Red Elephants, TerryP, Cornbiscuit . . . my good buddies all . . . let's talk football. We all come on this forum to talk football, don't we? That's our only agenda here on Tigerforums . . . to talk football. Let's talk football. After you had that punt return for a TD, things looked very good for the Crimson Tide. You could smell Bama Victory (we all know the smell . . . sort of smells like an elephant). Three questions: 1) How in the heck, in your opinion, does a highly ranked team like LSU give up that TD on the punt return? 2) What did you think about the LSU comeback victory? The mark of a champion fighting back to get the win? Or just another Saturday of LSU getting lucky? 3) In your educated opinion, which coaching staff did a better job of getting the team ready for the game? LSU's coaches? Bama's coaches? You guys have been great all year, and we have enjoyed your many posts as these past 10 months have progressed. I'm really interested in your thoughts. Thanks. PS Other Bama fans are encouraged to answer my questions, as well as the many Bama fans who have been lurking on our message board for the last week or so without posting. Come on, guys, don't be shy. Let's talk football. :crystal:
If you want my honest opinion...and I'm sure you dont want to hear it, I think that your team, while talented as hell--and at the same time pretty lucky, are very undisciplined (sp?). Lots of big time flags will cost you a game sooner or later. Almost did tonight. As far as yards, LSU killed us...But our defense, while young and very thin, played well. We got a few picks and a sack or 2. They let too many easy throws go over the middle though. Inexperience plays a factor here, as well as a very thin defensive front. I think that the Bama coaches were more prepared to be honest. LSU went up 17-3 and the adjustments were made defensively and we came back. The end of the game was great--even though it didn't go my favor. If JPW doesn't fumble, you'd have to drive and attempt a FG...The TD from inside the 5 wasn't hard. Also, if Keith Brown wouldn't have been POPPED and dropped the ball, we may have tied--but in the end, we didn't. Great job by LSU putting pressure on JPW. Made plays down the stretch when they needed to...But for this team to go all the way, they need someone to take charge of these flags. They look like the old FSU teams Bobby used to let do what they want. Bama isn't back...but we showed you tonight that we're on the right track. All those outlandish 47-7 predictions were crazy... :insane: We are a better team than that.
I also questioned the lack of Hester. I also think that although some of the penalties were ticky-tacky they were mostly correct. We just weren't as sharp as Bama was. However, I'd say this has more to do with Bama's home field advantage than the coaches' preparation. I don't see how the Bama coaches got more out of their talent. They made the most out of LSU's mistakes, but statistically LSU dominated the game.
Right, which the ultimate root of being able to do that is coaching. Take out Saban and insert Shula and this game is 38-3. Trust me we've seen the evidence of bad coaching. Nick has fundamentally taught many of these players how to hedge their weaknesses and play toward their strengths. That has begun to show as the year progresses. We were statistically dominated but I put about as much weight into that as I do the time of possession myth. If your team is winning the TOP but you're kicking fg's and the other team is putting up TD's it doesn't matter. Or if you're winning the TOP and the score is tied what does it much matter?
Shula took Miles into OT 2 years ago when we were a more talented team... I'm not so sure that coaching made the difference here. LSU played poorly, and Alabama is a talented team. It doesn't take a great coach to keep a game close under those circumstances.
Well, you didn't address me directly, and it's a PITA for me to post, because this computer, combined with the vB cookie, requires me to log in every time I refresh the page. On the return, that's no disgrace. You'll hear a lot more about him before he graduates. He's a special broken field runner, the like of which we haven't seen since David Palmer. There was a little bit of luck involved in your comeback - the reversals and all - but you knew HOW to come back and did it, rather than cave. And I respect your players for that. Now, for the coaching issue, which will get me flamed. Bama was far better prepared. The talent gap is so great between the teams that you should have been a three TD favorite. There are many positions where we have guys playing who couldn't have advanced off your scout team and I'm frankly very envious. It will take us at least three years of excellent recruiting to draw even with you in raw talent. We were missing two starting OL and a co-starter (only decent big back we had) plus two contributors. Think about those factors. Now, I know there are the usual screams about "home-cooking," (could I have had a little of that on Caddell's pass reception?), but the number of penalties called on LSU kept us in the game. And, even if you say that only 2/3 of them were legit, the remaining 1/3 is inexcusable in a MNC team. Your staff has got to get a handle on your players' emotions. And, the final point on the coaching issue is that the buzz among the Bama fans who sit around me (most of them knowledgeable, other than I) was "why didn't you just continue to run the ball down our throats?" We couldn't stop you. The only way we could stop you was if you dropped the run and started to pass. And your staff decided to do just that. There you have it. And, BTW, flames don't bother me. I've been called every name under the sun already...
i want to temporarily hijack this thread to tell all the bama fans what a great game their team played. but more importantly there are so many threads on here right now by bama fans congratulating us which shows a lot of class and that kind of thing doesn't go unnoticed around here. saban and miles will continue to stockpile talent and this yearly battle with y'all is going to be nailbiter city for years ahead. but i just can't remember seeing so many different threads started by opposing fans after a game with well wishes. i thought that was cool. good luck to y'all with state and AU! hijack over.:tigereye:
We have a much less talented and experienced defense than that 2005 team. Also our depth is worse now than in 2005. This is a much better conditioned and disciplined team with less to work with than what Shula had.
