The Championship is Set... Bama vs Ohio St. What are your initial thoughts?

[81usaf92]

I think one thing ALABAMA needs to do is consult with Ohio State on "How To Hire A Good Coach" - because it seems to me the Buckeyes have hit three straight home runs:
Tressel
Meyer
Day

And John Cooper was NOT a bad choice when they hired him nor was Earle Bruce. Bruce was victimized by a game that was changing to reduce the huge edge the Blue Bloods once had.....and Cooper was a notorious choker in the big game, but he beat everybody else.

They've done MUCH better than we have since 1978 at hiring head coaches.

Why don’t we ask LSU as well... last 3 coaches won a national championship too.

FTR technically the last 3 Ohio St HCs DID NOT compete for a national championship. 3 of the last 4 did. But considering who that 4th not named is it makes Ohio St look even better.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Waddle could be the Heisman winner this year if he had not been injured. He is impossible to defend. He is faster than Smitty, has hands like Smitty, but is far more elusive than Smitty. Getting him back would make the entire offense better. I am not talking about stats - I am talking about making it impossible to use a safety in run support or to blitz. If Alabama gets Waddle back at anything near full strength, I just don't see how we beat you no matter how well Fields plays.

Yea, Waddle was out producing Smitty early this year. Adding Waddle to a team with an elite OL, RB and Heisman finalist WR & QB is just unfair. Only way we lose a game with Waddle close to 100% IMO is if Sark goes crazy and calls his worst game of the season.

Agreed and TY for that...On the other side. I don't see how tOSU wins with an injured Fields? I'm not arguing anything, just saying that we HAVE performed without Waddle at a record pace. You haven't, and I would assume don't want to find out how tOSU is with an injured Fields...or without him at all.

that's fair. I guess I'm just assuming Fields will be close enough to healthy that it won't be a huge deal.

 

[The Ols]

Yea, Waddle was out producing Smitty early this year. Adding Waddle to a team with an elite OL, RB and Heisman finalist WR & QB is just unfair. Only way we lose a game with Waddle close to 100% IMO is if Sark goes crazy and calls his worst game of the season.



that's fair. I guess I'm just assuming Fields will be close enough to healthy that it won't be a huge deal.

Did you see that hit? I took a week off from the pain!!!
It was a brutal, terribly placed spear...Nobody walks away from that w/out some lingering effects...

 

[SFBuckeye]

Smith is a

Is Wade your best DB?

Right now, yes.

 

[B1GTide]

This is a rumor, but it seems to have some credibility. It looks like we (OSU) are dealing with at least another small Covid outbreak. As of now, it is not a big enough problem to warrant a request to post-pone the CFPCG. The only 2 players who have been specifically named in these rumors are Tyreke Smith and Tommy Togiai - both of whom are DL starters, and both of whom had HUGE games against Clemson.

Since Day does not talk about Covid at all, we will not have any idea if this is true or not until a few hours before kick-off if true, and he might not even deny it if it is false.

 

[bamacpa]

The OSU defensive tackles against Owens and Brown concern me some.

 

[B1GTide]

College Football Nerds is doing their prediction on YouTube a little differently this year. They will be doing it as a live stream with live comments. For those interested, it starts at 2pm Eastern:

 

[The Ols]

This is a rumor, but it seems to have some credibility. It looks like we (OSU) are dealing with at least another small Covid outbreak. As of now, it is not a big enough problem to warrant a request to post-pone the CFPCG. The only 2 players who have been specifically named in these rumors are Tyreke Smith and Tommy Togiai - both of whom are DL starters, and both of whom had HUGE games against Clemson.

Since Day does not talk about Covid at all, we will not have any idea if this is true or not until a few hours before kick-off if true, and he might not even deny it if it is false.

So the new quarantine is 6 days? LOL...I kid...
As for the bold...who started the rumor then? Gamesmanship?

 

[B1GTide]

As for the bold...who started the rumor then? Gamesmanship?

There are no officially cited sources.

 

[The Ols]

There are no officially cited sources.

That was kind of my point...

