The regular season certainly went out with a bang! Several highly-anticipated matchups did not disappoint. Here’s what we learned:
-Georgia gave Alabama everything they had, and were ultimately done in by poor clock management. Had Aaron Murray spiked the ball at the end of the last drive, the Bulldogs could have gotten in two more plays. Instead, Murray a) didn’t spike the ball, and b) threw far short of the end zone. An unfortunate end to one of the best games I’ve seen in awhile.
-The Tide had to wage a comeback of sorts, as their first five possessions ended thus: Punt, punt, lost fumble, punt, INT. It’s not every day you see a team start that way and win the game.
credit: Matthew Tosh, Wiki CC-For the first time in SEC Championship history, two teammates (Alabama’s Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon) each rushed for over 100 yards. The Alabama offensive line was blowing huge holes in the Georgia front, especially in the second half.
-So Alabama will almost certainly be the team to face Notre Dame in the BCS Title Game. Should be another good one.
-Wisconsin finished third in their division, and were only in the Big Ten Championship because of NCAA sanctions to Ohio State and Penn State. So what they do? Just go out and beat Legends Division champ Nebraska 70-31. They scored a TD on their opening drive, and followed it up with a pick-6 on the Huskers’ first possession. At halftime, the score was already 42-10, and the Badgers had 400 yards of offense. Just insane. Wisconsin will face Pac-12 champ Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
-Unfortunately, the final result is going to overshadow Taylor Martinez’ ridiculous 76-yard TD run in the first quarter. It’s not on youtube (yet), but if you haven’t seen it, go to espn.com and watch the highlights from the game.
-Louisville beat Rutgers on Thursday, meaning they should be headed to a BCS Bowl.
-Congratulations to Northern Illinois on their MAC title. The MAC plays better football than I think a lot of people realize. I didn’t get to watch much of the game, but from the highlights it looks to have been a good one.
-Congrats also to Tulsa on winning their first Conference USA title since 2005.
-Oklahoma survived missing a field goal, followed by a late drive by TCU, to earn a share of the Big 12 title. By virtue of Kansas State’s win over Texas, the Sooners and Wildcats are co-champions. Oklahoma is now eyeing a possible BCS at-large bid.
-Baylor’s win over Oklahoma State will likely drop the Cowboys out of the Top 25.
-Florida State escaped Georgia Tech to emerge with an unsurprising ACC Title. It would appear that they are headed to the Orange Bowl with the victory.
It’s been a fantastic college football season, and it’s not over yet! Stay tuned for Bowl game coverage both here on our site, and on the last word radio network.
Feel free to leave your comments below and you can follow me on twitter @lastwordLindsay.
