One thing I didn't remember about the Penn State game last season:

[Drewy26]

Dareus was out and Upshaw was limited with an ankle injury. Not to mention Ingram. Not sure what this means for this season (if anything) but I found it interesting upon my re-watch this morning.

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[selmaborntidefan]

Dareus was out and Upshaw was limited with an ankle injury. Not to mention Ingram. Not sure what this means for this season (if anything) but I found it interesting upon my re-watch this morning.

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Ingram was out, too.

 

[socalbamafan]

That game could have been 50-3. Saban scaled it back in respect to joePa and his last visit to T-town. This year, hopefully things will be different. No holds barred, Let's kill'em.

 

[MVKTR2]

Don't forget that Menzie was still suffering mightily from his achilles injury also. However it was about as good as the OL would look all year, bowl game excluded, with the possible exception of UF. I had predicted it to be about a 10 or 12 pt. win last year, but really felt like the difference was more along the lines of 17-20 pts. after watching the spring games of both teams last year... with the idea that it could get worse with their true freshman QB.

Fast forward to this year and we're on the road with a new, but not true freshman QB. However I think the 2011 Tide is a far superior 'TEAM' to the 2010 version which I never fully bought into as there was lots of star power but tons of inexperience in places where it really counted. So I'm predicting something like 24-13 or some such this year. Why, because along with our improvements PSU is also improved through the middle of their defense. DTs Stills & Hill could clog up the interior causing problems in the run game especially considered their LB corp should be a bit better also. However I'm not convinced they have more than one decent DE on the roster. Meaning at times I think they'll be able to execute the strategy of clogging up the run game and forcing the game into the QBs hands... just not enough to win. However the game could still get real ugly and I don't think Coach Saban will be so quick to pull back the reigns this year as last. Though it also has much more capacity than last year's game of getting real tight.

 

[ALA2262]

That game could have been 50-3. Saban scaled it back in respect to joePa and his last visit to T-town. This year, hopefully things will be different. No holds barred, Let's kill'em.

^^^This!^^^ And I tried to warn some Duke fans the next week. Advised them to hope Cutcliff just kicked a FG to avoid the shut out like Joe did and leave well enough alone. Told them the score could be 24-3 or 38-6 or 52-9 or 66-12. You can imagine the grief I got with that. Final score was 62-13.

 

[capnfrog]

The game might have been a bit closer but the 2 turnovers in the red zone 1st half for PSU plus the late 4th qtr interception that killed PSU's final drive spelled doom and gloom for them. I think that game was the 1st time in about 4 years that PSU was held scoreless in the 1st half. Lester I remember was on a tear, with about 4 interceptions. Richardson killed them with his, I think, 5 short passes over the middle that they had no answer for.

 

[Bama Reb]

That game could have been 50-3. Saban scaled it back in respect to joePa and his last visit to T-town.

^^^This!^^^ And I tried to warn some Duke fans the next week. Advised them to hope Cutcliff just kicked a FG to avoid the shut out like Joe did and leave well enough alone. Told them the score could be 24-3 or 38-6 or 52-9 or 66-12. You can imagine the grief I got with that. Final score was 62-13.

Yep. I can't help but think what would happen in some of our games if CNS didn't decide to let the Tide 'coast', but actually tried to run up the score. :eek2: Of course I can also imagine the resulting comments from all corners of the fb world.

 

[MVKTR2]

The fun thing about last year's PSU game is how it's instilled confidence in a lot of their fan base... don't ask me! The game plan was amazingly simple for Bama. Play basic defense with safeties back making the true freshman 'work' his way down the field. Then when they approach the redzone or find themselves behind the chains - attack. It worked like a charm, those ints weren't accidents they were created. Their QB issues at this point are easily more confused than Bama's issues, but they do know what they've got where as Bama is speculating at this point.

PSU just doesn't have the athleticism across the board to compete with elite teams right now, and I'd suggest they're being out coached consistently also. However they do have the DTs to clog up the inside running lanes which would effect the course of the game and place more responsibility in the the young QBs hands. If PSU can't slow down Bama's rushing attack significantly it could get ugly and I don't think Coach Saban will pull back as quickly this year as he did last because he wants the guys to really get 'finishing' and 'playing to a standard'.

Sorry... I just can't quit talking about this game. I was the same way with Clemson & VT in recent years... already looking forward to Michigan. I love those marquee OOC match ups!

 

[graydogg85]

What I remember about the PSU game last season was that they moved the ball on us pretty effectively between the 20s but imploded inside the red zone. Also, our offense frequently stalled in the second half. It could have easily been a closer game. Their defense was young and came out looking shell-shocked; however, they settled down and made some nice adjustments as the game progressed. Offensively, PSU had enough skill position talent to keep things interesting and I thought their offensive staff called a nice game, but the line was thoroughly whipped and critical turnovers did the rest of the damage.

I don't think there's as wide of a gulf between the two teams this season. PSU will field a much more experienced squad and IMO their quarterback situation will be improved. We'll be in for a tough one.