Sadly we were outcoached again...

[Crimson Surfer]

It did not matter where we started our drives...............we choked every time we had the ball.

After Lee's 1st INT we started at our 47yd line, moved to their 24yd line, imploded going backwards and missed a 49yd FG
After Lee's 2nd INT we started at their 35yd line, gained 6 yards and made a 46yd FG.
We also started at our 45yd line after he shanked a punt and went 3 and out.

I think you need to drop the 'we.' I suggest from here on out you use they or Bama if that really is your opinion.

 

[subherbanite]

I think you need to drop the 'we.' I suggest from here on out you use they or Bama if that really is your opinion.

Fixed it, now how does it look?

 

[runtheoption22]

I've held off chiming in, but we were "outcoached" to the tune of "outguessing" LSU. We seemed to call plays to the opposite of what we thought LSU would expect, instead of sticking with our bread and butter. We never had a "try and stop me" motive all night offensively.

For instance, the play with Trent out of the backfield.
Why it worked- the MLB is keying on Trent up the middle, a little rub by the WR and he's wide open.

Why it didn't work- it's a pass, with a QB not having his best game, in a CRITICAL time. Running and getting 3 would've accomplished more.

 

[Crimson Surfer]

Fixed it, now how does it look?

It looks much more like your opinion, which by the way is not shared by me, or us.

 

[subherbanite]

It looks much more like your opinion, which by the way is not shared by me, or us.

Why, because I actually believe that the players made several big mistakes that cost them valuable chances to win this game? Hey, I have no doubt that the kids gave their all and I'm proud of them for that. But it doesn't change the fact that this game was theirs for the taking and they didn't get it done. My major point is that there may have a been a few iffy decisions made by the coaches but they didn't hurt nearly as bad as the mistakes.

 

[SimplyTide]

Why, because I actually believe that the players made several big mistakes that cost them valuable chances to win this game? Hey, I have no doubt that the kids gave their all and I'm proud of them for that. But it doesn't change the fact that this game was theirs for the taking and they didn't get it done. My major point is that there may have a been a few iffy decisions made by the coaches but they didn't hurt nearly as bad as the mistakes.

Yes, the players made mistakes, but we should support them more than ever right now. Maybe the time for venting has passed. We had our 24 hours, and the mods have let a lot of stuff fly.

I said my piece about the coaching (too many times), but I am done with that. I am looking forward to the next game, and I do not envy MSU.

 

[Roll Tide Roll 17]

I've held off chiming in, but we were "outcoached" to the tune of "outguessing" LSU. We seemed to call plays to the opposite of what we thought LSU would expect, instead of sticking with our bread and butter. We never had a "try and stop me" motive all night offensively.

For instance, the play with Trent out of the backfield.
Why it worked- the MLB is keying on Trent up the middle, a little rub by the WR and he's wide open.

Why it didn't work- it's a pass, with a QB not having his best game, in a CRITICAL time. Running and getting 3 would've accomplished more.

What he said.........

 

[subherbanite]

Yes, the players made mistakes, but we should support them more than ever right now. Maybe the time for venting has passed. We had our 24 hours, and the mods have let a lot of stuff fly.

I said my piece about the coaching (too many times), but I am done with that. I am looking forward to the next game, and I do not envy MSU.

I apologize if I sound like I'm still venting because I truly am not. I was over this game the next morning. I'm just not buying the "outcoached" stuff that everyone is throwing around. I'm not trying to beat the players down because I am very proud of their efforts and will cheer them on for the rest of the season.

 

[BAMARICH]

Look, Saban is one of the great masters of the college football game. He is why we were even involved in a game between 1st and 2nd ranked teams. Of all the decisions a coach has to make in a critical game some of them are going to turn out in retrospect to have been wrong. Coach Miles didn't call a perfect game, either. And sometimes a coach takes a chance on a play knowing that if it fails it was worth the gamble for the potential benefit if it succeeds.

In a game like Saturday's each coach is going to have to take some chances; the two teams are just too close in ability to not take some chances. I'm having trouble with each of the three criticisms here. Yes, you do have Shelley try the long field goals; all you have to do is hit one of them and we win the game. Alternative is to punt with the possibility of LSU getting the ball at their 20, only 10 yards from the original scrimmage line, and at the cost of missing a precious scoring opportunity. The gimmick play is, I guess, Maze's pass to the goal line, and yes you do make a quick strike to the goal line after setting the defensive team up with a series of runs--coaches everywhere do that; it's called being unpredictable and avoiding patterns.

I see no problem passing to TR; LSU had bottled him up since early in the 1st half. The yardage he was getting was through passing to him.

A football team is a complex entity and doesn't lend itself to picking out one aspect in isolation. I saw many predictions on this board before the game of Alabama scoring as many as 30-35 points--incredible. It was always going to be a low scoring game decided on a turnover or a penalty or special teams. Given that, each coach is going to have to take some chances. I'm wondering if some of the posters calling for a 24-30 point Alabama point total are on this thread right now blaming the coach for the wrong prediction.

This kind of finger pointing poisons the atmosphere. Leave CNS alone and let him work. Make it miserable for him and we will return to misery.

I understand in any game, there will be decisions that "iffy" on both sides... and unpredictability is sometimes needed. However, I have issues with a PK whose career long is 42 yards being put into a situation to try a 49-yarder... because our long-range PK had missed the first two. I question having a WR throwing a pass against the best secondary in the land after your best offensive drive of the night. And, with the staff having backed off McCarron's game after the INT, I question getting the ball to TR in that way during OT. IMO, those were critical calls at critical times that cost us.

With that said, I'm NOT saying we lost totally because of coaching. If Williams grabs that ball, we win. If Foster makes one of the first two, we win the game. If there's not a penalty on Barron's return, we likely win the game. Bad calls in a game can easily be overcome with great individual play. The problem Saturday night was... they didn't.

