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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson Saturdays There
had to be some queasy stomachs around these parts for much of last
Saturday. These innards are tied to certain colleges and universities
which create these unsettling feelings on various Saturdays throughout
the fall. Sometimes the feelings can prove to be ambiguous. We carry on
a debate with ourselves occasionally trying to decide if we should drop
everything and watch the game(s) when we know that the end results
could hasten the request for Kaopectate. Take the
Bulldogs for instance, yeah, our Bulldogs, not the ones they were
playing on Saturday. Georgia and Miss. State were sort of neck and neck
going into the game; both had 1-2 records in all aspects. There is that
one hitch that couldn’t be ignored by State fans everywhere; whenever
these Bulldogs play those Bulldogs they pull out all the stops. And for
the last nine games preceding the contest on the 25th, the State ’Dogs
had to go home with their tails between their legs, so to speak. But
things change – a new coach who wears a defensive mantle and has a
little Las Vegas in his blood and voila! You have a 24-12 win and a 2-2
and 1-2 record on the season. And hope that the improvements will
continue before November 13. The Rebels had their
blowout win of the season against their own set of Bulldogs from Fresno
State. Fresno might not have the rep of some of the other “big dogs” on
the West Coast but they are not that shabby. They hadn’t lost this
season prior to tangling with Ole Miss. And the Rebels had a couple of
games which could have gone either way. The Rebels seem to be
solidifying behind their new quarterback who is showing some signs of
real aggression. Jeremiah Masoli has an intrepid spirit and knows when
to just take off with the ball. The Rebels are going to have to keep
him as healthy as possible because they, too, have an important date
which is not as far off as that of State. One
could almost hear the sigh of relief being breathed by Crimson Tide
fans. This writer had no reservations about declaring the Tide winners
even when they were behind. And yes, it appeared that the Razorback
offense was ripping the young Tide defense to shreds, but the balance
was on the side of the Alabama offense. One does not need to say the
entire names. Just Richardson and Ingram is all that needs to be
uttered. There is debate in some quarters as to which is better, the
former or the latter. It’s easy. Only one has the Heisman Trophy. One
can understand the disappointment of the Razorback faithful. The
largest crowd in their history for game attendance and they couldn’t
pull it off. Arkansas, it isn’t you; it’s just the Tide.
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