****Official Post-Game Thread - Bama vs. Ohio State****

CoachJeff said:

Offense loses the top 3 WRs, top RB, QB, 3 OL, and Fowler. Kelly, Howard and Cam return. Defense loses DePriest, Collins, Dickson, Perry and maybe some others.

The D should be good. Hopefully Ragland doesnt leave. The secondary, on paper, will be worse.

Overall Bama will be in the same position - lots of talented, unproven guys and a few spots where we *hope* guys come around.

We are on LSU's shoes in terms of attrition. We just happen to have a much better coaching staff.

The dynasty, unfortanately, may be over. I don't know if Saban will win another title. I say this because winning with a great D is over. Winning with a great O is a crapshoot. Winston, Mariota, Cam... these guys aren't guys you can consistently count on having year in and year out. Maybe Coker plays like them next year and we win it all... then what? We'll be breaking in a new QB and lose a ton of skill players - Henry, Howard, Drake... it's just hard to do year in and year out.

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Winning with a great D is over. Ignorant statement.

First, thanks and hats off to the team for a very good season, winning 12 games and being SEC champs.

Given this bowl season, I have to stop looking down my nose at the Big 10. They caught up to the SEC this year.

But, the morning of 01/13, we will all be 'undefeated' again, looking forward to the 2015 season. Roll Tide!

I do not see a 12-2 record, SEC championship and making the Final Four an unsuccessful season. This team certainly exceeded my expectations. We were outplayed by tOSU, they are to be congratulated. These are my opinions:

1. Our dominance and the dominance of the SEC is over. While the SEC may still be the best conference top to bottom, the top teams from the other Power 5 Confereces are now the equal of the top SEC teams.
2. Defensively, we still have not adjusted to the "new wave offenses" whether it is lack of talent or schematic obsolescence is to be seen. Please don't say "running QBs do not give us problems".
3. It appears we put too much emphasis on a balanced offense statistically at the expense of offensive consistency. If the running game is working don't leave it to achieve some ideal run/pass ratio.
4. For those on here who say we only play for NCs and anything less is unacceptable, learn a new line. For those who believe we always have better talent than our opponents and that is enough to win, you may want to ask yourself how is it possible we ever lose.
5. Finally, while we came very close to being a dynasty there are certain givens in the world of college football and one is you cannot win them all and sometimes your opponent is the better team.

2003TIDE said:

Problem is Dre Kirkpatricks don't grow on trees. We've got highly ranked kids. For some reason it just isn't working out.

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Maybe we need someone else evaluating the high school talent.

crimsonaudio said:

Saban and Smart are supposedly defensive gurus, so even if the 4* and 5* guys haven't lived up to their billing on paper why does this team seem to make almost every QB look unbelievably good?

Heck, we had a WR who had never thrown a collegiate pass before throw a TD strike on us tonight.

There are fundamental issues with the defense. I think the discussion as to whether or not the game has 'passed Saban by' (defensively) remains to be answered at this point.

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7 were a pick six and that play was perfect coverage where Their guys executed PERFECTLY. Sometimes guys make a play. Not getting in a flow on offense killed the DL at times. They started getting tired after repeated three and outs. I hear you though. Another thing is that LB play has to get better on pass coverage. The injuries there really hurt in the end. Our guys fought hard all year though and I'm appreciative of their effort. They brought us a lot of pride and some really great moments this year.

This really makes you step back and appreciate all of our recent championships. It isn't easy to win and won't be any easier with the play offs now.


What a heck of a season, I know I enjoyed it and can't wait to see what our team can do next season. The past couple years will make you realize that you need to enjoy football and take it for what it is. An up and down roller coaster.

I am pleased with this board this time. Last year, it was a disaster on here. Seems like most people are taking this loss with grace.

rgw said:

And even Collins has limitations. He's like a linebacker/strong safety type...but we really had two of those body types this year instead of the HaHa or Lester type good at patrolling the middle of the field.

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I almost posted very similar observations on another thread. Collins is a good player and perhaps will have a good NFL career but IMHO was no where near the caliber of safety that we have had in the past. I remember the safeties providing MUCH more support to the CB's in past years. After Vinnie went down last year our safety play has been mostly abysmal since then.

