My Analysis and Predictions

[TexasTideFan]

I do believe however that both the Vandy and Arky games will be very important for this team. Losses to either or both won't necessarily doom the season IMHO (it's possible but I don't believe it'll cause that) but wins against both could springboard this team to a 9 win or better season. I think (barring any significant injuries) this team will be much better towards the end of the season than it will be at the beginning.

Agree 100%. Not trying to disrespect Western Carolina since they are the Opener, but I feel pretty confident that we will win this game easily. If we don't then we may have some issues that go way deep. Putting the potential blowout aside, Vandy is going to be another story. If I'm their OC, my gameplan would be to keep it on the ground and make us stop the run. They ran the ball pretty effectively on us last year and I see no reason why they wouldn't continue, especially since we are going to be breaking in this new D package which could be vulnerable to between the Tackles runs and short passes to RB's out of the backfield. Also, you can bet Arkansas is going to study our game tape against Vandy in detail to see how they can really attack us with the run. My gut feel is that the Arkansas game is going to be like you said, a huge springboard for the rest of the season. Should we be able to contain McFadden (we won't shut him down) and pick up the W, I look for that to be a huge momentum boost for the rest of season. I think it could be a boost that would take us to a 9-10 win season. On the flip side, if Arkansas beats us, it will sting but the main difference from last year and this year is that we will learn from our mistakes and improve.

 

[ALLVOL]

I just can't see ARK being much of a threat this year. In my opinion they lost too many of the complimentary pieces (especially now with Monk being sidelined) and are going to have a rough time. If I turn out to be wrong on this it will likely be because they figured out how to effectively use their 2nd RB alongside McFadden to keep the D guessing enough to open up some space (probably shjould have said more effectively as they did a good job at times last year).

On the other hand, if they would have come out against AL last year with a pound it out gameplan (like they learned to do shortly thereafter)I don't think it would have been near as close. Perhaps having an all or nothing game plan will prove to be effective.

Whwen it is all said and done, I think NS can handle this one. It is some of the more balanced teams that will force him to take chances here and there that could swing a game either way.

Felix Jones (their 2nd RB) rushed for over 1000 yards last year. I would call that pretty effective. He also turned into one of the very best return men in the nation.

 

[AeroEngUA07]

Agree 100%. Not trying to disrespect Western Carolina since they are the Opener, but I feel pretty confident that we will win this game easily. If we don't then we may have some issues that go way deep. Putting the potential blowout aside, Vandy is going to be another story. If I'm their OC, my gameplan would be to keep it on the ground and make us stop the run. They ran the ball pretty effectively on us last year and I see no reason why they wouldn't continue, especially since we are going to be breaking in this new D package which could be vulnerable to between the Tackles runs and short passes to RB's out of the backfield. Also, you can bet Arkansas is going to study our game tape against Vandy in detail to see how they can really attack us with the run. My gut feel is that the Arkansas game is going to be like you said, a huge springboard for the rest of the season. Should we be able to contain McFadden (we won't shut him down) and pick up the W, I look for that to be a huge momentum boost for the rest of season. I think it could be a boost that would take us to a 9-10 win season. On the flip side, if Arkansas beats us, it will sting but the main difference from last year and this year is that we will learn from our mistakes and improve.

The only arguement I have against the Vandy gameplan is Earl Bennett is the best receiver in the conference and one of the best in the country. You gotta get it into his hands and see what he can do.

 

[TexasTideFan]

The only arguement I have against the Vandy gameplan is Earl Bennett is the best receiver in the conference and one of the best in the country. You gotta get it into his hands and see what he can do.

I don't doubt they are going to get him the ball, probably often. They are somewhat similar to Arkansas with Marcus Monk, who I feel is the best WR in the conference. They run just enough pass to keep the D from putting all 11 guys in the box. The downside is that he and Monk are their only real threats at WR, unless they both have another sleeper at WR.

My opinion is that they are going to try and expose our weakness and right now that looks like Run Defense and not so much Pass Coverage. We will probably stick Simeon on him and hopefully shut him down and if needed, he will get a double team. The only downside to that is if they have another threat at WR, he's going to get single coverage all day.

 

[BamaSteve999]

ALLVOL

I think a lot of folks are looking back to last year (very dangerous, I know) for their Arkansas reasoning. Same personnel and we basically handed them a game that we should have won three times.

 

[BamaFan1961]

Looking at our schedule, I think Arkansas will be our biggest win. We're catching them at the right time with a new coordinator, injuries, and new players at many positions and I think Saban's defense will be able to stop a team who you know is only capable of doing one thing no matter what kind of talent they have with that "one thing". Jones and McFadden are great, but last year was a perfect storm for Nutt more than anything else.

