The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I have no doubt that Ohio State has Texas' full attention, and whatever lack of concern that can creep in with teams like Clemson or even ASU, it won't be there this time around.  Ohio State has been playing murder-ball so far in the playoffs, and Texas is well aware of it. 

I don't expect UT to get blown out or anything.  I won't even be surprised if they win.  But they need to find a way, somehow, to put together their first, full, complete game, and leave the shotgun they like to aim at their foot at home. 

Re: what Catsby, 320, and utee were talking about above:  I remember a USC fan back in the day when Sark was Pete Carroll's OC telling me that he sometimes felt like Sark called plays like he was playing a video game instead of orchestrating non-NPC, real 18-22 year old boys.  It does feel to me like that occasionally creeps in when Texas is doing well.  Not that he's literally thinking about the game flow like he's playing a video game, but approaching it with that mentality.  "If that worked, then this will be even better!  Watch!"  When at those points, it often seems to me that a bit more of the same would be the prescribed formula. 

I could point to a lot of things (and chief amongst them would be Cam Skattebo--holy cow!), but the thing that sticks out in my memory as I think about the ending of that game was the false start coming out of the 2-minute timeout.  Texas needed to kill the clock, but you go from 1st and 10 which is friendly to a couple of running plays, even if they don't get you much, to 1st and 15.  That puts you in a situation where you understandably lean more towards the pass, but the trick is, one incompletion puts you at 2nd and 15, and now you're going to probably pass twice more.  It's frustrating to watch a team not run there and instead throw 3 incompletions and take hardly any time off the clock.  But I understood the thinking, and I don't even disagree with it.  It just didn't work out.  But I think Sark probably runs the ball there without that stupid false start.  I've watched my team do this crap for 3 years now and there is hardly ever a reason a team should have any sort of pre-snap penalty coming out of a timeout.  Very frustrating to watch another team, a highly capable one, do something like that.  It probably seems like a small thing, and YMMV, but imo if Texas doesn't false start there, the game most likely does not go to OT with Texas winning in regulation.  Just a very inopportune unforced error.  

If Texas wins out, I'm going to declare UGA National Champions.

If Bama claims it, give it to Vandy.

If Bama claims it, give it to Vandy.

And OU.

But if OU and Vandy get it, then give it to Texas...

An interesting factoid after Texas' victory in the Peach Bowl:

There are only 4 major bowls historically.  Rose, Cotton, Orange, and Sugar.

The Fiesta Bowl benefitted in the late 80s and early 90s of being able to match up traditionally strong plus newly emerging independent powers Penn State, Notre Dame, Miami, and Florida State.

Peach Bowl has never been a major, but it did get lumped into the "New Year's 6" when they needed an even number.

Either way I'd rather win it than lose it.  It's a fun factoid but really it's an anachronism from a bygone era.

I've never valued it as a bowl game, just not enough history there.

But now that it's in the rotation for the CFP quarter and semi finals, I'm happy to see my team play in it, and even happier to see my team win it.