BCS Preview: LaMichael James Is SEC Fast

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OregonvsAuburn_cosbysweaters

You can’t have a conversation about the BCS title game between Oregon and Auburn without the question coming up of SEC athletes vs. PAC-10 athletes.  There is a very vocal group that will tell you SEC football boasts the best athletes in the land and others who will claim the PAC-10 boasts more speed than the SEC.

This side-by-side video  makes the case that, at least with Heisman finalist LaMichael James, the PAC-10 has an athlete who would have no problem keeping up in the SEC:

At the end of the day a lot more goes into a play than just speed or any other athletic attribute and it will always be a subjective argument that we’ll never get a final answer to.   What we do know is both teams will come out firing on January 10th as Kelly and Chizik attempt to out offensive-guru one another and both teams will have more than enough athletes to get the job done.

Huge credit to Russell Arch on the video.

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  • Sailor

    James is from TX and had to go 1,500-something miles to get to Oregon. SEC athletes are generally within 200 miles from home, but most often much less. Other than the occasional recruit from the east coast and TX, most SEC schools rarely travel outside of SEC states to recruit. Schools like Oregon, Notre Dame, Stanford (who raids GA of academically gifted skill players every year), and Michigan have to recruit nationally to be competitive.

    So while James is an athlete in the PAC-10, he’s not really a PAC-10 athlete. He’s a TX athlete. Side note: ESPN came out with a ranking a few years ago showing which states produced the most NFL talent. No surprisingly, the states with SEC schools were well-represented in the top 20.

    • Rob

      Interestingly enough…California was in the top 10 as well… wonder where the talent from the Pac 10 comes from…

  • David

    hahahahaha. Hilarious. No one ever claimed Scott was fast. GREAT blocking by the Ole Miss line and receivers and smart play calling lead to 134 yards on 9 carries, not Scott’s 4.5-4.6 speed. Of course James is faster, but Auburn’s size on line and linebackers will penetrate all night, and much easier than against Miss. I anticipate Oregon gets 200 yards on the ground, including a few 25+ yard gains. But unless Thomas has the game of his life, all Auburn will have to do is stop the run, which we’ve been great at all year.