This post will wonder between topics but I figure it might spark a little conversation.
1) Going into the season I thought that if we were going drop a game it would be in this stretch of the season. I worried we'd spend a ton of emotional energy on the Ole Miss game (we did) and that a top 10 Texas A&M (they weren't) would catch a potentially flat Alabama team (we were). But as the season progressed I really thought that even a flat Bama team would still beat this A&M team...and as bad as the team looked we still should have beaten that A&M team. This can be looked at in a couple different ways...we do have the talent to still run the table and win it all....but we might also lack the overall maturity to overcome the overall grind of an SEC schedule actually do it.
2) While I do think the offense has not been completely in sync at times this year...our scheme and talent is still good enough to win every game from here on out. As bad as the team played, think of all the wide open drops from last weekend. We're doing something right to get those guys that open, so in my opinion it comes down to execution. The optimist in me says that as the season goes on the offense will continue to improve...and I still think there is time for that to happen but from my un-trained eye, I'm not sure we've shown that steady improvement. That said...
3) The offensive line scares me. And I am not one to bash a player but it's really that RT spot in particular that concerns me. I think I remember the broadcast mentioning that we were really only having success running to the left side. Well that can't continue or defenses will shut that down real quick. All that said, is there anything to be done about that at this point? If that spot is the primary weakness then the common thought would be to bench that guy and let someone else play. But if there was a better option then don't you think they would already be playing? So either you assume that the coaches aren't playing the best guy...or they are playing the best guy which then goes down the rabbit hole of did we really have that many misses in recruiting. Because we have recruited as good as anyone in the country on the oline. I'm not sure what to think there....this is one subject that I'd love to get some insight on.
4) Going forward, we should win the next couple of games with relative ease. This could bite me in the (y'all know the general area of the body I'm referring to)....but I don't think MSU or UT have the horses to give us much trouble....LSU is in such turmoil that I really don't think they will put up much of a fight either, but.....those last 3 (potentially) games are a concern to me. I think there is a pretty substantial talent gap between us and both Arky and AU...but both teams are run oriented with mobile QBs that will have the UF and A&M films to refer to as a way to give us some trouble. I think we do win both games but we cannot overlook either team....assuming we win both of those we then get UGA....
5) I can absolutely understand why even before this past weekend some people voted UGA ahead of Bama as the #1 team in the country. They have a really, really good football team. But in my opinion they could also be in the same boat as Ole Miss to an extent. That Ole Miss offense was deemed an unstoppable force going into the Bama game...but that had played no one up to that point. So while you could see that they did have a good offense there was no way to tell how good due to the competition up to that point. I kinda think the same about UGA except on the defensive side of the ball. UGA does have a very good defense, they do. They certainly pass the eye test, especially the front 7. But what is the best offense they have faced? Auburn...probably? Then what is the best offense they will face? Florida...probably? Now Florida gave us some trouble but UGA with that front 7 matches up very well with what Florida wants to do. But the question for UGA has been their secondary....they lost a ton of talent from last year and had to hit the transfer portal real hard in the offseason for their secondary. And I don't think they will face anyone in the regular season that can really challenge that secondary....But Bama can, assuming we make it to Atlanta. And that UGA offense still isn't really scaring anyone at the moment...with or without the Daniels kid at QB. But that front 7 does scare me if we don't get better up front. I'm not willing to anoint them the champ just yet...but I'm not willing to say definitively that we beat them either...I think it's still a wait and see, while a lot of people around the country see UGA winning it all as a formality.
6) I'm sure most people quit reading this post about half way through point #1, so I'll shut up after this...but in my opinion there is not 1 single team that does not have some chinks in the armor this year. That includes Bama...but it also includes all 4 of the teams that are ranked ahead of Bama in the latest poll. So while there are some flaws on this year's team, we are still in the hunt.
1) Going into the season I thought that if we were going drop a game it would be in this stretch of the season. I worried we'd spend a ton of emotional energy on the Ole Miss game (we did) and that a top 10 Texas A&M (they weren't) would catch a potentially flat Alabama team (we were). But as the season progressed I really thought that even a flat Bama team would still beat this A&M team...and as bad as the team looked we still should have beaten that A&M team. This can be looked at in a couple different ways...we do have the talent to still run the table and win it all....but we might also lack the overall maturity to overcome the overall grind of an SEC schedule actually do it.
2) While I do think the offense has not been completely in sync at times this year...our scheme and talent is still good enough to win every game from here on out. As bad as the team played, think of all the wide open drops from last weekend. We're doing something right to get those guys that open, so in my opinion it comes down to execution. The optimist in me says that as the season goes on the offense will continue to improve...and I still think there is time for that to happen but from my un-trained eye, I'm not sure we've shown that steady improvement. That said...
3) The offensive line scares me. And I am not one to bash a player but it's really that RT spot in particular that concerns me. I think I remember the broadcast mentioning that we were really only having success running to the left side. Well that can't continue or defenses will shut that down real quick. All that said, is there anything to be done about that at this point? If that spot is the primary weakness then the common thought would be to bench that guy and let someone else play. But if there was a better option then don't you think they would already be playing? So either you assume that the coaches aren't playing the best guy...or they are playing the best guy which then goes down the rabbit hole of did we really have that many misses in recruiting. Because we have recruited as good as anyone in the country on the oline. I'm not sure what to think there....this is one subject that I'd love to get some insight on.
4) Going forward, we should win the next couple of games with relative ease. This could bite me in the (y'all know the general area of the body I'm referring to)....but I don't think MSU or UT have the horses to give us much trouble....LSU is in such turmoil that I really don't think they will put up much of a fight either, but.....those last 3 (potentially) games are a concern to me. I think there is a pretty substantial talent gap between us and both Arky and AU...but both teams are run oriented with mobile QBs that will have the UF and A&M films to refer to as a way to give us some trouble. I think we do win both games but we cannot overlook either team....assuming we win both of those we then get UGA....
5) I can absolutely understand why even before this past weekend some people voted UGA ahead of Bama as the #1 team in the country. They have a really, really good football team. But in my opinion they could also be in the same boat as Ole Miss to an extent. That Ole Miss offense was deemed an unstoppable force going into the Bama game...but that had played no one up to that point. So while you could see that they did have a good offense there was no way to tell how good due to the competition up to that point. I kinda think the same about UGA except on the defensive side of the ball. UGA does have a very good defense, they do. They certainly pass the eye test, especially the front 7. But what is the best offense they have faced? Auburn...probably? Then what is the best offense they will face? Florida...probably? Now Florida gave us some trouble but UGA with that front 7 matches up very well with what Florida wants to do. But the question for UGA has been their secondary....they lost a ton of talent from last year and had to hit the transfer portal real hard in the offseason for their secondary. And I don't think they will face anyone in the regular season that can really challenge that secondary....But Bama can, assuming we make it to Atlanta. And that UGA offense still isn't really scaring anyone at the moment...with or without the Daniels kid at QB. But that front 7 does scare me if we don't get better up front. I'm not willing to anoint them the champ just yet...but I'm not willing to say definitively that we beat them either...I think it's still a wait and see, while a lot of people around the country see UGA winning it all as a formality.
6) I'm sure most people quit reading this post about half way through point #1, so I'll shut up after this...but in my opinion there is not 1 single team that does not have some chinks in the armor this year. That includes Bama...but it also includes all 4 of the teams that are ranked ahead of Bama in the latest poll. So while there are some flaws on this year's team, we are still in the hunt.
