? Georgia is definitely a much better team than where they started. But Boise, again, they’re really good – losing by a missing a short field goal – and we know how that goes with kickers – we’ve seen enough of that – how they can win football. But Georgia is good, real good, and has gotten better.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, sonny kennedy photography)

Oregon knocked off unbeaten Stanford last weekend to move to No. 4 in the Scripps Legends Poll. The Ducks only loss was the opening weekend to top-ranked LSU which puts Oregon in position to potentially play its way into the BCS championship game.

On Monday’s teleconference, the legendary voting panel discussed Oregon’s victory over Stanford.

Don James:  A really interesting stat about Oregon, they were ranked 105^th in the nation in time of possession but they average 50 points a game.  And they did basically the same thing.  They played on a real sloppy field.  It seemed like the Stanford guys slipped more than the Oregon guys.  I don’t know, maybe they have shorter legs or are quicker, but they’ve got great speed.  They close on defense, their defense is getting better.  And their offense- James came back and had just an incredible day again and that was a big win.

I think USC is one of the more improved teams.  They took us apart.  The Washington Huskies – now they go up to Oregon so I don’t think it’s going to be easy for Oregon.  But I don’t know how you can bet against them right now.

John Robinson:  The speed of Oregon is really hard to measure.  I saw Oregon play earlier in the year and even as you watch it’s hard to fathom how fast they are.  Plays that look like they’re not going to make it, and people don’t tackle them.  People come out of there and tackle poorly.  But Oregon is extremely fast and it takes an LSU type of speed defense to nullify that and if you do, then I think the vulnerability they have and they do have shows up.

I think USC as Don said really has improved.  They are one of the better teams now.  I think they may have the same issue as Stanford – not fast enough – but SC worked hard to improve their playing different kinds of people at linebacker.  They had one linebacker that’s a 200 pounder, another that’s a 210 pounder so they’re trying to get their outside linebackers as tight players and maybe that will help.

Frank Kush:  I was really impressed with Oregon. They had more speed and quickness that contrasts with Stanford.  I would’ve picked Stanford prior to the ballgame, but after seeing what I saw, Oregon is really talented and extremely well coached.

For the second straight week, there’s a new No. 2 in the Scripps Legends Poll.

Oklahoma State jumped Alabama after the Cowboys defeated Texas Tech 66-6 in Lubbock, Tex. Third-ranked Alabama struggled at Mississippi State, avoiding a second straight defeat, 24-7.

LSU maintained its grip on the No. 1 ranking, receiving all 19 first-place votes.
Stanford and Boise State fell out of the top 5 after both teams suffered losses for the first time this season. No. 4 Oregon ran through and around Stanford, 53-30, and the Cardinal dropped five spots to No. 8.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, roy.luck)

Boise State saw its hopes for a perfect season crushed after missing a game winning field goal attempt as time expired against TCU. No. 11 Boise fell six spots, and Oklahoma replaced them at No. 5.

“You’ve got to feel for that kicker at Boise State,” former BYU coach Lavell Edwards said. “That’s the second straight year that’s happened to that team. It’s tough to come back from something like that.”

One-loss Arkansas came in at No. 6 followed by Clemson, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Houston.
Georgia remained at No. 12 after a sound beating of Auburn, 45-7. The Bulldogs were followed by Michigan State and Wisconsin. No. 15 Kansas State moved up two spots after outlasting Texas A&M in four overtimes, 53-50.

After an emotionally draining week, No. 20 Penn State fell to Nebraska in its first game without Joe Paterno as head coach in 46 years. Nebraska moved up one spot to No. 18.

No. 21 TCU returned to the Scripps Legends Poll top 25 this week after its upset at Boise State. No. 23 Florida State and No. 24 West Virginia were new to the rankings, as well.

Auburn, Georgia Tech and Texas dropped out.

It’s settled.

LSU took the No. 1 spot in the Scripps Legends Poll from Alabama after a thrilling 9-6 overtime victory over the Crimson Tide. But the esteemed voters in the Scripps Legends Poll want a rematch.

LSU received all 19 first-place votes, taking the No. 1 ranking for the first time this season. And despite suffering its first loss, Alabama fell just one spot to No. 2.

“I still think LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the country,” former Alabama coach Gene Stallings said. “Those teams are so evenly matched, I wasn’t surprised at all that it went into overtime. It’s a shame that one of them had to lose.”

No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 Oklahoma State swapped spots for the second straight week. Stanford continued to roll over Oregon State, 38-13, setting up a matchup with No. 6 Oregon that will likely decide the Pac-12 North.

Fourth-ranked Oklahoma State hung on to beat Kansas State, 52-45, in a shootout Saturday night. No. 17 Kansas State moved up two spots despite the loss.

Boise State rounded out the top 5, followed by Oregon, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Clemson. And unbeaten Houston made its first ever appearance in the top 10 of the Scripps Legends Poll after another rout at UAB, 56-13.

Georgia, which now controls its own destiny in the SEC East, moved up eight spots to No. 12. Georgia’s jump was the largest in the rankings this week.

No. 19 Nebraska fell more than any team in the top 25, dropping nine spots after a home loss to Northwestern. No. 18 South Carolina and No. 21 Michigan also fell seven spots following losses.

Newcomers to the poll were No. 23 Southern Miss — making its first appearance this year — and No. 24 Texas.

(Image courtesy of Flickr, blaizezephyr)