All Things Alabama

[jasoninatl]

Can any Bama fans give us a breakdown to how they lost to Texas A&M? Besides the typical Johnny Football Wizard just used magic to run around answer.

Please understand that I was at the game, so take my comments with a grain of salt. You see so much more via TV now, that you miss a lot in person.

From what I saw, we got stubborn trying to pass. We just kept on trying to pass and pass and pass and pass. It made absolutely no sense at all. I mean this is an A&M team that just left the Big 12. What were their defensive players recruited to stop?

When we would run, we had success. We would gash them for 9, 11, 18 yards on a play, and then try 3 straight passes. It was so frustrating. Finally our playcalling made sense and we got back into the game by destroying them with the run. But we were down by 3 touchdowns at that point. However, we got back into the game, their defense was exhausted due to the run success. Then we finally had success with the pass. Then we get to the 2 yard line, against an exhausted DL. At home, with the greatest OL in the country (and imo wil go down as one of the best ever), 4th down, undefeated season on the line ....... And we try to pass. Intercepted!!!! YEA!!!! Then I threw my hat.

Nussmeier (our OC) I believe learned something from that loss. You didn't seem him try to win with that west coast passing BS like he did against A&M; when we played UGA. He just kept beating them half to death with the run. And he seemed ready to prove the point that he had learned something.

 

[chicago51]

A well rested Bama is dangerous but by no means unstoppable.

I'll give them the down week after LSU as part of the reason they lost. But, aTm called a fantastic game offensively and JM saved numerous drives with his escapability.

Alabama got back into the game in the 2nd quarter by sticking with the run and eventually over-powering A&M small D-Line.

Small as in 255, 280, 277, 245. Yes, that was the Aggies 4 front.

Now, size alone doesn't stop the run as we saw in the SEC championship where Georgia's undisciplined mammoth's gave up hole after hole, ignoring their assignments, refusing fundamentals and eventually succumbing to fatigue.

Fundamentals, Assignments, Conditioning. The three things Kelly and Diaco (coaches of the year, ahem) have brought to the Notre Dame defensive brand.
We won't stop their running game but simply limit or tame it. They will be forced to rely more on the passing game without the luxury of play action.

It's gonna be a low scoring affair because I think we will continue to struggle in the red zone but our D will keep them from trotting in every possesion.

Just want it over with already.

Georgia despite all the "NFL talent" had some of the worst tackling fundamentals I've seen this year. Yes their D-Line is huge but they have small LBs as opposed to ND who has all 4 LBs in the 250 range. I think the ND defense will be a very tough challege to say the least.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Please understand that I was at the game, so take my comments with a grain of salt. You see so much more via TV now, that you miss a lot in person.

From what I saw, we got stubborn trying to pass. We just kept on trying to pass and pass and pass and pass. It made absolutely no sense at all. I mean this is an A&M team that just left the Big 12. What were their defensive players recruited to stop?

When we would run, we had success. We would gash them for 9, 11, 18 yards on a play, and then try 3 straight passes. It was so frustrating. Finally our playcalling made sense and we got back into the game by destroying them with the run. But we were down by 3 touchdowns at that point. However, we got back into the game, their defense was exhausted due to the run success. Then we finally had success with the pass. Then we get to the 2 yard line, against an exhausted DL. At home, with the greatest OL in the country (and imo wil go down as one of the best ever), 4th down, undefeated season on the line ....... And we try to pass. Intercepted!!!! YEA!!!! Then I threw my hat.

Nussmeier (our OC) I believe learned something from that loss. You didn't seem him try to win with that west coast passing BS like he did against A&M; when we played UGA. He just kept beating them half to death with the run. And he seemed ready to prove the point that he had learned something.

Thanks for giving us your perspective. I watched that whole game, but honestly, I was rooting so hard for A&M (remember, we were 4th at the time so we needed a ton of help) that I forget much of that game, aside from the 20-0 lead and the sinking feeling that Bama would come back and win by one. And yes, that last pass attempt by McCarron was stupid, considering the O-line and the RBs you have. ND did the same thing against USC, KILLING them with the run only to get to the 10 and pass 3 straight times, and it was maddening as hell.

