A Happy New Year to the SU intergalactic subscriber base!

SU knows that the NFL is the pre-eminent professional sports league, and by far the most popular of the pro sports leagues in the US. But for SU, when it comes to what are really fun and memorable games, you cannot beat college football. 

Yesterday (and early this morning up to 1 am for those of you keeping score at home), we were treated to 2 epic games. Note to ESPN: these are 4-hour games. Maybe start the Rose Bowl an hour earlier? Michigan – Alabama was a true slugfest with the Big Ten, for a change, playing a physical game on defense against a powerhouse SEC team. Michigan’s defense won the game for them, the offense held its own and special teams tried to give it away. SU must admit that extra points were incredibly stressful the entire 2nd half and the punts? Whoa.

At the end of regulation, Harbaugh put in his sure hands punt returner after a huge muffed punt in the 1st half led to an Alabama touchdown. But he decided trying to catch it inside the 5-yard line was a good idea at that point. Crazy. But that is why SU loves college football. It’s the dumb plays made by youngsters on the big stage. These are not professionals and they are doing their best under pressure. It makes it unpredictable and so much fun. Now, truth be told, it was more “fun” that Jake Thaw somehow recovered his muff on the 1-yard line vs. losing the game in the last minute.

A few comments on the Rose Bowl:

1. The game was played on grass and no doubt there is some moisture on the grass late in the afternoon and early evening in Pasadena. The centers and long snappers had some issues and SU believes the grass was a factor. In overtime, there is no way that Michigan would have attempted a field goal under any circumstances. It would have been touchdown or bust.
2. Alabama made some good adjustments at half time and pretty much stopped throwing the ball down the field in the 2nd half. It was all quarterback runs and short passes from there on out. SU says Jalen Milroe is overrated as a passer and that was exposed last night. He is a dynamic runner though and on that 4th down play in OT, you knew he was going to keep it. You win or lose with your best player. Luckily, Michigan was thinking that way as well.
3. SU was happy that Michigan, finally, unveiled some more creative plays on offense vs. what they show in the regular season. Their execution on some was not there but credit them for trying. Putting players in motion on most plays also helped to throw off Alabama in the secondary as they struggled to figure out who to cover.
4. There is satisfaction in watching Nick Saban get pissed off on the sideline.
5. In a sport where technology is available, SU has to laugh at how referees spot the ball on the field after a play. It is so haphazard. On one play, the ref just dropped the ball on the ground while signaling for a timeout as it rolled away several yards. He went over, picked it up and just put it down in the vicinity of where it was. And ruling where the runner goes out of bounds on the sideline? It’s plus/minus one yard on many plays.
6. The refs let ’em play last night. Very few penalties and that was enjoyable. Sure, they missed a few plays but it was nice not see so many flags thrown.

The Sugar Bowl game was wild. Washington has an amazing offense and an amazingly bad pass defense. They were hurt late in the game when their top running back was hurt on a 3rd down run that would have run the clock down to about 15 seconds. That allowed Texas to mount one more wild drive to the red zone. If the running back did not get hurt, that does not happen. Bad luck for them and now he is likely out for the championship game.

A Michigan – Washington finals is actually an all-Big Ten final going forward. And these two teams play each other in Seattle later this year. Good stuff. While the SEC is still the best conference, the additions of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington to the Blue Bloods of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State put these two conferences on an even plane now I think.

Next Monday will be Michigan’s defense trying to stop Washington’s high flying offense. They failed miserably last season in a very similar situation vs. TCU. Very similar. But you have to figure they learned some things from that experience.

For Michigan, still unclear if Harbaugh returns next season as there will be NFL slots opening up, and he may still have the itch. JJ McCarthy may also opt out for the draft although next year’s draft has fewer top QBs in it, and he should probably stay one more year. He has his moments but also has his other moments.

Finally, a year from now, we will only be in the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs. The finals are slated for January 20th. But the 12-team format will be great. Perhaps players will actually opt in to play vs. sitting the bowl games out? Btw, given the number of injuries in football, SU has no issues with that.