College Football Week 20 – Saban wins his 6th national title
Uga gets caught in a Rip Tide
Trailing Georgia 13-0 at halftime, Alabama rallied in the second half to even the score at the end of regulation, 20-20, and then go on and beat the Dawgs in overtime, 26-23.
Alabama’s win gave the Crimson Tide their fifth national championship since 2009 – all under coach Nick Saban. Alabama won three BCS championships and now has won two College Football Playoff championships. For Saban, it was his sixth championship, having won a BCS championship at LSU in the 2003 season.
Georgia controlled the first half, especially the second quarter, kicking two field goals and scoring one touchdown – all in the second period. The touchdown came with 0:07 on the clock before halftime. Alabama missed a 40-yard field goal with 9:58 to go in the first quarter.
Both teams each had the ball for six series in the first half. Alabama punted four times, missed a field goal and took a knee in the closing seconds of the first half. Georgia punted twice, threw an interception and scored on three series.
At halftime, Alabama made a major and courageous change on offense. Nick Saban replaced sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts with freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa, from Hawaii, played football at the same high school as former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota.
So the second half was a battle between freshman and freshman – Alabama’s Tagovailoa and Georgia’s Jake Fromm. The second half began with three pairs between the two teams. Alabama went three-and-out and punted; Georgia went three-and-out and punted. The Tide scored on a touchdown pass; the Dawgs scored on a touchdown pass. Alabama threw an interception; Georgia threw an interception.
After Alabama kicked a 43-yard field goal, the third quarter ended with Georgia punting and Alabama punting. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Dawgs led the Tide, 20-10.
In the fourth quarter, Georgia continued to punt – three more times. Alabama kicked a 30-yard field goal and scored a touchdown to tie the game at 20-20. As time expired in the game, the Tide missed a 33-yard field goal.
On the first series in overtime, Georgia kicked a 51-yard field goal to go up 23-20. Two plays later, after Alabama suffered a sack on its first play, the Tide scored a touchdown on a 41-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Devonta Smith. Game over – Alabama is the national champion. Alabama finished its season at 13-1. Georgia finished at 13-2.
Nick Saban is now 12-0 against his former assistants. The game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was attended by 77,430 people.
On Sunday, the day before the game, the average price of tickets sold on the most-frequented resale sites was up over $2,300 – $2,319 on StubHub and $2,413 on Vivid Seats.
There were several Division I college basketball games played Monday night, but none involved any Power 5 conference teams. They deferred to the college football championship game.
While we’re on the topic of national champions, there was a big brouhaha last week in Orlando, involving UCF. The school, you may recall, declared itself the national champions. As far as I’m concerned, there is no brou about that. It is definitely a ha ha.
First of all, there can only be one champion in FBS football. That’s why we have a playoff. Second of all, you don’t belong in the playoff with a week-to-week schedule against the likes of Cincinnati, East Carolina, Navy, SMU, Connecticut, Temple, etc. Not when the four playoff teams had a week-to-week schedule against the likes of South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, LSU, etc.
And let’s not forget – UCF dropped Georgia Tech from its schedule and replaced the Yellow Jackets with Austin-Peay. Some brouhaha that is.
But UCF was undefeated – the only undefeated FBS team in the country, even though the Knights only played an 11-game, regular-season schedule when everybody else played a 12-game, regular-season schedule. Still, let UCF have its fun. As I said it was a ha ha and not a brou.
In all fairness, UCF did go on and win its conference championship game – the AAC. And the Knights went on to beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl. There is no doubt, at 13-0, UCF had a commendable season. So, let the Knights enjoy their shinning armor. Let them have their fun. Ha ha!
Having said this, there was no excuse for the way Paul Finebaum, and the nuts from Alabama and Georgia who call into his show, acted last week. Finebaum and his nuts were reading UCF the riot act for claiming the national championship. They were truly bent out of shape over the Knights celebration. They couldn’t handle it. They couldn’t cope.
Finebaum and the Bubba and Uga nuts couldn’t stand the fact that UCF was having a celebration – a little fun. They should have been big enough to let UCF savor its 13-0 record. But instead they were small enough to act like a bunch spoiled and immature kids – smearing UCF with their cheap and caustic comments.
Even when Orlando sports writer Mike Bianchi called Finebaum and had some fun with the brouhaha, Finebaum lost his cool. It was obvious that Bianchi was yanking Finebaum’s chain, as he was supporting UCF’s claim to a national championship. Obvious to everyone, that is, but Finebaum. Bianchi’s chain pulling went over Finebaum’s head, as the TV host exploded at the thought of someone calling UCF the national champions.
Worst of all, Finebaum said that the hidden meaning of this UCF celebration was an “attack on the SEC.” Heaven forbid that someone would tarnish the SEC. Isn’t it tarnished enough by Finebaum and his Bubba and Uga nuts?
And while we are still on the topic of national champions, there was a national championship on Saturday. North Dakota State won its sixth FCS national championship, beating the defending national champion James Madison, 17-13. The game was played before 19,090 fans in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
The North Dakota State’s win ended James Madison’s 26-game winning streak. State’s six titles ties Georgia Southern for the most FCS national titles.
