Game Thread: **OFFICIAL** Alabama vs Florida post Game Thread

[tidefan89]

courtney, marcell, dont'a, etc all played lights out tonight.

I can't argue with that. It was really great to see so many guys making plays out there on defense. CJ Mosely finally caught a ball. That was nice to see as well. He seems to always be in the right spot at the right time. He has Rolando-like instincts.

 

[92tide]

Very impressive win tonight!! Our D was championship special and our O did what was needed to get the job done. If we play that way the rest of our games, we could be unstoppable. I know it's been a much debated topic, but the only disadvantage I see we are up against is all the teams that have their bye weeks prior to their game with us. We get them when they are most rested. That's OK, though, since we're battle tested for that as well.

florida has been prepping for us for 10 months. i dont think a week is gonna help the others too much

 

[bama_brannon]

Any news on Meyer's esophagus?

I felt sorry for Brantley tonight. He reminded me of Time Couch. A pure passer forced to run the option.

 

[tidestampede1]

I wonder what type of excuse Robert Smith of ESPN will be able to roll out about his missing his prediction of a Bama loss. ? :eek2:

 

[bayoutider]

florida has been prepping for us for 10 months. i dont think a week is gonna help the others too much

South Carolina, Ole Miss and Tennessee have bye weeks before we play and I don't think it will make any difference. Coach saban has been rotating players in and out of the game keeping fresh legs in and giving players much needed game experience. We have a bye the same week as LSU so that should be no advantage for LSU. After that we should be smooth sailing till Auburn week and Auburn will need that week to rest up. Auburn's surviving roadblock seems to be a motivated Arkansas team, that will tell a lot about how good Auburn really is.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Just read Earle's comments in the game thread about how the offense shut it down so that the defense could get more reps against a quality opponent. Very valuable experience, and CNS is just a mastermind to approach the game that way.

I'm sorry but I think that is just ridiculous. No coach is that nuts to shut down your offense against a top 10 opponent just to get the defense more reps. Yes, we got conservative, something I'm sick and tired of seeing, but I think it was more of not wanting to make a mistake then to keep the defense on the field. At the time, you have no clue how the half will play out, you don't shut it down just to give your defense more practice. If the D had slipped up, UF could have gotten back into the game, then you have to jump start an offense that had lost its rhythm. Plus, if it was by design, the Saban would not have been upset about the way the offense played in the second half. Sorry, but I will never believe that Nick Saban shut down the offense just to give some other guys more time on the field, ridiculous IMO.

I'm proud of the way this team played tonight, would have loved to seen some more points from the O but it wasn't needed in the end. Now we get to go and do the same thing to USCe next week! RTR!

 

[TideEngineer08]

Very good win. We grow a little more each week. The defense is realizing its potential more and more. We still gave up some plays, but I was really impressed with how we seemed to dominate the LOS, and it looks like the LBs are straightened out now. Secondary still needs some work, but they get better and better each game.

The offense is what it is. They're talented, and are just machine-like. I didn't like how they seemed to go extremely vanilla in the second half, but the field position dictated it for the most part. And Florida's defense is very good.

Let's just maintain focus and take some more steps forward next week against a good South Carolina team on the road. I tend to agree that Auburn is our toughest test left. But each SEC opponent presents unique challenges that we can't overlook (except perhaps Ole Miss and Miss State).

RTR

 

[BEATtutorsee]

If our defense starts to play with some more consistency (namely between the 20s) it's going to be very difficult for anyone to beat us IMHO. They're fantastic right now in the red zone, which is great, but they need to tighten up everywhere else. That said, when you've given up 3 total touchdowns in five games (2 of which were games against top 10 foes) that's not too shabby. :biggrin2:

 

[Perrett4Bama]

I finally noticed Hightower tonight...He was swarming around popping folks all night.....and what about Upshaw, Darius, Mosley, Dre, Barron, Nico.......Our D was bringing it tonight. Our secondary made some GREAT plays tonight........I can't sleep......

 

[sononothing]

South Carolina, Ole Miss and Tennessee have bye weeks before we play and I don't think it will make any difference. Coach saban has been rotating players in and out of the game keeping fresh legs in and giving players much needed game experience. We have a bye the same week as LSU so that should be no advantage for LSU. After that we should be smooth sailing till Auburn week and Auburn will need that week to rest up. Auburn's surviving roadblock seems to be a motivated Arkansas team, that will tell a lot about how good Auburn really is.

