Next Season's Schedule Breakdown Has Some Tough Spots

We seem to get up for the LSU game more when it's in "red stick" and we do have a few Louisiana players so maybe that helps. Ole Miss kinda worries me and Arky and UT could be more competitive than usual as away games.

That four game stretch of Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU is not that bad. LSU is my only concern of those four. Ole Miss, maybe, but I'm not worried over it.

derek4tide said:

That four game stretch of Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU is not that bad. LSU is my only concern of those four. Ole Miss, maybe, but I'm not worried over it.

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I am not "worried", but with so much unproven, it wouldn't surprise me if any of them were a loss.

IMHO it all depends on how much of a drop off we have offensively. If you figure X amount of drop due to the loss of AJ but add Y back in to account for CLK "opening up" the offense then most of those games get kind of easy. OM will likely be athletic but undisciplined. Arkansas will be tough but predictable. A&M without JM is just nowhere near the same. A&M the last 2 years has been a bad with one heck of a stud player. Tennessee is weak everywhere. The big concerns to me are LSU and AU.

Don't see that back to back nasty team that can reach up and grab you. Tennessee and LSU, both away games, look tough as rivals go, but the bye week relieves normal stress.

I don't see how. According to everyone else Bama's schedule is incredibly weak. Just like it has been the last several years...


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Way too early to tell, but I can see the possibility of us losing to either LSU or AU. We could slip up in that 4 game stretch between open dates.

GrayTide said:

Way too early to tell, but I can see the possibility of us losing to either LSU or AU. We could slip up in that 4 game stretch between open dates.

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That is because it's primarily an SEC schedule. So far, LSU can't find a QB who even remotely resembles Mett and when they talk about one dimensional QB, so far, that means they can run. The barn is going to get all of Bama's attention and wrath that a Nick Saban team can bring to the contest.

Thought it was interesting that the DC of Georgia and recently of Florida State, Pruitt, mentioned the way they shut the barn down in the second half was to simplify. They simplified calling one defense and he told them to play their assignment. Amari Cooper is talking about dumbing down the offense and perhaps the best strategy against the repetitive HUNH spread is to do the same. Could it be better to simply let the talent play rather than feel the need to out smart all comers?

I will take a 3n out every time. So need to out smart, just accountability.

derek4tide said:

That four game stretch of Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU is not that bad. LSU is my only concern of those four. Ole Miss, maybe, but I'm not worried over it.

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Yeah, we probably won't even bring our first string to most of those scrimmages. Save 'em for the post season.

As we know we get everyone's best effort, but UT is replacing both lines of scrimmage this year. The Coach Kiffin event going back to Knoxville will be a big media circus but I don't think UT can compete just yet. LSU should be our toughest game, but we cannot sleep on either of the Mississippi schools.I'm not worried about the barn at all.

gtowntide said:

As we know we get everyone's best effort, but UT is replacing both lines of scrimmage this year. The Coach Kiffin event going back to Knoxville will be a big media circus but I don't think UT can compete just yet. LSU should be our toughest game, but we cannot sleep on either of the Mississippi schools.I'm not worried about the barn at all.

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I'd be worried just a little about them. Yes I know it took a miracle play but they do have some good players. I say it comes down to defense ours had their struggles but their's was even worse.


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TUSKtimes said:

That is because it's primarily an SEC schedule. So far, LSU can't find a QB who even remotely resembles Mett and when they talk about one dimensional QB, so far, that means they can run. The barn is going to get all of Bama's attention and wrath that a Nick Saban team can bring to the contest.

Thought it was interesting that the DC of Georgia and recently of Florida State, Pruitt, mentioned the way they shut the barn down in the second half was to simplify. They simplified calling one defense and he told them to play their assignment. Amari Cooper is talking about dumbing down the offense and perhaps the best strategy against the repetitive HUNH spread is to do the same. Could it be better to simply let the talent play rather than feel the need to out smart all comers?

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Simplify the defense and play assignments to stop the HUNH. Just what many of the pundits here have been saying. Pretty soon every team facing the HUNH will start doing that. Good teams will stop it cold, and they won't even need to flop.

Isn't Florida the 4th or 5th game of the year? That could be a tough game as well. They have plenty of talent down there.

deltatider said:

Isn't Florida the 4th or 5th game of the year? That could be a tough game as well. They have plenty of talent down there.

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Actually, it's a great time to play them on the schedule. It's the first SEC game of the season. Having arky there for a number of years tells me it's not part of the schedule you will overlook. Florida has got to fix a train wreck of an offense, literally putting in a new system, again. Having them at BD stadium sets up nice for us. Now, if we can get Bo Wallace to say something stupid and immature again, that will take care of that double header.

TUSKtimes said:

Thought it was interesting that the DC of Georgia and recently of Florida State, Pruitt, mentioned the way they shut the barn down in the second half was to simplify. They simplified calling one defense and he told them to play their assignment.

Click to expand...

This may be the real reason we've struggled against the HUNH, but CNS is just too smart not to adjust if simplifying is the real key to slowing it down.

gtowntide said:

.I'm not worried about the barn at all.

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I just hope that the team and coaches don't have this attitude. As Jess suggested last year after losing to the Barn, Bama needs to make the Auburn game the most important game of the year.

Many of us have said for years that the Barn's goal each year is to win the IB and we've said Bama's goal has been to win the NC.

But Jess has suggested that we need to think more like the Barn is thinking about the IB because if we lose that game we are probably not going to the SECCG and in most cases we won't go to the NC.

Where the Barn falls on the schedule, we can't ever afford to take them lightly. I know we can't afford to take any team lightly, but we could possibly lose to LSU and still be highly ranked at years end, but we can never lose to the Barn and expect that loss to not hurt us.

I think next year's schedule's challenge boils down to three things:

1. How mentally mature this team will be. "Doing things right" as CNS might say.

2. How much better our defense might be, especially at the corner position.

3. How much CLK has an impact on our offense and how well he mentors our new qb.

Who we play and when we play them is the same story year after year, but based on what we saw last year and what CNS said about last year, those three things are the real key for success this year.

In the past, our team has arguably played better on the road than at home. Maybe it will be a good thing.