Real "Statement Games"

So ESPN says that USC's win was a "statement game." Of course, the majority of us on here disagree, but there have been, IMO, a few statement games so far this bowl season. Namely, the two major games from yesterday.

Ole Miss shut down and locked up Texas Tech and their "legendary" QB and WR- and coach, for that matter- through coaching prowess and simply being more physical. To me, this says that the Big XII's co-number 1 simply couldn't handle a fairly-talented SEC team. I do think that the pieces are coming together for Ole Miss, but there still not there yet. They're a good team, but not a great one. And they beat the CRAP out of TTech. SEC > Big XII? We'll find out the real answer to that on the 8th, but so far...

And, more importantly, Utah made a statement game. They reminded everyone that Utah was here before Boise State was, and that they never really "fell off." They repositioned themselves into the national conscience and have given themselves the best opportunity in a while for a smaller-conference school to collect some honors- and cred with recruits. The impact of their win last night is so much greater than anything that USC could ever dream of. It was a TRUE statement game.

 

So true. Didn't hear any "what and the hell is the MWC" after the game. Heard it until I was sick of hearing it before the game.

 

It was a "statement game." I will translate: we are #1 because we can beat a Big Ten team (usually the conference runner-up) by 14 points at home; the SEC and Big 12 suck because all they ever do is beat the Big Ten champion by 20 or more in a Bowl Game we cannot get invited too because of one dinky little loss to Stanford or San Jose State or a real West Coast power school.

 

Right. Three straight Rose Bowl wins- but who did they beat that was so impressive to continue loving on them?

 

The bottom line for USC. Stop losing to a lower tier (so to speak) PAC-10 team. Stop doing that and maybe, that is, MAYBE you have something to betch about. Otherwise, STFU.

 

not to mention 2 of the 3 Rose Bowls were against the Big 10's "B-Team", b/c OSU played in the Title game.

 

I find it infinitely satisfying that the rose bowls desperate grasp to claims of "tradition" are what will be its' -and the entire bowl systems'- undoing. USC has finally come to the realization that 3 rose bowl wins against the big 10 mean squat to the rest of the country, who see the game as an at-home cake walk. If petey carol is openly asking for a playoff system, then the rose bowls days are already numbered. This leaves The Rose Bowl committee and the big 10 as the only two parties that openly oppose a playoff system, and i don't see either one of them holding on for long.

 

This is what's most impressive to me. Utah was the original BCS Buster, but with a completely different coach. Wittingham's accomplishment last night (and this year, really, considering their schedule) surpassed what Meyer did with the Utes in 2004. That speaks very highly of their program, in general.

So what's the story on Wittingham? Is he just that good of a coach? Better than Meyer? The team that beat Bama last night was incredibly well-coached on both sides of the ball. They played with remarkable discipline and impeccable execution.

Does he want to stay at Utah? I can see a lot of BCS schools throwing a lot of money at this guy. He's losing both of his coordinators, so we'll see how he does this year. That ever-shifting formation that their DL runs was a big reason that Bama's offense was stymied.

 

Ole Miss beating Tech was no more a statement than Oregon beating Okie St and running up 600 yards of offense. Both games merely showed what anyone should have seen all along~that the Big 12 is very overrated. Somewhat the same with Utah beating Bama. The Tide should have beaten Utah on the superiority of their athletes alone. In the end though they were both outplayed AND out coached. Bama was never as good as the polls said. Not even close.