Mailbag: ACC Title Game – Clemson vs Georgia Tech

SN Today question: Who will win the rematch between Clemson – Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game in Tampa?

Virginia coach George Welsh: “I think the ACC championship game will go down to the wire. Georgia Tech has been rolling over opponents lately, but they had a close call with Clemson early in the season. Here are some things to consider about Clemson now.  Their offense is better now; the quarterback has gotten a whole lot better.  They are utilizing their great speed with Spiller and Ford. And any time you have to play a team a second time in the same season, you can have a chance to correct your mistakes from the first game. Georgia Tech doesn’t have the greatest defense and they just squeaked out that earlier win. I could see Clemson winning this one if they stay away from mistakes.”

Mailbag: Big 12 Title Game – Texas vs. Nebraska

SN Today question: Which team do you think will prevail in the Big 12 Conference Championship game?

Former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum: “Nebraska will have a difficult time beating Texas. First, because of the Longhorns’ outstanding defense led by Kindle, Acho brothers and Muckelroy. This will be the best defense on the field in the Big 12 championship game. On offense, Texas has good balance, with a solid running game and a diverse passing game led by Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley. Special teams have been good, for the most part this season, with Shipley being a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball.”

Mailbag: SEC Title Game – Alabama vs. Florida

SN Today question: Who are you picking to win the SEC Championship Title game this weekend?

Former Auburn coach Pat Dye: “I really don’t think Florida is quite as good as Alabama on defense. Mississippi State moved the ball against Florida and couldn’t at all versus Alabama. Alabama, if they get to where they can do what they did against Mississippi State, stretching the field with the deep pass on top of the unstoppable run game, they are hard to beat. But I don’t think Florida can beat them. Maybe Florida can put pressure on the Alabama quarterback McElroy, but Alabama will be tough to beat if they can get the  play action working and throw the deep ball. And Alabama only got two penalties versus Mississippi State. I think it will be a great game, but I think Alabama will win.”

Mailbag: Dooley talks memorable games

Everyone talks about all the great games (1980 Florida, ‘78 Tech, ‘76 Bama) and great plays like the Shoestring play at Vandy. Any vivid memories from games that people don’t talk about? For example, what was it like taking the Dawgs to VMI in 1966?

–  Aaron

Well to start with, 1966 was a generation ago. However, it was special to those that remember since it was the first SEC Championship that I was associated with that took place in my 3rd year at Georgia. I recall that the game against VMI, which was played at Roanoke and maybe was given a promotion name of “The Harvest Bowl”, was not the best experience that the team had that year. I recall that VMI took the opening kickoff, drove for a touchdown, missed the extra point, and the 6-0 lead lasted exactly 9.4 seconds. That was the amount of time it took Kent Lawrence to return their kickoff for a touchdown, which (after the extra point) put us up 7-6. We won the game easily, despite the fact that the lighting was not too good in the stadium which probably helped us on certain plays since the ball was hard to find. I also remember the locker room being less than adequate, and on a cool night in October, it was tough on the team taking a shower with no hot water. Suffice it is to say, that was the last Harvest Bowl that we ever played in. While talking about a generation ago I should add to the special highlights the flea-flicker, which we called it at the time, was the play that upset Alabama, the national champions, in the first game of 1965. That play is better described today as a “hook and lateral” from Kirby Moore to Pat Hodgson to Bob Taylor. Come to think of it, that play didn’t win the game but put us in position to win the game with a two-point play from Moore to Hodgson in a victory 18-17.

– Vince Dooley

Mailbag: Dooley says Tebow is vulnerable

Do you think that Tim Tebow can win the Heisman again this year?

– John, Jacksonville, Fla.

I’m not sure. If Tebow keeps on like he’s done before, he’s gotten hurt, and if he keeps on he’ll probably get hurt again. But he’s absolutely amazing to me.  He’ll find a way to take a team down the field when he needs to win despite everything. He’s got to be considered because he is one of the best player in the country.

