Some late-night post-mortems...

[Tideflyer]

This. I told my dad yesterday as we watched Auburn play Wisconsin (and after watching all the other bowl games with SEC teams in them) that the SEC is no longer the best conference. Whatever the reason is doesn't matter. The bottom line is there's no question and no denying that the SEC is no longer the best conference. I sat and watched (whether it be Ole Miss, Miss St., Auburn, etc) these games and noticed these teams were just as fast (in many cases faster) and just as good as the SEC teams on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The game of football is very cyclical. What the SEC did for seven straight years was amazing and may not be matched again. But the winds of change have no doubt blown in and shaken things up.

As for Alabama and last night. I'll leave the technical aspect of the game to JessN's analysis as I believe he has once again nailed it. But what keeps running through my mind is we just got beat with a team that had their third string quarterback starting his second game. He lit our secondary up and for much of the night didn't play or look like a third stringer only starting his second game. I can only wonder and ask could our third string quarterback been capable of the same? The resounding answer is no. Someone asks how Baylor, TCU and these other programs seem to be able to plug and play qb's without any drop off. Here's why. The type offenses they run are very simple to learn and very simple to run. Where as the more pro style offenses are harder to learn and take longer to learn it. Hence there is NO WAY if we were in the same position as OSU (with the first and second QB going down) that we could have just plugged in our third string QB and had any chance at having the same success.

C. Jones joins an ever growing list, it seems, of QB`s that are either new, undistinguished, or previously "average" for whom we present an opportunity to have a coming out party, if not a career day. Maybe, however, I`m overly sensitive on this, but it sure feels like it`s the case. Anybody else?

 

[81usaf92]

Im still trying to figure out how we lost to a third string QB. I hate to think what could have happened had their other two been available.

He was their second string last year and pretty much went to third for off the field issues and the other qb being better.
As far as putting the blame. I think some need to realize that we were dominated all the way around and if it wasn't for two rare takeaways from our defense then the score would've reflected it. If we had won, if anybody was named MVP other than jk Scott then I would be calling bull. He was our best player

 

[dvldog]

We lose three starters off the OL, not sure how we can expect dominant OL play.

Well, I did say "could" not "expect". I think we have recruited well. Of course, coaching and meshing as a unit are unknowns at this point.

 

[bamaslammer]

I dissagree that the SEC is no longer the best conference, they are still the best overall, what has changed is that there are other programs around the country that are just as good as the top SEC teams where that was not the case for almost a decade.

The game has definately changed and the passing attacks being used against us seem to rely little on overall QB talent but just require a guy with a big arm who can fling it down field. They thow a pick here and there but also get a few TD's to make up for it. Defensively we haven't been able to keep up in the last few years. The staff did improve the DL this year but they need more work in the backfield. We may be in trouble at MLB if Ragland goes pro.

Offensively Kiffin needs to go back to the drawing board. He did well this year but we need a more consistent attack. From mid season on the Offense faltered for long stretches in the game and would always come up with some heroics to score points when they needed them. We need the ability to do more than just "come up with something". Offensively Alabama was in position to win the OS game, they needed 7 and had the ball in their terrotory twice and failed. Much of that falls on Sims who's talent level or rather lack there of finally cost him. I still love the guy for his guts and leadership and he will always be an SEC champion and deserves his feet at the chimes. but from a national point of view Alabama needed more to get the big trophy.

Here's hoping for the future. Saban never said this was his best team, just a team that gave it their all. for that they have my respect.

 

[dvldog]

I completely agree but I'll also throw in that in this day and age of offense our offense can't have three and four consecutive three and outs or consecutive series of ineptness. Last night we were not very efficient on offense and that puts the defense in a position of razor thin room for mistakes.

Hurt us in several games this year and kept us from crushing a few teams when we had the chance; see last night.

 

[BAMAVILLE]

I agree as well that the SEC is still the best conference. Just hated the SEC West didn't prove that this year in the bowl season. No one would have seen these results coming before the bowl season started but again thats why we play the game. As far as Bama goes they unfortunately didn't execute offensively and defensively last night AND they still could have one the game. Just a weird one. Congrats again to the OU and good job to our boys again for this season and being the first SEC representative in the 4 team college playoff.

 

[derek4tide]

This. I told my dad yesterday as we watched Auburn play Wisconsin (and after watching all the other bowl games with SEC teams in them) that the SEC is no longer the best conference. Whatever the reason is doesn't matter. The bottom line is there's no question and no denying that the SEC is no longer the best conference. I sat and watched (whether it be Ole Miss, Miss St., Auburn, etc) these games and noticed these teams were just as fast (in many cases faster) and just as good as the SEC teams on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The game of football is very cyclical. What the SEC did for seven straight years was amazing and may not be matched again. But the winds of change have no doubt blown in and shaken things up.

As for Alabama and last night. I'll leave the technical aspect of the game to JessN's analysis as I believe he has once again nailed it. But what keeps running through my mind is we just got beat with a team that had their third string quarterback starting his second game. He lit our secondary up and for much of the night didn't play or look like a third stringer only starting his second game. I can only wonder and ask could our third string quarterback been capable of the same? The resounding answer is no. Someone asks how Baylor, TCU and these other programs seem to be able to plug and play qb's without any drop off. Here's why. The type offenses they run are very simple to learn and very simple to run. Where as the more pro style offenses are harder to learn and take longer to learn it. Hence there is NO WAY if we were in the same position as OSU (with the first and second QB going down) that we could have just plugged in our third string QB and had any chance at having the same success.

Agree totally. I said this same thing during the OM-TCU game thread and got jumped by many on here. "How can you say that??!!" Well, after yesterday, the truth is now out.

 

[JDCrimson]

People keep referencing Jones as the 3rd string QB and that just wasnt the case. Certainly by the end of the season. Miller was hurt in fall camp. As a result, Barrett became first team at the beginning of the season. Jones has essentially been getting 2nd team reps all season. That's a lot of practice time guys to get competent to operate the team by the end of the year. What we saw last night was a Tebow redux and we had no answer for it if we couldnt operate with offensive efficiency. We didnt get beat by a hack last night...

 

[BamaPokerplayer]

This. I told my dad yesterday as we watched Auburn play Wisconsin (and after watching all the other bowl games with SEC teams in them) that the SEC is no longer the best conference. Whatever the reason is doesn't matter. The bottom line is there's no question and no denying that the SEC is no longer the best conference. I sat and watched (whether it be Ole Miss, Miss St., Auburn, etc) these games and noticed these teams were just as fast (in many cases faster) and just as good as the SEC teams on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The game of football is very cyclical. What the SEC did for seven straight years was amazing and may not be matched again. But the winds of change have no doubt blown in and shaken things up.

As for Alabama and last night. I'll leave the technical aspect of the game to JessN's analysis as I believe he has once again nailed it. But what keeps running through my mind is we just got beat with a team that had their third string quarterback starting his second game. He lit our secondary up and for much of the night didn't play or look like a third stringer only starting his second game. I can only wonder and ask could our third string quarterback been capable of the same? The resounding answer is no. Someone asks how Baylor, TCU and these other programs seem to be able to plug and play qb's without any drop off. Here's why. The type offenses they run are very simple to learn and very simple to run. Where as the more pro style offenses are harder to learn and take longer to learn it. Hence there is NO WAY if we were in the same position as OSU (with the first and second QB going down) that we could have just plugged in our third string QB and had any chance at having the same success.

I think we just a small bump in the road. The SEC will adopt, we still get the best players.

 

[TitleWave]

Thanks for the always insightful PM, Jess. My précis would be that Defense still wins championships, but 'Bama still ain't improved on defense when an opponent's weapons beyond bustin' it up the gut come out. The team got better as the season progressed; didn't see but the occasional scintilla of documentary evidence that the defense on the whole did likewise. Regressed, if anything.

 

[Ldlane]

Our secondary really needs to be addressed in the off season and I'm sure it will be. We lived on the edge all year from game 1 and it burned us last night. We desperately need to acquire/develop some lock down corners and more nimble LB's that can better handle the spread O.

I really think we need to do something with the system that we run on Defense. Smart can go to some of the West Coast schools and get some Professional Development on defending the HUNH. Maybe Saban needs some also. I wonder if we've thought about putting a WR/Athlete in the Secondary.

 

[TideFan in AU]

Im still trying to figure out how we lost to a third string QB. I hate to think what could have happened had their other two been available.

OSU had their 2 best games of the year with that QB. I think you are selling Cardale Jones short just based on his supposed pecking order in the depth chart. He is the best passer of the 3. Meyer said so himself. It may have been worse with JT Barrett, but I'm not so sure.

 

[BAMAVILLE]

Not buying the whole argument about the philosophy about the defense as a whole needs to change. The D we have should stopped this team last night enough times for us to win. My biggest concern is fundamentals with tackling. Was very apparent in the first quarter. Seems like they were focusing on dropping shoulders instead of wrapping up. In return, OSU was very solid with their tackling technique. Also seems like Bama wasn't expecting OSU to be as physical as they were and part of that may have been to them listing to what the pundits were reporting on OSU not being able to be as physical.

With all that being said, Bama has to keep focus on playing in a way that makes teams quit on both sides of the ball for a full game ... especially on defense. I think part of it was they thought the game was in hand after we got up 21-6. Again though, they had a solid season and believe they will be in a good position to compete for a title next year as well. Just depends on a few intangibles.

