As Great as Saban is, he was out-coached by Les Miles Today

[day-day]

I didn't see players give up. I saw a fairly even battle on both lines of scrimmage. I saw McElroy make some shifty moves and athletic passes that I haven't seen before.

Bama played a tough team on the road and suffered 2 turnovers to none. A handlful of plays made the difference in the game.

 

[ArkyTider]

But, but... I thought this O was going to set all-time records and be proclaimed the best in school history?:wink: That is exactly what was being written by some folks on here--.... last week. The warning signs have been there since the Arkansas game and even Coach Saban recognized them, but many fans have simply stuck their heads in the sand and ignored reality.

We have some great skilled players but the simple fact of the matter is our O as a whole has not gelled(sp?) and become a cohesive unit all year against good competition. We ran up big numbers against cupcakes, thus the inflated statistics. I still think we can finish strong and go out on a high note this season but even if we do I think Nick will revisit our whole offensives strategy and we'll probably see some changes implemented. I'm not worried about it because I know our program is in good hands. Remember we're just fans, I guarantee you that Nick is 100 times more unhappy with our O than any of us are.

Amen Brother! I agree. :BigA:

 

[TideMan09]

What surprised me in both our losses..After Coach Saban has preached about being "mentally prepared"..Our Players didn't seem mentally prepared at all..Our Boys minds seemed to be else where..LSU is one of the Teams that we should be automatically pumped up for..We looked like we were just going through the paces..That's how I saw it..I may be wrong though..

 

[bamanix]

yes, we lost because of the play of the offensive line, and def line basically. the off line the last several games, just did not have the physical presence to protect greg or open holes. the def line did not get any penetration even after their best lineman went down early. once again, we gave up big yards on the corners at bad times. our pursuit would be good on occasion, but, gave up big plays in the second half. our corners had their worst game of the season, except for south carolina. i know millner is a freshman, but, on the two deep passes that cost dearly, he was in no mans land. mark barron was left to cover deep, and medium range territory. another thing, that bothered me was all the loose balls were recovered by lsu, they were much more physical than us. we still refused to go deep, and i am sure a lot of that had to do with our poor blocking. our backs did not block on several plays, and greg was dropped. the one situation where two guys rushed right up the gut, and no one there to stop even one of them. i too thought we were out coached today, but, you have to remember les miles can lose because of his chances, or win. this time he was right at least three times, and cost us dearly. well, we had a good year, but, next we need to find more pressure plays, and open up the offense more.

 

[TexasTideFan]

Think about it from a player's perspective today. Miles was willing to pass the ball inside his 30 late in the first half when most would have run the clock out. He was willing to gamble with a fake punt and also went for it on fourth down when punting would have been far easier. As one who played, you love it when a coach will give you great opportunities to succeed.

Great points.

My only comments are me and most of the Bama fans on here knew that LSU was going to try a fake punt because this team is coached by Les Miles. I would have dared him to try one every time they punted. Why we weren't ready for this I have no clue??????

That pass was a given. It was blown coverage but you knew they were going to try it because Les Miles is the coach.

All I want for the rest of the season is for Bama to start taking some risks like LSU. What do we have to lose?

 

[Athens-LA-Tide]

Lots of great points, but I believe we was out coached today, period. They was prepared and ready for everything we threw at them and we was not. Looking back on it, that 3rd and 13 was hilarious and is the whole story.

 

[Alabama Slammer]

Lots of great points, but I believe we was out coached today, period.

And that is very disheartening, considering the coaches.

 

[Elephant Stomp]

I think we need to get some reality here. All year long Saban has been preaching that this team needs to "play to a Standard". That means that as a player you do not worry about the score, the fans in the stadium, getting all wrapped up in emotion etc. It means that as a player you focus on your assignment, making adjustments as to how the other team is lined up, executing your job, and dominating the other team's player in front of you on each and every play.
The reality is our players are not doing that. If they were Saban would not have to keep preaching that same message. Saban can't go out on the field and make the adjustments the players have to make on that particular play and execute that particular play to "a standard".
I support coach Saban and I support the players. Unfortunately, we have a lot of immaturity in the 2 deep of our team right now. We lost a lot of senior leadership last year and now we have to face reality. We are a immature team that needs to grow up. Sometimes that growing up involves some growing pains such as loosing.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

I support coach Saban and I support the players. Unfortunately, we have a lot of immaturity in the 2 deep of our team right now. We lost a lot of senior leadership last year and now we have to face reality. We are a immature team that needs to grow up. Sometimes that growing up involves some growing pains such as loosing.

Nice post man. It would be nice if you did it more than .8 times a year.

I agree about the growing pains. Blown coverages happen when your experienced CB is a sophomore.

