Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Far

Intl.Aperture · Oct 3, 2017

Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Far

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[FONT=&quot]But this week, Saban's praise of Texas A&M seemed to be exaggerated.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]"This is by far, I think, the strongest team that we've played to this point all the way around," he said.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ahem, how about Florida State?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Texas A&M is the strongest team that we've played to this point looking at them from a holistic standpoint.," he said. "They're a very explosive offensive team. They run the ball very effectively. They've got really good running backs. Christian Kirk is maybe the most explosive player -- returner, receiver, runner -- of anybody in our league. Offensively, tough to run against. They create a lot of negative plays. They've got good pass rushers. [Defensive coordinator] John Chavis always does a good job of playing very aggressive, physical football. Because of Christian Kirk being a fantastic returner, these guys are very dangerous on special teams."[/FONT]

What say you? Complete coach speak or genuine analysis by Saban? Another attempt to keep his team motivated, perhaps? Do you think FSU with Francois is stronger than A&M at this point in the season? If A&M is what Saban says, do you think Bama will struggle?

AlexanderFan · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

I think this team is young in experience in regards to getting and staying intense week in and week out and I think he's trying to keep them focused.

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RT27 · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

Coaches always play up opponents to get team focused, FSU was tougher but I am not going to get into his stuff LOL

Mke4Bama · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

They are the toughest foe so far because they are the NEXT foe so far.

CrimsonForce · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

If you compare the 2 teams as they were the first game of the season then FSU was better. than aTm. But, I think if you look at FSU vs Texas A&M in their current state he's probably right. If those 2 teams played on a neutral field I think it'd be a competitive game..

JBama_in_PCOLA · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

Coach is a sly dog. It’s easy to see what he’s doing. He knows what the team could be. Gotta keep focus.

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Intl.Aperture · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

CrimsonForce said:
If you compare the 2 teams as they were the first game of the season then FSU was better. than aTm. But, I think if you look at FSU vs Texas A&M in their current state he's probably right. If those 2 teams played on a neutral field I think it'd be a competitive game..

What if you compare FSU game #1 and Texas A&M now?

B1GTide · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

Intl.Aperture said:
What if you compare FSU game #1 and Texas A&M now?

The FSU team that you played beats aTm by 20+.

Bamabuzzard · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

It's coach speak to keep the team motivated. From a coach's perspective the next game on the schedule is the toughest challenge. Because the ones they've already played aren't a challenge any longer. They're in the past. It's a play on words certainly, but if you think about it in the literal sense Saban is right.

RollTide_HTTR · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

I think it's a little bit of both. A&M on defense is not FSU in any way shape or form. But, Christian Kirk is probably the best offensive player we have gone up against to this point which in some ways make A&M the most dangerous offense we have faced. But this is mostly coach speak, I would be shocked if this game proves harder than FSU.

rgw · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

I do agree that Kirk is definitely the best offensive player we've seen so far. I have my doubts that Mond will flourish this weekend.

rgw · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

To add to the question in the original post:

I think Saban's analysis is quite accurate. TAMU is the kind of team that can be a pain in the butt if you don't show up ready to play. They force negative plays on defense due to ultra-aggressive DL play and can make explosive plays on offense and special teams due to Kirk. Execution will be key in this game.

Intl.Aperture · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

rgw said:
I do agree that Kirk is definitely the best offensive player we've seen so far. I have my doubts that Mond will flourish this weekend.

Everyone keeps bringing up Kirk but he still has to have the ball distributed to him competently and it remains to be seen if this freshman QB can do that. Though we will be without Da'Shawn Hand hopefully we can keep him pressured.

TideEngineer08 · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

I think Sumlin massively underachieves every season. So while Coach may be exaggerating with the obvious desire to keep the team focused, his remarks are not without merit.

rgw · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

They'll probably give him some rush attempts and try to do some easy screen passes to spring him for big plays. He's made some plays against us in the past.

TomFromBama · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

TideEngineer08 said:
I think Sumlin massively underachieves every season. So while Coach may be exaggerating with the obvious desire to keep the team focused, his remarks are not without merit.

This ^^^ And i agree with those who say Saban's comments are a little of both - a little "puffery" and a little reality.

And its because, as noted ^^, Sumlin massively Underachieves because he actually DOES have Very Good Talent on this team. They clearly have some issues, to be sure, and I DO think we will pound them.

BUT, this is also NOT a team of Sunbelt scrubs with no hope of winning another game - there's a lot of talent there, and the worst part is their players and coaches KNOW they CAN play with us, if they catch even a few breaks - as we saw in 2012 and '13.

Ole Man Dan · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

Mke4Bama said:
They are the toughest foe so far because they are the NEXT foe so far.

Next team up is always the focus...
When it's Mercer... We will talk about their better points, before we pound them...
Teams that lose focus get beat by the Troy Universities of this world.
It's all about preparing yourself to play 60 minutes of football every week.

BamaDMD · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

Bamabuzzard said:
It's coach speak to keep the team motivated. From a coach's perspective the next game on the schedule is the toughest challenge. Because the ones they've already played aren't a challenge any longer. They're in the past. It's a play on words certainly, but if you think about it in the literal sense Saban is right.

I agree. Saban always talks up his competition while never bad mouthing his team. Lou Holtz used to do this but kinda in reverse. He was good at 'poor mouthing' . He would crack me up talking how they were just not a very good team and that they would struggle to beat their next opponent.

rgw · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

One other thing: We haven't had very many road games where I feel like we completely no showed since Saban got here. In fact, we've played some of our best games on the road. 2010 USC (L) and 2013 MSU (W) are two times I remember where I feel like we didn't really show up to play on the road.

I'd bet on us to play a pretty good game but we've had this tendency the last two matchups to lose focus mid-game...maybe Saban is hoping to activate whatever has made our guys want to salt the earth over Nashville and Oxford.

Ledsteplin · Oct 3, 2017

Re: Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Fa

While the TAMU defense will be tough, I'm not that concerned with them. They've given up over 40 points in 2 games and 21 to Louisiana Lafayette. With the Bama 2nd team playing like a first team, I think we score big on their defense. Their offense is of more concern. The Bama defense needs to play smart with intensity. CNS will have them prepared, but they need to execute as they have in the first 2 SEC games.

Saban Says Texas A&M, not Florida State, is 'By Far' Alabama's Toughest Foe So Far

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