Poll: Alabama's Dynasty v. Nebraska Dynasty

RJ YellowHammer

Hall of Fame
Sep 1, 2009
7,117
32
67
Memphis, Tn
I'm not arguing either way, but the numbers are interesting...
Code:
                2009    2012
Scoring O:      32.07   [B]38.71[/B]
Rushing O:      215.07  [B]227.50[/B]
Passing O:      187.93  [B]218.00[/B]
Total O:        403.00  [B]445.50[/B]

Scoring D:      11.71   [B]10.93[/B]
Rushing D:      78.14   [B]76.36[/B]
Passing D:      [B]166.00[/B]  173.64
Total D:        [B]244.14 [/B] 250.00
I know MI and TR were amazing, but we had ~6% more rushing yards in 2012 than we did in 2009. Defensive numbers are comparable, if not better in most areas. If the two teams played, not sure what would happen, honestly .
I do...the world would explode!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And Barrett Jones would be exhausted.
 

CrimsonChuck

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 1999
5,639
4
0
51
Philadelphia, PA
I think 95 Nebraska is the best college football team in my lifetime. They punished everyone on their schedule and then destroyed one of Spurrier's best teams at Florida. That Florida team was undefeated and crushed everyone in the SEC that season, but could not stay on the field with Nebraska. I think that was the same Florida team that had Manning's Tennessee team down 35-0 at their place during the half.
The best OFFENSIVE team of our lifetime. And 2011 Bama was the best DEFENSIVE team.
 

Rasputin

Suspended
Apr 15, 2008
5,686
1
0
But you have to look beneath the numbers (just playing devil's advocate here to arrive at a conclusion).

1) The 2009 schedule was MUCH tougher (#2 in difficulty) - and that team went unbeaten.
2) Despite the tougher schedule, they basically allowed one ppg more
3) One can easily argue that because of the easier schedule:
a) we ran the ball more to run out the clock and not run up the scores
b) other teams were passing in desperation to get back into the game (that would explain both the better run and worse pass numbers on the 2012 D).
4) The O-line this year was MUCH more experienced than that year.
5) McElroy was a rookie QB while McCarron came into the year having already won a championship.


The 2012 offense is better.....but against easier competition.
I agree with many of the points here:

My quick synopsis of the 2 teams.

Offense: Advantage 2012

Quarterback: AJ is head and shoulders a better quarterback than GMac. He has a much stronger arm and the offense is able to do some things they could not with GMac at the helm. Take nothing away from Greg, he was a great leader and game manager, but the offense was limited with him at the QB position.

Advantage: 2012

Runningback: This will surprise a few people but I feel the tandem of Lacy (when healthy) and Yeldon are equal to the duo of Richardson and MI. The reason for this, is Lacy and Yeldon give Alabama two different type of backs, on the other hand, MI and Richardson were very similar backs in a lot of ways. I am also in the camp that believes that Yeldon has a chance to go down as one of the greatest backs in Alabama football history.

Advantage: Push

O-line: This is not even worth debating.

Advantage: 2012

Wide Receiver: Julio is the big name that stands out for most people on the 2009 club. As we all know, he is one of the greatest physical freaks to ever play the wide receiver position. Yet we sometimes forget that Julio's production in 2009 was not heisman'esque. This year Alabama brings a much younger receiving corps to the stadium, but one that is much more polished and has great "ball hawking" ability, particularly A. Cooper. I am a huge J. Jones fan, and he has come along ways since the 2009 season (just watch him this weekend eat up the Seahawks if you don't believe me!) but we are comparing him and their receiving corps from 2009. I think the advantage would go to the 2012 group but unfortunately injuries (Black, White, Norwood, etc.) ate up the group. Coopers is the reason they still get the credit that they deserve.

Advantage: Push

Defense: Advantage: 2009

Linebackers:
This years group of linebackers was a deep and diverse group made up of veterans (Johnson and Mosley) and young'uns (DePriest and Hubbard). This group played well together but sometimes had problems against the pass. The 2009 linebacking corps was made up of McClain, Reamer, Anders, Hightower (injured early in the season against Arky), and Harris. McClain was the signal caller of the defense and rarely if ever had the Alabama D in a bad position. This defense was notorious for checking 1-3 times pre-snap confusing the offense and getting the exact matchup/scenario that would disrupt the offensive play. No disrespect to this years group of linebackers, but if Hightower stayed healthy in 2009, this may have been as good of a group of backers Alabama has ever had.