So much for national champions, but just when we thought the coaching carousel was over, it wasn’t. Last Tuesday, Arizona fired football coach Rich Rodriguez in the wake of a sexual harassment allegation and a recent notice of a hostile-workplace lawsuit to be filed against the school. Rodriguez will receive $5.46 million from Arizona.
Arizona had investigated the sexual harassment allegation from October to December and determined the allegation could not be substantiated. But during the investigation, the University became aware of information which caused it to be concerned with the direction and climate of the football program.
The former employee filed a $7.5 million notice of claim with the state’s attorney general’s office, alleging Rodriguez ran a hostile workplace. A notice of claim is a legal document that signals a lawsuit will be filed.
Arizona was 7-6 this season losing to Purdue, 38-35, in the Foster Farms Bowl. Overall, Rodriguez was 43-35 in six seasons at Arizona. He was 15-22 in three seasons at Michigan, and 60-26 in seven seasons at West Virginia.
Meanwhile, the hot names to replace Rodriguez at Arizona are former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin and former LSU coach Les Miles. The Miles story is interesting. Apparently, Miles is partnering with former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, packaging themselves as a tandem in their pitch for the Arizona opening– Miles as the head coach and Freeze as the offensive coordinator.
Saving any more unexpected firings or any head coaches jumping to the NFL, it should be safe to say the coaching carousel is officially over – once Arizona secures its replacement.
The head coaching carousel may be over, but this is a busy time for the new and other head coaches to secure their coordinators. New Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has made Darrell Dickey his offensive coordinator in College Station. A former head coach at North Texas (1998-2006) Dickey was most recently the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Memphis, where he has been since 2012.
Next, Jimbo Fisher tried to lure LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda away from Baton Rouge to College Station. But LSU reacted by raising Aranda’s salary to $2.5 million a year for four years. As a result, Aranda declined the offer from Texas A&M.
At $2.5 million a year, Aranda becomes the first coordinator – defensive or offensive – to make more than $2 million a year.
Had Aranda gone to Texas A&M, it would have been the second time in two years that the Aggies snatched a defensive coordinator away from LSU. Two years ago, John Chavis left the Tigers to become the DC at Texas A&M.
Meanwhile, Jimbo Fisher hired Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko as the new DC for the Aggies.
Elsewhere, Derek Dooley, remember him, is the new offensive coordinator at Missouri. Dooley, the former Tennessee coach and son of former Georgia coach and athletic director Vince Dooley, was most recently the wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. At Missouri, Dooley replaces Josh Heupel, who left the Tigers to become the new coach at UCF.
New Florida State coach Willie Taggart hired Michigan State defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett to run the defense for the Noles. Kendal Briles, son of former Baylor coach Art Briles, is Major Applewhite’s new offensive coordinator at Houston. This past season Briles was Lane Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic.
Before the national championship game, new Nebraska coach Scott Frost blasted the SEC for only playing eight conference games instead of nine like the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 do. Actually, Frost should have blasted the ACC too. It should be standard that all conferences play the same number of conference games – nine. The SEC and the ACC are the cowards of the Power 5. Until recently, Frost had no room to talk. The conference he just came from – the AAC – only plays eight conference games. I guess UCF had an advantage making, it to 13-0. Brouhaha!
It was good to hear from Jeff Grimm last week.
Congrats, Alabama fans. Have a good week, all – even you Georgia fans. You had a great season.
Touchdown Tom
January 9, 2018
P.S. The final CFW blog of the season, CFW – Week 21, will be posted on Monday, January 15.
Weekend Review
FCS (Division I-AA) Championship Game
North Dakota state 17, James Madison 13
Quotes of the Week
“I give great credit to UCF on the field. The national champion will be determined Monday evening between Alabama and Georgia, period,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.
“I am not there yet. I am open to the notion, but I’m not campaigning for it. That last thing I want to do is give anyone the impression I’m campaigning to expand it, because I’m not. I’m happy with four,” American Athletic Conference commissioner and College Football Playoff committee member Mike Aresco, on expanding the playoff beyond four teams.
“The other thing I really wish was standard is the number of conference games you play. It’s a big advantage to play eight instead of nine. There were a couple of times at Oregon when we were playing USC and Stanford in Week 11 and Alabama was playing Georgia Southern and western Carolina, and we lost those games. This year, Wisconsin had to play two extra conference games than Alabama, and they lost one. I’d like to see these things become standardized,” new Nebraska coach Scott Frost.
Touchdown Tom
P.S.
Not exactly college football related, but sadly there were five passings of note last week – Rick Hall, Carmen Cozza, Jerry Van Dyke, John Young and Ray Thomas.