 

[CoastGhost]

I am not an X's and O's guy but I know enough to see that even with Flash Gordon and Spider Man as your DBs, if the QB is not pressured, your are headed for trouble. Your comment about linebackers that can set the edge and apply pressure sticks out as the most important place for us to focus in my limited knowledge. I really miss the Copeland/Curry style of DEs as well. Those guys were crushers. I look forward to how CNS will handle the whole thing and doubt seriously he is done winning NCs at Alabama.

 

[TideHiFlyer]

I really think we need to do something with the system that we run on Defense. Smart can go to some of the West Coast schools and get some Professional Development on defending the HUNH. Maybe Saban needs some also. I wonder if we've thought about putting a WR/Athlete in the Secondary.

We have them. Tony Brown. Marlon Humphrey. 6'1/6'2 DBs, tall, strong, fast dbs, who can get off their blocks that can defend the read/option. We're gonna be fine once we as a defense understands how to defend the new offenses. Like Tiger says, as long as he is in the final round on Sundays, he is in contention. We will contend as long we have CNS. CNS will fix it.

 

[Atl Joe]

It is easy to seek a specific excuse for winning and losing big games or the performance of the SEC in general this year in bowls. Hey, sometimes it is just not your year as a conference.
The one thing I have observed from 35+ years of watching football is that no team is ever as good as they appear after a big win and no team is ever as bad as they appear after a big loss. In games of magnitude, once the momentum is lost, it is hard to stop the avalanche of misfortune. The rest of college football did not close the gap on the SEC in one year.
Alabama, Ole Miss, MSU, the barn, UGA (kind of) have been playing legitimate elimination games since the beginning of October. When you play a Saturday night game in Bryant Denny, Death Valley or The Swamp then have an afternoon game in Orlando/Tampa (wherever) in front of 50 thousand, it must feel like an exhibition game. Players should care about the bowls, but do they really after having dreams of being in the playoffs?

 

[TideFan in AU]

I really think we need to do something with the system that we run on Defense. Smart can go to some of the West Coast schools and get some Professional Development on defending the HUNH.

We got beat straight up last night. It was not due to the HUNH. OSU used very little hurry up in the game. We uncharacteristically missed a ton of tackles, and we could couldn't get Cardale Jones on the ground. He is a big strong dude!

I wonder if we've thought about putting a WR/Athlete in the Secondary.

I'm sorry, but I think that's our problem now. Cy Jones, Eddie Jackson, and Bradley Sylve were listed as ATH's coming out of HS and Jones and Sylve were WR's early on. We don't currently a true a CB starting on the field. Brown and Humphrey are as well as Minkah Fitzpatrick that is coming in this year. Hopefully they will develop to reflect their 5 star rankings at the position.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Regarding our defensive philosophy; I understand it has nothing to do with poor tackling. That's just fundamentals. But when you've got receivers running wide open over the middle of the field with no defender within 20 yards, I gotta think that's a philosophical breakdown. Maybe it's just mental breakdowns by the players, but it just seems to happen too often.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

That's why I've been saying that expect Eddie to be moved to safety next spring. We need new CBs... We got humprhrey and others.

 

[RobK]

I do believe the SEC has more talent, top to bottom, than any league, with especially a good deal of talent stocked on the top 5 or 6 elite teams. But the challenges are two-fold:

1. The avalanche of talented SEC players turning pro early. So many more players seem to be turning pro than did so 6 or 8 years ago. It's obviously a function of the money, greater TV exposure, better coaching/player development, and the concentration of talent in the SEC. What you wind up with is talented rosters like ours, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, and even Auburn and A&M stocked with elite recruits, but the early departures make teams rely on younger players. That leads to experience and chemistry issues that can derail a team. It levels the playing field with teams that are marginally less talented, yet more experienced and game-seasoned players. It's certainly helped a team like Missouri come into this league and compete in the East, and it's helped teams from other leagues compete better with the SEC. The early departures make it seem like our team and LSU are filling major holes every year, despite top 3 recruiting classes year after year.

2. The revolutionary changes in offense (in terms of schemes, type of players used, and exploitation of the rules) that the more talented defenses haven't fully adapted to. Jess breaks this down better than I could, but it allows less talented teams with a few stud playmakers to level the playing field and compete. It has created a greater level of parity within our conference between the first-tier teams (Bama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, and potentially Florida and Tennessee once they rebuild) and the second-tier (A&M, Miss State, Ole Miss, Missouri, Arkansas, etc.), and well as parity with teams from other leagues, making it harder for one team to dominate.

As for answers? I'm not sure I know for sure, other than adjusting/evolving defensive systems and placing greater emphasis and stud, game-breaking QBs, receivers, and lock-down corners.