There are some good, honest (and yes, when your team is that good, it's OK to say it) Bama fans on here...too bad you guys get stained by the trolls. Like I've been saying, this should be a fascinating match-up!

 

[chicago51]

One thing about the Bama Texas A&M game was that Bama was moving the ball on the ground. They where doing 8 yards, 5 yards, 9 yards, 4 yards at a time. I don't remember any long 20 yard plus breakways. It seemed when Bama got impatient when they didn't break the really really long runs.

Don't forget Bama does have a different OC this year.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Lol

Italics means sarcasm here

LOL! My bad. It was too late at night for me and I just missed it.

On the subject though, the whole idea of any college team beating even the worst NFL team is laughable. Our two teams combined couldn't beat any NFL team's 2nd string more than two or three times in 100 tries. Totally different level of talent across the board. Any NFL team's 2nd string has 22 players who are good enough to make an NFL roster. Our two teams put together probably don't have that many.

 

[RallySonsOfND]

Georgia despite all the "NFL talent" had some of the worst tackling fundamentals I've seen this year. Yes their D-Line is huge but they have small LBs as opposed to ND who has all 4 LBs in the 250 range. I think the ND defense will be a very tough challege to say the least.

You could tell they went for the big hit instead of wrapping up.

 

[B.A.M.A.]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Andy in Sactown]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You clearly have no idea how bend but don't break works as a defensive strategy. Giving up the flats to wide open receivers does not constitute getting torched.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB

Not so much. He's that much better because of our D-Line.

OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line

They were forced to attempt 52 passes because we strangled their running game. So what you consider "torching" got them 13 points and a loss.

The claims from each side will not bend until this game is played. Enjoy it.

 

[phork]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

30-13 bro. How'd that A&M game turn out? Oh right.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Torched?

Lol.

 

[rocket66]

But Texas A&M beat them. I don't get this assessment at all. "NO ONE CAN BEAT US! EVEN THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS!", but you LOST to Texas A&M. You Lost. You Lost. You Lost. We didn't. We didn't. We didn't.

Thank you. Finebaum and his followers like to take shots at ND for playing a couple of close games. Um, you lost a game! It's almost as if they view a loss as better than playing to close wins. It's the most bizarre assessment I've ever heard as a cfb fan.

 

[kmoose]

Please understand that I was at the game, so take my comments with a grain of salt. You see so much more via TV now, that you miss a lot in person.

From what I saw, we got stubborn trying to pass. We just kept on trying to pass and pass and pass and pass. It made absolutely no sense at all. I mean this is an A&M team that just left the Big 12. What were their defensive players recruited to stop?

When we would run, we had success. We would gash them for 9, 11, 18 yards on a play, and then try 3 straight passes. It was so frustrating. Finally our playcalling made sense and we got back into the game by destroying them with the run. But we were down by 3 touchdowns at that point. However, we got back into the game, their defense was exhausted due to the run success. Then we finally had success with the pass. Then we get to the 2 yard line, against an exhausted DL. At home, with the greatest OL in the country (and imo wil go down as one of the best ever), 4th down, undefeated season on the line ....... And we try to pass. Intercepted!!!! YEA!!!! Then I threw my hat.

Nussmeier (our OC) I believe learned something from that loss. You didn't seem him try to win with that west coast passing BS like he did against A&M; when we played UGA. He just kept beating them half to death with the run. And he seemed ready to prove the point that he had learned something.

Bama had 34 pass attempts, and 31 rushes. Seems pretty balanced to me.

 

[chicago51]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes Bama QB exchange will be better. Although Louis Nix tends to be a distraction for opposing centers.

ND plays bend but don't break defense. I will give you 10 yard outs all day. It moves the chains but it almost never beats you. I think OU only completed one pass that was actually what the announcer's would say is "down the fied".

While ND it may look ND at times didn't get that much pressure most of OUs throws were short and quick because they were concerned about ND's D-Line. You don't give up sacks on 3 step drops unless you are the Chicago Bears O-Line.

Not mention the Alabama passing is not the OU passing. A. Cooper is great but Bama doesn't have the as many receiving threats as OU.

 

[ThePiombino]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I pretty much stopped reading at the above bolded...

