Froggy ‘Voice’ Went-a-Courtin’ But ‘Bama’ Ain’t Goin’ Anywhere!
Let the grumblings commence throughout the college football world! Even the ribbety-toned LSU coach kind of acknowledged after his team thoroughly outplayed Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide squad, more so than the 46–41 final score reflects. “We got to see where this leads us,” said Ed Orgeron during his post-game reflections.
Orgeron may have been talking more about his team as his “one game at a time” coachspeak comment quickly followed, but he has to realize the win may not have been convincing enough to dissuade the College Football Playoff committee from keeping the Crimson Tide in the post-season mix. The mini-collapse by the Tigers which allowed Alabama to create excitement until the waning seconds is directly responsible for providing kindling to the playoff fire for Tide Nation.
Those supporters clad in crimson should sent a thank-you note to P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers! In the biggest win over Penn State since the fictional Screaming Eagles of Hayden Fox’s team on the ABC series Coach, the Gophers rowed the boat over-around-and-through still waters of Lake Nittany, aka Penn State’s defense. It was such a resounding performance, television viewers couldn’t tell whether the steam arising from James Franklin’s head was due to the mid-30s game time temperature or the head coach’s blood pressure.
Fleck’s rowers, until yesterday, had been a nice afterthought by the CFP committee due to Minnesota’s weak schedule. The unbeaten Gophers — and the now once-beaten Nittany Lions — still must take on Ohio State and the Buckeyes have no reason to lessen their juggernaut on-field performances against these two teams.
You don’t have to phone-a-friend to answer the question: Is Alabama still better than all the other one-loss teams? If LSU could have kept ‘Bama from creeping back into the game there would have been many giving the nod to other teams, but the explosive near-comeback (and don’t forget the Heisman-worthy performance of the Tigers quarterback, Joe Burrow — especially late in the fourth quarter) by the Crimson Tide keeps those playoff hopes alive.
