Bama Game Thread: Official PostGame Thread - Bama vs. IU...

[bamamc1]

Only time will tell, but anyone who has tried to salvage a business knows there are times you work to retain people who don't fit your long term goals but are your best bet in the short term as you work towards your ultimate goals.

While I'm no football coach, I know how to run successful businesses. IF (all caps IF) this is what CKD is doing I have to trust him and wait to see results in year three or four.

Sometimes you accept a guy who isn't ideal because he's simply better than your other options...

CA, I know exactly what you’re saying. Been there, done that.

 

[cthorne22]

Bottom line, we coached scared. Not confident. It was fear that went for it on 4th and 1 at our own 34 on our second possession of the game, down just 3-0. That decision changed the game to me. It instilled the mindset that we had to gamble to win. Dumbest decision I’ve seen an Alabama coach make since Mike Price tempted Destiny.

Worse than Dumbose and little Debbie
Prolly

 

[JBW819]

That is because the offense was not sustaining drives. Takes more effort to play defense and when you are on the field all night you just get winded.

I understand that the offense needs to compliment the defense, but the way they physically took us to the woodshed was embarrassing. The 4th down call at our own 30 did not help either, but we allowed 200 yards rushing and could not get off the field on 3rd down. A far better example was set by the Texas Tech defense when their offense was hopelessly inept…they continued playing phydically until that late TD by Oregon, which by the way was the epitome of poor sportsmanship

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

when we are looking at excuses we grab the players age too

Well, considering body and mental maturity and such, being in a strength and conditioning program 4 or 5 years can make quite a difference. Not saying that was the case today......

 

[SMOKIESBAMAFAN]

Man it’s nice to watch a competitive game in this UGA/Ole Miss game….

 

[denver]

Maereeit’s nice to watchha competitive game in this UGA/Ole Miss game….

But man...the refereeing in the playoffs ahs been awful....hold after hold not called

 

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

Bottom line, we coached scared. Not confident.

Disagree.

It was fear that went for it on 4th and 1 at our own 34 on our second possession of the game, down just 3-0.

Nope. If we'd have made the 1st Down, you'd have been crowing about what a great and gutsy play it was.

I don't fault DeBoer for being aggressive.

That decision changed the game to me. It instilled the mindset that we had to gamble to win. Dumbest decision I’ve seen an Alabama coach make since Mike Price tempted Destiny.

[See above remark.]

 

[AlexanderFan]

And supposedly he wants smaller offensive line across the board, so get ready for more of what we’ve seen the last two years.

He wants faster, more agile players.

 

[bamaga]

True that 40 is the real number, and i agree with you that we had a talent drain, but some of that is noise. Bennett, Clayborne, howard, Courtney, Deerman, Willoughby, Ellis, Skehan, Neighbors, Porter, O'Quinn, Craig and bellenfant were't guys that matter. Even guys like Goodwine, Perry, Blackshire, jackson, story, buchner and Williams were not the real issue. a big chunk of that first group were walkons anyway

To me it's not the number of dudes, but losing the key dudes

The real issue is that we lost guys like Sayin, Downs, Amos, Little, and Ricks who all would have been competing or starting. Even Kitselman to be honest and Holstein maybe...

The glaring issue is that we lost T Ferguson, Seth M and J Brockermeyer. Not that our OL coach would have made good decisions with them, but Ferg and Brock would have been better (and played better) than most of our other IOL this year,

Seth was leaving regardless, the Bama fanbase wanted him gone for the yips he had that year. And they made him feel unwanted. Brockermeyer was staying , played spring ball but left when it was clear that Brailsford would be the center when he returned from injury. Earl Little should have stayed but he left before Saban retired. We discussed that on this board because he would have started in 2024. Tony Mitchell was done in Tuscaloosa after the arrest. A lot of these guys were no impact or would transfer anyway.

 

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

Mid-season few of you were giving this team a chance to even *make* the 12-team playoff. We made the playoff.

We beat Oklahoma, who beat us each of the two previous games.

I am sticking with the Tide, and giving CKD more time.

 

[gtgilbert]

Honest, non-attacking questiong - did you ever play OL in FB?

IF you did, you'd understand why your queries make little sense.

If you didn't, the reality is a bunch of under-weighted but athletic guys can be very effective when they're on the same page. And when you don't have a LT that can be easily beaten by a simple fast-upfield move by the DE your OL looks WAY better.

ok - so you aren't asking me, but I have to answer. yes. I moved over play OL my senior year in HS. We had a bunch of guys quit/leave the team/get hurt/whatever and I was the strongest guy left who wasn't playing with his hand in the dirt. I was really a RB/FB/OLB/SS body type, but outlifted most of our OL and DL by a decent margin so got the call. The reality is that mass matters in the trenches. Too much and it's like you mention with proctor, too little and you just can't move a guy even if you are way stronger and have better technique - like Brailsford. Physics just wins. There's a sweet spot for mass without excess body fat. Guys realistically have to be above 300, probably closer to 310-315 more than likely, but still have body fat in the 20% or lower range to stay mobile - again, it's just what physics and the power to weight ratios of the positions require. Indiana's guys are all 310+ (one 309) and seemed pretty mobile so that seems about right

 

[JDCrimson]

You know we may not have enough NIL to load up on the OL and DL like some teams appear to be doing.

