The Hangover Cure: Week 14

Key Takeaway. The end of one thing must be the beginning of another.

Tim Tebow crying is a big deal not because he is the best or greatest college football player of this or any other era, but because he is certainly the most iconic of this decade. He quarterbacked a team to one national title, won a title as a terrific situational player for another, won a Heisman in a third season, and endured his most serious injury and most frustrating loss this year as the leader and figurehead for possibly the most scrutinized team ever.

All of those things are less important as credentials for any lists of greatness now, but they reflect how important Tebow has been in college football recently. He’s been part of the American sporting landscape for four years, grew bigger with each one, and was interesting both on and off the field of play. His stature is owed in part to the rise of college football, which owns Saturday as convincingly as the NFL does Sunday.

Tebow’s fall marks the end of a reign for a king with an orange-and-blue banner. Fortunately, the machine that spits out past-their-prime stars always churns out new ones.

And Alabama is now poised to claim a crimson crown.

Delirious. Nuttiness, thy name is tipped pass on a two-point conversion that falls into an offensive lineman’s hands:

I can barely believe what happened there, so I can only imagine what Illinois’ Ron Zook thought after Fresno State’s Devan Cunningham came up with that catch and secured a Bulldogs win.

Tremendous. In an alternate universe, Ndamukong Suh won the Heisman on Saturday night. This universe saw his 4.5 sacks of Colt McCoy and general disregard for anything resembling resistance from Texas’ offensive line, and lauds him for helping Nebraska shut down one of the nation’s more talented offenses and reduce the quarterback with the most wins in FBS to mere mortality. Suh has been the best player in college football this season in our world, consistently a nightmare on the field, but he is king in this different reality. Of course, this dimension also recognizes Auburn’s BCS title and invalidates a Nebraska win over Missouri on a kicked pass. It is too good to be true, clearly.

If you want a team that refuses to lose, try Cincinnati.

I wonder about Cincy’s chances in a BCS game given their defense’s breakdown in November and yesterday. But I can’t help but admire their chutzpah.

Blacked Out. Does the Florida fan in this video hope this footage disappears, never to be seen again? Probably.

But he did do a fine job, and still got beaten by someone whose mechanics are a mix of Tebow’s throwing motion and Charles Barkley’s golf swing, someone who just happened to be a woman. I expect him to not live this down for a while.

Impaired Judgment. Florida fans are understandably broken-hearted after the vivisection Alabama performed on all parts of the Gators in the Georgia Dome, but much of whatever spleen is to come will probably be directed at Carlos Dunlap. His early-morning DUI will symbolize the hubris, real or imagined, fans will associate with this team, Saurian Sagacity writes.

Potent Quotable. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, raging against the dying of the light: “The BCS! That’s why they made that call!”

Nothing else really compares to that.Proof. Oregon should be ranked ahead of Florida in any polls made this week. If Alabama’s rushing attack can gouge the Gators for 250+ yards, imagine what the inventive, physical, and versatile Oregon spread could do? Their 290 yards in a threshing of Oregon State barely seemed like an aberration.

If Texas is going to give presumptive favorite Alabama trouble in January, it will have to do so by stopping the run. The Longhorns can do just that, probably: Theirs is the only rush defense better than ‘Bama’s this season. The problem, though? While the Tide have stopped three teams in the top 20 in rush offense, Texas hasn’t faced one, and the ‘Horns got fat against four teams ranked 100th or worse.

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