It’s Round 3 of the BlogPoll Roundtable. Questions this time come from Straight Bangin’, and gets a little bit away from just looking at teams, which is nice.

So here it is, a groove, slightly transformed… just a bit of a break from the norm:

Which unheralded player on your team will be the hardest to replace? Which seemingly inconsequential player could make the biggest impact?

This question confused me a bit. I take it to mean which player that isn’t around from last year will be tough to replace, though thoughts of “which player on this roster will you miss like mad next year?” Just like a multiple choice test, I’ll go with the first gut instinct. Since it was added in the commentary, “Who replaces that one white possession receiver who made those third-down catches in crunch time?”, the answer sets up to be Corey Partridge or Luke Alexander, a couple of freshman wide receivers who will be called on to step up and replace WR’s Cole Magner (the white possession receiver) and James Hawkins, but the numbers Magner and Hawkins put up (746 yds. on the year for Magner, 12.7/catch for Hawkins) hardly make them “unheralded”. Likewise, I don’t think you set an NCAA record for PAT’s and keep the “unheralded” tag, although, as we’ve found out in the past, if the offense stalls in the red zone, you need someone that can get three on the board. Hopefully, former punter Josef Timchenko fills Shaun Suisham’s soccer shoes admirably. (He made his only FG attempt last year, and it was from 40+. We’ll be fine, right?)

For my final answer, I’d have to go to the gimmes of the “unheralded”, and say that the couple offensive linemen finding new positions will need to step up. Korey Lichtensteiger has proven himself as a stud, and should fill in admirably for the departed Scott Mruczkowski (now with the Chargers).

Inconsequential? I don’t think anyone can be considered inconsequential here, the offense uses everyone, the defense is what is going to separate a good team from a championship team, and I already talked about the stinkin’ kicker. So I’m going to go back to “unheralded” and watch out for B.J. Lane. He’s patiently stuck around in the shadows of P.J. Pope for three years and making a name for himself as a return man. Now there are rumors of running some two-back sets. It figures that Pope will manage the majority of the running game, but Lane should surprise, breaking off some big runs off misdirection with Pope, or splitting out as an extra receiver.

Which regular-season game that won’t feature your team would you pay the most money to see this season? Why? Bonus: From Brent of the theoretically archetypical ParadigmBlog–Which rivalry game would you most like to attend?

This one’s tough, especially with the “bonus question” involved. I generally can’t get up for games my teams aren’t involved in, until it’s the only game on TV at the time, or it’s one of many games on and is tight down the stretch. Therefore, I’d most likely drop my coin to catch a rivalry game.

Having peeked ahead at some of the early returns, I’m going to have to agree with Army-Navy as the top option. That game gets ya going even watching on TV, I can’t imagine the atmosphere in person. Other than that, I’d have to say one of the 8pm starts in the SEC. Those games always seem to be nailbiting classics, and what better way to enjoy a college football game than with 12 hours of pregame tailgating followed by a prizefight on the field, with 80-100 thousand folks in the stands that would literally die for their team? (Review for RJYH still to come. Maybe tomorrow. I promise.)

If your team were a rapper, who would it be and why?

Here’s where the peeking got me again. I was all set to make the Tupac (or rather, “2pac”, before he got all Hollywood and poetic on our asses) reference/analogy/metaphor, but just a dozen or so posts in, its been done to death. (No, uh, pun intended.)

So I’m going to up the ante.

The original thought was that the BG defense was like ‘Pac. They come around with big hits every now and again, but for all intents and purposes, they’ve been dead since the mid-90’s. (Wherefore art thou Carlos Brooks?) But since the Shakur analogy has been made ad nauseum, and I only covered the defense, I’m saying that BG is most like Digital Underground. The Tupac-ian defense is there, but there’s more to the group. Many may have forgotten about them after their success in the early 90’s, but both kick some major ass today.

Besides, after blowing a 27-7 halftime lead to Toledo in a game they seriously had by the short hairs in all aspects of the game, the DU comparison allows me to go this route:

You’re up 20 at the half against your bitter rival, potentially with a sure bowl bid on the line. You’re tearing the field up on offense, forcing the turnovers on defense, stymying their bubble-screened offense.

For the last 30 minutes, what do you do?

A) You plain and simply back up off her
B) You hit it just a little bit softer
C) You take out and put it in her butt
…and you know the rest.

Now, with that analogy made, and my refusal to refer to Gregg Brandon as “G.B.”, out of deference and sheer terror of the Gary Blackney regime, I think I will now refer to Brandon simply as “Money B”. And perhaps that makes Offensive Coordinator Greg Studrawa “Shock G”? I like it.

(Runner-up for the “If BG was a rapper” prize: Warren G. The past four years they’ve been hyped as the next big thing, but aside from a couple hits, they really haven’t delivered to their full potential.)

Now piano man, take us outta here….