Link: Solomon: Saban should kick himself over LSU loss

[trenda]

Pretty good analysis by Jon Solomon.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/11/saban_should_kick_himself_over.html

Saban's decision-making in this game was bizarre to say the least.

Man, it tastes bad to see the Tide squander such a great defensive effort and so many opportunities; but we've got to salvage what's left of the season and keep moving on.

 

[bamanut_aj]

you no linky-linky, silly boy

 

[4thGenBamaGrad]

Saban is great at preparation and putting together the best team on the field.

I have never, however, watched one of his games and thought, "that was a good call" (and I don't mean "play call"). And it cost us big last night.

The long field goal attempts, seemingly unnessary trick plays or "home run" swings on first downs deep in LSU territory, conservative (or tense) decision to let Les run off time at the end of regulation (probably due to fear of instigating Les to go for it on 4th down).

But "team" includes the coaches. And "better" refers to the play on the field, not the preparation beforehand. And the better team won last night.

 

[trenda]

you no linky-linky, silly boy

Haha, sorry, coffee hasn't kicked in yet. Fixed it.

 

[subherbanite]

It's true he "could've" called a timeout but if we stop the clock and go 3 and out with Miles using most or all of his TOs then things could've gotten real interesting. What if we only force Miles to use 1 timeout and then Mandell shanks a punt? Just saying, I don't think that cost us the game.

 

[TUSKaloosa]

Saban is great at preparation and putting together the best team on the field. I have never, however, watched one of his games and thought, "that was a good call" (and I don't mean "play call"). And it cost us big last night. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/11/saban_should_kick_himself_over.html

I agree and CNS would agree also. He told Mal Moore when he came here that he needed great players to win. CNS knows his strengths and also his weaknesses.
With that being said, if we had the offensive coordinator for Boise, there would be no stopping this team. We have had the defense down for years but the vanilla offense we run does not take advantage of the talent we recruit. And when you do this, it affects your recruiting because most "hotshots" see this and want to go where their talents are going to be best showcased. I felt sorry for Trent last night because we kept trying to stick the square peg in the round hole. I love this kid as he is one heck of a competitor.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

You play for overtime at home.

 

[Dallas4Bama]

You play for overtime at home.

College over time rules turn the game into a FG competition. Especially when you have two defenses as good as the ones on the field last night. It was clear that we didn't need to get into a kicking contest.

 

[trenda]

You play for overtime at home.

And if you do that, at least have the sense to go with your strength on offense . . . running the football with the best RB in the nation. I have no problem with throwing on first down; but why they didn't give the ball to Trent on 2nd down is bizarre at the very least. You've essentially thrown what you do best out the window.

 

[Liger]

You play for overtime at home.

not with this special teams

 

[rickvox79]

I'm going to make this thread my thread to vent on since I haven't had a chance yet so I apologize ahead of time.

Six time...six times we were inside the 35 yard line and we scored a total of 6 points. Like I told my friends that I was watching the game with, as I watched us squander opportunity after opportunity, I've been watching football for too long not to know that when you waste that many chances in such an evenly matched game it will come back to bite you in the end and it did.

Bama's defense gave up 3 points last night in regulation and I put the other 3 on AJ. If you would have told me before the game that Trent will end up with 169 total yards and LSU will score 6 points in regulation with just over 200 yards of total offense, I would tell you we win by double digits. But no we found a way to constantly miss chances. Whether it was poor play calling, poor throws, boneheaded penalties, the mental mistakes (that CNS always preaches against) came back to haunt us time and time again.

AJ...can you please put some zip on your passes? Even before his INT it seemed like he was lobbing practically every throw. If you keep putting that much air under it you're going to pay the price. I like the fact that he wants to keep a play alive but he continues to be uncertain about his throws and takes too much time in the pocket.

I didn't have a problem with the Maze call, because Williams was wide open but Marquis you have to step into that throw. I realize you're not a full time QB but that was the gamebreaker and again we blew it. Dumb penalties once we did get good field position hurt as well. Illegal motion, 12 men in the huddle and then the block in the back on Barron's INT, we go from having it at the 4 or 5 all the way back to the 35 because of a needless block in the back.

I guess what pains me the most is I feel like we still have the best defense in the nation, even better than 2009 (not by much). The defense did everything we could have asked of them but the offense and offensive play calling let them down. Everything was there for the taking this season and we let it slip away. Let's just hope this team fights back and finishes strong unlike after our losses to LSU in 2007 and 2010.

 

[Crimson Cat]

Thank you...this is exactly how I feel.
People can cry about coaching however they want but the team WAS put into position to win countless times in this game, despite some questionable play-calling and decision making and they still failed to take advantage and execute.

I'm going to make this thread my thread to vent on since I haven't had a chance yet so I apologize ahead of time.

 

[Bama Greg]

And if you do that, at least have the sense to go with your strength on offense . . . running the football with the best RB in the nation. I have no problem with throwing on first down; but why they didn't give the ball to Trent on 2nd down is bizarre at the very least. You've essentially thrown what you do best out the window.

Throw the ball to Trent in space and let him make a play, he had done this several times tonight, this is what has me so upset, we have the playmakers, and took the ball out of their hands.

I agree with Crimson Cat, we squandered way too many opportunities, we just did not execute, when needed, hopefully, this will make the offense work harder in practice to execute, this has been a problem all season, but thought that AJ broke through 2 weeks ago with TN, really hate that week off, took our momentum away, but not making an excuse. We had questionable playcalling that got us out of our MO, like Spencer said at halftime, until we get back to pounding the ball downhill we would not win the game, he was right. Any news of Fowler, never saw him, 3 horses and we didn't ride them to a victory!!!!!!

As bad as I hate to say it, hand the credit to LSU, they made the plays when they needed them to win.

I will now go back to the fetal position in the corner of my padded room

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

I'm utterly disappointed in our offense. We just didn't show up. Why have long drives that only resulted in three points? The OC had a hand in it too, but just boneheaded mistakes killed us.

 

[We_are_Bama]

My biggest concern is how this loss has changed everything. For the first time since Saban's first season, the Iron Bowl will only be for pride. Nothing on the line for either team. LSU pretty much sealed the deal last night as far as the SEC West is concerned. Don't be surprised if we end up back in Orlando on New Year's Day. Even if we win out.

 

[trenda]

LSU pretty much sealed the deal last night as far as the SEC West is concerned. Don't be surprised if we end up back in Orlando on New Year's Day. Even if we win out.

Only chance is if LSU trips up against Arkansas, which is why this team needs to finish the season strong. As LSU showed last night, if you just hang around until the end, you just might be able to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.

 

[rickvox79]

My biggest concern is how this loss has changed everything. For the first time since Saban's first season, the Iron Bowl will only be for pride. Nothing on the line for either team. LSU pretty much sealed the deal last night as far as the SEC West is concerned. Don't be surprised if we end up back in Orlando on New Year's Day. Even if we win out.

I just feel bad for the defense. They are so talented, they have executed all season long. They have given up a total of 64 points in 9 games and I'll credit them with giving up 3 last night in regulation (AJ with an assist on the other 3). They did everything that was asked of them and exceeded all expectations just to have the offense blow it for them. I'm not sure we'll ever see a more talented defense out on that field in a crimson uniform and instead they'll be in Orlando or at best the Sugar Bowl probably.

I am thankful that we are competing for titles most every year now and it is a far cry from where we were in the early 2000's. But that doesn't take the pain away from watching a supremely talented football team beat themselves in a game that we let slip away.