Tell me about Washington

[rgw]

Petersen is doing some interesting "poor mouthing." Not so much poor mouthing as it is some psychology to tweak his players: "you're playing against the best, where are you against the standard."

There's a reason why he's one of the best...

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Thanks for insightful post. I think your take reflects alot of the alternate perspectives of the SEC vs Pac12 fan. No doubt Alabama is a GREAT Team... every year, not just this year. They are the benchmark, and honestly, UW is on the way back, but not to the level of an Alabama yet.....especially with the quality/quantity of players. As some have said, our front line guys are pretty good and can compete on the Defensive side.... I think our OL is a year or 2 away (these guys are Soph/Frosh). Playing Alabama is a likely loss, but a GREAT measure of how far we've come back (Willingham drove is into near oblivion with 0-12 and nearly destroyed the program)....and how far we have yet to go. I'm primarily hoping we keep it close and play our best game that reflects our true ability. If UW and Alabama both play their A game -- Alabama wins hands down.

That's fair enough and another point I would make that most folks don't get is this: Alabama has become over the last decade a team that plays ITSELF every week. The team in the other uniform is just another bunch of football players. Sorta like Miami did in the late 80s and early 90s (but without all the theatrics and disrespect for opponents) - this team is playing last year's team and the 2009 team and the 2011 team...and yet the focus is atomistic, right down to doing what you're supposed to do on every play.

It will be the most vanilla game plan you guys have seen all year. The wrinkles are there to hit you with but they won't be unveiled unless necessary. I truly believe that if Saban finds he can beat Washington with four running plays and two short out pass plays, you won't see anything resembling a trick play.Our dynasty is quite boring for high power offense folks but devastatingly effective.

However - for the record - I think it will take more than just those few plays even though we're not Auburn/Baylor or any of those other 'let's run something insane and see if it works' teams.

So I don't think any Pac12 fan would argue Alabama is not the top school in the country. I do think, top-bottom, the Pac12 can rival SEC in overall strength. Granted it is a different brand of Football, much more explosive, NFL QB's, lots of throwing whereas the SEC is traditional a Power Defense/Run based teams. It's hard to compare.... but Pac12 is at least a Top 3 conference if you look traditional at OOC and Bowl performance. Not saying we are better than SEC, just that we aren't a weak conference.

I don't think the Pac 12 is a weak conference at all. Remember my example from 2008? Folks that year thought the Pac 10 was a weak conference and they went 5-0 in the bowl games. Let's be honest: MOST evaluation even that done by so-called ESPN experts is quintessentially shallow and based on what they think they remember from years gone by.

Let me summarize:

"Oregon and Stanford are awful and they've been near the top the last 5-6 years. USC got blown out by Alabama but beat the Pac 12 champion. Cal is not at their Jeff Tedford peak and Utah is down. And Colorado has been terrible for a decade, therefore, the Pac 12 must be awful."

Michigan, meanwhile, gets hyped up because: a) they have an 'interesting' (I'll be nice) coach; b) they're a big name in a big conference; c) most of the sportswriters went to journalism school in the east, esp Northwestern, and have an inherent Big Ten/SEC bias.

Furthermore, this year's SEC is......well, maybe it's not that good. But then again two years ago the SEC was getting all the hype. Mississippi State was number one in the nation, three SEC teams in the top four (and not one named Alabama at that point). And then the SEC got obliterated in the bowl games. But I think context is important - YES, LSU is a four-loss team. However, with a better offensive coordinator, they win the Wisconsin, LSU, and Florida games and are suddenly a one-loss team being considered for the playoff. (And if they had obliterated Wisconsin by forty points, they'd have as much legitimacy in the playoff as does Ohio State). Sagarin ranks LSU the 12th best team in the country despite four losses. If all they had was ONE ten-point loss to Alabama, they'd deserve serious consideration.

The East, on the other hand, is a bastion of mediocrity the last several years. But in fairness to the West, the two of the best quarterbacks in the league - Chad Kelly and Trevor Knight - went down for season-ending injuries.

What is a fairer test of Arkansas? The fact they lost to Toledo or the fact they beat TCU???

On the Conference Schedule, you make the point, I've been trying to articulate poorly...." the intra-conference record ultimately was a zero sum game (e.g. every team that had a win gave another team a loss), you CANNOT include conference games to determine conference strength." This is why the 8/9 is relavent...because 4 OOC games vs 3 automatically gives another W (typically) and 1 less LOSS for the conference. If Alabama beats Vandy...Vandy loss lowers your SOS. If Alabama beats W. Kentucky and Vandy New Mexico St....then both GET W and improves SOS for Conference. A 2-6 in conference team, can still be bowl eligible and 6-6... inflates 'power' of SOS. No more from me on this

I agree whole heartedly that the BiG is way over-rated this year. I've said a couple times I expect 4-6 Bowl losses... USC will crush Penn St, I think Clemson beats OhioSt (QB play), Florida St over Mich (no offense), Utah over Indiana, WSU over Minn, Florida over Iowa... I think SEC and Pac12 will prove to be best bowl record conferences.

I could say more, but just to be clear: I'm NOT saying the B1G is overrated this year - I'm saying they MIGHT be. We'll have to see. They - just like the SEC in the 1980s - have a long history of a lot of hype and then obliteration by so-called upstarts in bowl games. But I do think Ohio St is very good, and it has nothing to do with their 'brand name.'

Agree on the 'bias'. It is really just a factor of 'ignorance' because our games are typically on when the 'SEC/ACC' are in bed or done watching football. Also... that is why when the teams that have had the 'press', like UO, fall off...then the assumption is the 'league is down'. Many just don't know who the 'non hyped' teams are, their history, etc.? USC, UCLA always...and recently Stanford and UO. It makes perfect sense. UW stomps Stanford and UO. Alabama stomps USC, UCLA loses to Texas A&M.... the league sucks because UW hasn't been a 'team' for 15 yrs

One other sociological point (and I'll be careful) that has probably not been addressed that will give you insight into why so many Tide fans probably seem to you non-Tide fans as a perhaps a bit 'over-sensitive.'

Our state, our university, our team, and our fans have endured far too many years of what I call "yeah but." Southern hospitality tends to see competition as the kind of thing where you fight it out, win or lose - the loser raises the victor's hand in appreciation and is classy - and then you have a beer together. Although there are some exceptions, you can go back on this board and you'll find lists of 'congrats to' teams that have beaten us. (You'll also find a bunch of fans 'correcting' the few 'don't admit you lost fairly' folks). It's a two-way street.

We are still seen through the prism of the 1960s, and a lot of us who weren't even around then (and especially those who were) are sick to death of it. We are more than just a state that has a good football team, although that team played a valuable role in self-esteem for the state back in those darker days. We're not perfect, but we've moved beyond George Wallace and Bull Connor - and in fact, we did so LONG ago.

But there is a plethora of media and shouting nobodies in this country with wide influence who want to discredit every single thing the Crimson Tide has done over the last decade. Every single loss we have now is 'the loss that broke the dynasty.'

We had an unbeaten season with a Heisman winner and drilled Texas in a boring BCS title game. All anyone said was, "But Colt McCoy got hurt!"

We had an emotional season (2011) following a series of horrific tornadoes that tore the state to shreds. We had players involved in the clean-up every single day (I believe the last tent closed shop the week of the Iron Bowl - SEVEN MONTHS after the tornadoes hit). Every single day our 17-22 year old guys saw the devastation that killed six students - and nobody was more saddened when we lost the LSU game than our players. Circumstances gave us a second shot and we manhandled LSU. But all anyone wanted to say was, "But Oklahoma State" and follow that up with "they only lost because their basketball coaches were killed in a plane crash the day of the Iowa State game." I don't know how that makes you blow a 24-7 third quarter lead, but I'm not exactly a scholar in excuses, either.

So we got dissed in 2009 because of Colt McCoy, dissed in 2011 because of the rematch. And in 2012, the excuse was, "But if Ohio State hadn't been on probation." So what? Arkansas played in the 2002 SEC title game BECAUSE Alabama was on probation, but I've never once heard a single Tide fan say that.
It wasn't OUR FAULT Ohio State was on probation - THEY chose to go to the Gator Bowl and take their bowl punishment later. Not our fault.

