Alabama Crimson Tide

[Orangefreak]

Does Parladay have any eligibility left?

You just had to go there, didn't ya?

[GBJs]

I think OF's farts post summed it up best... Bama just flat got the shit kicked out of them.

No contain on Defense... why would you open up the passing game against a defense from a pass happy league when our O line and (gracious plenty of) RBs could have worn their D to a frazzle by the third quarter? This one's on Saban for not taking control of the idiot calling the O shots and not doing SOMETHING to contain the hurry up.

I'm taking back at least ONE of my cents.


Roll Tide.

From my perspective, Bama lost because of the turnovers more than anything else.

Well, I'll agree with you only because it makes me feel better. Alabama was lethargic, uninspired, and out played. This is a total team loss and that includes coaching.

[GBJs]

Does Parladay have any eligibility left?

You just had to go there, didn't ya?

I figured as much as he is complained about, he could do no worse than Foster did these last two games. I mean dammit man, a quality place kicker when a team oversigns as much as Bama is accused of should be a no-brainer...

[Jungle Rat]

I still have some gas left.

[GBJs]

Heh at Rat!

[Professor Tiger]

Cade Foster was severely injured during the last 2 games. He has already been granted a medical hardship. He has also entered the witness protection program.

[Professor Tiger]

Professor Tiger's Official BCSNC Analysis and Prediction.

FSU is for real. They are the #1 team in the country and probably deserve to be. They are talented and athletic enough to compete for an SECCG. Yes, they played a panty waste ACC schedule, but they blew out all their opponents, which is just what you would expect a #1 team to do. By contrast, we are 2 miracles away from being 9-3 and playing our bowl game in Jacksonville or Atlanta or Nashville.

Auburn does not match up well aganst FSU at all. On defense, our front 4 is very good, but our back 7 is shaky at best. We are not very good at pass defense. Murray, McCarron and Manziel all had field days against our secondary. None of them are as good as Winston. For us to win, we must put a LOT of pressure on him with our front 4, as the back 7 will have their hands full trying to cover FSU's fleet of excellent receivers. But if Winston has plenty of time to throw, he will light us up all night.

On offense, we are by far the best running team FSU has seen all year. We ran successfully on some of the best defenses in the country, and I think we will have some success against FSU. When we line up on offense and run straight at FSU, and start getting some first downs, FSU defenders are going to look at each other and think, "Hey, these guys are as big and strong and fast as we are. They're not scrawny and slow like Wake Forest and NC State." FSU's defense will face adversity for the first time all season. If that rattles them, we will score a lot of points. If it doesn't, they have the talent and speed to make some stops and limit our scoring. And cutting our touchdown production by even a touchdown might be enough for them to win if Winston has the kind of night I think he will.

I also expect them to stack the box against our offense. Other teams tried that, but it never worked. Often, we ran successfully against an 8 man box. The better defenses trusted their front 7 to stop our run. When they started getting gashed, they started cheating their secondary up to stop the run. That left a situation where, during the 8-10 times per game we actually passed, Sammy Coates was usually wide open. But FSU has the best secondary in the country. They can stack the box all night and single man cover our receivers knowing that our receivers will be covered like blankets if we ever try passing. Nick Marshall's passing credentials are suspect at best, and our receivers have shown an infuriating tendency to drop passes all season long.

Also, the bowl season has changed the evaluation of our regular season. Our wins over Georgia and Alabama don't look as impressive as both lost - Alabama rather convincingly. By contrast, FSU's win over Clemson looks more impressive as the fake Tigers beat a solid (albeit a choking Big Ten) tOSUc squad.

For Auburn to win, four things must happen:

1. We must contain and pressure Winston for 4 quarters. (It would help a lot if he falls victim to the Heisman curse, and has a rotten game all by himself, but we can't count on that.)
2. We must be able run consistently, often against 8-9 man fronts. Even though we are a pure run offense, we usually score quickly. But on Monday we need to sustain long drives, and keep Winston off the field as much as possible.
3. We must keep the game close into the 4th quarter, where the pressure and stakes are extremely high. Under that kind of pressure we have consistently thrived, whereas that is uncharted territory for FSU. Maybe the Noles can handle it, maybe they can't.
4. Nick Marshall needs to be able to throw a lot more often than he has all season, and our receivers need to quit dropping and make catches in crucial situations against superb DB's. That has not been a proven skill for us.

Can Auburn do all that? I have my doubts.

GENTLEMEN, AUBURN IS IN TROUBLE.

[10ac]

The Auburn thread is a little further down the road.

[Professor Tiger]

I posted there too.

[Jungle Rat]

Yeah, we know.

[Professor Tiger]

I see Bama's OC quit before being fired. Nussmeyer's offenses seemed to be very successful recently, but maybe they were a little too vanilla for even Saban. Maybe he wants a modified vanilla offense.

I am amazed that Lane Kiffin is reportedly the leading candidate for the job. That guy just keeps falling up. He stays at Tennessee for a year, fails, and leaves them with NCAA problems. He is rewarded with one of the biggest coaching jobs in the country - USC - fails there too and is fired. Now another top program - Bama - is seriously thinking of hiring him.

That's a head scratcher. I don't see the attraction. I would think Kiffin's history with the NCAA alone would be a problem, but Saban has got Emmert doing his laundry for him, so I guess there's nothing to fear there.

I hope Bama does hire Kiffin, so that he can do for the Tide what he did for the Vols and the Trojans. It would also make for some interesting Bama-Tennessee games in Knoxville. Kiffin will have to wear a suit of armor to deflect all the rotten tomatoes and dead cats that Vol fans will hurl at him from the stands.

[Jungle Rat]

Dead cat pelts. They keep the meat.

[Professor Tiger]

In Tennessee, cat meat is good vittles.

[10ac]

Cats are critters.

[Jungle Rat]

That you eat

[Professor Tiger]

It's now official. Kiffin is Bama's new OC.

Wierd.

[GBJs]

I don't have a problem with him as OC... Saban doesn't allow interviews to freshmen and coordinators for a reason, Offense wasn't his problem at Tennessee, Bama doesn't need to use a hostess to recruit...

[GBJs]

I wonder if we could fire Grant and hire Bruce...

[10ac]

I don't have a problem with him as OC... Saban doesn't allow interviews to freshmen and coordinators for a reason, Offense wasn't his problem at Tennessee, Bama doesn't need to use a hostess to recruit...

I guess they needed an upgrade in integrity.

[Professor Tiger]

I wonder if we could fire Grant



and hire Bruce...