The new Bowl Championship Series rankings are out and Louisiana State is in the top spot.
There are multiple teams that deserve the top spot over the Tigers. It used to be that you had to be a complete team in order to be thought of as the number one team. Now you just have to appeal to the media.
Evidently Louisiana State head coach Les Miles' reputation as a gambler is enough to intrigue the talking heads.
LSU's obvious major weakness is their offense. They have a championship level defense but a suspect offense. The Tigers average a miniscule 369 yards per game. They only average 178 yards passing per game.
Eventually LSU is going to run into a team that will not turn the ball over and will stuff the LSU running game. When that happens LSU will have to beat a team passing the ball and so far they have not shown the ability to do that.
Les Miles' struggles with time management at the end of a game are legendary and have never been fixed.
Boise State, Wisconsin, Alabama and Oklahoma State all have a better claim to the number one spot that LSU does,
What do the Broncos have to do to get respect? All they do is win. They went into Atlanta and dominated the Georgia Bulldogs with a 35-21 victory. The same UGA team that is is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the SEC.
Boise State has lost two games in the last four seasons. Some whine about their strength of schedule but they dominate everyone they play. They are outscoring their opponents by an average of 30 points per game.
The Bronco defense is only allowing 298 yards per game.
They are a physical offense that will pound on you at the point of attack. The Broncos average 197 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. Their running game will pound on you and then senior QB Kellen Moore will pick you apart through the air.
Moore is completing over 75 percent of his passes for 288 yards per game. Moore has a career record of 44-2. He will set the record for most career wins by a quarterback in NCAA history this season.
All Boise State does every week is beat the team in front of them. They cannot be blamed if better teams will not schedule non-conference games with them.
Wisconsin has a dominating offense that is balanced. They also feature a championship level defense.
The Badgers feature their usual strong running game averaging 257 yards on the ground every game. The Badgers have ground their way to 25 rushing touchdowns in six games. They average 5.9 yards per carry while they only allow 3.5 yards per carry.
Wisconsin has only allowed four rushing touchdowns through six games.
What makes Wisconsin special this year is their quarterback. Russell Wilson transferred in from North Carolina State for his senior season and has offered Wisconsin a passing dimension that they have not had in over 20 years.
Wilson is completing 74 percent of his passes for 259 yards per game. He has thrown 14 touchdowns and only one interception.
Wisconsin can run against eight and nine man fronts and when they get bored throw over you with Wilson. They are a championship level offense that averages 50.9 points per game.
The Wisconsin defense is only allowing 268 yards and 9.7 points per game. This is a truly special team that should not be overlooked because they play in the Big 10 Conference.
Alabama is outscoring teams by an average of 33 points per game.
The Crimson Tide has the most dominant defense in the nation. They are only allowing 184 total yards per game and a miniscule 1.5 yards per rush.
Alabama averages 241 yards rushing per game and 6.1 yards per rush. Championship teams run the ball and stop the run. No team in the country is better at that than Alabama.
The Tide feature running back Trent Richardson who is lighting up defenses on his way to an early entry into the NFL Draft. Richardson is averaging 130 yards rushing per game and 6.9 yards per carry. He has NFL strength and speed and just happens to play on Saturdays right now.
Sophomore QB AJ McCarron is giving the Tide an option through the air, completing 67 percent of his passes for 197 yards per game. He is workmanlike and allows the running game and the defense to do their job.
Alabama will knock LSU from the ranks of the undefeated in two weeks if Auburn does not beat them to it first.
While all the other teams listed above have dominant defenses, Oklahoma State is trying to prove that an unstoppable offense is all that it takes to win it all.
OSU is putting up video game like numbers on offense. The Cowboys average 49 points and 551 yards per game.
OSU is led by QB Brandon Weeden who is completing 72 percent of his passes for 349 yards per game. His numbers would be bigger but he has sat out the second half of a couple of games because OSU was so far ahead.
Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon leads the Cowboys receiving corps. He is averaging 101 yards receiving per game and has scored seven touchdowns in six games.
The Cowboys spread the ball around with six receivers with multiple touchdown catches.
The OSU offensive line is an outstanding unit that allows them to move the ball on the ground against any defense. OSU is averaging 155 yards rushing per game.
You have to pick your poison with the OSU offense. If you play a nickel they will pound you with the running game. If you bring men into the box their receivers will burn your coverage.
The OSU defense is an opportunistic bunch. They allow a lot of yards but have forced 12 interceptions and eight fumbles in six games.
They will get the ball back for their offense and give them a short field to score.
OSU does not have the makeup of your typical championship team but that does not make them any less formidable. Their offense puts too much pressure on the opponent's defense and offense.
The opposition presses on offense to score with the Cowboys and end up turning the ball over. OSU then goes up by multiple scores which allows their defense to take more chances and create more turnovers.
Their offense gives them a chance to beat any team in the country.
LSU is a very good football team but they will not finish the season undefeated.
They do not deserve to be the number one team in the nation because they are not a complete team. The BCS voters need to take the composition of a team into consideration.
Just because the coach has been successful with some gambles in the past does not mean he has the best team in the nation on the field.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment