I don't believe this for a second. A few years ago, under Weis, that was very true. But a lack of athleticism wasn't the problem. The biggest problems we had tonight were self-inflicted. For one, the defense played terrible...sloppy, missed tackles all over the place, just a complete meltdown from what they had been doing all year. But, give Bama credit, they have some world class athletes that will flat run you over if you let them.
Two, we should have taken the ball when we won the toss. I understand the decision, Kelly trusted his D and decided to let them stand up first. Not a bad choice, as they are the stronger unit. But, getting the ball would have given us a chance to start establishing the run. It obvious with all the passing to start he didn't have confidence in us running against their front seven, but you have to try. Our passing attack is not SEC challenging enough yet, but our run game is easily. We needed it, and by the time we really tried to hammer away with it we were already down 14.
The refs straight up SUCKED in this game. Not making excuses...that was just a fact. Even the announcers kept saying "What's going on here!?" The catch by Eifert was a catch. The HALO violation for the kick returner was complete crap. We gave him space to catch it. I've seen plenty of games where a guy has that much room, misses the catch, and isn't flagged even if he gets hit. BUT, the big thing to me was his own man hit him...not ours. Whatever. The refs might as well had money hanging out of their pockets with as bad as it looked like they paid off the refs. Geez.
The major weakness we had, which we knew we did and was glaring, was our corners and their lack of speed and elite coverage skills. I was hoping Bama would lean more on their outstanding run game than their deep downfield passing. But, as with any good team, they identified that and took advantage of it. I don't know why we continually attacked their AA corner deep downfield...I understand the concept of striking where your opponent feels most comfortable or strongest, but we just weren't going to win most of those.
Overall, I think the biggest issue was stars in the eyes. Bama, and these players especially, have been here a few times already. NONE of our guys had any experience with the enormity of the moment. As talented as they are, we just had no experience and going against the best team in college football was insurmountable truthfully at the time. I really feel the best team won...but, don't mistake that for a lack of belief. Legitimately, we really were a year or so away...we have the #1 recruiting class coming in so we'll be back. But, at the moment, Bama and Saban are the people to beat and right now we weren't quite good enough...yet.
