Link: Kirby Smart Reflects on Ohio State Loss
- Thread starter RTR91
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Fascinating read. That really explains so much. It kills me how much the game coverage can get into the players' heads, but it just happens. To be honest, heck, as a fan I couldn't see how a 3rd string guy was going to beat us either.
I love it that we brought in their OC. How convenient that he took the job at Houston. Maybe we'll meet up with Ohio State again and get some revenge.
I love it that we brought in their OC. How convenient that he took the job at Houston. Maybe we'll meet up with Ohio State again and get some revenge.
So you're now telling me that Colt getting hurt had nothing to do with Texas losing?
Because what film did we have on Gilbert? And wasn't Gilbert's Daddy an NFL QB, so he was brought up as one?
I'm being a bit snide but our loss to Cardale Jones makes any appeals to "Colt got hurt" so irrelevant I get angry about it. I used to chuckle but now it sets me off.
Because what film did we have on Gilbert? And wasn't Gilbert's Daddy an NFL QB, so he was brought up as one?
I'm being a bit snide but our loss to Cardale Jones makes any appeals to "Colt got hurt" so irrelevant I get angry about it. I used to chuckle but now it sets me off.
We've seen this happen periodically in a few situations. Starter gets hurt, backup comes into the game, and immediately turns things around. The defense is caught off guard, the fans fall in love with the QB... it usually turns out that the QB looked better than he was because the defense simply wasn't prepared for him.
It's kind of insane, but that injury helped Ohio State. Their backup was up to the job, he got a game under his belt to shake off the rust, he had plenty of time to prepare, and all this time Alabama didn't have a good idea of who they were preparing for. Usually, the quarterback's abilities just wouldn't be up to this task and it would have favored Alabama, not this time though...
It's kind of insane, but that injury helped Ohio State. Their backup was up to the job, he got a game under his belt to shake off the rust, he had plenty of time to prepare, and all this time Alabama didn't have a good idea of who they were preparing for. Usually, the quarterback's abilities just wouldn't be up to this task and it would have favored Alabama, not this time though...
Has happened often in the NFL where almost all of the QBs have at least decent talent. But often within a few weeks, if not sooner, the D figures him out.
Amari said the same thing about the team overall, "we did not take them seriously enough". No one wants to hear that and it is not a valid excuse, but it is at least part of the reason. And yes it is the coaches' job to get them "ready", but it is inconceivable that the staff, esp Saban, did not harp on this.
B
BroadwayJoe777
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First off , it just blows my mind that anybody could "overlook" another player or team, especially in the setting of the first FBS "playoff". Even more so a team that is known for preparation.
Second, even if they did "overlook" him or OSU in general, it shouldn't have taken but just a few plays for them to go "oh snap, we got to play this dude hard up!"
It's really hard for me to relate to coaches having to "psych them up" and "get them ready" to play. Prepare? Yes. Game plan? Yes.
Second, even if they did "overlook" him or OSU in general, it shouldn't have taken but just a few plays for them to go "oh snap, we got to play this dude hard up!"
It's really hard for me to relate to coaches having to "psych them up" and "get them ready" to play. Prepare? Yes. Game plan? Yes.
Im going to say our defense wasnt that great. Smart can say we only had one game of film on cardell but that doesnt explain elliot running for 230 yards. We got beat plain and simple.
By that time, it's too late. You're basically scrambling, holding on for dear life at that point. We did make some adjustments and the defense did give the ball back to the offense with the chance to take the game back over, but Sims promptly threw an interception.
True, but Elliot doesn't rumble for 230 without Jones catching the D off guard (also helped that we lost two of our best defenders on his last run which put him over 200).
We got beat, fair and square, and I don't take any of this as excuse making. Just some insight into the "why" and also how we might avoid it in the future.
Gilbert is no Cardale Jones. If Texas had Cardale Joes instead of Gilbert I am not sure we would have won that game.
Thats semi debatable. Everyone likes to justify that tOSU snuck up on us and that we let them get back in the game, but the truth of the matter is that they turned the ball over twice early and we capitalized. We werent that great all year at forcing TOs. tOSU was an equal team to us that was peaking at the right time. We were an exposed team hoping Kiffin and Blake kept momentum. Nick Marshall's most passing yards in 14 before the iron bowl came against aTm with 256 yards. We gave up 456 yards. That was the writing on the wall that we were in trouble if we played tOSU or TCU game 1.
Plus everyone likes to say 3rd string starter but Cardell Jones is no ordinary 3rd string.
That's true but it also hits at the legendary excuse. It's not our fault Mack Brown padded Colt's stats rather than getting Gilbert reps just in case.
And without meaning to take anything away from Ohio St (which is why I don't talk about the game - because we plain flat got beat but at least I can look at it that way rather than feeling robbed due to a bad ref call or stupidity)......we blew it, too, in several instances. Give Jones credit - tons of kids would've choked in that situation.
I seem to recall that in the 2010 Arkansas-Auburn game....I think it was Mallett who went down with an injury and I think the backup threw for something like 300 yards in about one half or so.
All good points. Our D got its flank exposed particularly by Auburn. If Missouri's QB had an ounce of accuracy we'd have also had some trouble.
But it's all water over the bridge now or whatever.
Oh I don't disagree with you. No, I don't mean to say OSU snuck up on Alabama.. and I don't think Coach Smart is saying that either. It's just they had a lack of game film on Jones. Not unlike a season opener against a new starter. This new starter just happened to be really good on top of being new and somewhat unknown.
We were a flawed defense that simply couldn't afford the match up issues we faced against OSU.
The same things win that always won. We just have a bunch of different excuses if we lose..
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I remember Nick Saban saying that a team can only get up for so many games a year. I suppose psychologically you can only go out there so many times before your mind and body become battle weary so to speak. This isn't really an exaggeration, it's been said that playing a football game is like a car wreck. How many car wrecks can you go through in a year before it starts to slow you down?
It's easy to forget that these players went through a ton. It was a battered and bruised team, that played the second most difficult schedule in the nation. No other playoff team had that to contend with, even for Ohio State and Oregon, who played in the additional round, they still played a far tougher schedule.
Add to that the fact that Alabama, even if they won had another playoff game on the horizon, something they never had to deal with before (it simply isn't fair they had to play the first, considering how more they had to do to get to that game) and yeah... I can see why they might not have been up to the task mentally and physically. Most of the SEC was worn out by the end of the season, it wasn't just Alabama, they'd beaten themselves up pretty badly. Is that an excuse? I suppose it is, had Alabama overcome that they would have overcome far more than anyone else had to, that much I know.
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In addition to not respecting the QB enough perhaps some of the players did not respect the Ohio State team enough. Here we were playing a team from a conference that was considered weak for quite a while. After the four teams were announced some of the pundits thought Ohio State didn't deserve to be in the playoff. The players heard all that. While Coach Saban takes everyone seriously it's tough to get a whole team to think that way. Then we get a nice early lead in the game and maybe some of the players relax a bit. Suddenly Ohio State gets a couple of scores to make it close at halftime giving them a lot of confidence for the second half.
If we didn't respect jones and tOSU after seeing the Wisconsin game then more people should've been shown the door than there was because jones would've been the third qb and team that we didn't take seriously last year.
I agree with you about excuses. However, sometimes there is a good excuse. OSU simply won the game on our turnovers, IMO. OSU was good enough to do that and deserved the win. But, if Cardale had went out in the first quarter and Gilbert had replaced him . . . . .
Which is like saying if we had been playing Vanderbilt in the Playoff we would have won, :smile: I guess
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