No touchdowns.
Four interceptions.
Four botched field goals.
Does anyone really want to see a rematch of the snooze-fest brought to you by No. 1-ranked LSU and No. 2 Alabama, who combined for a whopping 15 points in a game that plodded all the way to overtime?
Give me LSU and Oklahoma State. Or LSU and Stanford. Or even LSU and Boise State.
Or, if LSU somehow loses along the way, give me some combination of Oklahoma State, Stanford and Boise State -- assuming two of those three remain undefeated.
But there's no good reason to see LSU and Alabama play again. We've already seen it. We've already seen LSU beat Alabama 9-6 on Alabama's home field, in front of Alabama's home crowd, on a night when Alabama's defense couldn't possibly play better.
Let's see LSU, if the Tigers win out, play against an opponent that isn't afraid to pass, can muster enough offensive firepower to find the end zone and has a chance to give us an entertaining BCS national championship game.
Defense might win championships, but it's not much fun for the spectators -- especially when there's no offense to break the monotony. And this LSU-Alabama game, as hard-hitting and hard-fought as it was, as much as it meant to each team, was too often hard to watch.
Yes, both teams played outstanding defense. Quarterbacks were harassed. Receivers were smothered. Ball carriers were punished. But it was too much of a good thing.
And just so you know: The lack of scoring wasn't only because the defenses were so dominant.
Both teams are limited, even flawed, on offense. Neither has a top-shelf passer. Neither has a receiving corps that stretches the field and scares defenses.
Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, Stanford's Andrew Luck and Boise State's Kellen Moore all are noticeably better quarterbacks than the three we saw in Tuscaloosa. And, neither LSU or Alabama has a receiver with the big-play ability of Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon.
True, both LSU and Alabama are significantly stronger on the other side of the ball. But we saw enough defense to last a lifetime.
Let's see something different, something more compelling, something with a little flash. Let's see LSU's defense challenged by a high-octane offense. Let's see LSU versus Oklahoma State, Stanford or Boise State.
The score might not be closer, but the clash of styles surely would be more intriguing.
Besides, Alabama had its shot at the title and, even with all the intangibles in its favor, wasn't good enough to knock off No. 1. So the BCS must get past its SEC bias and give someone else a chance at the championship.
We've already seen the LSU-Alabama game. We know what that looks like. And it's not pretty.
Why see it again?
Comments