Lack of MOTIVATION? It's quite obvious to me that you've NEVER been hit by a 240 lb linebacker running a 4.4 40 - or even close to that. It takes MOTIVATION just to get up on Sunday morning.
Yeah, we were sloppy in the 1st half of the Duke game. But motivation? Read about Bino's talk at Halftime and then look at the team in the 2nd half.
And if you want to point to Arkansas, let me remind you that we were - literally - one play away from beating them THREE TIMES on their home turf. Conversely, the #2 team in the nation could never even manage to take the lead on it's home turf. I'm not trying to draw a dotted-line comparison here, but right now our two losses are to a team that horse-whipped the #2 team in the nation and to the now-current #2 team.
Believe.
Yes, lack of motivation, and thank you for making my point for me. I don't have to be hit by a linebacker of any size, because it's not MY motivation that's being discussed here, is it?
The Tide was sloppy in the first half because they were not properly motivated prior to the start of the game. To further my assertion, let me ask a question. Where did all our players come from, and how did they get to be on this team? Answer: Every one of them came from high schools, where each and every one of them excelled on their football teams. You don't excel on a high school football team unless you have received the proper instruction and motivation. Thus you don't earn scholarships to UA, or given the opportunity as a walk-on, by being slow and lazy, or just plain untalented. You can talk about youth on the team til you're blue in the face, but every single player on that team has already shown he has what it takes to excel. So why did they excel in high school and aren't at UA? There can be but one reason, and that is because they have not received the proper motivation. Oh sure, the coaches get mad as all get out and jump down their throats during halftime, which once more provides that motivation to excel in the second half. But if this team is to ever meet expectations, they have to be properly motivated before they ever take the field prior to the start of the game. And although I'm not pointing any fingers at CMS, or saying anything negative about him at all, it is ultimately his responsibility to insure that happens. Regardless of where the fault lies, whether it is related to coaches or players, it doesn't matter. It's his team, the coaches coach for him and the players play for him. He's the one getting the big bucks to make sure the team produces. That means it's his baby. If he doesn't expect, no, demand excellence both on the field and off, the players won't excel, and neither will the team. The result will be that what you see now is what you can expect for years to come.