Then we lose to Ohio State in 2014 because - I'll be honest - we got outplayed, plain and simple. We tore out to a 21-6 lead and our own mistakes combined with their playing good and excellent athletic ability and coaching beat us.

So when we won it all last year....."well, Ohio State was the best team." Hey, it isn't OUR fault Ohio State got beat by a team we torched, 38-0.


My point is this: I have no doubt it is unintentional from Husky fans standpoint but - when the comment "well, USC was better when we played them" (which I'll admit up front) comes out, most Alabama fans are hearing a dismissal of the atomic bomb we unleashed on the Trojans in Dallas in September. Hey, we gave them every advantage we could. We had two QBs who had never started a game and lost a Hesiman Trophy winning RB along with a phenomenal number four receiver (Mullaney) and two awesome defenders (Ragland and Robinson) to the NFL.

I'm only saying that if some (many?) of our fans seem a tad over-sensitive to any criticism, it's come over the course of a long period of time of feeling dismissed no matter what we do. Say what you want to say but just remember that's a part of it. As one of our oldest and wisest posters has basically observed - YES, we're over-sensitive but it's an EARNED over-sensitivity, too.

I appreciate having you guys here even when we disagree. It can sometimes get 'boring' when all we have is fans all saying the same thing. And we don't tolerate smack so it's a welcome relief from 90% of the Net.

 

[RWBTide]

.............

I appreciate having you guys here even when we disagree. It can sometimes get 'boring' when all we have is fans all saying the same thing. And we don't tolerate smack so it's a welcome relief from 90% of the Net.

I can't expand on my reply to this fantastic post without going significantly off topic but thank you for that post Selma,

There are threads on tidefans I avoid at all cost because I am not American and some because I am not a South Eastern US American and I know my views will be significantly at odds with the majority view. Your post answered some questions I was unwilling (as a guest) to ask.

 

[Bubbaloo]

Chris Peterson on Alabama:

As Coach Bryant would say, I know class when I see it or in this case read it .

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Petersen is doing some interesting "poor mouthing." Not so much poor mouthing as it is some psychology to tweak his players: "you're playing against the best, where are you against the standard."

There's a reason why he's one of the best...

Yep, and to be great you have to think you can beat anybody on any given day. I have little doubt that Peterson truly thinks they have a real shot at beating us and fully expects to beat us. I wouldn't expect a great coach to think otherwise. He will have them honed in with laser focus. I'm sure behind the scenes he's playing the "They don't think we have a chance", "Us against the world" cards to its fullest. To be honest. This game scares me the most because UW is the easiest opponent of the three to take lightly. Clemson and Ohio St bring such name recognition there's almost zero chance for a preparation let down. If our boys show up ready and focused we'll be fine.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

The play of Jalen is the key to the game. If he avoids turnovers then we win. I'm sure Washington will try to strip the ball whenever he runs. We must avoid 3rd and long situations where he may have to thread the needle on passes.

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

The play of Jalen is the key to the game. If he avoids turnovers then we win. I'm sure Washington will try to strip the ball whenever he runs. We must avoid 3rd and long situations where he may have to thread the needle on passes.

Against Florida, I believe we've overcome that. Jalen did pretty good. He's actually done very well as a true freshman in that area.


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[dvldog]

Against Florida, I believe we've overcome that. Jalen did pretty good. He's actually done very well as a true freshman in that area.


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The problem in FL game was more on first down. Took a sack and through a pass when the receiver didn't have a chance. 1st and 20s aren't very helpful. He did complete a 3rd and 19 pass for a first down however.

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

The problem in FL game was more on first down. Took a sack and through a pass when the receiver didn't have a chance. 1st and 20s aren't very helpful. He did complete a 3rd and 19 pass for a first down however.

Yep. I don't think 3rd done is our issue. I think really it's more of getting behind the sticks.


