Link: Interesting CFBCG take from Josh Jacobs

I think fans and players have a hard time grasping the other team was just better, even if only for that night. So we look for contributing factors or explanations even when the most obvious reason is the other team is better, or played better. Clemson played well on both sides of the ball, we didn't play well on defense and so we got whipped. I get that we don't like admitting the other guy is better, but at least on that night they were, and it was a no doubter.


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bamacpa said:

I think fans and players have a hard time grasping the other team was just better, even if only for that night. So we look for contributing factors or explanations even when the most obvious reason is the other team is better, or played better. Clemson played well on both sides of the ball, we didn't play well on defense and so we got whipped. I get that we don't like admitting the other guy is better, but at least on that night they were, and it was a no doubter.


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I handled this loss much better than the one ins 2016. I'd much rather just get beat soundly than barely lose on the last play of the game.

Now, FWIW, I have no problem discussing the game and factors that might have led to it, but it was easier to take knowing we got beat so soundly.

Also, I think getting beat that way will motivate and focus our next title run. We are already seeing that with the staff turnoever and I bet we'll see a team next year that's recommitted to "dominating the opponent."

I just think we were completely out coached. I don't blame the players at all

BamaMoon said:

Also, I think getting beat that way will motivate and focus our next title run. We are already seeing that with the staff turnoever and I bet we'll see a team next year that's recommitted to "dominating the opponent."

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That's the silver lining I suppose. Basically every player that's active on twitter has made at least one comment about "working harder"

rgw said:

Conversely, the games are generally shorter than college in terms of time and snaps and they almost certainly have less practice contact than college teams too. The roster is tighter than college, so starters usually play the whole game though. I think the NFL does a pretty good job of keeping their players fresh. Especially the good franchises.

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Additionally, this may be where the "practices are harder at Alabama" takes from former players sheds light into the program itself wearing guys down some.

Deleted by poster. Misread quote.

Bamabuzzard said:

...But, concerning this year's title game. I think being out coached and out prepared had more to do with the loss than being tired.

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Exactly.

There is, without question, validity to the argument that Clemson was more "fresh" during the CFPCG. And for any athlete, being at exactly he right "freshness" is essential to peak performance. So, when two fairly equal teams play and one has a significant edge in "freshness", it could absolutely prove to be the difference in the game. As a distance runner for decades, this is absolute fact backed by some serious science.

All that said, there is nothing that fans can do about it. I certainly would not use it as an excuse for the loss when talking to Clemson fans. It sounds weak. But if I was Saban, I would consider what he can do given the schedule disparity to help Alabama remain more fresh down the stretch this year.

Last year the loss to Auburn helped you. You were very fresh when you played Clemson.

This season there is a huge gap between CFP games (between round one and round two). That should help.

There is currently a related controversy in FCS about increasing their season to 12 games. Those that want to stay at 11 games contend that with just 63 scholarship players and the FCS playoff structure, their players are either injured or worn out if they advance deep into the playoff.

My Grandson plans to walk on again at Samford this season. He pulled a hamstring in the tryout last year. He is almost assured of making the squad because FCS schools are allowed to schedule 12 games in 15 week seasons as we have in 2019 and it appears that Samford is going to schedule 12 games. If so, they are going to need all the players they can get and I look for him to get playing time because they are not deep at RB. He has Div-III experience. He played as a Freshman in 2017 at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

BamaMoon said:

I handled this loss much better than the one ins 2016. I'd much rather just get beat soundly than barely lose on the last play of the game.

Now, FWIW, I have no problem discussing the game and factors that might have led to it, but it was easier to take knowing we got beat so soundly.

Also, I think getting beat that way will motivate and focus our next title run. We are already seeing that with the staff turnoever and I bet we'll see a team next year that's recommitted to "dominating the opponent."

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They beat us soundly on the scoreboard which is all that matters in the big picture. But if you get down in the weeds and look at the game statistically they did not dominate us or beat us soundly. We out gained them until their final drive of the game. Both teams moved the ball at will between the 20s. They converted in the redzone and other key ares and we didn't. Most of the time when a team loses by 4 TDs there's a 200-300 total yard discrepancy. It was about even this game. That makes a 4 TD loss harder to stomach. If we had only gained a few hundred yards it'd be clear they dominated us but that's not the case..

CrimsonForce said:

They beat us soundly on the scoreboard which is all that matters in the big picture. But if you get down in the weeds and look at the game statistically they did not dominate us or beat us soundly. We out gained them until their final drive of the game. Both teams moved the ball at will between the 20s. They converted in the redzone and other key ares and we didn't. Most of the time when a team loses by 4 TDs there's a 200-300 total yard discrepancy. It was about even this game. That makes a 4 TD loss harder to stomach. If we had only gained a few hundred yards it'd be clear they dominated us but that's not the case..

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I get what your saying, but two of the biggest plays that likely kept us from points and led to 14 points for them don't even show up in the offensive stats for them: the pic-six and the INT on the deep ball that they returned out to midfield. That's about 100 yards of field position that's hidden when looking at stats...much less the possible 28 point swing too.

Add to that how they manhandled us in the RZ and it proves offensive stats are overrated.

Basically, the scoreboard is all that matters and we got our butts kicked.

BamaMoon said:

I get what your saying, but two of the biggest plays that likely kept us from points and led to 14 points for them don't even show up in the offensive stats for them: the pic-six and the INT on the deep ball that they returned out to midfield. That's about 100 yards of field position that's hidden when looking at stats...much less the possible 28 point swing too.

