NDL CUP Championship Preview
Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 6:19 pm
Well Christmas sucks right now. Everyone in the house has the flu except me (sure my turn is coming) so Im going to take some time and preview the NDL Cup Championship game between my USC Trojans and Mike's Florida Gators.
Florida has been on fire this season and that has carried through the cup as well with a season record of 10-1 and 6 straight cup wins to get to the cup finals. Florida is playing for the SEC Championship as well and is still on an outside shot to make it to the BCS Championship game. Florida defeated the following teams to get to the finals:
NDL Cup Round 1 Fresno State Sting-U W 45-11
NDL Cup Round 2 at Central Florida Bernie32 W 35-10
NDL Cup Round 3 Northern Illinois Yragha1 W 7-0
NDL Cup Sweet 16 at Iowa State Quest4Gold W 44-27
NDL Cup Elite 8 #21 Alabama Bama Fan in Vol Land W 16-12
NDL Cup Final 4 #3 Oklahoma bearass W 51-27
USC has had a great year so far and they are 10-0 on the season going into this game with 6 straight cup wins to get to the finals. USC will look to pull off the double Championship run as they are looking to get to the BCS Championship game as well with rival games against #5 Notre Dame and UCLA left to play. USC defeated the following teams to get to the finals:
NDL Cup Round 1 Wake Forest mcx79 W 7-0
NDL Cup Round 2 at Minnesota ChampDawg W 27-17
NDL Cup Round 3 at Texas VeniVediV1ci W 17-9
NDL Cup Sweet 16 #4 Ohio State Black Rain W 21-10
NDL Cup Elite 8 #23 Georgia ajalves W 28-3
NDL Cup Final 4 #2 Florida State Daw1git W 31-28
QUARTERBACKS
QB Tim Tebow
Tebow is having a monster season and is all but walking away with the Heisman Trophy. He leads the nation in yards with 3,108, TD's with 38 and in QB rating with a 270.1 rating.
QB Mark Sanchez
Sanchez is also having a good year. Although not on the level of Tebow's number's Sanchez boasts 2,130 yards with 29 TD's to only 7 int's with a 204.8 QB rating.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
RUNNING BACKS
RB Joe McKnight
McKnight has kept defenses honest with 677 yards rushing and 330 yards receiving for 4 total TD's.
RB Emmanual Moody
The former USC running back will face his old team and he comes into the game with 333 yards rushing and 287 yards receiving with 6 toatal TD's.
ADVANTAGE: USC
WR'S
WR Percy Harvin
Harvin has been Tebow's favorite target all season with 43 catches for 1042 yards and 16 TD's. He has a third of the teams receiving yards and is the fastest player on the team.
WR Patrick Turner
Turner is tall at 6'4 and uses that height to his advantage. He has 30 catches for 535 yards and 8 TD's. Although he is second on the team in receiving yards he is Sanchez's favorite target for a big play.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
LB'S
LB Rey Maualuga
Maualuga leads the team with 61 tackles 12 TFL 1 sack 5 ints and 1 DTD. Maualuga is a presence over the middle and has the ability to chase down runners who go to the outside.
LB Brandon Spikes
Spikes has 40 tackles and 7 TFL 2 sacks and 5 int's. Spikes doesnt lead the team in tackles but does help in the secondary for a team that leads the nation in picks.
ADVANTAGE: USC
SECONDARY
FS Major Wright and CB Wondy Pierre-Louis
These two have combined to lead the team in tackles and have 20 interceptions between the two of them. They have shut down opposing teams with thier fast paced hard hitting play.
SS Kevin Ellison and FS Taylor Mays
These two saftey's are 2nd and 3rd on the team in tackles and have combined for 10 picks. They have been very solid for USC and made big plays all season but do not compare to the Florida tandom.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
KICKERS
K/P David Buehler
Buehler has been solid going 9 of 10 with a long of 51 yards.
K Caleb Sturgis
Sturgis has been 100% for the Gators going 15 /15 with a long of 59 yards.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
Overall the Gators look to have a slight advantage numbers wise but with that aside it looks to be a pretty well matched game. The only problem I see is that BIGMike has had my number here in the past. I dont think I have beaten Mike since the regular season match of LSU vs Florida in Season 4. Since that time he has been a monkey on my back. Look for USC to anaylize the heck out of thier game and even tweak some things to try and catch Mike and the Gators by surprise. Since I'm playing in the game I wont make any predictions someone else can do that. Should be a good fun game either way. Good Luck Mike.
