Tide Fans - Great board you guys have here. Been reading it for a few weeks now and decided to sign up to chatter about the game. Most reasonable Trojan fans are under no delusions about winning this game. Bama's got the experience, the talent and most of all the coaching that USC doesn't have. I would only give USC a 10% shot at winning. That being said, what have opponents done over the past few years that have kept games close? I've watched Bama a few times but don't know enough to provide an educated response. Thanks in advance for your replies. Hope to see y'all in Dallas. Fight on!
Thanks for chiming in. Great to have you here, and please do stay once the game has been played. It's always refreshing to have a perspective of someone whose glasses aren't crimson colored.
To answer your question, there are 4 observations that I've made, the first one, I don't think you can do anything about and the other three, maybe you can because two center around QB play and the other is based on what we do..
1. Catch Bama the week after a big game. Whether it's 2008 after losing the SECCG to Florida or in 2012 after winning in the last minute vs. LSU, the players (just like the fans) tend to dwell on the game a little too much instead of looking ahead (although Nick preaches the 24 hour rule)
2. Have a QB that can run and pass well (Cam Newton / Deshaun Watson).
3. Have a QB play the game of his life (Stephen Garcia, Johnny Manziel, Trevor Knight). Your guy is more than capable of doing that.
4. Otherwise, not even saying it arrogantly, Bama has to beat Bama. The team is talented enough to overcome flaws and bad play at times. Sometimes, though, (TAMU 2012, Ole Miss 2015, Ohio St. 2014) the mistakes made (and credit to other teams for helping to create those mistakes) are just too much to overcome.
It could happen. I certainly hope it doesn't, though. And again, welcome.