 

[jjv0004]

This is a rumor, but it seems to have some credibility. It looks like we (OSU) are dealing with at least another small Covid outbreak. As of now, it is not a big enough problem to warrant a request to post-pone the CFPCG. The only 2 players who have been specifically named in these rumors are Tyreke Smith and Tommy Togiai - both of whom are DL starters, and both of whom had HUGE games against Clemson.

Since Day does not talk about Covid at all, we will not have any idea if this is true or not until a few hours before kick-off if true, and he might not even deny it if it is false.

I posted this last night. The same guy just posted 2 hours ago again saying not pleased by the news (obviously) and that the same insider was right earlier this year about some stuff. One poster in response to him putting that out there got upset at him thinking he just notified Alabama of top secret stuff.

Gobuckscm 51 MINUTES AGO
I know a guy who is close to a few of the players and gets "inside info". He says that Justin Fields just has a lot of bruising (nothing broken), so that's the good news. The bad news is that there have been more positive COVID tests for additional players, including Tommy Togiai and Tyreke Smith, along with some other unnamed guys on defense. This guy has been accurate on all of the other COVID test absences in the past. Obviously not great, as the D-line was awesome vs. Clemson. Hopefully, we can get Zach Harrison back to take Tyreke's place. Not being at full-strength against Bama is not ideal.

 

[B1GTide]

I posted this last night. The same guy just posted 2 hours ago again saying not pleased by the news (obviously) and that the same insider was right earlier this year about some stuff. One poster in response to him putting that out there got upset at him thinking he just notified Alabama of top secret stuff.

Gobuckscm 51 MINUTES AGO
I know a guy who is close to a few of the players and gets "inside info". He says that Justin Fields just has a lot of bruising (nothing broken), so that's the good news. The bad news is that there have been more positive COVID tests for additional players, including Tommy Togiai and Tyreke Smith, along with some other unnamed guys on defense. This guy has been accurate on all of the other COVID test absences in the past. Obviously not great, as the D-line was awesome vs. Clemson. Hopefully, we can get Zach Harrison back to take Tyreke's place. Not being at full-strength against Bama is not ideal.

The main reason that I believe it - we had other players on our d-line out for the Clemson game. It is easy to believe that they got it from their peers but were not positive before the Clemson game, and now are.

 

[jjv0004]

The main reason that I believe it - we had other players on our d-line out for the Clemson game. It is easy to believe that they got it from their peers but were not positive before the Clemson game, and now are.

What starters were out for Clemson?

 

[B1GTide]

What starters were out for Clemson?

Zach Harrison and Tyler Friday, both DEs, missed the game and will be back in the rotation (we think) for Alabama.

 

[Tenntiderman]

we only missed the spread by a point or two. add in the fact that we obviously intentionally slowed the game and played vanilla for 30 minutes and the fact of the matter is that we did blow ND out. we could have scored 3 more TDs if that was what we really had wanted to do.

Not disagreeing. That is spot on. I think most people agree. We could have named our score. Just saying that our guys hear all that stuff leading up to these games..and they knew there was a bigger game. There was..There is. You are exactly correct imo. And not saying ND wasnt worthy. I dont look over ND. Ever.

 

[buckeyeFB_]

Zach Harrison and Tyler Friday, both DEs, missed the game and will be back in the rotation (we think) for Alabama.

I'm not counting on Friday because he hasn't played since the Indiana game, so I think he has an injury rather than just a positive test, but I do think we'll get Harrison back.

 

[B1GTide]

The College Football Nerds Model:

 

[buckeyeFB_]

Why don’t we ask LSU as well... last 3 coaches won a national championship too.

FTR technically the last 3 Ohio St HCs DID NOT compete for a national championship. 3 of the last 4 did. But considering who that 4th not named is it makes Ohio St look even better.

Is Luke Fickell the "4th" you're referring to?

 

[81usaf92]

Is Luke Fickell the "4th" you're referring to?

Yep. I think he is a great coach in the making

 

[buckeyeFB_]

Yep. I think he is a great coach in the making

Agreed. Fickell is still very-much loved by all OSU fans and it's awesome seeing him do so well.

Speaking of Fickell, an interesting development that I didn't foresee is Marcus Freeman interviewing for the LSU DC spot. As a Bama fan, what would you think of that (potential) hire for LSU?