Link: More Reasons Alabama Overachieved Last Season Despite Losing That Playoff Game

RTR91

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Two news stories broke Wednesday that didn't exactly stop the presses or shut down the Internet, but they were significant if you follow college football in general and SEC football in particular.

Trey DePriest got cut by the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, and Blake Sims signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts.

Put it another way, and it looks like two of the veteran leaders of Alabama's 2014 football team will not play in the NFL next season. If ever.

Those developments give a little more credence to the legitimate theory that the Crimson Tide overachieved last season by winning the SEC championship and reaching the College Football Playoff. Or, at the least, you could say Sims, DePriest and company reached their ceiling.
 

dWarriors88

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I remember coach saban saying something to the effect that he was looking for Trey Depriest to step it up, or bulk up in the weight room prior to the start of the season. I feel kinda bad that Trey never really hit that potiential we all thought he had when he signed with the crimson tide. Never the less, he will still have a good career somewhere. Those degrees are really special.
 

bama2112

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Overachieved? Nah, more like par the course. Trey got overtaken as the best LB last season. Blake came out of nowhere.
I hate to say it but how many time did people call Sims a game manager like they did AJ. If it had not been for Kiffen down on the field being his eyes and ears we would have had more losses than we did. I just dont think that Sims is cut from the cloth to be a NFL QB. I maybe wrong and have before, but I still wish him the best of luck...
 
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Overachieved? Nah, more like par the course. Trey got overtaken as the best LB last season. Blake came out of nowhere.
I hate to say it but how many time did people call Sims a game manager like they did AJ. If it had not been for Kiffen down on the field being his eyes and ears we would have had more losses than we did. I just dont think that Sims is cut from the cloth to be a NFL QB. I maybe wrong and have before, but I still wish him the best of luck...
I think he needed another year.


Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus RTR
 
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GrayTide

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DePreist was probably as good as a high school senior as he was last year. Not a knock on Trey but some players develop and peak quicker than others while some do not develop to their potential until their junior and senior years. IMO that is what makes recruiting such an in exact science, to know if they are as good at 18 as they will ever be or will they be at their peak at 20 or 21. Fortunately CNS gets this right most of the time but can still miss on some.
 
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81usaf92

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Overacheived or Underacheived is hard to say. I think most think we overacheived because no one saw us that good with Blake and Kiffin. But the defense was highly regarded going into the season, and the revenge game against Auburn was supposed to be a beat down but turned into a track meet that we won. SO I guess a little bit of both is the most true answer.
 

B1GTide

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We got exactly what we deserve. Could we have done better? Yes. Could we have done worse? Yes.

I don't think we over/under achieved. We had a chance to beat osu.

RTR
Exactly right - If Alabama over-achieved last year, you sure fooled everyone in college football. These are "revisionist" journalists looking to stir up something that doesn't exist.
 

Redwood Forrest

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If I remember right we lost to Ole Miss with several turnovers. We led OSU in the playoff game and lost with turnovers. That is not something to wring our hands over. I am looking forward to getting started and don't know why we are not ranked No. 2.
 

Nolan

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We were up 21-6 on OSU late in the first half. We didn't get it done. I don't know if I'd call that overachieving. Looking at the potential reward of holding on to win the game, it'd be more like we underachieved. Either way, it's history.
 

81usaf92

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If I remember right we lost to Ole Miss with several turnovers. We led OSU in the playoff game and lost with turnovers. That is not something to wring our hands over. I am looking forward to getting started and don't know why we are not ranked No. 2.
I remeber the Ole Miss game was all about turnovers and missed oppurtunities. Losing Drake hurt, but I remeber special teams gave it up twice in crucial moments. To even it up we did benefit from a controversial scoop and score as well. Arkansas and Ole Miss were some horrible games we played. tOSU I think we were just beat. tOSU was the hottest team at the time and usually the hottest team going into the playoffs are the ones that are the best teams for the playoffs. Too often the number 1 seed is the one that doesnt make it. Granted we were up 21-6 at one point but also tOSU had two turnovers at that point. Its over and we probably shouldve been undefeated, but whats done is done
 

selmaborntidefan

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I think the problem in assessing last year comes from the tendency of the media (and for that matter the fans) to drastically over-react to everything.

We blew out Florida; everybody sorta ignored that despite the big point total, we turned the ball over A LOT.

Then we lost to Ole Miss and survived Arkansas, and all of a sudden fans were talking about a three-loss season ahead of us. MSU and Ole Miss looked pretty good.

Then we sandblasted ATM and the call was, "Well, Manziel is gone and ATM isn't really that good." Had a rough patch against Tennessee but won.

But our whole season as far as making the playoff really came down to that flag when LSU all but had a touchdown to put away the game. When we held them to a field goal and then we drove down and tied it and THEN we took the lead.....all of a sudden our whole team was buoyed and probably thought that they could never lose again. To make it better, we really dominated #1 MSU for all but some of the fourth quarter.

And then we came back from Auburn by flinging the ball all over the sandlot.......I think the players really believed and didn't think we could ever lose - the feeling ten times what it was after LSU (plus the feeling of having gotten revenge on Auburn for that Kick Six).

So we make it and all of a sudden everyone thinks we're #1. And we did lead OSU, 21-6, so......


I think we were what we were and ended about what we should have.
 

RTR91

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Overachieved? Nah, more like par the course. Trey got overtaken as the best LB last season. Blake came out of nowhere.


Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus RTR
I don't recall any one predicting Alabama to be in the playoff - much less the number one seed - with Blake Sims as the starting QB. In that regard, the team overachieved.

We were up 21-6 on OSU late in the first half. We didn't get it done. I don't know if I'd call that overachieving. Looking at the potential reward of holding on to win the game, it'd be more like we underachieved. Either way, it's history.
Scarb is saying the season as a whole was an over-achievement, not the playoff game.

I remeber the Ole Miss game was all about turnovers and missed oppurtunities. Losing Drake hurt, but I remeber special teams gave it up twice in crucial moments. To even it up we did benefit from a controversial scoop and score as well. Arkansas and Ole Miss were some horrible games we played.
Losing Drake and Ryan Kelly really hurt the offense against Ole Miss. Not sure how different the game would have been had neither not gotten hurt.

I think the problem in assessing last year comes from the tendency of the media (and for that matter the fans) to drastically over-react to everything.

We blew out Florida; everybody sorta ignored that despite the big point total, we turned the ball over A LOT.
Florida benefited from the four turnovers. The second one was a scoop and score. The first and fourth fumbles put Florida's offense inside the Alabama 31 yard line and led to touchdowns. The third fumble of the day put them on the Alabama 35.

Then we lost to Ole Miss and survived Arkansas, and all of a sudden fans were talking about a three-loss season ahead of us. MSU and Ole Miss looked pretty good.
And not many fans or media members wanted to really factor the injuries against Ole Miss and the weather against Arkansas. The overall performance led folks to believe the team was in trouble.
 

crimsonaudio

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I was a devout BS fan before last season but no one, not even the most ardent supporters, could have predicted how explosive the offense was last year. The defense was good, very goo much of the season, but the offense was so good in most games the pressure was off the D.

I consider last year's team an overachiever and despite the disappointment in some aspect of the team, it's truly one of my favorites of all time.
 

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