Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tuesday Question: Who's Really No. 2?
Tuesday Question: Who's Really No. 2?: Tuesday Question - It's the big fight. How should the teams rank behind Alabama?
Monday Thought: What We Learned
Monday Thought: What We Learned: Terry Johnson Monday Thought: What did we learn this weekend?
CFN Analysis - Kansas State Clobbers WVU
CFN Analysis - Kansas State Clobbers WVU: Collin Klein and the Wildcats destroy and embarrass the Mountaineers.
CFN Analysis - Florida Swamps South Carolina
CFN Analysis - Florida Swamps South Carolina: Florida finds a passing game in an ugly blowout over the Gamecocks.
CFN Analysis - LSU Rumbles Over A&M
CFN Analysis - LSU Rumbles Over A&M: LSU proved to be too physical, but the Aggies made it interesting.
Tuesday Question: Was Stepfan Taylor In?
Tuesday Question: Was Stepfan Taylor In?: TQ: Was Stepfan Taylor in the end zone against Notre Dame?
Grading The Top Games - How Good Were They?
Grading The Top Games - How Good Were They?: Is a 9-6 game a great one or an awful one? Is a 59-57 shootout the best thing on earth or a silly video game that sets back the sport? It's time to render verdicts for these weekly contests and give an added sense of definition to each and every Saturday of the season. Grading The Games debuts now.
CFN Analysis - LSU Grinds The Gamecocks
CFN Analysis - LSU Grinds The Gamecocks: The Tigers fought their way back into the national title chase.
CFN Analysis - Texas Tech blasts WVU
CFN Analysis - Texas Tech blasts WVU: The CFN analysis of Texas Tech's stunning win over West Virginia
Friday, October 12, 2012
ACC Quick Slants: News, Notes and Thoughts
ACC Quick Slants: News, Notes and Thoughts: At the conclusion of each week's games, CFN's Terry Johnson puts the previous weekend of ACC football under the microscope, and looks ahead to see what's in store for the upcoming weekend.
Final Thoughts: A different Red River Rivalry
Please checkout Week 7 Final Thoughts, which includes the Red River Rivalry, a potential change of power in the SEC, and the outstanding play of Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel.
B1G Uglies: The 3 Big, Big Ten Talking Points
Phil, Bart, and Terry are at it again in this week's B1G Uglies on CFN.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
ACC Midseason Awards
ACC Midseason Awards: The college football season is at the halfway mark, and CFN’s lead ACC writer Terry Johnson looks back to hand out some midseason awards, reflect on the best moments so far, and provide a glimpse of what’s to come in the second half of the season.
Florida's Meteoric Rise
By Terry Johnson
Follow me @TPJCollFootball
As expected, Week 6 helped clear up the national championship picture.
However, it was an unexpected surprise that stole the show. Largely ignored by most of the college football world as a contender for the BCS title, Florida registered one of the most impressive victories of this young college football season with a 14- 6 win over LSU.
This convincing triumph against the defending conference champion leaves no doubt that the Gators are the second best team in the nation right now.
Let's be honest: no team in the country has a resume as impressive as Florida's. Sure, the team struggled to score points in the season opener, but that was only because Muschamp wanted the Gators to learn how to block an eight-man front. Had margin of victory factored into the equation, the final score of that contest would have been much different.
Despite the struggles against Bowling Green, Florida proved itself as one of the nation's elite teams once conference play began. The Gators opened the season with a bang, posting solid road wins over Texas A&M and Tennessee. They followed those wins with a convincing 38-0 victory over Kentucky (something No. 3 South Carolina did not do).
Oh yeah, Florida also turned in a dominant defensive performance against reigning SEC Champion LSU on Saturday night, who hadn't lost a regular season game since November of 2010.
To recap, that's four SEC wins, with three of them coming against teams that spent time in the Top 25 at some point this season. If that doesn't qualify as one of the top two teams, what does?
Another reason that Gators should have moved into the two-slot in both polls this week is because they have one of the best defenses in the nation.
Even the most casual football fan knows that defense wins championships, and that's where the Gators excel. Florida's defense has emerged as one of the top units in a conference loaded with stellar defenses. The Gators rank 16th nationally against the run, 12th in total defense, 6th in scoring defense, and 2nd in passing efficiency defense. More impressively, Will Muschamp's team has a knack for coming up with timely turnovers, forcing an average of 1.2 net turnovers per game. As Saturday night's game showed, sometimes a single turnover is the difference between winning and losing.
Unfortunately, the numbers listed above fail to tell the entire story. Despite posting such astronomical stats, the Gators do not lead the SEC in any defensive category. While the rankings alone might suggest that other defenses are better, it's important to note that Florida's numbers include games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, who lead the conference in passing offense and total offense, respectively.
