Motivation against LSU: TEBOW

Remember 2007? All the phone calls and text messages that Tebow received. Well that’s happening again, but to John Brantley as well. I have a question for the faithful of the Bayou: Why would you want to add motivation for a team that is CLEARLY superior to yours?

I have spoken with many LSU fans and Alumni over the past week and it seems that the main argument, outside of the fact that Tebow is concussed, is that Florida hasn’t played anyone.  I even received late night text messages from a Miami (FL) fan Saturday saying that Florida didn’t deserve to be number one due to the same fact and that Tennessee exposed the Gators for what they really are, Tebow and nothing else.

Nothing Else?

That fired me up.

Nothing Else?

Tell that to the defense. When all Gator fans started talking about a Perfect season, I was asked if I would jump on that bandwagon and of course I jumped on. I joined in because no matter who plays quarterback the other team still has to score, which is not an easy task against the Gator  “D”.  I could play QB and we would win.  Let LSU not forget that this is the same defense that held the greatest scoring offense in the History of Collegiate Football to 14 points.  They’re good.

I am sure that they need extra motivation.

What about the running game you say? Did LSU not pay attention to the three hundred plus rushing yards that the Gators put up against Kentucky? Oh, that’s it…it’s because we played Kentucky!  Let me take that argument out right now: You have to play your schedule and they are an SEC team. The worst team in the SEC is a middle team in another conference like the PAC 10. It’s not like we almost lost to Mississippi State or anything.

That brings me to another point. LSU seems to have an issue every time they face a team that is based in the spread offense. Dan Mullen and the Bulldogs should have won that game and I know it’s not the spread, but they got off the hook at Georgia too. Looks like the refs will be watching the calls in this game, so the fans started in on calling and texting the players. Pretty adult, don’t you think? I wonder, did they take the time to text Joe Cox or A.J. Green last week?

Did LSU start calling and texting John Brantley to tell him that he could be a starter on more that half of any of the other schools because of how good he is? This guy is a gold mine. There is more fun in store for Gator fans with John Brantley. He just doesn’t have the experience. I don’t know if Baton Rouge, at night is the best place for him to start, but I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised. Especially when Urban spent all week dusting off the playbook from the 2006 season.

I could go on all day long of why you would not want to annoy the Gators right now but most of all it’s for the emotional bond that this team has with it’s leader, Tim Tebow. I know it’s more than likely going to be a game time decision if he plays at all, but I think that I am leaning towards not wanting him to play.

Now before you throw something at me, let me tell you what I mean.

Besides the fact that I would not want to see him get injured further, I know that the players on this team love Tim Tebow. They respect him as a player, person, and as their leader. So I want to see what this team can do when they come out of the locker room after a, “ Let’s win this one for Tim” speech from Brandon Spikes. Or a “ He’s been doing it for you” speech by Joe Haden. Or a “ He could probably play my position better than me” speech by Major Wright.  It could possibly light the biggest fire the Gators have ever seen. It probably won’t be bigger than the promise, but the same outcome may arise.

So X’s and O’s aside, emotion will rule this game, and I can’t think of a better person to win it for.

Week 6 SEC College Football Picks

Weekly Picks: Week 6

Now we get down to business. The national championship and the SEC championship picture will be a lot clearer after this week. There are several huge games this week that will knock out some of the pretenders. Here are my predictions.

Auburn at Arkansas: Auburn is off to one whale of a start. But so far the schedule has a bit as soft as a case of four ply. It starts to toughen up now. Arkansas with Ryan Mallet will challenge the Auburn defense like they’ve yet to be challenged. I think the Auburn offense will run all over the porous Arkansas defense though and keep mallet off the field just long enough. Tigers 31 Hogs 27

Vanderbilt at Army: Vandy is bad. Army is really bad. Defense will win the day. I’m betting the team in black and gold wins. Dores 17 Black Knights 10

Georgia at Tennessee:  I’m REALLY looking forward to this one. Why? Because one of them will have three losses. I wish there was a way they could both lose. Lane Kiffin has me doing something I never thought I would do, ever. I’m rooting for the leg humpers. The Dogs have a bit more offense than UT. Both defenses are equally tough. Dawgs 24 Vols 16

Houston at Miss St: This is an interesting matchup. A week ago Houston was the darling of the media. Many thought they deserved to be where Boise State is now. A loss to lowly UTEP fixed that. Now they are a 2 point underdog to MSU. How bad do you have to be to be an underdog to MSU? Worse than Houston is I would think. They won at Okie State. I think they should do the same at Miss. State. Cougars 41 Dogs 30

Kentucky at South Carolina: The Kats are a 9 point dog. The line was 11 two days ago. I thought the Kats were a little better than that too. They’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Look for them to compete a lot better this week. I like USC, but a bit closer than the spread. USC has a very good defense. Kentucky has a pretty bad QB. SC’s offense is as usual, mediocre. The Ol Ball Coach needs this one badly. Cocks 20 Kats 17

Alabama at Ole Miss: Now we’re cooking with gas! The 3:30 CBS game of the week and it’s gonna be a dandy. We got offense. The Tides prolific running attack along with a better than expected McElroy at QB throwing to maybe the best receiver in the county in Julio Jones makes the Tide almost unstoppable. Ole Miss’ Jevan Snead would be the All-SEC QB if not for a certain #15. They’re running game is pretty stout as well. McCluster can pick em up and put em down with the best of them. Bama I think has a bit more on the defensive side of the ball. But the home crowd should be at a fever pitch. They don’t get many games this big at the Grove. Rebs 34 Tide 30

Georgia Tech at Florida State: The nightmare continues for Bobby Bowden. Tech ran all over them last year on the ground. The Noles had a chance to win late but a costly turnover in the shadow of the goal line killed them. You never know with FSU. Just when you think you’ve figured them out, they bring out the other team. So do we get Jeckyll this week? Or Hyde?  I am going to guess the Noles will show up inspired to win one for Bobby. Noles 28 Jackets 27

Florida at LSU: They don’t get bigger than this one in October. The winner of this one has gone on to win the national Title three straight years! Four in a row looks to be a distinct possibility. LSU’s offense is very suspect. QB play has been erratic. They hadn’t been able to run the ball at all until the last two minutes last week. Florida’s defense is a brick wall. Going into the season they set a goal that they would not allow more than 16 points in any game. So far they have not. I don’t see any reason to believe they will this week either. UF’s offense has been on again, off again. John Brantley makes hs first start at UF. Not a much tougher place to make your first start than at Baton Rouge. It’s doubly tough at night. Look for the Gators to run and run often. Can they run well with Tebow on the bench? Probably not. Look for Superman to come in and pinch hit, brining the Gators back to win a tight one, further growing his legend. Gators 20 Tigers 13.