Yes Bama QB exchange will be better. Although Louis Nix tends to be a distraction for opposing centers.

ND plays bend but don't break defense. I will give you 10 yard outs all day. It moves the chains but it almost never beats you. I think OU only completed one pass that was actually what the announcer's would say is "down the fied".

While ND it may look ND at times didn't get that much pressure most of OUs throws were short and quick because they were concerned about ND's D-Line. You don't give up sacks on 3 step drops unless you are the Chicago Bears O-Line.

Not mention the Alabama passing is not the OU passing. A. Cooper is great but Bama doesn't have the as many receiving threats as OU.

Valiant effort, but they most of these Bama fans have no interest in a healthy dialog. They think they're humoring us by even being on this board and pretending that they think it'll be close. Our boys will do the talking on the field. Mark it. They WILL do the talking on the field.

 

[Walter White]

Hello Irshmen
Today,I watched the OU game and got a warm fuzzy feeling. I think our center QB exchange will be a tad bit better ha ha!!!! Frosh QB,Frosh Kicker and yall are hanging your hat on a middle LB. OU torched your secondary the entire game and very little pressure from the D line. I've been to several bama games and our O -line up close in person made me nervous.... I think it will be a hard fought game but we wear you guys down in the 2nd half;but Iam old enough to remeber the media not giving bama a shot in hell at beating the "U" in 1992 and we destroyed em'. Yall be safe traveling down south and look forward to a good game!!!! Roll Tide Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tankjeep]

go IRISH!!!!

 

[TidesofWar]

Thank you. Finebaum and his followers like to take shots at ND for playing a couple of close games. Um, you lost a game! It's almost as if they view a loss as better than playing to close wins. It's the most bizarre assessment I've ever heard as a cfb fan.

You are making the mistake of using Finebaum lemmings to represent The University fanbase

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

You are making the mistake of using Finebaum lemmings to represent The University fanbase

He would have used Keith Jackson but he's currently vacationing in Bear Bryant's jockey shorts.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

You are making the mistake of using Finebaum lemmings to represent The University fanbase

Keep posting. It's getting chippy here (my posts are a prime example), but stay around and be a good sport until after the game. Then go away....

 

[TidesofWar]

Keep posting. It's getting chippy here (my posts are a prime example), but stay around and be a good sport until after the game. Then go away....

I will, and I might just decide I like it enough here to move in for good.

 

[rolltide76]

Football Talk ...

Football Talk ...

Any good football talk in here or just homers on both sides making irrational comments about the other team?

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Any good football talk in here or just homers on both sides making irrational comments about the other team?

Little bit of both. What's your take on the matchup?

 

[rolltide76]

Very Good!

Very Good!

Little bit of both. What's your take on the matchup?

Defense wins championships and both teams are at the top. Will be a struggle to move the ball on both sides with limited explosive plays as our defenses keep everything in front of them. I see a great deal of 3-and-outs by both teams with horrible 3rd down conversion rates. O-Coordinators will need to come out with an entirely different plan from previous games this year and break all tendencies. Special Teams will play a HUGE roll in this game and believe Bama has a very slight edge there. That coupled with, everyone has an opinion on it, our big game experience will push Bama to victory. Maybe something like 17-13 with everyone on the edge of their seat until the final play.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Defense wins championships and both teams are at the top. Will be a struggle to move the ball on both sides with limited explosive plays as our defenses keep everything in front of them. I see a great deal of 3-and-outs by both teams with horrible 3rd down conversion rates. O-Coordinators will need to come out with an entirely different plan from all previous games this year and break all tendencies. Special Teams will play a HUGE roll in this game and believe Bama has a very slight edge there. That coupled with, everyone has an opinion on it, our big game experience will push Bama to victory. Maybe something like 17-13 with everyone on the edge of their seat until the final play.

You're far too modest. The last dozen Gumps on here predicted 49-7 or far worse. I'm in the 38-6 camp myself, so naturally I thought they were crazy, and luckily a ban came for those deluded miscreants.