So may be we are building our team around elite QB and WRs to maximize our NIL dollars...

Who knows what we are doing. But there are economics at play that we are not privy to...

What I do know is players only wear green jerseys now...

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

We just lost to a better option. It was a better season than last year, sure, but not near good enough and substantially underachieving for the talent we have. And it’s not so much the record, but the games we’re losing and how we’re losing them (and how we’re barely scraping by in others). The team reflects the approach and mindset of our coach. If what you are witnessing is acceptable to you, then good for you. It’s not to my eyes, especially considering the payroll involved. I’m not saying fire the guy right now, but I just have strong doubts this is going to work out long term. I hope I’m wrong.

A better option? Why? because he won one game over us? Because IU is in the playoffs?
I mean if we go by that criteria let's back up the Brinks truck for Dabo or Chizik.
They have actually won national championships.
Furthermore, who says Cignetti would have accepted if offered?
For some reason, there are people who just assume that just because we're Alabama that just EVERYBODY will drop their current gig and come rushing to coach Alabama ................ and especially to follow the GOAT.....yeah, ok.

I agree that we have issues. That's a no brainer. But if you fire DeBoer right now, after season 2, then you've become Auburn 2.0.

 

[crimsonaudio]

ok - so you aren't asking me, but I have to answer. yes. I moved over play OL my senior year in HS. We had a bunch of guys quit/leave the team/get hurt/whatever and I was the strongest guy left who wasn't playing with his hand in the dirt. I was really a RB/FB/OLB/SS body type, but outlifted most of our OL and DL by a decent margin so got the call. The reality is that mass matters in the trenches. Too much and it's like you mention with proctor, too little and you just can't move a guy even if you are way stronger and have better technique - like Brailsford. Physics just wins. There's a sweet spot for mass without excess body fat. Guys realistically have to be above 300, probably closer to 310-315 more than likely, but still have body fat in the 20% or lower range to stay mobile - again, it's just what physics and the power to weight ratios of the positions require. Indiana's guys are all 310+ (one 309) and seemed pretty mobile so that seems about right

Fair response. I largely agree. The difference is I'd take five slightly underweight athletes over five overweight road-graters. The game is simply different today and while being able to push the ball mano-a-mano is still important, overall line movement is more important to modern offenses than the road-grading that was idealized when I played ball.

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

I wasn’t a fan of the call to go for it in that situation but we have used that play a few times in similar situations and it worked this season (that was same play they used vs South Carolina on the touchdown run to win the game). . We have also tried the short 3rd and 4th and 1 inside run before too and got stopped.

Fair point which is why I agree with people on here who think some staff (assistant) changes along with some philosophical changes need to be made. We HAVE to get tougher/stronger/meaner.

 

[countrytider]

Good Lord, my common sense response gets deleted. Whatever.

Some dude said this season ended like Saban’s final season.

That shouldn’t need a counter but nevertheless here we are.

No matter how you guys spin it, the results were:

12-2, SEC Champions. No humiliating losses. A 4 team playoff berth and one play away from the title game.

Is that clear enough of a response back?

No back to back 4 loss seasons. No 3 loss regular season since 2010. Do I need to keep going? Because I can.

You guys can bring up all the “close wins” Saban had his last season or few, and so?

In the same breath you praise DeBoer’s close wins. It’s utterly ridiculous.

It’s all Saban’s fault tho.

 

[SkinnyFats]

There’s an actually good football game on ESPN if anybody’s interested.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Fair response. I largely agree. The difference is I'd take five slightly underweight athletes over five overweight road-graters. The game is simply different today and while being able to push the ball mano-a-mano is still important, overall line movement is more important to modern offenses than the road-grading that was idealized when I played ball.

If we're going to go "smaller" it doesn't need to be under 295 lbs. Anything below that and youre just asking to get mauled by the better teams that play big boy ball.

 

[russtang]

Saying to get rid of CKD now after year two is just asinine. It's stupid talk.
After next year? Totally different, depending on what transpires of course.

 

[KrAzY3]

I was thinking about DeBoer's 2023 Washington team, which was good, had a good offense, and really does fit the prototype of what at least others seem to think his offense should look like. I fear they're not looking closely enough though.

For instance up until the blowout to Michigan, the past ten games Washington played were all within 10 points. And you might think oh those were all great teams, no, not at all.

For instance against a 3-9 Arizona St. team they scraped by to win 15-7. I thought, hmm let me check the box score. Washington ran for 1 yard per rush. 13 rushes for 13 yards. Sound familiar? Penix threw a couple picks, and despite the Joe Moore award winners, first round picks, all of that they nearly got beat by 3-9 Arizona St. and also couldn't run the ball, at all.

I know it doesn't sound fair to cherry pick bad performances, but while I think DeBoer CAN fix the issue, it is structural and requires some serious work to do so. It's not an Alabama personnel issue, it follows him.