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There was a lot of lessons to be learned from the BlueCross Bowls experience in Chattanooga.
Things like: Chris Brooks makes a mean wing, you CAN eat Domino’s Pizza three straight nights and not get bored with it, and you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about wrestling from spending three hours in a car with Cam Reid and Joe Spears.
But aside from all of the action and athletes on display at Finley Stadium, I learned quite a bit from my three day stint on Reggie White Blvd:
McCallie’s Jay St. Hilaire might be the best quarterback in the state
St. Hilaire’s 22 completions for 309 yards and four scores against an excellent Baylor team was nothing less than impressive. The Vanderbilt commit’s ability to adjust the pocket and make reads under pressure looked SEC ready.
Nissan’s new stadium cannot come soon enough
While I understand that football is an all-weather sport, I believe that the championships deserve the most optimal conditions to showcase each program’s strengths. Don’t get me wrong, the best teams won every game, but from a fan’s perspective, the rain did hamper the passing attacks of several teams.
Replay is desperately needed at the championship level
Referees are human and are held to inhuman standards…to be in position and make perfect calls every play. That is a lot to ask of any human being with the speed of today’s game.
Everyone wants to see the correct calls being made, especially officials. They really do care, and getting them help should be a priority.
Midstate teams are penalized…a lot
In championship games between mid-state teams and teams outside of middle Tennessee, the Midstate teams sure commit a lot of penalties. In those championships (3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, and Division II-AA), Midstate teams were penalized a total of 57 times for 451 yards.
Their opponents were penalized 21 times for 162. Maybe that’s something for Midstate coaches to hold a clinic on?
Leaving Eli Wilson off of the Mr. Football Finalist roster was a travesty
Even though his regular season numbers were enough to qualify him, Wilson came out and made everyone stand up and notice. He averaged 11.2 yards per carry, picked off a Friendship pass in the end zone and put the game away for the Cougars with his 28-yard fumble recovery touchdown.
Thankfully the gold ball will ease whatever pain he felt for the snub. And hopefully it hurts that much more for those who didn’t vote for him.