Rick Hall, the producer who forged the Southern soul style known as the Muscle Shoals sound, died last week at his home in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He was 85. Hall turned small-town Alabama into a crucible of soul, country, pop and rock after he founded FAME Studios in 1959 in Florence, Alabama. FAME stands for Florence Alabama Music Enterprise, although in 1961 the studio moved to nearby Muscle Shoals, where it remains. Hall also started FAME Publishing, which would amass a substantial catalog of hits, and FAME records. He was a producer, co-producer and/or engineer for major hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Etta James, the Osmonds, Mac Davis, Paul Anka and the country group Shenandoah, among many others. Rick Hall was born Roe Erister Hall on January 31, 1932, in Forest Grove, Mississippi. He wrote songs that were recorded by country singers, including Roy Orbison, Brenda Lee and George Jones. But Hall saw more opportunity in rhythm and blues. In 1961, he produced a hit: the soul singer Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move on,” which would later be recorded by the Rolling Stones. That song financed the studio in Muscle Shoals. Another soul hit in 1964, Jimmy Hughes’ “Steal Away,” established FAME as a record label. FAME’s soul hits continued, among them Clarence Carter’s “Slip Away” and “Patches.” The Osmonds had a No. 1 pop single with “One Bad Apple,” produced by Hall in 1970. He also produced Bobbie Gentry’s “Fancy” and Mac Davis’ “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me.”
Carmen Cozza, who won 10 Ivy League championships in his 32 years as Yale’s head football coach, died last week in New Haven, Connecticut. He was 87. Cozza, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, was named coach of the year seven times by the American Football Coaches Association. From 1965 through 1996, his teams compiled a 179-119-5 record. In one dominant stretch, from 1974 to 1981, his teams won seven of eight Ivy League titles. Cozza turned out 15 players who went on to the NFL. They included Calvin Hill, Brian Dowling, Rich Diana, John Spagnola, Dick Jauron, Kenny Hill and Gary Fencik. Five of Cozza’s players became Rhodes scholars. Of his 1,500 or so players, only seven failed to graduate. Carmen Louis Cozza was born on June 10, 1930, in Parma, Ohio. At Miami University of Ohio, he played both football and baseball. His two football coaches were Ara Parseghian, who went on to Notre Dame, and Woody Hayes, who went on to Ohio State. Cozza graduated in 1952 and played major league baseball for two and a half years in the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox farm systems. From 1956 to 1962, he was a Miami of Ohio assistant football coach under John Pont. He also earned a master’s degree in education from Miami in 1959. Cozza followed Pont to Yale and then became the head coach when Pont left Yale for Indiana in 1965.
Jerry Van Dyke, who after decades in show business finally emerged from the shadow of his older brother, Dick, with an Emmy-nominated role in the long-running ABC sitcom “Coach,” died last week at his ranch in Arkansas. He was 86. A boisterous performer who supported himself with a banjo-and-comedy stage act when television and film roles were scant, Van Dyke was a ham to his brother’s more dignified persona. The worst of his sitcoms was “My Mother the Car,” which ran for one notorious season on NBC beginning in September 1965. Van Dyke had prominent roles in other series that did not last long. However, in 1989, he landed the role of Luther Van Dam on the series “Coach,” along side of Craig T. Nelson. Van Dyke was the assistant coach and Nelson was the head coach of the fictional Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles. The show ran until 1997. He was nominated for four Emmys for supporting actor. Jerry McCord Van Dyke was born on July 27, 1931, in Danville, Illinois. He was five years younger than his brother Dick. In the 1950s Van Dyke appeared on the television shows “Perry Mason” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” among others and with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in the movie “McLintock.” He appeared in a handful of other movies.
John Young, the astronaut who walked on the moon, commanded the first space shuttle mission and became the first person to fly in space six times, died last week at his home in Houston. He was 87. Young joined NASA in the early years of manned spaceflight and he was still flying at age 53. He was the only astronaut to fly in the Gemini, Apollo and shuttle programs. Young retired from NASA in 2004, after 42 years with the agency. John Watts Young was born on September 24, 1930, in San Francisco. He grew up in Orlando, Florida, and went on to Georgia Tech, receiving a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1952. He entered the Navy after graduating.
Ray Thomas, a founding member of the British rock group the Moody Blues, died last week at his home in Surrey, south of London. He was 76. The Moody Blues popularity has endured for decades, during which they recorded traditional, psychedelic and progressive rock with orchestral arrangements. Thomas played flute, sang and wrote a number of the Moody Blues’ songs. The Moody Blues first hit was “Go Now.” It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard singles chart in the United States in 1965. But the band struggled to follow up on its success. They made some personnel changes in the group. In 1967 the Moody Blues released what is considered a progressive rock landmark, the album “Days of Future Passed.” The single “Nights in White Satin” from the album became the group’s signature song. The album did well in England but disappeared without a trace in the United States. Then it was reissued in 1972 and it found an audience in the United States. “Nights in White Satin” reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart. The Moody Blues went on to release several more albums. Raymond Thomas was born on December 29, 1941, in Stourport-on-Severn in England. The Moody Blues broke up in 1974. The group later reformed and Thomas remained a member until 2002. The Moody Blues are to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April.
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