– Vince Dooley

Bama’s defense catapulted the Tide to No. 1

Alabama finally made the jump to No. 1 in this week’s Legends Poll after a steady ascension up the rankings. Former Crimson Tide head coach Gene Stallings and former Auburn head coach Pat Dye answered some questions about the top team in an interview with the Legends Channel.

What makes Alabama’s defense so good?

Stallings: Alabama’s got it all defensively, there’s no question about that.  The thing about their secondary is they can all play man to man, they’re not afraid to blitz, they can really put pressure on the offense.

What about their offense?

Stallings: Offensively they’re struggling a bit, their quarterback hasn’t played a whole lot.  But they’ve got excellent running backs, we’ve said that all along.  Ingram really performed.  Every time he ran the ball it went for 6, 8, 10 yards.  They finally quit throwing the football and gave it to him and he ran for 200+ yards.  They have some more running backs behind him.  They’ve got excellent wide receivers, Jones hadn’t caught a lot of passes but he’s good.  And the quarterback, if he just doesn’t turn the ball over, I think they’re an excellent team.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Stallings: They’ve got a good field goal kicker.  He doesn’t miss hardly anything from 35 yards in, he might struggle a little bit from 50 yards but he’s very accurate.  Punt coverage is good, kickoff return is good.  I ranked them the number one team myself.  I don’t see anyone beating them.

How would they fare against Florida and Texas?

Stallings: I think if they played Florida today they’d beat Florida.  If they played Texas today they’d beat Texas.  I ranked them number one.

What are your thoughts on Alabama?

Dye: First of all Alabama’s not going to be too far behind anybody. Because no one’s going to score many points against them.  I mean if you’re talking about them getting behind by two or three touchdowns, that’s a lot for anybody to overcome, but not many are going to score many points against Alabama.  The Patriots maybe or New Orleans but nobody in college football.  Just like Gene said, they can rush the passer, they play the run.  How many points did South Carolina score on Saturday? 6? How about Ole Miss the week before? 3? You know, they’ve been scoring enough points to win.  So, if you don’t get too far behind, you can catch up running the football.

What do they do best offensively?

Dye: Alabama appears to me to be a football team that can just take control of a football game and just impose their will and make you do what they want to do.  Saturday they struggled throwing the football so they just lined up and ran it up and down the field.  That kid (Ingram) set a record and Alabama’s been running the football a long time.  He set a record for the school, 240 or 250 yards or something and the ones behind him don’t look much different.

What could they improve upon?

Dye: The only thing that I think is average is their offensive line. Probably maybe a little above average.  And they might be a little average at quarterback.  He’s not a Bradford or McCoy but he doesn’t have to be.  All he’s got to be is a good manager.  They’re going to dominate the football game defensively and the offensive line is going to get better as the defense gets tired just like on Saturday.  So at the end of a football game they just take control of it.  They already have control of it defensively and they’ll take control of it offensively because they’re playing against tired defensive folks.  Those running backs, they rest them enough during the course of the game, now that kid got tired Saturday, but they rest them enough to have fresh legs at the end of the game and it makes all the difference.

Broyles says Gator D keeps them around

• Broyles says offense can win some games, but defense can take you to 10-0.
• Billingsley has a “Broyles Rule” built into his rankings system.
• Broyles likes a quarterback that can throw and WILL run.

Robinson & Ara Parseghian on SN Radio

Former USC head coach John Robinson and Notre Dame legend Ara Parseghian join the Sports Saturday show on the Sporting News Radio Network. Robinson and Parseghian discuss the upcoming annual showdown between the Trojans and the Fighting Irish. Both coaches give their opinion about their former teams.

• Parseghian says the USC fans should be happy to see him involved in the segment. He struggled against the Trojans.
• He says that USC won the national championship 3 times in his 11 years at Notre Dame, and the Irish won it twice.
• Robinson dreamed of going to Notre Dame. So, when he got to coach against them, it was a great honor.
• Parseghian believes Notre Dame has an outstanding offense, but is vulnerable defensively.