Official SEC Football Thread 2012

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by longknocker

Sorry, Greg, I am willing to do almost anything to get the Gators back in the top 4.

[BeerAdvocate]

I would just like to thread jack, that is all

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by BeerAdvocate

I would just like to thread jack, that is all

Since you're jacking...Bet some cigars they don't win the National Championship?

[oooo35980]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

I don't know that I buy that Bama's defense problem was being beat up. They looked susceptible to the same offense that LSU threw at them, A&M just didn't let Bama stay as close to them in score as LSU did. I also don't understand the continued mismatch in size between the A&M end (was it 6'5" to 5'10"??). I don't know if that was due to Bama Not having any better option, or if the experience of our defender was just felt to be enough to make up for it? In the end, that was just another nail in the coffin. It was a well played game by A&M. Much better than played by Bama. It pointed up our weakness on pass defense, and our weakness against no-huddle offenses. Something that might not be over for us. We will just have to wait and see.

I don't even think we played badly, except in the first quarter. Not counting that we held them to 9 points and scored 24. We just couldn't come back from our defense rolling over in the first 15 minutes. Honestly the fact that we made it close speaks to the quality of the game that Bama played. After the disaster in the first quarter it was just too little, too late.

[OLS]

Its all relative. Of course you played badly, you lost, lol. But you didn't play TERRIBLY.
But what's relative is you are bama. You could compete with any team in the country.
This week though, it wasn't a penalty here, a turnover there. It was another near-whippin'.

Its like when the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl. There was 'no way" they could win,
but, and here is the parallel for me, Manning goes to the well too often with a pass he has thrown 1200 times
and the Saints player steps in front of it and goes to the house. This late in the season, everyone has seen
everything bama does when it HAS to have 5 yards, and you got burned on it. A&Ms defender steps right in front
of it and basically ends the game. Great film study by the Aggies and smart players defending with their backs to the wall.

As has been stated before, Nicky hates the no huddle. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to defend it
when there is this much on the line. I now no longer believe Nick Saban is going to be there forever. In fact
I believe he will be gone this year or the next. He once stated that it is a lot more fun to build a program than
to maintain it. He has built it, now he not only has to maintain it, he is getting criticized at home for nearly losing
to LSU and losing to A&M when he had the team to beat in both cases. There are rumblings on message boards,
and we all know Nicky's personality. He does not like to be criticized by the roundheads. I think the fun is gone
for Nicky at Tuscaloosa. He is going to bolt for a better gig, claim it was just the money, but I think it is too tough
to keep a national champion on the field year in and year out, which is of course what you guys expect now.

Isaiah, I disagree with some of your statements, none FULLY, but a little of all of it. It is NEVER too late for bama
to come back from a bad 1st quarter. You have the top team in the country by most SEC accounts. It is a travesty
that A&M is muddling down in 8th place, but I guess they can't leap LSU who beat em already, and there are all the
teams above bama that haven't stumbled, but UF almost got beat by ULL, cripey, how are they above LSU and A&M?
Well, its easy, LSU lost to UF. But that shows how messed up the BCS system is I guess. After beating bama, no one
can argue that A&M couldn't beat anyone above them. I guess its just the bad luck of the season so far. It has hurt
almost everyone in some way. Cept for those "undefeateds" Still, what's fairer than the current setup?

------

One thing for sure, EVERYONE wants to move on to the next game and forget what has happened over the past
two or three weeks, lol. it ain't over yet for bama.....we'll see how they respond.

[oooo35980]

I don't think just because a team lost they played badly, sure that first quarter was lousy, but after that our defense had their number and held them to 9 the rest of the game. It put the whole game on the offense which couldn't quite do it, almost, but not quite. We can blame Saban's coaching or Yeldon's fumble or AJ's interception, but fact is our defense didn't adjust fast enough and that's why we lost.

IMO that game is one we can be proud of, sure we lost, but everyone loses sometimes. Everyone acting like Bama is composed of Herculean demi-gods led by Zeus himself and should beat everyone by 100 points is just nonsense. They are a bunch of college kids led by a human coach, just like everyone else.