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[Con]

Yep, and to be great you have to think you can beat anybody on any given day. I have little doubt that Peterson truly thinks they have a real shot at beating us and fully expects to beat us. I wouldn't expect a great coach to think otherwise. He will have them honed in with laser focus. I'm sure behind the scenes he's playing the "They don't think we have a chance", "Us against the world" cards to its fullest. To be honest. This game scares me the most because UW is the easiest opponent of the three to take lightly. Clemson and Ohio St bring such name recognition there's almost zero chance for a preparation let down. If our boys show up ready and focused we'll be fine.

This is what I am waiting to hear about from practice reports and insiders. I want to know what is our intensity and focus level leading up to this game. I am always fearful that we take some team lightly. It doesn't appear to have happened this year, but I really want us to leave no doubt about how good we are these last two games.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I can't expand on my reply to this fantastic post without going significantly off topic but thank you for that post Selma,

There are threads on tidefans I avoid at all cost because I am not American and some because I am not a South Eastern US American and I know my views will be significantly at odds with the majority view. Your post answered some questions I was unwilling (as a guest) to ask.

You're more than welcome to lodge a dissenting opinion. If done respectfully, you may find converts. My views have changed over the years when I've permitted myself to be challenged - and I've helped others change their views as well. I'm not going to argue my view is always right (because it obviously isn't), but I respect an opposing view just so long as it's well thought out.

And yes, some folks are too quick to pull the trigger around here on deciding things - there's no shortage of dogmatic certainty that we will blow whomever out with some folks. When folks like Gray and myself (to give two examples) point out "we better not take Auburn lightly" in a given year - that sometimes doesn't go over very well. And sometimes I have pre-game jitters that are wrong, but I never have pre-game "we'll blow them out" where we lose, either.

In all sincerity, the only game that worried me this year just a tad was the Florida game - and that's because of all the "Alabama is going to wipe the floor" proclamations. As close as the LSU game was, I was never really worried because we had the best team, and we played like it.

Washington concerns me slightly more than who might come after them because the Huskies are getting dissed nationally as having no chance; we've played playoff games against the other two teams in each of the last two years, and clawed both out to the very end.

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

Washington concerns me slightly more than who might come after them because the Huskies are getting dissed nationally as having no chance; we've played playoff games against the other two teams in each of the last two years, and clawed both out to the very end.

I agree. There that me against the world card being played here. Luckily, Bama has been here before and knows what it takes.


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[Saban4Ever]

I read where Saban ordered 8 years worth of football film from Boise State and Washington games to study the coaching, trick plays, etc that Peterson has done. I don't know if that is true, but wouldn't doubt it. Saban covers everything.

Jalen's turnovers do concern me for this game, especially since Washington is so good at getting turnovers. I think we have scored 123 points off turnovers and they have scored 112 (if I remember correctly from the article on Espn.) My only other concern besides turnovers is our secondary depth if Marlon isn't able to play.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I read where Saban ordered 8 years worth of football film from Boise State and Washington games to study the coaching, trick plays, etc that Peterson has done. I don't know if that is true, but wouldn't doubt it. Saban covers everything.

Jalen's turnovers do concern me for this game, especially since Washington is so good at getting turnovers. I think we have scored 123 points off turnovers and they have scored 112 (if I remember correctly from the article on Espn.) My only other concern besides turnovers is our secondary depth if Marlon isn't able to play.

I'll be a little surprised if Marlon doesn't start. I am concerned that he won't be able to finish the game...

 

[selmaborntidefan]

In regards to our scheduling a clearly inferior OOC opponent the week before Auburn, there isn't much we can actually do about that. It may have been Selma, but someone once broke it down to show that by that point in the season there simply aren't ANY teams that will play Bama or are even available.

Yeah, that's basically why. Everyone gets mad at us - and our conference is accused of chicanery and setting up for the big push - but it really is something that happened by total accident.


If you go look at the other conferences (and it's funny now that you mention it), they play NINE-GAME intra-conference schedules while we play eight. That leaves an additional game. Furthermore, the conference games take up all of November and at least part of October. Most of the Big 12, for example, opens with three out of conference games and then plays round robin. And, of course, some of those weekends are locked: Bedlam is the last week of the year, Texas-OU is the second Saturday in October, etc. There's simply nobody there.

