Championship Maze
First and foremost let me say a big CONGRATS to all the coaches who made it to the national championship games and an extra CONGRATS to the winning coaches. You guys put on a show for us all. I think everyone can appreciate a good game, I know I do. Above all else the coaches should be proud of what they have achieved this season. Making it to the big dance is no joke. There are many a coach who have been playing forever and have never made it to the big dance, so you guys kudos to you.
Today we are going to try and keep it brief. We are going to talk about the championship games, all of them. We are going to start with the D-III game. This was a hell of a game. It went to extras and then was won by 3. Think about it, a field goal was the decider in this game. This tells me, people, do not forget to practice your Special Teams. Looking at the numbers, Menlo had more yards, more first downs and a higher 3rd down conversion, but they had slightly less time with the rock. Even though it was slightly less time with the rock they did the most with it. Menlo passed the ball more but the average yards they were getting were the same in the air and on the ground. Menlo had more throwing yards than St. Olaf had the whole game, let that sink in. The St. Olaf QB, Michael Bolden hit the ground 6 times and was under duress, 2 throw aways, 3 scrambles but he still completed his pass with a rate of 62.8%. Even with all this St. Olaf managed to stay in the game and take it to OT, now that is something. St. Olaf did everything right, I think. They could not move the ball on the ground, 1.4 yards on average on the ground is not good enough when the other guys are getting 5.5 yards. Moving the ball in the air they had a better average. Menlo is going to lose 12 guys and I am sure they will reload and try to get back to the dance. They will be going for a 3peat. St. Olaf is going to lose 14 guys and again I am sure they will reload and try to get back here. It has been a while since they won the whole thing. I wonder if either team will make it back here next year or will we have a new couple going at it. Congrats to both coaches and a bit more to the winning coach, like I said before.
Colorado-Mines and Saint Joseph's decided to just finish it in regulation. Nobody has time to keep playing forever. Saint Joseph's came out on top by a score, there was just a TD in it. This was a weird game, Saint Joseph's had less yards, less time of possession, less 3rd down conversion. I mean looking at those things you would think a team would lose but not this Saint Joseph's team. They said not today and come up with that W. I should not be surprised, they have been here before and know how to get the job done. The coach has built himself a team that I am sure he doesn't check in on and they still run like a Swiss watch. The Mines have been here before too but today it was not to be. The Mines had the opposing QBs on the ground and still lost, I mean how? They ran a balanced offence, exactly same number of plays running and throwing, they had exactly 52 attempts for both. They kept Saint Joseph's under 50% throwing and limited them to 1.6 yards per run on average. With those numbers you would bet the house on Mines winning. Sometimes I do not understand this game. I am sure both coaches will make deep runs next year and maybe get back to he big dance to do it all over again.
Unstoppable force vs unmovable object. That is what we had in the EKU vs Drake game. These are elite programs and because of that you know the game is going to be a great one. The two were separated by a TD, a single TD separated these two great teams. We had the hall of famer pete_61 taking on hatroq. Everyone knows these coaches and their greatness. Not seeing either in this game would have been a bit strange. I am sure at the beginning of next season they will be expected to be back here again, maybe not both of them but at least one of them. I do not think there is any kind of analysis I can do here because it won't do either coach justice, having a nobody like me analyze the game of two legends, come on now. These two coaches put on a show for us to enjoy, and they did such a good job that they gave us a little bit extra to enjoy and boy did we enjoy it. Potent offenses were on display from both sides and the defenses tried their best to stop the opposition and they really tried but the yards just kept stacking up.`If you have not seen the WISCast, you should. Congrats to both coaches and pete_61, hats off to you. What a season for you, national title and induction into the Wilkinson Hall of Fame. I am sure hatroq will be back for you next season along with the rest of the other teams trying to wrestle the title away from you.
Houston we have a problem. We ran out of time to solve this little problem of alligators. Father time is the worst, how can he pull the rug from underneath the Cougars as they were driving to either tie the game or win the game. Houston chucked the ball 86 times and completed just over 50% and put up yards, yards for days. They had more yards throwing than Florida had total. Think about that. The Gators ran a balanced offense which might have helped them to win, I don't know. The Gators had less yards, less time of possession, less first downs and only a 33% 3rd down conversion, and also a turnover. With all that said they still came away with the title. The Gators had the sack counter working today, they got there 8 times today, 8 times, come on guys give the guy a break. Houston had a 4th quarter for the ages but still came up short, imagine if they had managed to complete the comeback. This has shown me that the shotgun can definitely work, you just need to get the right pieces and you can make your way to a national title game. ebel you have just become a lot of people's hero from your run. There were people who doubted Houston, but after this game I think it is safe to say they were the real deal. They gave the Gators a run for their money. Would have been nice if the game went to OT, I think, just to keep going because well I am selfish like that and wanted them to keep going. Great job guys just getting here and putting on a great game for the rest of us. Congrats potter on the title and ebel congrats on a great season, the pressure is on now to repeat what you did.
A big congrats to everyone on making it through the season. Things get interesting again with the job changes just around the corner. I am sure we have everyone looking at properties in Columbus, Ohio. Rumor has it, there will be an opening there. Right in the middle of fertile recruiting ground. I wonder who will be throwing in their names into the Buckeyes hat. Imagine if someone goes into Ohio State, I can see there being a lot of movement in the coaching department or maybe not. I think looking at my level 5 bowl predictions we can see I do not know much. And with my lack of knowledge the Maze run is over.
