Quick Look: LSU Tigers @ Alabama Crimson Tide
Quick Look has gone beyond just Florida and into the expanse of the SEC schedule. That could be a good or bad thing depending on your following of college football, but get excited because it also now includes predictions from someone who is generally regarded as the garbage garbage throws away in terms of picking games.
Rarely does it seem the game of the year/decade/century lives up to the hype. I haven’t done the statistical research to back that up, but take a game played by our very own Gators as an example. The 2009 SEC Championship Game was thought to be a special moment in the making. It was, for the other team playing in it. It’s easy to get excited for this Saturday’s matchup between the nation’s top ranked teams – Alabama and LSU – but it’s also just as easy to blow it off, believing there’s no way it will live up to its hype as the true national championship game. I have decided to get excited for a number of reasons that I now present to you in numbered, but not ordered, list fashion because we all like lists. They’re clean and tidy and we can follow along relatively easily.
1. I truly like watching Trent Richardson play the game of football. Some fans will say it’s blasphemous to enjoy the field exploits of a player on a rival squad. I say call me a blasphemer. Richardson is the type of player that makes me enjoy watching football. Me likes the talent and power; Richardson possesses plenty of both. Regardless of the uniform one may wear, I can’t dismiss good play and I won’t dismiss Richardson.
2. Games full of defense can be boring if it’s because they also include inept offenses. The Tide and Tigers possess some darn good defenses that are also enjoyable to watch. I see big plays, hits and moments in everyone’s future.
3. There’s a slight hope that Les Miles will pull off a fake punt allowing a certain punter that won’t be named to take off down the sidelines toward the end zone. If said punter decides it’s a good idea to spread his wings again, one can only hope an Alabama defender is within utter destruction distance. (TBG does not condone violence in football games, but can get onboard with the idea of “he had it coming.”)
4. I’ll be so hyped after Florida’s blowout of SEC East fellow Vanderbilt that I’ll still be in the clouds when this game kicks off. Yes? No?
5. There’s talk that if this game is close enough and both teams have a good showing, there could be national title game rematch implications. I find that hard to believe if someone like Oklahoma State or Stanford remains undefeated, but the scenarios will be dissected ad nauseam over the weeks leading up to the selection special (or whatever that thing is called). Think you’ve seen the media go crazy over something like, let’s say, Tim Tebow? Just wait until an undefeated BCS conference team is passed by a one-loss SEC team that lost that one game to the team they are set to play for the title.
Being excited for an event is good thing. I’ll enjoy watching this game one way or another and the outcome can only enhance that. As for that outcome, I might as well get to my prediction…
There’s that old saying that to win football games you have to do two things well – run the ball and stop the run. In my humble and typically incorrect opinion, Alabama does both just slightly better than LSU. Therefore, I’m going with the Crimson Tide and a score of 24-21. I came up with that score using a mathematical equation that’s far too complicated for your feeble minds and would only cause my email box to fill up with praise and job offers if I posted it here. Or I took a few minutes and guessed. Take your pick and enjoy what should at least be the game of the moment.