 

[Chamellion]

Defense wins championships and both teams are at the top. Will be a struggle to move the ball on both sides with limited explosive plays as our defenses keep everything in front of them. I see a great deal of 3-and-outs by both teams with horrible 3rd down conversion rates. O-Coordinators will need to come out with an entirely different plan from all previous games this year and break all tendencies. Special Teams will play a HUGE roll in this game and believe Bama has a very slight edge there. That coupled with, everyone has an opinion on it, our big game experience will push Bama to victory. Maybe something like 17-13 with everyone on the edge of their seat until the final play.

From someone who will be on the sideline for the game, I sure as ****ing hope that it's a close game. I love excitement.

As for the bolded text, I don't know if you have seen ND's PR team, KR this season, or our punting game...or for the matter our Kicking game, they've all been either awful, or inconsistent enough to give worry.

KR has had some nice returns, but also had some bad instances of players running into each other.
PR we get like 1 yard a return at best, but the majority of returns result in fair catches, due to Kelly not wanting to be burned by a fake, a la MSU last year. Neal, our PR man, has amazing talent, but we basically let gunners run free.
Punting is either a 40 yard punt or 20 yarder, Ben Turk is amazing at drawing penalties however.
Kicking, Brindza has been very good as of late, yet still is in his first season of primary kicker duties, and therefore is liable to mistakes such as missing XPs and short field goals.

So yeah, unless you guys have something like those problems, you have a pretty significant edge.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Defense wins championships and both teams are at the top. Will be a struggle to move the ball on both sides with limited explosive plays as our defenses keep everything in front of them. I see a great deal of 3-and-outs by both teams with horrible 3rd down conversion rates. O-Coordinators will need to come out with an entirely different plan from previous games this year and break all tendencies. Special Teams will play a HUGE roll in this game and believe Bama has a very slight edge there. That coupled with, everyone has an opinion on it, our big game experience will push Bama to victory. Maybe something like 17-13 with everyone on the edge of their seat until the final play.

I def agree that the play calling will be something to watch. Although, I expect to see Saban attempt the bread and butter run/play action offense at first to see if our D walks the walk. I obviously expect them to and agree that there will be a lot of 3 n outs thus creating a chess match for field position.

After all the opening craziness this could turn out to be a game lacking the wow factor but delivering the real football fan a beautiful 60 minutes of X's O's and repeated gut checks.

 

[Bishop2b5]

After all the opening craziness this could turn out to be a game lacking the wow factor but delivering the real football fan a beautiful 60 minutes of X's O's and repeated gut checks.

I feel sorry for the people who think that no defense and 68-65 scores is great football. They don't have a clue. They completely miss the strategy and skill involved in a smashmouth, low scoring, old-school defensive masterpiece.

 

[condoms SUCk]

Defense wins championships and both teams are at the top. Will be a struggle to move the ball on both sides with limited explosive plays as our defenses keep everything in front of them. I see a great deal of 3-and-outs by both teams with horrible 3rd down conversion rates. O-Coordinators will need to come out with an entirely different plan from previous games this year and break all tendencies. Special Teams will play a HUGE roll in this game and believe Bama has a very slight edge there. That coupled with, everyone has an opinion on it, our big game experience will push Bama to victory. Maybe something like 17-13 with everyone on the edge of their seat until the final play.

I agree on your assessment. For me it boils down to 3 things
1) ND can holding their own on both lines- which I feel we can.
2) Golson playing a little better than he did against OU.
3) Protect the ball.
If we can do those three things we have a great shot.
If we falter in any of those three we're going to be in trouble.

P.S. welcome to the board.

 

[Bishop2b5]

I agree on your assessment. For me it boils down to 3 things
1) ND can holding their own on both lines- which I feel we can.
2) Golson playing a little better than he did against OU.
3) Protect the ball.
If we can do those three things we have a great shot.
If we falter in any of those three we're going to be in trouble.

P.S. welcome to the board.

I pretty much agree with your assessment. Assuming both D's play as expected and both O's find it hard to consistently move the ball, field position will be huge. If one team can consistently force the other to start drives deep in their own territory while starting most of their own between the 35 & 50, that will be a huge plus. Unlikely either of these teams can move the ball 80-90 yards very often against the other's D.

Just being able to avoid 3 and outs so that you keep the other team's D on the field and wear them down some, plus being able to then punt and pin the other team deep in their own territory are probaby going to be critical.