BTW, on TideFans we encourage discussion. We're not a board that is extreme... it's not an atmosphere of "the sky is falling" or "everything is rosey." Posters are highly encouraged to discuss the ins and outs of Alabama football... and we pride ourself on being a board who can intelligently discuss things without taking potshots at others in the process. In my time here on TF, I've never known of honest discussion to "poison the atmosphere of Alabama football." Nor can this message board "make it miserable for him." CNS, rightly so, says we should focus on the process... becoming as good as we possibly can be without considering our w/l records. If that's what he expects of the UA program, why would he have a problem with us discussing just that?

 

[pcfixup]

It may be overstated, but if you compare this team to the 2009 NC team I think those areas come up as weaknesses. I think the FG decisions and the decision to take it to overtime were symptomatic of a lack of confidence in our offense, QB in particular.
The toughest test of a QB is running a 2 minute drill. McElroy in 2009 was able to run the 2-min drill against Auburn, but I am not sure he was at that level against Tenn that year. Somewhere in there a switch "clicked" and I am not sure it has yet for AJ.

As far as WR and TE... Julio and Peek are tough to compare to . However, there seemed to be a lot of third downs with no one open.

An OL problems right now can be pointed to Injury and other absence. I'm not sure if CK was healthy or if Douglas was still around, BJ would have had to hop around on one leg. And if he can't go, who winds up at LT?

Too much has been made of coaching in this game, but LSU found chinks in our armor, which got bigger when our best OL and best WR got hurt, and was able to exploit them very well.

 

[TidenLA]

If if if....if your butt was square, you'd crap bricks....it's over...lets move on!!!

The funny thing is that if Micheal Williams comes down with that catch, this thread wouldn't exist. It probably wouldn't exist if AJ threw the ball to Norwood who was WIDE OPEN in the 2nd quarter. It also may not exist if Trent doesn't drop the pass in OT where he had at least 10 yards of grass in front of him. It was a conversative game plan, but it came down to lack of execution from our players.

 

[tripler1]

i would like to see us punt and try and pin them deep in their own territory instead of trying the FG every time. i even thought a "fake" might have worked.

 

[Lady Crimson]

You people kill me...

It was this, it was that, it was coaching, it was this play, it was this player. on and on...

Don't you see that it was all of the above.

There were a hundred chances for a different outcome, and a hundred opportunities lost...

Pointing fingers and placing blame is like a cancer to a football program, so how about everyone taking a deep breath and realizing that everyone did their best.

The team and the coaches don't need this, they need our support.

 

[Crimson Surfer]

Why, because I actually believe that the players made several big mistakes that cost them valuable chances to win this game? Hey, I have no doubt that the kids gave their all and I'm proud of them for that. But it doesn't change the fact that this game was theirs for the taking and they didn't get it done. My major point is that there may have a been a few iffy decisions made by the coaches but they didn't hurt nearly as bad as the mistakes.

I highly doubt you will find anyone with the right to say 'we' on the Bama team saying they imploded or choked. Sure mistakes were made but the team deserves more than being called chokers. jmofwiw.

 

[Mamacalled]

i would like to see us punt and try and pin them deep in their own territory instead of trying the FG every time. i even thought a "fake" might have worked.

As I stated before, our punt coverage has been abysmal coming into this game. Why do you think the results would have been any different?
Again, what we did didn't work so it is easy to second guess and blame the decision to kick a FG. If we had punted and it was shanked, has happened this year on more than one occasion, or if they had a good return, has happened many times this year, many of us would be saying that Saban should have attempted a FG.
It kills me the way our fans act after a loss. We complain that we are to conservative and need to open it up. If I had a dime for everytime I have seen it posted that we need to throw out of the Wildcat I would be rich. We open it up people complain that we needed to just pund it up the middle. We throw out of the Wildcat, which the play was there but not executed, we complain about that.

 

[markenk]

I don't think Saban got outcoached during the game, but he and the coaching staff did a VERY poor job of preparing the team, especially the offense, for the LSU's overall team speed.

 

[Alasippi]

I can't believe this is still being discussed.

Coach Saban and his staff put the players in a position to make plays and win the game.

Les Miles did the same thing.

Bottom line. Their players made plays in critical situations. We didn't.

We also made numerous mental mistakes.

It's not called armagadeon. It's called losing one football game. ONE.

Now we can continue this CNN, Fox News, Espn dissection of exactly whose fault it was that we lost ONE game, OR, we can do what fans are suppose to do and pull for the team against Mississippi State hoping the season works out as we hope.

Oh and by the way...Bear Bryant and his staff got out coached in every game he ever lost..because there is no way in hell that any team in history has ever beat us.

This is getting old. I'm almost embarrassed. Best coach in the nation and we're bashing his butt. 44-6 in our last 50 games.

Give ME a break!!!

When he leaves because of this crap.....just keep your mouth's shut. And I mean SHUT.

sip

 

[MOAN]

I can agree with that. I am not as much sold on the FG kicking decisions as with some of the play-calling and the entire offensive series in OT........not trying to get in field goal range with Trent leading the way. If we had abandoned F/G's without points to show, people would have really put the hammer on the staff. But, we had 2/1 opportunities to pull away but did not execute.....a painful amount. I really believe that the hype of this game hurt the home team more than the more shielded away team. Our team, coaches included, was not relaxed.

I think you hit upon something there that I had not thought about.

 

[Bama Bard]

The coaching, the plays, the execution, the refs, the everything was just weird. Just one weird ballgame​

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[HotWingsRGood]

Up until now, Ive never really questioned Saban and his decision making...up until now.

Good way to phrase it....me too.