 

[bamaman65]

I think we need an offense that tries going wide, run the option every once and awhile and other plays. Our running game is running up the middle and blowing the defense off the ball. This is impressive against teams we have outmanned but is awful against teams with equal talent and know that is what is going to be run.

 

[Squirrely]

Yep, no other way to say it. Our coaching staff got the hands handed to them yesterday by LSU's coaching staff, that simple. Especially in the 2nd half, and LSU seemed to take full advantage of their bye-week while Bama didn't...........:conf2:


:BigA: ROLL TIDE :BigA:

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

Yep, no other way to say it. Our coaching staff got the hands handed to them yesterday by LSU's coaching staff, that simple. Especially in the 2nd half, and LSU seemed to take full advantage of their bye-week while Bama didn't...........:conf2:


:BigA: ROLL TIDE :BigA:

If we could get pressure with a 4 man pass rush, our staff would be geniuses again (I don't think they ever stopped ). Have no fear. Help is on the way for 2011.

 

[jps1983]

I just don't get where this "we were out-coached" is coming from. If it is from preparation, I'd agree b/c LSU was hungry and we were not; their players executed (their offense played the best game of the season against us) and ours did not (all those long pass plays were broken coverages by young guys making mental mistakes). The fake punt is on our coaches and CNS admitted it in his postgame presser; the 4th and 1 is on the weakside edge players that crashed in instead of maintaining their outside contain; their 3rd down conversion is poor execution with a questionable call (in not blitzing a QB that can't move well, but we also needed help in coverage).

On offense, I'm not sure what CJM can call when our interior OL had so much trouble with the blitz and Nevis yesterday. I think we didn't do enough screens/ draws to take advantage of their over-aggressiveness, but I think other than the OL (or RB in blitz pickup) I thought the O did decently against a very good defense.

Coming in, if someone said we'd score 21 points, I'd assume we'd win b/c the LSU offense has been so bad all year. I think CLM rallied his team better than CNS in the off week, but this was LSU's superbowl this year and it showed in the way their players performed. Our defense has not done well on the road with mental toughness or discipline and lack of execution on D is what killed us, not play-calling.

 

[Alasippi]

I'm not sure if Coach S. is worried that we're so young that we'll make critical mistakes and give up big plays or what exactly.

But we're the most conservative defense that I've seen this season at any level.

We simply don't blitz the corners any more.

And like it or not our defensive front is not good enough to maintain pressure throughout a game, only a play or two here and there.

I honestly thought on the third and long with two minutes left that we'd bring the house against Lee, who hadn't played very much at all in the second half, was cold, and had to step in the game without even warming up because of the injury to Jefferson.

Instead we gave him more time than any pass play they ran the entire day.

And they, a horrific passing team made it look easy.

Gotta give them the credit...but I say it's time to open up the playbook both offensively and defensively.

sip

 

[trample-em]

I said the same thing to my wife after the 4th down reverse in the 4th quarter. Knowing the hat's propensity for trickery, we should have been ready for something like that. We were outcoached, outplayed, and outmanned, especially at the line of scrimmage.

That says it. And as Buzzard said about Saban, "He's human. He's not Jesus."

 

[BigTex]

I dunno about being out-coached...

But one play where I'd concede the point is the fake kick. Given Miles' reputation and past fake kicks, I'm surprised we weren't playing for the fake. That shouldn't have slipped past us IMO.

I made this same post yesterday on the game thread but it was deleted. I'll say it again, that play shouldnt have happened. We were out coached on this play.

 

[kyallie]

We didn't execute,and finish, I don't think that's CNS fault, he's preached that all season long and tried to instill it, in some young immature men. It just didn't happen yesterday, and yes The Hat pulled a rabbit out. :cool2:

 

[EscaTider]

If LSU's fake punt had not worked, and if their little trick play on the 4th and 1 had failed, we'd all be talking about what a buffoon Les Miles is. Their guys executed and played with intensity on both sides of the ball- ours didn't. Amazing how execution can make a coach look.

 

[CrimsonChuck]

I think there is one HUGE mistake that no one is mentioning here. Why did we take a timeout after LSU's last TD? We sure could have used that timeout at the end of the game...we actually would have a realistic chance to get down the field to get in FG range. I was yelling at the TV when we took that.

That being said, I wouldn't trade Saban for anyone.

 

[TommyMac]

I don't agree. There were many plays where McElroy had ample time to throw, and he did.

Our secondary was the weak link. Sure, we didn't put pressure on Jeff and Lee like we needed too, but my god, their receivers were beating our dbacks all day.

Disagree all you want, but their D was getting much more pressure on GMac than our D was getting on their QBs. Sure, we gave GMac adequate protection on some plays, just not often enough to win a game,