We R Penn State

[paternostate]

Hello Bama,

With our spring game around the corner and football back on the mind, I found this site & thought I would stop by to pay a vist. Really looking forward to this fall's matchup. I think state might get throtled by one hell of a Bama team but I am still excited for the game. I will not be able to make it down but will see it in person when the show comes to Happy Valley. There is a lot of hype already building around this game and in my opinion Penn State vs Alabama is what college football is all about. Anyway is it true that Alabama is good enough to run the tables again? What areas need the most attention? What chance do you think the Nitts have against the tide? Hope to hear from you all. Later =)

 

[derek4tide]

Welcome aboard! I am looking forward to that game as well. It will be a good one.

 

[Hoot30]

I know it won't happen, but I wish UA and PSU would sign a 10-year home and home just like back in the '80's. What a great series.

 

[MegaVars]

Welcome aboard. It doesn't get any more classic than Bama vs. Penn. St.

 

[paternostate]

that would be sweet. With the big ten expanding some are saying we might get one or two non confrence games a year. but playing bama every year would be sweet.

 

[TidePrideGA]

Welcome to the forums, I have nothing but respect for Penn State and Coach Paterno. I wish as the above poster stated that we could have a 10 year series with you guys.

 

[paternostate]

Thanks. anyone have some thoughts on the game? Many a proud lions fans think we will get our arses handed to us. WHat do you all think?

 

[TidePrideGA]

Thanks. anyone have some thoughts on the game? Many a proud lions fans think we will get our arses handed to us. WHat do you all think?

We have our share of guys to replace on defense, but we have a lot of depth and guys who got game action last year. The offense is going to be a juggernaut. You guys lose Odrick and Clark, who else? Evan Royster is a very underrated back.

 

[BAMA504]

Honestly it is going to be hard fetched to find a BAMA fan on this board who will outright tell you BAMA will dominate Penn St. We are kept in check and in all honesty most of these guys and gals on here know their football and like myself we are optimistic about the offense and concerned over the losses we suffered on defense but not to the point where we will be pushed around by anyone its more of actual game experience for many on defense.
I will say the one thing I am happy about is PSU is an old smash mouth style football team and our weakness if we are going to have one is going to be against the pass with a pocket passing QB. Then again our DL should be more active in the pass rush so sitting back there with guys like Marcel, Chapman and Davis coming after you might not be a good thing. In all I hope for a BAMA win does not matter to me whether its by 1 or 21 as it all goes down on the books as a W.
I think you will see 2 of the most historic teams doing battle and it should be a great game. I think BAMA has an offense that none of us living have ever seen and could easily become something very special by the end of the year. Tons of talent, not much in the way of losses and in some cases we might be upgrading to bigger and stronger so our RB's should be better than last year. Add to that a healthy J. Jones and Maze with a returning NC starting QB and we could be pretty good on offense. Again its the defense that most of us are concerned about but with one of the best coaches in CFB and some really good co-ordinators I for one am not that worried. Tons of talent and plenty of 4-5 star kids looking to make a name for themselves..

How do you guys look on both sides of the ball??

 

[kyallie]

Welcome to the forums, I have nothing but respect for Penn State and Coach Paterno. I wish as the above poster stated that we could have a 10 year series with you guys.

Dittos on the 10 yr home and home and Welcome aboard! :BigA:

 

[GrayTide]

Welcome to Tidefans. You will find this is the absolute best site for Alabama football. The posters are very knowledgable, and are appreciative of opposing team posters (with the exception of AU fans). The mods are what make this a great site. Stay on their good side.

A classic is shaping up Alabama vs Penn State, Saban vs Paterno, I ask you can it get any better than this? Our offense should be as good or better than last years and on defense, while we have a lot of holes to fill, most all of our newcomers have some experience and are very talented. We are having to replace both our kickers so that would be our biggest question mark right now.

You can probably shed some light on how we should change our uniforms.
Enjoy.

 

[CullmanTide]

Welcome to TideFans PS. It is great to see Penn State back on our schedule again. I think maybe some of us should curb our enthusiasm about our offense. It has a ton of potential and will be good for sure but the passing game needs improvement. As far as the defense, I think it will be better than most expect and by the end of the season could be the stronger unit.

 

[TommyMac]

Welcome to Tidefans, we are also looking forward to the game. We are going to be better offensively. or at least we should be. We lost 9 starters on defense, but the situation is not as dire as it sounds since we have a lot of very talented kids coming back that got a lot of playing time last season. Our biggest ? is our secondary, but that's Coach Saban's area of expertise and he has a lot of talent to work with. I personally think we'll be OK back there, but y'all are catching us early and if you have a good replacement for Clark, y'all could give us problems. We're replacing both of our kickers, but we have some highly touted kids coming in, but you never know with kickers.

What is a good PSU forum to discuss football on with a minimum of 'in your face" confrontations?

 

[NPGator]

That is an exciting match up with two historical powerhouses from different conferences.

