Rustynail said:
Wow don't give Utah any credit. It's not like their defense completely shut down Bama's great smash mouth run, or that the only points put on the board by Bama's offense was a 51 yard field goal and one good drive for a touchdown pass. Utah sacked a quarterback 8 times that had only been sacked 16 times for the entire season and only gave up 31 yards to a team whose whole game is on the ground.. I would like to know how many times he was rushed and knocked down. Their offense scored in three out of four quarters. You are right though. They came out throwing the ball short and stayed with it because Bama could not stop them. Why would they change. I cannot prove that they are best team in the nation, but you can't prove their not. They have done everything in their power to earn the title, but some don't give much respect. I had to laugh at statement by a Oklahoma player. " Put them in our conference and see if they go undefeated" Maybe he should look how the big 12 has done in the bowl games this year.
Let's not kid ourselves, Alabama was not all that great on offense this year. They were a real good, but not great team. And a huge part of their offensive success was their big left tackle, who did not play against Utah & who only allowed 1 sack all year. Why didn't he play? Because like a lot of the other Bama players, he didn't care a thing about playing Utah in a bowl that meant next to nothing to the Tide players. They wanted Championships & when they saw they weren't going to be able to win any, they folded up. Bama came in sleep walking & just couldn't ever get untracked... it happens. Who knows if Bama would've or even could have beaten Utah if the they had all their players & if the game actually meant something. I think it would've been a great game to watch.
Utah is also a real good team. They deserve credit. They are probably the #3 team in the nation, if you want my honest opinion, & that's not bad. But, Utah would get spanked by Florida, that's just the reality of it all. Florida is more explosive & better balanced that Bama, both on O & on D. They are faster & are just as physical, if not more so than Bama. Plus they have more veteran skill players at key positions. John Parker Wilson is not even close to Tim Tebow. And Bama has nothing even close to Percy Harvin. Florida's lines are quicker & more athletic than Bama's too. Yes, Utah beat Bama by a bigger margin, but so what? Percy Harvin didn't play against Bama. Also, that UF/Bama game meant not only an SEC Championship, but also meant the BCS Championship game too. Watch the 2 games... I did... Bama was clearly more fired up & a lot more motivated to beat Florida. I didn't see the same passion against Utah... not even close.
With all that said, I've said it once & I will say it again... UTAH has nobody to blame but themselves!! If they don't like it... they should scheduled somebody from another area of the US. Their schedule is a joke & their conference is a joke & that is why they aren't in the BCS title game! Instead of crying to everyone, they need to be crying to the person who schedules the games. That is where the blame is. They can't fault the system, because they obviously did not want to do what needed to be done to win it all! Even if Utah is the best team in America, which I highly doubt, they sure weren't too worried about "proving it"! So, my message to Utah is schedule an SEC team & a Big 12 team next year... then we will see what the Utes are made of, but until then, enjoy watching the national championship game on TV!!
CJC... no, they don't need to be in those conferences, but if they want respect they should schedule a couple of teams from those conferences. Until they do, they aren't going to get any & that's the way it should be. USC plays Ohio State out of conference. Florida plays Florida State out of conference. Utah needs to play a similar out of conference, BCS confernce opponent, that is east of the rockies or Southern Cal, IMHO, if they truly want to earn some respect. The problem is they don't. They just want to cry "woe is me"! They can schedule somebody... it's not that hard. I don't feel a bit sorry for them at all.
IMHO, the team with the biggest beef about not being in the title game is Southern Cal.