re: "The easier-than-it-looks game" ... per the AJC

quote:

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so the Tigers don't have a want to win all games?

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Of course we want to win every game. But the emotional component is very important in the college game (not as much in the pro game).

It's extremely difficult for a team to play at maximum physical and emotional intensity for all 12 games. That's why we often see a team play "flat" after an emotional win the week before - it's just not possible to be "sky-high" every single week.

A great example is the Kentucky game in 2007 that we lost in triple OT. We had to go on the road to play KY a week after our very, very tough emotional win against Florida. We were flat as a pancake against KY, which was entirely predictable. You also see it in bowl games all the time. One team with higher aspirations gets put in a mediocre bowl, and they just don't want to be there. That was part of our problem last year against Clemson. Florida also had that problem last year against Louisville, which was a team they couldn't get pumped up for.