I had a lot of time to think about this, because this was a dreadful game to watch.
I don't want to hear anymore about "fits" to DeBoer's system and instead I want to hear about fixes. The problem is not that Alabama isn't finesse enough. Alabama was thoroughly manhandled by a team that has demonstrably smaller, lower ranked players and a coaching staff that makes about half as much money. Cignetti hasn't had more time to develop this team, he has had far less resources. One team was just far better coached than the other.
I'm not saying DeBoer is a bad coach though, I think the problem is he developed a flawed philosphy (I don't think the issues are all just Milroe, or Grubb, or the favorite wipping boy of the day). I think his formative period at the FBS was his time at Indiana. That Indiana team was 8-5, DeBoer was the OC and Wommack was the DC and they showed real improvement over the previous year (5-7). He beat power conference teams with a bunch of 3 stars. He doesn't' try to physically dominate, he doesn't try to be the tougher team, he tries to outsmart the other team. He doesn't try to have a balanced offense, he lets a few play-makers on offense influence the game that's run through the QB. Their passing yards went up, their running yards went down (rushing average dropped by .7, a common theme with DeBoer) and it seemed to work.
This allowed him to overcome the 3 star liability. He's outsmarted a lot of good coaches, and he's won quite a few games he shouldn't have. Cignetti's formative FBS years were at Alabama under Saban, and what he seems to have done is demand his teams play like they're Alabama, play like they're 5 stars, even if they are just 3 stars. He doesn't draw up things as though they are 3 stars trying to overcome deficiencies, he just demands they play like 5 stars. He has a high standard and he holds them to it. They are a demonstrably smaller, weaker team that play demonstrably stronger and tougher.
DeBoer is neglecting Alabama's talent and ability to recruit by trying to overcome a weakness that he's played a part in creating. They don't need to play cute, they're big, they're physically strong. They don't need to rely on the QB entirely (at every stop he's let the run game degrade while relying heavily on the QB), they have the resources to have a good ground game. He needs to adapt to that instead of trying to overcome it, stop trying to outsmart everyone and start punching other teams in the mouth.
This is the second time on a big stage that DeBoer's team (Washington vs. Michigan) was thoroughly physically dominated, and this time it was against a team that had no business being a team that plays tougher football. He's a smart coach, but he is basically outsmarting himself at this point. He has big guys playing soft and Cignetti has small guys playing hard.
This might sound like a tale of woe though, but it's not. If DeBoer can just make the necessary changes to his system and approach that leverages the strength and power of the type of athletes Alabama can attract, this team can go from being occasionally great to consistently great.
/rant