My Predictions:
Western Carolina - W
Vanderbilt - W
Arkansas - W
Georgia - L (Upset potential, UGA's first road test)
Florida State - L
Houston (HC) - W
Ole Miss - W
Tennessee - L (Upset potential, Rivalry all-bets-off sort of thing)
LSU - L
Mississippi State - W
Louisiana-Monroe - W
Auburn - L (Upset potential, again a Rivalry)

Final Regular Season Record: 7-5

I think we have three games that we should lose but could win because of the circumstances behind the game. I think FSU and LSU are pretty solid Ls. FSU's defense will be able to cause enough problems that our defense will get exploited. LSU is a far superior team. Vandy is our early season landmine game, but I think our offense will win in a shoot-out.

I agree, this is the most likely scenario but if Bama should have a year where they get a lot of lucky breaks then it could also be a 10/2 season or better. I guess thats why they make you line up and play each game.

 

[Pachyderm37]

You know, most of the time when you get a team to be one dimensional you can usually do pretty well against that team. Ark's quarterback is nothing special and their defense is gonna be pretty suspect ( maybe even more so than ours ) . Add to that we'll have better coaching and I really think we will beat Arkansas.

As for FSU, they will have a good defense as they always do, but their offense is very suspect as the two quarterbacks that they have have not shown much of an ability to lead the offense. I really think we have a good chance to beat FSU. Our coaches will have had time to correct mistakes being made and our offense will be pretty potent. I was talking to a guy at work about this today and basically told him that if FSU holds us to 21 points and we hold them to 13 points then we win. I think our ofense and the leadership that we have on that side of the ball will be enough to push us to victory.

As far as UT goes, I really think we'll beat them. We had them all but beat last year untill our offensive line gave out and couldn't get a good push off the line to be able to sustain a drive to run out the clock.

Houston is the team that really scares me the most as far as upsets go. We really just don't know much about them. JMHO

:BigA::cool2:

RTR

 

[BAMAFAN IN NY]

Have you read all of the posts in the thread?

youve lost youre mind

 

[BAMAFAN IN NY]

opps sorry meant to quote the spy who said we would lose all those games

Our defense will be awesome this year

better than fsu, ark, vandy, ut, uga and all the scrub teams on the schedule
and our offense will be better thatn every team on the schedule

im predicting 10 or 11 wins--in the regular season!!! only losses being lsu and auburn, but we could beat auburn

 

[GrayTide]

You know, most of the time when you get a team to be one dimensional you can usually do pretty well against that team. Ark's quarterback is nothing special and their defense is gonna be pretty suspect ( maybe even more so than ours ) . Add to that we'll have better coaching and I really think we will beat Arkansas.RTR

I do not disagree with your reasoning except to say Houston Nutt is not a bad coach. IMO he gets more out of less than any other SEC coach. We should beat Arkansas but do not underestimate Nutt and the Hogs; plus with all that has happened in the offseason he knows his job is on the line.

 

[rgw]

I do not disagree with your reasoning except to say Houston Nutt is not a bad coach. IMO he gets more out of less than any other SEC coach. We should beat Arkansas but do not underestimate Nutt and the Hogs; plus with all that has happened in the offseason he knows his job is on the line.

I'd wouldn't consider having a bunch of seniors and NFL draft picks on the OL, the next TO at WR, the next Bo at RB, and several NFL draft picks on the defense last year as "less" by any means.

 

[gator]

Re: ALLVOL

I think a lot of folks are looking back to last year (very dangerous, I know) for their Arkansas reasoning. Same personnel and we basically handed them a game that we should have won three times.

I'm sure some will disagree with me here, but I thought ARK came into this game last year trying to do everything backwards and practically gave the game to AL. They did all they could to get the passing game going and to try and outsmart MS when they should have been pounding it out the entire game. It was after the Bama game that they settled down and put everything on the RB's.

Difference is this year they have what I think is less talent on the OL, and Monk will be out eliminating that occasional big play that defensive coordinators have in the back of their mind. Given those points I think NS will be able to come up with an effective game plan and hide any weaknesses on D.

I think Vandy has a better shot than ARK this year.

 

[cbi1972]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I just don't see a team winning many games with all the off-season hoopla, a defense that has only been good one season (last year when they had a bunch of seniors), and question marks on the OL, WR, and QB even if they had Jesus Christ at tailback.

“What shall it profit a man if he rushes for 200 yards but loses the ball game?”