Lindsay: Looking past LSU-Alabama showdown

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As much as any sport, college football is about waiting.

Fans wait all summer for the season. Then they wait for the showdowns and rivalry games. Then they wait for the final BCS standings and accompanying bowl invitations.

Then they wait all through the holidays for their teams to play. Then comes the wait for signing day in February, spring football, etc. as the cycle repeats itself.

It may only be early October but how can anyone not believe that the game of the year is just 30 days away -- No. 2 LSU (in the Scripps-Legends Poll) at No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 5? With all due respect to other BCS leagues, these two Southeastern Conference West powerhouses seem to have already separated themselves from the rest of the nation. Both feature rock solid defenses, strong running games to compliment adequate quarterback play. Each has won a national title in the last five years.

When one advances to the BCS national title game Jan. 9 in New Orleans, they will not only carry the SEC's streak of five straight national titles, but another longer run as well. Not since No. 2 Penn State outlasted No. 1 Georgia, 27-23, in the 1983 Sugar Bowl has an SEC team failed to grab a national title when given a chance to play for it. Since then, all 8 SEC teams have won it all in such No. 1-vs.-No.-2 situations.

So the question becomes not if the SEC will make it six straight, but who can possibly stop them.

Let's consider the top challengers.

Oklahoma is undefeated and ranked third. But are these Sooners any better than the Sam Bradford-led OU team Florida thumped, 24-14, in the 2008 national championship? We can't see it as QB Landry Jones is no Bradford, a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick -- not to mention the holes in the defense (59th in the nation vs. the pass, 50th vs. the run).

Right now, No. 4 Wisconsin looks unbeatable behind wondrous senior-transfer QB Russell Wilson. But remember, the Badgers are still Big Ten-slow and does anybody remember that Wilson went 3-7 in road starts at N.C. State over the previous two seasons throwing 19 TD passes and 13 interceptions in those games?

Considering how SEC defenses have gobbled up Heisman-winning QBs in BCS title games such as Troy Smith and Bradford, exactly why is Wilson any different?

No, if you're looking for somebody to stand up to the SEC follow Horace Greeley's advice and "Go west, young man.''

That's where you find No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 Boise State and the two best quarterbacks in the land, the Cardinal's Andrew Luck and the Broncos' Kellen Moore. Luck (43 TD passes vs. 9 ints. since the start of last season) is already better than half the NFL's starting QBs and Moore (114 career TD passes vs. 23 ints.) is all but assured of winning more games than any D-I quarterback ever.

More importantly, both BSU and Stanford, both 4-0, have the combination of physical defense and solid offensive line play to hang with an Alabama or LSU.

Sadly both the Cardinal and Broncos will likely need lots of help to make it to the title game as the flawed BCS human voters refuse to acknowledge how bad the Big Ten really is while the computers love the shootouts in the Big 12 so much that Oklahoma keeps getting sent to the big stage despite disastrous results (0-3 in BCS title games since winning it all in 2000).

"Stanford is much more physical and tougher than in previous years,'' said former UCLA coach Terry Donahue, a voter in the Scripps Legends Poll. "It started under Jim Harbaugh and has continued under (coach) David Shaw ... I do think at some point they'll have to open up their passing game to win some big games.''

Imagine that. To have a chance to get to New Orleans the Cardinal simply needs to let the presumed No. 1 overall NFL draft pick throw the ball more. We should all be so lucky.

UPSET PICK: Kansas State's late rally got us off the deck. At 1-4, we'll keep going in the right direction when Utah bumps off No. 19 Arizona State Saturday in Salt Lake City.

NOT GETTING IT: LSU may be ranked near the top of the nation, but no thanks to senior QB Jordan Jefferson who was suspended the first four games of the season after being arrested for assault following a fight in a bar in August.

Just reinstated this week by Tigers coach Les Miles, Jefferson wasted no time popping off, "My personal goal is to be the starter. I am going to do whatever it takes to get there." The disrespect that shows to fifth-year senior starter Jarrett Lee is bad enough not to mention the potential controversy that could divide the team. But then Jefferson wasted no time playing the pitiful "I'm an athlete so I'm a target'' card.

"The position you play for the football team can cost you a lot and put you in trouble,'' said Jefferson.

Even more important than his shaky stats (10 interceptions vs. 7 touchdown passes last year), leadership is vital to being a starting quarter back in the SEC. Jefferson flunks this test.

(John Lindsay is sports editor for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at lindsayj@shns.com)

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