Our DBs are about to be world class at the corners but expect some growing pains (but we've had plenty of practice). My super worry spot is Safety. We are losing a ton of leadership and in game experience. The future is still bright and I'll always love my Tide. RTR!

Dubose, Price, Franchione, Shula years=Perspective.

Roll Tide

Moro Creek said:

Winning with a great D is over. Ignorant statement.

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Care to elaborate? I think I have more evidence on my side.

bamacon said:

Dubose, Price, Franchione, Shula years=Perspective.

Roll Tide

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We would be discussing today... why we couldn't win the Birmingham bowl rather than a playoff game.

I am not sure recruiting rankings are as important as we have thought. I am not sure that our evaluations post 2009 have been significantly better than the experts. (I believe that in the Feb 2008 and Feb 2009 classes were significantly better than the other Saban classes.)

No doubt Bama has the talent but they are young. Coach Saban done a great job coaching this past season. There was no decision on the QB until right before the season started. Alabama over achieved this year but I will take the SEC as a consolation prize. RTR!

TIDE-HSV said:

TBad enough to get called yet again for targeting, he's trashing his neck. finally, no one can predict injuries...

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Are you talking about the hit on the kick coverage? I've seen a couple people mention that, but taunting on a another player who ran up and stood over the guy is what was called.

I don't know if winning with a "great defense" is over, but I know the game in terms of my expectations of great offense or great defense has changed. Heck in today's game, if you hold the opponent to less than 20 points a game, then you had a really good defensive game. The yards you give up between the 20's means little if you hold them to field goals attempts in the red zone. Passing totals of 300-400 yards were incredible totals. Today, they are like "meh".


Either they change the rules to give some of the advantage back to the defense or games like you saw in the two playoff games with totals of 79 and 77 points respectively will be the rule and not the exception. And truthfully, the game is becoming more difficult for me to watch.

crimsonaudio said:

I said 'based on recruiting rankings' - if you looks at the overall recruiting rankings, on paper, tI'll bet this is one of the best secondaries in the country.

Whether or not that translates into on-the-fielf success is a different matter - some players don't ever live up to the hype, some aren't 'coached up', and in some cases, the defensive philosophy / style makes them look worse than they are.

My point is we don't have a bunch of 2* and 3* guys back there - there's real talent. Why we can't seem to shut down the passing game is the question.

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i cant remember exactly, but haven't we had some pretty major "busts" in the secondary recruits in the past few years? seems like we were pretty patchwork back there all year

crimsonaudio said:

I said 'based on recruiting rankings' - if you looks at the overall recruiting rankings, on paper, tI'll bet this is one of the best secondaries in the country.

Whether or not that translates into on-the-fielf success is a different matter - some players don't ever live up to the hype, some aren't 'coached up', and in some cases, the defensive philosophy / style makes them look worse than they are.

My point is we don't have a bunch of 2* and 3* guys back there - there's real talent. Why we can't seem to shut down the passing game is the question.

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Eddie Jackson was the 48th ranked player at his position coming out of high school. He was listed as a WR. He was rated as the 56th best player coming out of Florida.

Cyrus Jones was ranked the 6th best athlete. He played WR when he first came to Bama. To his credit, he's really improved, but he has physical limitations.

Nick Perry was the 25th ranked safety coming out of high school.

In the wings Bama has:

Tony Brown - #4 rated CB (higher depending on where you look)
Marlon Humprhey - #2 rated CB
Hootie Jones - #4 rated S
Geno Smith - #8 rated CB

Bama has some nice young talent coming in that, on paper, should be a big upgrade.

Not having true "elite" corners have hurt us. It's almost mandatory that we have at least one in CNS's scheme. There simply wasn't a Kirkpatrick or Milliner on the field this year (or last year, but Ha Ha helped make up for that). Brown and Humphrey must grasp the scheme and do it quickly if we are to improve. We won't have seasoned safeties, other than G. Smith, to help out.

Maybe others can chime in, but is the scheme just too complicated? Are we asking the players to do too much thinking and not enough reacting? It seems with the onset of the HUNH, we look confused much of the time and are just too slow to react- especially in the secondary.

The refs clearly gave Ohio State this game. Bad officiating all around. I should have known the Orange Tiger Club had something to do with this. ***Blue Font***