USC still the best team in America

[NOSty]

If they were better, they would have....

1) converted more than 1 of their 4th down plays.

2) Won thanks to all the turnovers by Texas.

3) Not let a single player get 480 yards of offense against them.

4) Won thanks to Texas missing a field goal AND an extra point.

5) tackled Vince Young...at least once in the game.

 

[Selma-Bama-Fan]

However, not having to play 7 or 8 tough conference games each year makes their accomplishments a bit less impressive IMHO.

To add to this note, my friends and I were noticing last night how slow the USC players were starting to get up after plays. There were several plays were Bush and Leinart looked pained to even move after shots they had taken. The thing that popped into my mind was, what if they had to play a team that hit them like that 5-6 times a year? I think only two teams were REALLY physical with them the entire season, which is easy to recover from.


What would happen to USC if they were in the SEC, and even if they did win by 20 pts every game they'd still wake up not wanting to get out of bed on Sunday? I dont think they'd last like they do in the Pac 10. I dont think they'd be as polished.

It's easy to recover from one game, but I dont think they could last if they got drilled every single week.

 

[Alabama Larry in Ky]

4th & 2 late in the game. Punt USC Punt, last play of the game put a linebacker on Young, Pitch Reggie Pitch, call your last timeout on a conversion, give up over 200 yards rushing to the QB, no wonder they lost. Best team won.

 

[TideFan in AU]

I've got three names: Ricky Williams. Roy Williams. Cedric Benson.

I'll throw another in on the defensive side: Derrick Johnson.

Some of the best players of the last ten years all played for Mack Brown. None of them got titles. If you can't coach up the kinda talent he has had to a title, then you obviously do suck. He finally got such a great talent, that he would have had to sabotage his team to lose. I don't respect him. Never will. If Alabama had his second stringers, we'd be undefeated too.

So I guess Ricky Williams, Roy Williams, and Cedric Benson went to Texas for the opportunity to play for the suckiest coach in the world huh? Texas didn't have any false starts, no delay of game penalties, and no illegal procedures in that game. After a play they went back to huddle and started thinking about what they wanted to do next. They looked like a very well coached team last night.

 

[NOSty]

Ricky Williams was recruited by John Mackovick, so was Priest Holmes. Until Vincent Young, Mack Brown couldn't get that special otherworld player. He could fill a roster up very nicely and win lots of games, but he never got the game changing player - until Young. Roy Williams was awesome, but not a game changer. Cedric Benson played behind a much better offensive line than Ricky Williams and Priest Holmes did.

MB's strength is recruiting. I think he and Bob Stoops are probably the two best recruiters right now.

 

[roll2tide]

Southern Cal is still the best team in the Nation. They were not tonight thus they lost the title. They got upset in historic fashion. Unfortunately for them this isnt boxing where they c/d rematch and win 64-30. Vince Young is great but SC is better. They win 9 out of 10 with Texas. unfortunately for SC this was one of them.

This whole post is screwy. You say USC is still the best team, just not on that day. Well, which days exactly? Before the game was played? OK, I'll give you that. But not on Jan 4th. And certainly not from Jan 5th going forward since they no longer have Leinart, Bush, and maybe White.

And as for a series....I'd bet that if they played every Saturday for 10 Saturdays straight that you'd see UT win by more and more points each week. USC plays in the wimpiest conference in America and they were hurting by the last half of the 4th quarter. By the 10th game I bet half of USC's starters would be out with injury and UT would win by 40 or 50.

Remember VY's next to last TD? There were 3 USC defenders on the goal line and they just watched him walk in. Didn't even make an effort. USC got exposed as a weak team living off of a weak conference. Tonight they got smacked in the mouth and really had no answer for it.

 

[TommyMac]

To add to this note, my friends and I were noticing last night how slow the USC players were starting to get up after plays. There were several plays were Bush and Leinart looked pained to even move after shots they had taken. The thing that popped into my mind was, what if they had to play a team that hit them like that 5-6 times a year? I think only two teams were REALLY physical with them the entire season, which is easy to recover from.


What would happen to USC if they were in the SEC, and even if they did win by 20 pts every game they'd still wake up not wanting to get out of bed on Sunday? I dont think they'd last like they do in the Pac 10. I dont think they'd be as polished.

It's easy to recover from one game, but I dont think they could last if they got drilled every single week.

Those are good points. Coach Bryant used to take great pride in the fact that so many teams also lost the week AFTER they played BAMA. After he made that statement, I factored that into my weekly parlay cards and sure enough, my winnings went up.

 

[IH8Orange]

Southern Cal is still the best team in the Nation. They were not tonight thus they lost the title. They got upset in historic fashion. Unfortunately for them this isnt boxing where they c/d rematch and win 64-30. Vince Young is great but SC is better. They win 9 out of 10 with Texas. unfortunately for SC this was one of them.

Jeremy Mincey, is that you?

We're still the best team... we're still the best team!

I've found out in life that the best team doesn't always win, just like the smartest person doesn't always make the highest grade, the most accomodating people aren't always the most welcomed, and the most valuable people aren't always the most appreciated.

However, the sore loser always brings shame upon himself/herself.

 

[mparker2997]

You call that punishment?

They mentioned (sometime in the 3rd qtr) about the punishment that ML was getting up to that point in the game. Then, they showed the hits they were referring to and I thought to myself that they must be kidding. There was one good hit on ML when he ran up field and couldn't get down quick enough.

At that point, I then considered we had the absolute toughest QB in the nation b/c we have seen BC take more punishment in one drive.

IMO put any of teams that are cosidered to have high octane offenses in the SEC and watch how quickly we slow the game down. I.E. Texas Tech & Miami.

Sure WV had success against GA but what if they played UA, GA, AU & LSU in the same season?

 

[PapaBryant]

Can't see the first reason to say they're any better than Texas.

Heck, I think UA could've held 'em under 20, though I'm not sure if we coulda scored 20 ourselves.

Bama could hold USC to much less than 20 points. Texas isn't a true attacking defense the way Bama is, although Texas did do a good job of disguising coverages and blitzes.

In our win over TTech, notice how we confused the quarterback threatening blitz then backing away, then other times making good on the threat. Couple with our speed - we're faster than Texas overall - and the secondary we have, and USC maybe scores 10 points even with their "fabled" adjustments at halftime.

Conversely, our offense went against a defense rated better than USC's. Even with our O-line woes and generally weak receiving corps and conservative play calling we would do well. (Texas should have done better actually, and did in the 3rd quarter - good running by their backs in that quarter. I'm surprised they didn't score more/break a big run to the endzone.)

Congrats to Texas; phooeh on the media and their "USC still one of the alltime great teams", interviewing the losing team BEFORE interviewing the winners, BS; and above all, Roll Tide.

 

[ElkmontRollTider]

Funny thing is, the point of a championship game isn't to see who's best - it's to see who WINS. Who's BETTER is subjective - who WINS isn't.

 

[oskie]

... the point of a championship game isn't to see who's best - it's to see who WINS. Who's BETTER is subjective - who WINS isn't.

... well said

i guess this thread can now be labeled a subjective thread