Florida has been on fire this season and that has carried through the cup as well with a season record of 10-1 and 6 straight cup wins to get to the cup finals. Florida is playing for the SEC Championship as well and is still on an outside shot to make it to the BCS Championship game. Florida defeated the following teams to get to the finals:
NDL Cup Round 1 Fresno State Sting-U W 45-11
NDL Cup Round 2 at Central Florida Bernie32 W 35-10
NDL Cup Round 3 Northern Illinois Yragha1 W 7-0
NDL Cup Sweet 16 at Iowa State Quest4Gold W 44-27
NDL Cup Elite 8 #21 Alabama Bama Fan in Vol Land W 16-12
NDL Cup Final 4 #3 Oklahoma bearass W 51-27
USC has had a great year so far and they are 10-0 on the season going into this game with 6 straight cup wins to get to the finals. USC will look to pull off the double Championship run as they are looking to get to the BCS Championship game as well with rival games against #5 Notre Dame and UCLA left to play. USC defeated the following teams to get to the finals:
NDL Cup Round 1 Wake Forest mcx79 W 7-0
NDL Cup Round 2 at Minnesota ChampDawg W 27-17
NDL Cup Round 3 at Texas VeniVediV1ci W 17-9
NDL Cup Sweet 16 #4 Ohio State Black Rain W 21-10
NDL Cup Elite 8 #23 Georgia ajalves W 28-3
NDL Cup Final 4 #2 Florida State Daw1git W 31-28
QUARTERBACKS
QB Tim Tebow
Tebow is having a monster season and is all but walking away with the Heisman Trophy. He leads the nation in yards with 3,108, TD's with 38 and in QB rating with a 270.1 rating.
QB Mark Sanchez
Sanchez is also having a good year. Although not on the level of Tebow's number's Sanchez boasts 2,130 yards with 29 TD's to only 7 int's with a 204.8 QB rating.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
RUNNING BACKS
RB Joe McKnight
McKnight has kept defenses honest with 677 yards rushing and 330 yards receiving for 4 total TD's.
RB Emmanual Moody
The former USC running back will face his old team and he comes into the game with 333 yards rushing and 287 yards receiving with 6 toatal TD's.
ADVANTAGE: USC
WR'S
WR Percy Harvin
Harvin has been Tebow's favorite target all season with 43 catches for 1042 yards and 16 TD's. He has a third of the teams receiving yards and is the fastest player on the team.
WR Patrick Turner
Turner is tall at 6'4 and uses that height to his advantage. He has 30 catches for 535 yards and 8 TD's. Although he is second on the team in receiving yards he is Sanchez's favorite target for a big play.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
LB'S
LB Rey Maualuga
Maualuga leads the team with 61 tackles 12 TFL 1 sack 5 ints and 1 DTD. Maualuga is a presence over the middle and has the ability to chase down runners who go to the outside.
LB Brandon Spikes
Spikes has 40 tackles and 7 TFL 2 sacks and 5 int's. Spikes doesnt lead the team in tackles but does help in the secondary for a team that leads the nation in picks.
ADVANTAGE: USC
SECONDARY
FS Major Wright and CB Wondy Pierre-Louis
These two have combined to lead the team in tackles and have 20 interceptions between the two of them. They have shut down opposing teams with thier fast paced hard hitting play.
SS Kevin Ellison and FS Taylor Mays
These two saftey's are 2nd and 3rd on the team in tackles and have combined for 10 picks. They have been very solid for USC and made big plays all season but do not compare to the Florida tandom.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
KICKERS
K/P David Buehler
Buehler has been solid going 9 of 10 with a long of 51 yards.
K Caleb Sturgis
Sturgis has been 100% for the Gators going 15 /15 with a long of 59 yards.
ADVANTAGE: FLORIDA
Overall the Gators look to have a slight advantage numbers wise but with that aside it looks to be a pretty well matched game. The only problem I see is that BIGMike has had my number here in the past. I dont think I have beaten Mike since the regular season match of LSU vs Florida in Season 4. Since that time he has been a monkey on my back. Look for USC to anaylize the heck out of thier game and even tweak some things to try and catch Mike and the Gators by surprise. Since I'm playing in the game I wont make any predictions someone else can do that. Should be a good fun game either way. Good Luck Mike.