Agreed. Felt good since it felt like this was the 1st game that someone didn't get seriously dinged up during the game.
As long as the team doesn't get a "win hangover" and overlook someone things should go well....

 

[sononothing]

Just read Earle's comments in the game thread about how the offense shut it down so that the defense could get more reps against a quality opponent. Very valuable experience, and CNS is just a mastermind to approach the game that way.

I'm happy the D got all those reps but I thought Saban hinted he wasn't thrilled with the second half play. I figured that was attributed to the O's lack of production.

 

[bayoutider]

If our defense starts to play with some more consistency (namely between the 20s) it's going to be very difficult for anyone to beat us IMHO. They're fantastic right now in the red zone, which is great, but they need to tighten up everywhere else. That said, when you've given up 3 total touchdowns in five games (2 of which were games against top 10 foes) that's not too shabby. :biggrin2:

Quite frankly I dont care how many yards an opponent gets between the 20s as long as the red zone defense shows up the way they did against Florida. After 5 games Alabama is #1 in the nation in scoring defense. I don't know how you get better than that.

 

[BamaGoose]

My only gripe of the game is how many times is GMac going to keep playing reckless to where he is taking unneccessary hits? His brashness eventually will hurt him and the team.

Other than that I love the position the Tide has put them themselves in. :biga:

 

[Special K]

Quite frankly I dont care how many yards an opponent gets between the 20s as long as the red zone defense shows up the way they did against Florida. After 5 games Alabama is #1 in the nation in scoring defense. I don't know how you get better than that.

I hear what you're saying and I'm proud of our guys for their red zone performance. However, we can't expect to be this perfect in the red zone all the time. Eventually, it will catch up to us if we don't make stops and get off the field earlier in drives.

Plus, it's killing our field position and making things hard on our offense. The second half last night was like a vicious cycle. Our offense was not as sharp as the first half in general, then we kept letting UF flip the field on us, making things harder and harder on the O as we were forced to be predictable in the shadows of our own goalposts. Didn't matter last night because of the big lead and the red zone stops, but a closer game would have made for a nervous 2nd half. Of course, a tighter game and we probably open open up the playbook more in the 2nd half, maybe put the D in better position, etc.

It's all related and it's awfully hard to argue with results like last night, so I'm definitely not upset. I'm just greedy -- I want to decapitate the other team and impale their (figurative) head on a stake for the world to see. Show no weakness and leave no doubt.

 

[glasscutter256]

My only gripe of the game is how many times is GMac going to keep playing reckless to where he is taking unneccessary hits? His brashness eventually will hurt him and the team.

Other than that I love the position the Tide has put them themselves in. :biga:

I was thinking the same thing. Totally unnecessary. I know he doesn't want to back down from anyone, but it was almost like he stopped running to let them get a free shot on him.
I don't usually give a lot of props to coaching, but I thought our coaches did an excellent job of preparation. Probably the gamechanger was when Nico intercepted that jump pass on their first drive. I saw CKS yelling on the sideline to watch out for the it. Urban Meyer just was outcoached tonight and I hope he doesn't have any heart trouble because of it. The Gators will get better and it will be a different team on neutral ground if they make it to Atlanta.
By the way, most of the UF fans I encountered were very complimentary and classy. With the exception of a drunk one in the bathroom cussing out another gator fan. lol

 

[BamaClay]

I have to say that the red zone defense was deeply satisfying. The interception of the tebow impersonation was a thrill.

 

[BEATtutorsee]

Quite frankly I dont care how many yards an opponent gets between the 20s as long as the red zone defense shows up the way they did against Florida. After 5 games Alabama is #1 in the nation in scoring defense. I don't know how you get better than that.

Couple it with being #1 in total defense.

 

[BoscoOFD]

My only gripe of the game is how many times is GMac going to keep playing reckless to where he is taking unneccessary hits? His brashness eventually will hurt him and the team.

Other than that I love the position the Tide has put them themselves in. :biga:

As usual GMAC managed the game very well, however I do agree with the
above, either slide or get out of bounds, don't just slow down and stand tall
for the blow.

 

[mittman]

As usual GMAC managed the game very well, however I do agree with the
above, either slide or get out of bounds, don't just slow down and stand tall
for the blow.

I agree, he should not take the shot. However, I think he was slowing down to bait the defender into thinking he was just going out of bounds. He tried to cut on him, pick up a few more yards, and keep the clock ticking.

 

[TideMan09]

I just got on Twitter & they were talking about Julio hurting a knee..Is this a rumor or will he miss the SC game???..