Add to that how they manhandled us in the RZ and it proves offensive stats are overrated.

Basically, the scoreboard is all that matters and we got our butts kicked.

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It's pretty well assumed the scoreboard is the one stat that matters the most.

However, there are some others that can be pretty telling. For the Clemson game, turnovers (2-0), third down (10/15 to 4/13), and red zone (5-6 to 2-4) are those.

Yes, the score indicates an embarrassing loss. The game was much closer than that, though. The big momentum-swinging plays just all went for Clemson.

RTR91 said:

It's pretty well assumed the scoreboard is the one stat that matters the most.

However, there are some others that can be pretty telling. For the Clemson game, turnovers (2-0), third down (10/15 to 4/13), and red zone (5-6 to 2-4) are those.

Yes, the score indicates an embarrassing loss. The game was much closer than that, though. The big momentum-swinging plays just all went for Clemson.

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These are the reasons why I do feel good about next year. All the doom and gloom about the game is based on the score. We just need to get back focused on fundamentals and we will be right back where we belong.

BamaMoon said:

I get what your saying, but two of the biggest plays that likely kept us from points and led to 14 points for them don't even show up in the offensive stats for them: the pic-six and the INT on the deep ball that they returned out to midfield. That's about 100 yards of field position that's hidden when looking at stats...much less the possible 28 point swing too.

Add to that how they manhandled us in the RZ and it proves offensive stats are overrated.

Basically, the scoreboard is all that matters and we got our butts kicked.

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Right, and I would never saying anything else in a general sense. But this game wasn't anything like the 4 TD beatdown we put on Notre Dame in 2012 when we out gained them by over 200 yards and held the ball for almost 40 minutes. That game proved Notre Dame wasn't in the same stratosphere as Alabama. We lost to Clemson this year by the same margin but the teams were basically evenly matched. That's my only point. Kudos to Clemson for winning the game and making all the plays..

Bamabuzzard said:

We got beat. Check that. We got the hell beat out of us. Regardless of the "real" reasons. The honorable thing to do is simply tip the cap, give Clemson all the credit in the world and move on. The public excuses, no matter how legit they are, do nothing more than come across as whining. It's not very becoming.

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Pretty well sums it up. I would much rather we, as a fan base, approach what occurred from essentially this perspective . Let`s let other fan bases whine. And let`s just quietly use this as an object lesson, teaching moment , and motivation to beat the ever lovin` hell out of everybody we play this coming season.

CrimsonForce said:

They beat us soundly on the scoreboard which is all that matters in the big picture. But if you get down in the weeds and look at the game statistically they did not dominate us or beat us soundly. We out gained them until their final drive of the game. Both teams moved the ball at will between the 20s. They converted in the redzone and other key ares and we didn't. Most of the time when a team loses by 4 TDs there's a 200-300 total yard discrepancy. It was about even this game. That makes a 4 TD loss harder to stomach. If we had only gained a few hundred yards it'd be clear they dominated us but that's not the case..

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I agree with a lot you say here but I can see how some feel we were dominated.

We had 224 total yards in the 1st quarter and ended up with 219 yards in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters and we scored all of our points in the first 16-17 minutes of the game.

Clemson ended the game with 482 yards with 258 of those coming in the 2nd half and outscored us 30-0 to end the game.

The stats were close but skewed due to our record setting 1st quarter for a CFP game.

TiderJack said:

I agree with a lot you say here but I can see how some feel we were dominated.

We had 224 total yards in the 1st quarter and ended up with 219 yards in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters and we scored all of our points in the first 16-17 minutes of the game.

Clemson ended the game with 482 yards with 258 of those coming in the 2nd half and outscored us 30-0 to end the game.

The stats were close but skewed due to our record setting 1st quarter for a CFP game.

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I mostly agree with Crimson Force but I'd add to your point that if you look at things like Turnovers, Yards per play and 3rd downs they beat us pretty bad.


That said, I think I saw someone say that Clemson would be the winner 70% of the time based on the box score of our game which is pretty lowly considering the score.

I know it's risky and risque to even say, but I think that regular season loss does wonders for a team's motivation. In 2017, it kept us out of the SEC title game, and our CFP hopes in the air. But we got in, and deservedly so. I do believe that an expanded playoff for football would go a long way toward not having one less be the end-all, be-all to a season.

So, obviously, a loss to UGA, which was really the only game that was competitive on paper, could not be accepted. Couldn't let that game be the one to keep you out of the CFP, and knowing we got in the year before, the noise would have been too loud for the committee to put us in. UGA takes our place. Not advocating at all that the SEC title should have been a loss. Just saying that having a loss during the regular season, or at least a near miss, like Clemson with Syracuse, wakes guys up a bit. We slept walked through the first 7 weeks. Had to get punched in the mouth a bit in November, PITCHED TWO SHUT OUTS, and then played UGA.

We were just not up to snuff defensively this year. I put that on the coaches on that side of the ball.

Tideflyer said:

Pretty well sums it up. I would much rather we, as a fan base, approach what occurred from essentially this perspective . Let`s let other fan bases whine. And let`s just quietly use this as an object lesson, teaching moment , and motivation to beat the ever lovin` hell out of everybody we play this coming season.

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Dude, Duke is going to stroke out when we play them week 1. They will swear they are playing Clemson twice in one season.