Drew Gordon
Drew Gordon
Drew Gordon
Tonight's Game...
1. 300,000♦ Georgia
1. Georgia- You want to find out what happens when an overrated, weak-ass WAC team faces off with one of the best teams in the conference of conferences - the SEC? Tune into tonight's Sugar Bowl and watch, as the Bulldogs manhandle the Warriors on both sides of the ball, winning and covering with relative ease tonight in New Orleans.
Where does it all begin? In the trenches, as Georgia posseses the edge on both sides of the football. While Hawaii's offense is predicated on the short passing game, it'll be tough sledding for Colt Brennan, as he gets chased down by the likes of DT Atkins (6.5 sacks) and DE Howard (7.5 sacks). This Georgia defense routinely shut down opposing QBs... Just ask Tim Tebow (236 passing yards 1 TD) how tough this Bulldogs D is! Note that Georgia didn't allow a single BCS school over 268 yards passing this season.
On the other side of the ball, a mammoth Georgia O-line, which allowed only 15 sacks and rushed for 4.6 yards per carry will have little trouble with a smallish Hawaii defense. Make no mistake, the Warriors will get to know Georgia's O-line and their electric RB Moreno all to well tonight. What's the easiest way to limit Colt Brennan? Keep him off the field with punishing offensive drives led by the Bulldogs run game. Don't sleep on QB Matt Stafford either, as he's been great since getting the backfield help from Moreno, and has some solid WRs in Bailey and Massaquoi.
Finally, let's examine Warriors a little deeper. I've been asked time and time again: Are they for real? And the answer is no, plain and simple. When your opponents combined regular season record is a laughable 39-79, you know your not playing any real competition. Also, the fact the Warriors struggled at times away from the Island is nothing new - Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and Nevada all gave them trouble (0-3 ATS). In other words, Hawaii is a pretender, while Georgia is a contender.
Bottom line, the difference between these two teams will become obvious for everyone to see in tonight's Sugar Bowl. Hawaii gets undressed by a phsically superior Georgia team, that not only features the best defense Brennan has seen all season, but a balanced offense that can and will eventually wear the Warriors down. Georgia rolls!
Take Georgia comfortably over Hawaii as your top-rated play of the day.
Today's Game...
1. 100,000♦ Illinois
1. Illinois- Granted, the Trojans come into this game playing some of the best football in the country, but oddsmakers went a little to far with the number on this contest. Its not that I don't think USC is a good team, because they're excellent, but the fact of the matter is the Illini have seen top-tier defenses before and come out on top (see 28-21 win at Ohio State) thanks to dual threat QB Juice Williams.
Williams is in the same mold as as Oregon's Dennis Dixon, except not as accomplished a passer, and we saw what Dixon did to this Trojans defense. True, they were unable to grab the cash, but if Dixon ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, then Williams can wreak some havoc too. Before you go dismissing Williams, note that in his last 3 weeks he's tossed 7 TDs and just 2 picks, including his 4 TD performance against a vaunted Ohio State defense.
Herein lies the edge for the Illini, as they not only have Williams scrambling, but also stud RB Mendenhall, who rushed for 1312 yards and 17 combined TDs. The Illini run game averages a whopping 266 yards rushing per game, and despite the Trojans rock-solid run defense, stopping this Illini offense won't be as easy as everyone is making it out to be. If they can rush for 260 on 5.1 yards per carry against Ohio State, then they can make enough headway to cover the bloated number against Southern Cal.
Finally, try and remember guys this isn't the Leinart/Bush-led Trojans team of yesteryear. They still have a stable of talented running backs, but you've got John David Booty taking the snaps, throwing to some good, but not great wide receivers. The fact the Trojans are just 3-5 ATS when laying double-digits this season cannot be ignored, as they demonstrated in their win, but failure to cover against UCLA in the season finale. More of the same this afternoon, as the Trojans most likely win, but the Illini don't go down without a fight, grabbing the cash in the process.
Take Illinois plus the points over Southern California in today's Rose Bowl.