NCAA Week 3: Some Failures Revealed
by Chris Lowery, Contributing Writer and LSU alum
I hosted my friend’s cousin, Michael, last week. Michael is a staff writer from New York who writes for a major media outlet. Normally I associate “writer” and “New York” with guys like Chuck Klosterman and Ellen DeGeneres, so I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea. But through man barter, I ended up with Marshawn Lynch on my fantasy team, a new copy of “The Girl Next Door,” and two pounds of animal flesh in exchange for showing him the sights and sounds of Baton Rouge. The “sights” of Baton Rouge, obviously, meaning blondes who wear pins that say, “Chi-O loves LSU football,” and “sounds,” obviously, meaning blondes who yell “Chi-O loves LSU football.”
I assumed such plans would either have me smote with Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or forever create a guy bond with a big shot writer. Hell, maybe he was like Hunter S. Thompson and would make mention of me in his next piece on the best college towns in America, forever enshrining me as a mysterious hedonist who showed him the best damn time of his life. Maybe they would make a movie about it, “Fear and Loathing in Baton Rouge: Chi-O Loves LSU Football.” For me, the possibilities were endless.
He was 6’2, a former baseball player, and had decent looks and a witty intellect. He also said Hunter S. Thompson was his favorite author. “Steven Soderbergh should direct,” starts running through my mind. We talk, swap stories, and so my initial perception of him was pretty positive.
Three days into the week and everything’s going good. But then something changed. Damndest thing I’d ever seen. Like former Charger quarterback Ryan Leaf being transported into Tom Brady’s body. A cool demeanor was replaced by an insecure egotism. Self aggrandizement usurped humble accomplishments. And, “dude, that’s a cool story, I remember one time…” quickly became, “Psssshhh, back in New York, I partied with Jay-Z and Rudy Giuliani.”
I understand we all have our faults, and these faults typically shine through in moments of weakness or if we feel threatened. Maybe, he was just tired and figured that one-upping everything everyone said was an easier path to a woman’s heart. Or heart area. I don’t know. But, needless to say, my perception was certainly not reality.
This is especially the case in college football this year. And it certainly showed this past weekend because…
USC is exactly who anyone who has watched college football this decade thought they were…
Look, I understand catering to bigger markets like L.A. And I’m sure ESPN is thinking the rest of the country is sick of the SEC. It’s most likely true. But damn, even when they were stacked on stacked with first rounders, everyone still knew they would lose a game or two. Why would it be different with a shoddy defense and a suspect O-line? Oregon would have been a better media darling. At least they’re experienced with handling the pressure of high expectations. In losing to Stanford 21-14, USC proved to be the Trojan with no clothes on, or something like that. And speaking of the media getting carried away with something…
Everyone chill the F’ out about Alabama (at least a little)…
Yes, Alabama and LSU are the class of college football again. And, yes, Alabama appears to be THE class. And, yes, Nick Saban does strain golden bars out his ass when his stress levels allow. But, if we’re being honest, they aren’t even as good as last year. Their defense last year was one of the greatest ever. They had Trent Richardson then. A.J. McCarron appears to be better, but he’s never been called upon to completely take over a game. Obviously, the only team that can beat them is LSU. But, I think that speaks more to a talent dip and the psychological inferiority of the rest of the country, not to some legendary display of talent like the U and Florida State use to have. In fact…
Florida State and Notre Dame appear to be back (again, at least a little)…
With Florida State’s win over Wake Forest 52-0, and Notre Dame embarrassing Michigan State 20-3, the media can now hopefully get off the Trojan horse for a while. Jimbo Fisher and Brian Kelly appear to have their teams in that second tier group of programs. But we’ve also seen this story before. Big name schools start generating hype through 3-0 starts, and then they’re back. Let’s chill out a little bit and see some more games first. It’s a long season and these teams appear to be trending up. But, lest we all end up sounding like Lou Holtz since his cognitive functions started failing, we need to just wait and see a bigger body of work.
The Biggest Failure Up To This Point In the Season…
SEC defenses.
Apart from Bama, LSU and South Carolina, they appear to be following the hideous path of offensive juggernauts. Even Georgia, a well- respected defense in their own right, continues to give up 20+ points to low- grade offenses. Defense led the way in the SEC’s ascent to the top. But after the top three, it looks like the Big 12 successfully snuck a mole onto each coaching staff and has adjusted their philosophy to “Screw Defense, let’s throw it or something.”
Georgia gave up 20 to FAU
Arkansas gave up 52 to ‘Bama
Florida beat UT 37-20
Ole Miss gave up 66 to Texas
Anyone notice the best teams play defense and run old school offenses?
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