a prothro question

[swamptroll]

Bama was pounding florida. they were "back". then tyrone is injured.
what happened to Alabama. they went from being a dominant team
to winning by a field goal, or losing. it seems like the intensity left
the team. how can one wr,despite his talent and desire have such a
huge impact on the whole team. even the offensive line(which was pretty
offensive) appeared to get worse. would a more dynamic coach have
made a significant difference?

 

[tiderollerfan]

See the Ted Ginn incident from just a few nights ago and ask yourself that question again.

 

[cbi1972]

Extraordinary talent can mask deficiency in other areas, and some weaknesses take time to be exposed. Such was the case for the Alabama football team in 2005.

 

[jeremy]

Its sad to see how much Florida has improved over the last year and a half and how far we've gone in the opposite direction. The 05 Florida game was simply the best game Shula ever coached (one could argue that it was the only game he really coached). I dont know what he did to get those kids fired up that day, but he was never able to do it again. I have the game on dvd and watch it from time to time. Darby ran. The line blocked. Receivers caught the ball. The defense played lights out. That was the perfect game for 3 and a half quarters...until Prothro got hurt. Prothro is an amazing talent, but I refuse to believe his injury was the sole factor in our decline from that point forward.

 

[bmcklv]

Prothro was definitely one of the biggest impact players we've had since before the probation crud started. He was absolutely amazing. However, it was really two players (IMO) that brought the 2005 team back down to earth.
Prothro is/was a special talent with the ability to make the big play from anywhere in the field. His presence on the field caused defenses to focus extra attention on him at the expense of leaving room for other players to excel. For a little guy, he sure did cast a big shadow. Without him our production was down. Brown was yet to break through as a reliable second option to DJ; and the redzone deficiencies started to emerge, but we still did fairly for a few games thanks to Darby and that awesome defense.

When Closner got hurt at center we had to go with a makeshift O-line that just couldn't protect Croyle. That's when the team really disintegrated. I don't remember exactly, but I think Auburn sacked Croyle 11-12 times and LSU before that kept him running for his life the whole game.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

Can't fault the authenticity behind that guy's handle.

I think what happened is the UF game has turned out to be the time the Tide's blocking schemes got exposed. Ever since the UF game, defenses have pwnt the Tide OL, and thusly the O. UA still had DJ and KB most of the year--it wasn't Prothro who was the x-factor.

 

[37bamagreats55]

A guy losing his career to a horrific injury isn't a "blessing"
Tyrone Prothro is what I wish every one of Alabama's players were, regardless of the coaching or lack thereof
Just my opinion

 

[KrAzY3]

I was not able to enjoy the victory over Florida at all. I remember before the game telling my brother that Alabama could win the game and that I felt Prothro was the team's "x-factor". He looked at me and said "injuries are the x-factor". Sadly we both ended up being right. I felt like Alabama become a NC contender and lost it all in one game.

I went from being happier about Alabama football than I had been in years to pure horror. I had a sinkings feeling when I saw the offense coming out there on 4th and long in the 4th quarter and my worst fears were realized. I still feel like Prothro's career might have been ruined needlessly. I will openly admit that some of my bias against Shula during this season was due to that play and my personal feelings that Shula showed his insecurities and immaturity by going for it with his starters on fourth and long in the 4th quarter with a four touchdown lead (and a shallow bench).

Anyway, having gotten that out there my brother also said later that one player shouldn't mean that much to a team and that's true. Prothro's injury exposed some of Shula's weaknesses (remember Alabama's offense sucked from there on out, before Closner got injured).

I will by no means say that it was a blessing because as much as I love Alabama football I'd rather have that kid have a NFL career and Alabama put up with Shula for a while longer than see him go through what he has. Besides, I think if he isn't injured Alabama wins at least one more game that year, goes to the BCS, has a better chance at Tebow who in turn could have brought in more recruits and we might be talking about SEC championship and Prothro heroics right now if things had gone a little differently. Yes, things worked out in the end but watching Prothro get hurt like that in a blowout still feels worse to me than any Alabama loss or any NCAA sanction.

 

[alatider]

I hope that Prothro comes back sometime this year. I do have to wonder if he will be as good as he was before his injury.

 

[mikeua69]

Maybe I am a bad person. Maybe I take this stuff too seriously. I would sacrifice Prothro's or any other player's career for the good of the program.

That's really sad...

 

[Bamaro]

Extraordinary talent can mask deficiency in other areas, and some weaknesses take time to be exposed. Such was the case for the Alabama football team in 2005.

You got that right. TP was an impact player and without his talents on the field, the defense could focus on other areas and take advantages of weeknesses.