[OLS]

I respect the way you break it down.
For the record, there are a lot of the demi-god variety here. It keeps me hopping.

I agree that you can't blame the fumble or the pick, but the coaching, to me, is fully on the table.
At least to the degree that coaches mold the talent, and the talent was not able to contend with Manziel.
He could not be contained, he could barely be tackled, and rarely by the first person that had a shot.
That was not the first quarter, that was all game long. That is the defense, though, WE definitely means the
team, so you got it half right, haha. I saw passable quarterback play, and a decent running attack.
In the 4th quarter, QB play was top notch.

But on the defense specifically, I was entertained by Gary Danielson saying that the bama defenders were
trying to tap out and the coaches were telling them they had to stay in the game. I know that was just an
observation, your average viewer isn't going to SEE that. But I thought it was ironic that they were gassed, and
the coaching staff made them continue to play on. I am not sure why, character building or lack of depth.
Just not sure what the hell was going on. I have argued with the staunch demi-god crowd that bama does
not have the depth that LSU has, last year I got drubbed because of it, but LSU handled Manziel and bama could
not get it done for whatever reason. Did bama have competent players ready to come in? I sure don't know.
To me that IS coaching....whether it is strength and conditioning, coaches trying to prove a point or punish
players, who knows. But all of the individual mistakes, as you stated, were not the thing that led to a defeat.
I have to call it coaching. Same reason we lost to bama.

[OLS]

I also do realize that bama was awfully banged up, and these are just big, strong kids
after all. They had all they wanted out of LSU the week before. Hell, like I said, maybe
everyone just wants to move on.

[oooo35980]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, I thought the defense performed exceptionally well after the first quarter, sure they were tired, but they were going 90 miles an hour no huddle out there, anyone would get tired. I think offensively we could have done a better job, and the defense could have showed up earlier, but once they got in the groove they were really beyond reproach.

I also think we passed too much, like Saban bought into the Heisman hype about AJ and felt obligated to use the crap out of him whether it worked or not. Same thing happened with LSU. I'm half convinced that pick was because Saban wanted AJ to have the game winning TD again.

In some cases the score of a game doesn't actual tell the story of which team was better, or even which team played better. Had Bama run in that last TD and won the game everyone would be talking about what an awesome come from behind game, and Bama owned the field for 3 quarters, forgetting the first quarter entirely. As it is the last 3 quarters are forgotten and everyone is acting like A&M walked all over us for 60 minutes and Bama defense was just weak and overrated and couldn't defend itself out of a wet paper sack.

[Jefft72]

That was indeed an exciting game! I was pumped after the first quarter, but then had flash backs of all last year when we couldn't finish a game. It was another, "Oh no, here we go again" moment.

I also thought that if Bama continued to pound the ball that you guys could have smashed our defensive line. It's a good thing AJ kept on tossing the ball.

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

I don't know that I buy that Bama's defense problem was being beat up. They looked susceptible to the same offense that LSU threw at them, A&M just didn't let Bama stay as close to them in score as LSU did. I also don't understand the continued mismatch in size between the A&M end (was it 6'5" to 5'10"??). I don't know if that was due to Bama Not having any better option, or if the experience of our defender was just felt to be enough to make up for it? In the end, that was just another nail in the coffin. It was a well played game by A&M. Much better than played by Bama. It pointed up our weakness on pass defense, and our weakness against no-huddle offenses. Something that might not be over for us. We will just have to wait and see.

Naw, bro. I don't buy that at all. Plain and simple, Bama's D just isn't as good as it was last year. In fact, not even close. Stats cover up a bunch of shortcomings.

We didn't deserve to win this game. We were outplayed, outschemed, and frankly, outcoached. It happens. And just like last year, we need help from elsewhere. We'll see how the others do with the target on their back and the pressure squeezing their chests.

Carry on...

[OLS]

Originally Posted by oooo35980

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree,

YEP, lol....

