Lincoln Riley Takes Shot at Georgia/SEC or Compliments Big 12 Offenses?

[TomFromBama]

Meh. If we aren’t going to give Clemson the Alexander argument in 2015 then we have no business using the Bo and Jalen argument for 2016. Plain and simple, you play with the team you have and Clemson was just better than us that night.

Uh - I didn't say Clem wasn't better than us that night. I made a very big point of saying that we were pretty BAD that night. So, by extension, that means they played better than we did.

FWIW, I don't think we played a particularly good game in the NC back in 2015 either. But even playing poorly at times, we were still better overall than Clemson that night. Just as Clemson was better than us in the 2016 NC game.

 

[TomFromBama]

I don't think anyone is opposed to talking about the elephant in the room. I do find it ironic though that when we talk about Jalen's 24 wins it's a; "team sport and he was carried by his defense and special teams for his whole career." Meanwhile if we want to talk about the only two losses in his career the game turns into singles tennis and he's the only reason we lost. I don't say this to pick a fight. I'm not even a Jalen apologist, but there's a defined double standard when talking about his career. .

Otherwise I completely agree with your statement. Our offense couldn't keep their offense off the field which kept our defense in a state of exhaustion the whole second half. I remember defensive players on sideline begging Jalen to move the ball so they could get a rest. There was absolutely a strong element of blame on the QB's execution. Still, people forget that Jalen had multiple passes dropped that could have equated to first downs that were on the receivers moreso than him. I can remember at least 3 that were either on 2nd or 3rd down. We also got stuck with an OC who hadn't called a game in years. That was probably the biggest part of the reason that we fell apart when Bo went down. The playcalling was more bland, repetitive, and Sark couldn't figure out an alternate plan without Bo. That allowed for Clemson's D to close off the middle of the field and tee off on Jalen to make him uncomfortable. Most will never forget that the refs don't know an illegal pick from a hole in the ground, but somehow that's probably Jalen's fault too.

Either way whether it was 100% Jalen, 75% Jalen, or 5% Jalen doesn't matter. We lost, we got our revenge, we got another trophy, and we got another QB. That should cover making just about everyone happy on both sides of the QB camp.

Yea, you are Exactly RIGHT, and I'm every bit as guilty as anyone else of putting too much on the QB position. As they say, the QB gets too much blame for a loss and too much credit for a win - and I think that's true...... Even though I sometimes do just that.

But yea, I think in a way the whole 2016 season was (at least a little) about Hubris on the part of our staff.
Saban &/or Kiffin thought they could win a NC with a True Freshman QB; a supremely physically gifted and emotionally mature guy, to be sure - but still a VERY RAW True Freshman - and to their credit they came within TWO minutes of doing just that - but it was STILL an act of Hubris.
As was Kiffin thinking he could adequately prepare a team for a NC game while spending most of his time looking down the road at his next job. Which was Hubris on his part. (And lets be honest - Kiffin's distraction was taking a toll BEFORE the NC game! Our offensive performance against Washington was "Nothing to Write Home About" - that game was won by the Defense more so than by the offense!)
As was Saban firing Kiffin rather than just yanking his chain and keeping him on the job. That was Hubris on Saban's part.

And despite it all - we were Still just THAT "Darn" close to winning it all.

Go figure, huh?

 

[westide]

Riley should be more concerned about his own defense or lack of one.