Advantage: 2009

Defensive Line:
Jessie Williams led the d-line at NG this season for the Tide. He is the strongest player in Alabama history and was seen on almost a daily basis in the gym for anywhere to 8-10 hours! No disrespect to Mr. Williams, but his strength did not always translate to domination in the A Gap, at least not to the extent of the next individual I will be discussing. In 2009, Alabama was led by a behemoth of a NG who had a very accommodating nickname, Mount Cody! TC dominated offenses and controlled the line of scrimmage with his great size, quick ball "get off", and quick hands and feet. He also saved Alabama heartache by blocking a field goal against Tenn. as time expired (and no Gary Danielson, his helmet coming off after the play should not have cost Alabama the ball game idiot...I digress). The '09 group also featured Deaderick, Dareus (I bet Texas wants that screen back and the football he shotputted into the Pacific Ocean), Davis, Washington, and Chapman. This years group featured Dial, Stinson, Pagan, Square, and Ivory. Both of these D-lines rated as well as anyone in the country, but the '09 group IMO controlled the line of scrimmage a tad bit better.

Advantage: 2009

Defensive backs:
Similar to the O-line discussion, nothing here to even play devil's advocate about. 2009 in a runaway.

Advantage: 2009

In conclusion I feel it is very difficult to say who was the better team. They both play similar styles of ball and they both have strengths and weaknesses that each team would have exploited. The only truth that can come from an analysis of the two teams is this, 2009 had the more dominant defense and 2012 had the more explosive offense. If somehow those 2 teams could have combined their 2009 Defense with the 2012 Offense...hell they might have won a few ballgames. :wink:
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
I think 95 Nebraska is the best college football team in my lifetime.
I can buy this, although, I'd have '95 Nebraska and '01 Miami there together.

Florida waltzed through the SEC, winning the SEC Championship game 35-3, going 8-0 in the conference, beating top 10 FSU, and the '95 Nebraska team set records blowing that same Florida team away. Their AVERAGE margin of victory was 39 ppg. That's nuts.

And, they played a decent schedule - 4 top 10 teams, and beat them by an average of 31 ppg, with only one of them being a home game and three of them in a four week span.

Of course, the hypothetical match up is impossible to have a "right" answer, but let's not forget how dominant that team was and just say "oh, they were just some good offense that didn't really play any defenses." They are arguably the most dominant CFB team in the modern era. Best? Who knows. But they destroyed everyone, even good teams.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
Pointless to compare teams nearly two decades separated. The game has evolved a lot even since 1995-1997.

My comparison would be simply by results:

In simple dominance by record, I believe Nebraska gets the edge. They went 49-2 in their 4 year run and narrowly missed out of a national title the year previous to their dynasty (18-16 loss to Florida State; 11-1 record). They were undefeated in bowl games over their four seasons and only Miami in 1994 avoided an absolute detonation at the hands of Huskers. Alabama had similar bowl domination, but Alabama went 49-5 in their four seasons.

Their one knock in comparison to Alabama is that their titles weren't all consensus picks. They split with Michigan in 1997 though I believe Michigan would have struggled to contain them. It's hardly the Huskers fault the BCS didn't exist and their was no mechanism to pull Michigan away from the Rose Bowl. It is the reality though...they skirted from playing a #1 or #2 team in a bowl every championship season. Alabama had to beat a #1 or #2 team every single championship.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
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Pointless to compare teams nearly two decades separated. The game has evolved a lot even since 1995-1997.

My comparison would be simply by results:

In simple dominance by record, I believe Nebraska gets the edge. They went 49-2 in their 4 year run and narrowly missed out of a national title the year previous to their dynasty (18-16 loss to Florida State; 11-1 record). They were undefeated in bowl games over their four seasons and only Miami in 1994 avoided an absolute detonation at the hands of Huskers. Alabama had similar bowl domination, but Alabama went 49-5 in their four seasons.

Their one knock in comparison to Alabama is that their titles weren't all consensus picks. They split with Michigan in 1997 though I believe Michigan would have struggled to contain them. It's hardly the Huskers fault the BCS didn't exist and their was no mechanism to pull Michigan away from the Rose Bowl. It is the reality though...they skirted from playing a #1 or #2 team in a bowl every championship season. Alabama had to beat a #1 or #2 team every single championship.


The Huskers blew away a relatively light schedule. (Don't come back at me with "but they beat four ten-win teams and those games weren't close." Go look at who those ten wins by the ten-win teams were against and get back with me. K-State had 8 wins against also-rans, Colorado was decent enough, and Kansas beat a bunch of nobodies. In short - they played three ten-win teams in the regular season who were only ten-win teams because they all routed the same other weak teams).
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
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South Alabama
I agree with many of the points here:

My quick synopsis of the 2 teams.