I'm half convinced that pick was because Saban wanted AJ to have the game winning TD again.

I would not doubt that for a minute, although I am not sure Saban
cares about the actual Heisman, which I do not think AJ could win.

Had Bama run in that last TD and won the game everyone would be talking about what an awesome come from behind game,

Or how stupid he was for trying to run it in, had Lacy gotten stoned at the line...

As it is the last 3 quarters are forgotten and everyone is acting like A&M walked all over us for 60 minutes and Bama defense was just weak and overrated and couldn't defend itself out of a wet paper sack.

A&M was effective enough for 4 quarters to keep the score so close that a last minute pick
effectively ended the game. You were NOT walked over by any means, but you guys did not
come even close to owning the last 3 quarters. If you had you'd be in the BCSNCG no problem.
But I still need to read Rizzle's post, I bet he is telling you what I am telling you now. Just ignore
me. I love to argue LSU or bama. The asylum is stone dead these past 18 months.
Call it something to do.

Going into the game, I gave A&M's defense NO CREDIT. I said so here. NOW? I am thinking
they were pretty damn stout to hold off bama.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by rizzle

We'll see how the others do with the target on their back and the pressure squeezing their chests.

Carry on...

Boy you said a mouthful there. THIS is to me the essential ingredient to the near loss in Baton Rouge
and the loss at home. Kids are not cut out for this kind of pressure, scrutiny, criticism....Bama played
a TOUGH game and suffered a heart-breaking loss. NOW is the time to relax, tiptoe through the 'gimme'
end of the season and watch the pressure attack the teams they NEED to lose. Bama has a lucky charm
in their pocket, look what happened last year. In a way there was NO WAY they should have been
allowed into that game to roast LSU's a55. And in another way, there is no way they should be denied
the berth. That's a lucky charm. We'll see how it works out for em in these two weeks. Will they lose
again in 2012? I highly doubt it.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Jefft72

I also thought that if Bama continued to pound the ball that you guys could have smashed our defensive line. It's a good thing AJ kept on tossing the ball.

You were likely as confused as I was, bama was KILLING us running the ball.
A smart coach who was NOT out-thinking himself, would have finished the
game from that point with NO MORE PASSES, lol. But in the end, LSU lost
BECAUSE he passed and LSU out-thunk their own selves. But I am sure that
bama could have run on every down and obliterated A&M. When your foot is
on the neck of your opponent, you do not let em up.

I UNDERSTAND that in Saban's mind, he had to pass to keep the defense honest.
But when you are bama, you ought to allow the defense to PROVE they can stop
the run before you even CONSIDER honest-keepin' a strategy.

[OLS]

JEEZ, another of the always close, undecided til the end, Ole Miss versus LSU football games.
Ole Miss played a giant football game, had the LSU secondary looking like high schoolers after what
looks like a very nice bit of film study exploitation. Couple that with another whale of a game standing tough
and tall in the pocket by Zach Mettenberger and you have a slim victory by the Tigers, won appropriately with
a daunting running attack. ALL THE best to the Ole Miss Rebels, I hope they get bowl eligible next week.
They deserve it, but they are going to have a TOUGH time with Miss State up. HELL of a game by Ole Miss.
They had LSU's number big time, we were lucky to win.

[oooo35980]

Grats to LSU, game was much closer than most would have guessed. Everything else pretty much business as usual in the SEC.

I think the big winner this Saturday was Bama. Could be Bama ND in the championship?

[icehog3]

It would be a pleasure to see Notre Dame play a real football team for a change. Frankly, I think over 1/2 the teams in the SEC could beat them handily.

[Remo]

Wow, there is gonna be a shake-up in the polls!!! Dame may be #1 and they suck!!

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Remo

Wow, there is gonna be a shake-up in the polls!!! Dame may be #1 and they suck!!

It would be a pleasure seeing them crushed in the BCS playoffs.

[longknocker]

Originally Posted by icehog3

It would be a pleasure seeing them crushed in the BCS playoffs.

"Hopefully", BAMA Will Oblige, Brother!