Explain the "Garcia Moment"

CrimSonami

All-American
Jul 17, 2011
3,038
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Ardmore, AL; too close to 10erC
The "Garcia Moment" was what I called, at the time, an "Out of Body Experience". As a previous poster stated every competitive athlete at some point in their effort hits the "Zone" that can't be explained or duplicated. I'll give LSU credit for a hard fought game and well executed game plan. I truly hope ZM doesn't follow the same pattern and path as Garcia and enjoys continued success. He has the physical tools but I sometimes wonder about the surroundings, team attitude and supportive personnel based on recent history in BR. The question now is what will they do from this point. Will there be another internal meltdown like we saw last January or will their leadership guide them in the right direction? We'll see. I'll be watching as will most all CFB fans.

RTR!!!
 

WMack4Bama

Administrator
Staff member
Nov 7, 2008
11,483
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Tuscaloosa, AL
I was at UA from 2000-2006. In that time, watching the NFL draft was about the most frustrating thing in the world. Players at multiple positions had the games of their lives against us. And their highlight cut-up ALWAYS had Bama on the short end of it. Off the top of my head, the following players should probably send Bama royalties for putting them in the league:

Desean Foster
Freddie Mitchell
Michael Turner
Jason Witten
Travis Stephens
Rohan Davey
Josh Reed
Mark Clayton

And I'm fairly sure that there are more, but I stopped my list before I got depressed about it again
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,103
44,784
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East Point, Ga, USA
I was at UA from 2000-2006. In that time, watching the NFL draft was about the most frustrating thing in the world. Players at multiple positions had the games of their lives against us. And their highlight cut-up ALWAYS had Bama on the short end of it. Off the top of my head, the following players should probably send Bama royalties for putting them in the league:

Desean Foster
Freddie Mitchell
Michael Turner
Jason Witten
Travis Stephens
Rohan Davey
Josh Reed
Mark Clayton

And I'm fairly sure that there are more, but I stopped my list before I got depressed about it again
add to that multiple auburn waterboys having heisman worthy performances against us during that time period as well.
 

AlexanderFan

Hall of Fame
Jul 23, 2004
11,064
7,467
187
Birmingham
Similarities:

Off week before game
On the road
Struggling quarterback
Insanely accurate throws at crucial moments.



Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
 

Krymsonman

Hall of Fame
Sep 1, 2009
5,408
3,112
187
River Ridge, LA
Living amongst the Tigers, I think it would be correct to say that everything they did pointed to this game. And although they had been a little quiet, you could tell the national championship game has been eating at them all year long. This was their superbowl, and since they had already lost to Florida, the game had even more significance. This was a must win, two weeks to prepare, and at home at night in Tiger Stadium. Throw in the "garcia moment" and it looked perfect for LSU. I would still have liked to have seen what happened had we not fumbled going in. Sportscasters are all saying TJ would have probably scored. I don't know, but I wonder if Mettenberger would have been so hot if they were down 21-3 at the half instead of 14-3. Krymsonman
 

BigBama76

Suspended
Oct 26, 2011
1,002
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0
Atlanta, GA
Every competitive athlete has one of these days - a day in which you can simply do no wrong. IMO, Zach had one of those days. We will only remember it because it happened in a very important game (like Garcia).
I don't know if every competitive athlete has one but I do remember mine or I should say I don't remember mine because when you enter the 'zone' you don't even know you are there until it's over.

The only way I know to explain the 'zone' is a focus so intense you are totally unaware of what's happening around you. My first 'zone' moment was as a pitcher. I was scheduled to pitch but woke up with a severe pinched nerve. Nothing I tried helped alleviate the pain so just before game time I told the coach I couldn't go.

Long story short he insisted that I try to pitch anyway you know gut it out, take one for the team. When the game was over, I didn't even know it was over, the score keeper came running up to me wanting to shake my hand and saying congratulations you pitched a perfect game.

I don't know if Mettenberger was in the 'zone' but the way he stood in the pocket oblivious to the hit he was about to take and delivering almost perfect throws would indicate something he'd never done before that night.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,810
15,647
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Boone, NC
I believe M. Jordan described "the zone" as everything slowing down.

I think he's the first to ever use the term, but maybe the slowing down part was someone else's description but it seems to fit if you've every personally experience it.

I played basketball on every level except pee-wee and the pros and I only experienced the zone one time...just once and it was against the best defensive player that ever guarded me.

One day ZM will probably say that about the Bama defense and the night he had against it. Just glad he didn't win:wink:
 

Nolan

Hall of Fame
Jul 4, 2006
5,591
679
137
Oahu
We shut down 9/10 of the QBs we play. It's always gonna seem out of whack when that one guy does well.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
I think a lot of it, if not most of it, is from confidence.

I am guessing that LSU's gameplan was much more specific than any other game this year. They had probably practiced that game plan more than for any other game. They had probably pored over Bama's defense much more than any other opponent. Simply put, he felt better about his ability coming into this game than any other game this season by a good margin.

Then, after a few successes, he really developed confidence.

Confidence goes a long way in competitive sports. Not an emotional, rah-rah, confidence. But, instead, a "Yeah, I know what I'm doing," confidence that comes through preparation. Basically, part of the reason we are so successful - practice and preparation producing confidence.
 

rolltideallday

1st Team
Dec 18, 2011
514
0
0
Tuscaloosa, AL
I don't know if this has been mentioned but I think motivation is a big thing. Obviously LSU had the motivation from last season and when we played SC that was revenge for Ingram destroying their defense they year before and basically putting him in the lead for the Heisman. Also, both teams had an off week and the fan bases were absolutely crazy. They were very similar situations.
 

gamersfuel

All-American
Jan 20, 2008
4,174
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72
Auburn/near a cow pasture
i dont think ZM is a bad QB at all. I think the issue with LSU, as well as last season is the simple, vanilla offense they run. with that extra week off they obviously worked on adding some things to the passing game instead of being totally vanilla like normal. I dont expect them to continue. They will probably go back to that offense now.
 

cooleddie

1st Team
Jul 27, 2003
523
1
137
pensacola,fl
My best explanation of the "Garcia Moment" is that it is when a QB finally trusts his instincts along with his receivers & no longer plays timid or afraid of making mistakes. It's the gunslinger mentality that we saw in AJ during the championship game versus the AJ that we saw in the regular season loss to LSU. He admitted that he was tight and did not go out there to play to win.
I think this mentality is what separates great NFL QB's from the average ones. The QB's that excel not only are students of the game, but they trust their receivers, make throws before the breaks and before a receiver is wide open. They anticipate what the receiver will do and where the defender will be in relation to the throw. They understand where to place the ball so that only their receiver can get it or they just trust that he will make the play. Dan Marino used to say that there is no defense against a perfect pass.
When you have the "I've got nothing to lose" mentality, I think you tend to throw caution to the wind and sling the ball. They probably tend to make more throws that they would normally shy away from and check down to a safer option. That's why I fear those backup QB's that get the call when the starter goes down. Sometimes they can come and light folks up.
 

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