Offense: Advantage 2012



Advantage: 2012

Runningback: This will surprise a few people but I feel the tandem of Lacy (when healthy) and Yeldon are equal to the duo of Richardson and MI. The reason for this, is Lacy and Yeldon give Alabama two different type of backs, on the other hand, MI and Richardson were very similar backs in a lot of ways. I am also in the camp that believes that Yeldon has a chance to go down as one of the greatest backs in Alabama football history.


Advantage: 2012

Wide Receiver: Julio is the big name that stands out for most people on the 2009 club. As we all know, he is one of the greatest physical freaks to ever play the wide receiver position. Yet we sometimes forget that Julio's production in 2009 was not heisman'esque. This year Alabama brings a much younger receiving corps to the stadium, but one that is much more polished and has great "ball hawking" ability, particularly A. Cooper. I am a huge J. Jones fan, and he has come along ways since the 2009 season (just watch him this weekend eat up the Seahawks if you don't believe me!) but we are comparing him and their receiving corps from 2009. I think the advantage would go to the 2012 group but unfortunately injuries (Black, White, Norwood, etc.) ate up the group. Coopers is the reason they still get the credit that they deserve.

Advantage: Push

Defense: Advantage: 2009

Linebackers:
This years group of linebackers was a deep and diverse group made up of veterans (Johnson and Mosley) and young'uns (DePriest and Hubbard). This group played well together but



:wink:
Runningbacks MI and TR with Upchurch have an advantage over EL,tjY, and kd because Ingram was a fast physical back with TR being the same but faster and even more hardhiting with the ability to be a key part of the passing game by blocking and going out for passes. Upchurch is kinda like TJ in being nimble but he wasnt as talented.

ok we can compare Julio and Amari all day and all come up with different opions, but 09 has a clear advantage in TE with Colin Peak and Smelly. Norwood is great but if I had to choose it would be Peak. as for the other stable of receivers... if 12 could stay heathy I think they would hold a slight advantage with White and bell vs 09s Mccoy and Maze
 

Rasputin

Suspended
Apr 15, 2008
5,686
1
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Runningbacks MI and TR with Upchurch have an advantage over EL,tjY, and kd because Ingram was a fast physical back with TR being the same but faster and even more hardhiting with the ability to be a key part of the passing game by blocking and going out for passes. Upchurch is kinda like TJ in being nimble but he wasnt as talented.

ok we can compare Julio and Amari all day and all come up with different opions, but 09 has a clear advantage in TE with Colin Peak and Smelly. Norwood is great but if I had to choose it would be Peak. as for the other stable of receivers... if 12 could stay heathy I think they would hold a slight advantage with White and bell vs 09s Mccoy and Maze
To each their own but I think TJ is every bit as good as MI and TR. I know it is not the popular thing to say but I have watched a lot of football and that is my conclusion...
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
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South Alabama
To each their own but I think TJ is every bit as good as MI and TR. I know it is not the popular thing to say but I have watched a lot of football and that is my conclusion...
yea its a personal prefrence . like whos better walter payton, bo, or brown
 

BradtheImpaler

All-American
Nov 16, 2010
2,001
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0
Sugar Hill, GA
I have a feeling that next year's team will make this irrelevant. As has already been pointed out, our dynasty is still evolving because we are just getting started.

While Nebraska was dominant, they were one dimensional on offense. Our balanced offensive attack makes Alabama a much harder team to defend, and therefore better. Defensively, I think we are a wash. Nebraska had a very dominant defense, but offenses have evolved a tremendous amount in the intervening decade and a half. And if you are going to talk about NFL talent, it's pretty hard to ignore the huge number of first round draft picks that Alabama has produced in the past couple of years... and will continue to produce.
 

GeorgiaTider

All-SEC
Oct 30, 2005
1,565
24
57
62
No way to compare these teams. It would be like comparing the first Super Bowl winners with this years. Each was the best for their time.
 

Rasputin

Suspended
Apr 15, 2008
5,686
1
0
Do you think we win it all again next year?
I think we are without a doubt a front runner and favorite. Too much goes into being the National Champion so I try to not act like I am Nostradamus and predict the future, but I do believe that we as a team have a great opportunity to win the National Championship every year Saban is at the helm*.

*As long as the players continue to by into the "Process" and we continue to recruit the way we have.
 

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