As any coach will tell you, the true measure of greatness is how you perform against top competition. The fact that Florida has compiled such gaudy statistics against two of the best offenses in the SEC leaves little doubt that the Gator D is one of the best in the land.
Despite its impressive credentials and smothering defense, Florida is currently sixth in the both the USA Today and Harris Polls, which accounts for two-thirds of the final BCS formula.
However, after it's demolition of LSU this weekend, don't expect to see Gators outside of the Top 5 for very long.
Follow me @TPJCollFootball
As expected, Week 6 helped clear up the national championship picture.
However, it was an unexpected surprise that stole the show. Largely ignored by most of the college football world as a contender for the BCS title, Florida registered one of the most impressive victories of this young college football season with a 14- 6 win over LSU.
This convincing triumph against the defending conference champion leaves no doubt that the Gators are the second best team in the nation right now.
Let's be honest: no team in the country has a resume as impressive as Florida's. Sure, the team struggled to score points in the season opener, but that was only because Muschamp wanted the Gators to learn how to block an eight-man front. Had margin of victory factored into the equation, the final score of that contest would have been much different.
Despite the struggles against Bowling Green, Florida proved itself as one of the nation's elite teams once conference play began. The Gators opened the season with a bang, posting solid road wins over Texas A&M and Tennessee. They followed those wins with a convincing 38-0 victory over Kentucky (something No. 3 South Carolina did not do).
Oh yeah, Florida also turned in a dominant defensive performance against reigning SEC Champion LSU on Saturday night, who hadn't lost a regular season game since November of 2010.
To recap, that's four SEC wins, with three of them coming against teams that spent time in the Top 25 at some point this season. If that doesn't qualify as one of the top two teams, what does?
Another reason that Gators should have moved into the two-slot in both polls this week is because they have one of the best defenses in the nation.
Even the most casual football fan knows that defense wins championships, and that's where the Gators excel. Florida's defense has emerged as one of the top units in a conference loaded with stellar defenses. The Gators rank 16th nationally against the run, 12th in total defense, 6th in scoring defense, and 2nd in passing efficiency defense. More impressively, Will Muschamp's team has a knack for coming up with timely turnovers, forcing an average of 1.2 net turnovers per game. As Saturday night's game showed, sometimes a single turnover is the difference between winning and losing.
Unfortunately, the numbers listed above fail to tell the entire story. Despite posting such astronomical stats, the Gators do not lead the SEC in any defensive category. While the rankings alone might suggest that other defenses are better, it's important to note that Florida's numbers include games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, who lead the conference in passing offense and total offense, respectively.
As any coach will tell you, the true measure of greatness is how you perform against top competition. The fact that Florida has compiled such gaudy statistics against two of the best offenses in the SEC leaves little doubt that the Gator D is one of the best in the land.
Despite its impressive credentials and smothering defense, Florida is currently sixth in the both the USA Today and Harris Polls, which accounts for two-thirds of the final BCS formula.
However, after it's demolition of LSU this weekend, don't expect to see Gators outside of the Top 5 for very long.
Midseason Thoughts: Terry Johnson
Midseason Thoughts: Terry Johnson: Tuesday Question: Midseason Picks, Thoughts and Calls
ACC Quick Slants - News, Notes & Tidbits
ACC Quick Slants - News, Notes & Tidbits: At the conclusion of each week's games, CFN's Terry Johnson puts the previous weekend of ACC football under the microscope, looking for the Lucky 7
TQ: How To Fix The ACC
TQ: How To Fix The ACC: Tuesday Question: Terry Johnson on How To Fix The ACC
Johnson: The ACC's Woes Continue
Johnson: The ACC's Woes Continue: Terry Johnson on yet another lost weekend for the ACC
CFN Analysis - Texas Survives Ok State
CFN Analysis - Texas Survives Ok State: The Longhorns scored in the final seconds to win a wild one.
CFN Analysis - Ohio State's win over MSU
CFN Analysis - Ohio State's win over MSU: The Buckeyes stay unbeaten in a tough win over the Spartans.
CFN Analysis - The Dawg-Vol Shootout
CFN Analysis - The Dawg-Vol Shootout: Where was the defense? The Dwags and Vols put on a show.
B1G Uglies: The Big Ten Questions
B1G Uglies: The Big Ten Questions: The B1G Uglies: 3 BIG TEN QUESTIONS THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT-POST WEEK 4
Week 5 Thoughts: WVU, welcome to the Big 12
Week 5 Thoughts: WVU, welcome to the Big 12: Final thoughts and musings before Week 5 kicks off.
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