 

[GrayTide]

Welcome to Tidefans, we are also looking forward to the game. We are going to be better offensively. or at least we should be. We lost 9 starters on defense, but the situation is not as dire as it sounds since we have a lot of very talented kids coming back that got a lot of playing time last season. Our biggest ? is our secondary, but that's Coach Saban's area of expertise and he has a lot of talent to work with. I personally think we'll be OK back there, but y'all are catching us early and if you have a good replacement for Clark, y'all could give us problems. We're replacing both of our kickers, but we have some highly touted kids coming in, but you never know with kickers.

What is a good PSU forum to discuss football on with a minimum of 'in your face" confrontations?

C'mon Tommy you know you like the "in your face" types.

 

[patriot34]

A classic rivalry, between two class programs! A legendary coach, and one (possibly) in the making. Linebacker U vs. Dixie’s Football Pride. Does it get any better than this? I mean, THIS is what a non-conference game SHOULD be.

I believe to have success against Bama this year it will be vital to establish the run (cliché, I know). The reason it’s more important this year is because of Bama’s inexperienced secondary. Saban and Def. Cord. Kirby Smart run a very complex defensive scheme. It places tremendous football intellectual demands on the CBs, Safties, and LBs particular in the transition between pass protection and run support. If a team can develop an effective enough running game and open up play action, those complex transition decisions the defenders have to make will become even more difficult to master. Last year’s defense was superb at “reacting”, and not “thinking” too much, after the snap. That, along with some tremendous talent, put up one of the best defenses in Alabama history. That reaction time enabled the Bama “D” to be equally effective against spread teams (FL, TX, Miss St., AU) AND traditional NFL-type offenses (Virginia Tech, TN, Ole Miss, LSU).

This year’s defense may be ever more talented (although raw), but, as you can see with the loss of 9 starters of "D", the lack of experience will hurt this particular defense more than most other teams following a large loss of starters.

As far as stopping Bama’s offense: choose your poison here. I believe you can’t allow Bama to nickel and dime you to death, because they WILL and wear out your defense in the process. Bring lots of pressure, zone blitzes, and gamble. Be willing to give up the big play to get Bama’s “O” off the field – think 3-and-out. You have to go all out and play just as physical if not more physical (no one did it last year for 60 minutes). Last year Auburn did it for 15 minutes, LSU did it for 30 minutes, Kentucky did it for 30 minutes, Tennessee did it for the 1st and 4th quarter – those were the toughest wins last year. You can’t beat Bama simply by telling yourself to play 60 minutes of hard football. You have to beat Bama in the winter, spring, and summer conditioning program. If you guys are well conditioned (every one says they are), and I mean, REALLY well conditioned you have a good chance of winning out right. If you are not REALLY well conditioned, it could be a long ride home to beautiful PA.

Here’s to a great game between two truly great programs. Enjoy this site; it’s by far the BEST Bama board you’ll find. RTR :BigA:

 

[TideEngineer08]

The conventional wisdom may suggest an easy Alabama win, but I do not expect that at all. Being at home in front of 102,000 at Bryant-Denny will certainly help. And yes, we're the defending champions with a lot of talent coming back. But Penn State is not, well, San Jose State (no offense to the Spartans).

I expect a hard fought game between 2 historical powerhouses with a rich history between each other. It will be awesome to see JoePa at Bryant-Denny.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Welcome to the board, we live and breath 'Alabama Football'. I know you are just as passionate about Penn State Football.
I am looking forward to Alabama playing Penn State. It should be a much hyped game and both schools will benefit greatly from the National publicity.

Joe Pa has been an institution and he's always been the kind of coach that you want your kids playing for...
We've got one of those also. (just not as old)
I have met a number of fans from 'Happy Valley', and I have respect for them and your football tradition. I yearn for the days of the 'Feature games' being between teams like Alabama VS Penn State, Alabama VS Nebraska, Alabama VS Oklahoma. These games used to be 'Smash Mouth', 'Cigar' Games.

My list used to include: Alabama VS Texas, Alabama VS USC,
Alabama VS Notre Dame, Alabama VS Michigan ect...
*Note: Some of the 'Luster' has gone out of playing teams coached by Kiffin, Rodriques and their 'Ilk'.

 

[bayoutider]

Welcome to tidefans and hope you stick around for some discussion of the upcoming game. I will be honest and give my opinion. Penn St has more worries than Alabama replacing lost starters. It may not be an easy win, I can't picture Penn St. rolling over like a possum, but I will be shocked if we don't win this game in similar fashion of our other early games against quality opponents. Upsets do happen but Bama should be favored.

 

[jabcmb]

I think it will be a good game with Penn St trying to find and ping a weakness on our defense. After the game, you will hear from us much respect, and that "Penn State was faster than they looked." Sound familiar? On another note, I am looking forward to coming back to your stadium next year for the return game there in Penn State's venerable stadium. I have always been treated well there and enjoyed visiting with fans. From the standpoint of opposing fans' class and behavior, it is so much better than attending most road games in the SEC. Bama fans if you have a chance to go up there next year, don't miss the opportunity. Yes there are videos of PS fans misbehaving, but it is far from he norm. This rivalry has always been played out with class and I certainly hope we can set up another series.