What about the Big Ten? I bring them up because a number of their fans - particularly some rather vocal Ohio State fans - like to invoke the old "the SEC refuses to play winter games in Northern climes." (This is a pet peeve of mine so I'll rip at it again). The suggestion, of course, is that when THEY play Southern (SEC) teams, the game is always in August-September and hot and they're at a disadvantage because of the heat. Two problems with that: 1) go find me a weekend the SEC could go up north in November and play the Big Ten - I'm serious, find me a weekend and an opponent; not one single B1G school was off a single weekend in November, and this is the norm; 2) any of y'all ever recall ANY Big Ten team complaining about the weather in Pasadena on January 1? (Temps on January 1 at game time going back ten years: 59, 54, 75, 57, 81, 55, 69, 71, 73, 70).

(How did Ohio State beat Oregon in 69 degree heat? Better yet...how could Ohio State beat Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl when the kickoff temp was 70 degrees and Miami was used to it? Answer: because it doesn't have one damn thing to do with it). FTR - most Buckeye fans don't do this, but there IS a vocal online contingent of virgins posting from Mommy's basement. But I digress.


The simple truth is that the SEC has an extra game and nowhere else to play it. The conference would frown if everybody took the week off (even Bama playing UTC gets better ratings than....nothing). So most teams not named Auburn line up and destroy a cupcake, and even the Barn got into the act recently. This is mostly a josh with AUDub since Auburn didn't play a game between UGA and us in 2013.

But yeah that's why.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I read where Saban ordered 8 years worth of football film from Boise State and Washington games to study the coaching, trick plays, etc that Peterson has done. I don't know if that is true, but wouldn't doubt it. Saban covers everything.

Jalen's turnovers do concern me for this game, especially since Washington is so good at getting turnovers. I think we have scored 123 points off turnovers and they have scored 112 (if I remember correctly from the article on Espn.) My only other concern besides turnovers is our secondary depth if Marlon isn't able to play.

It's true they've scored off turnovers, but that's about where the similarity ends.

Here's a list I've compiled as I go through the data:

HUSKIES TURNOVERS
1) Rutgers interception – five plays one yard, punt and Wash return for TD
2) Idaho fumble – Vandals fumbled it back three plays later
3) Portland St fumble – PS drives 55 yards and fumbles it back
4) Arizona – Washington throws pick, Arizona fumbles it back four plays later
5) Oregon St – Hayden Schu fumble, nothing
6) Utah – interception, drove 19 yards for TD (7)
7) Cal – fumbled punt, Cal recovers, throws pick later in drive
8) USC – interception, eight-play long TD drive (7)
9) USC – interception at Husky 35, turns ball over on downs after running some time
10) ASU – interception at Sun Devils 37, forced a three and out
11) ASU – Browning throws pick, ASU throws pick back a few plays later
12) WSU – fumbled at own 18, Wazzu scores on four-play drive (7)

TURNOVERS FORCED BY WASHINGTON
1) Rutgers fumble at own 31, Wash gets FG (3)
2) Rutgers throws pick returned 42 yards to Rutgers four, one play TD (7)
3) Rutgers fumble, Wash runs out clock
4) Idaho fumbled opening kickoff, Wash recovered, quick drive TD (7)
5) Idaho fumbles ball back after only three plays
6) Idaho throws pick six, 45 yards for TD (7)
7) Portland State fumbled first kickoff, Wash recovered, threw quick TD (7)
8) Portland State fumbles after going 20 yards backwards, Wash recover at four, TD quick (7)
9) Portland State fumble, Wash runs out half
10) Portland State throws pick after long drive, Washington punts it back
11) Arizona throws pick, Washington has five-play drive and punts
12) Arizona fumbles at own 26, Washington misses FG
13) Arizona fumble – unable to account for
14) Stanford fumble – Washington drives 70 yards in five plays (7)
15) Stanford fumbles punt return, Washington recovers, 40 yards in 4 plays for TD (7)
16) Oregon threw pick on first play, Washington got quick TD in three plays (7)
17) Oregon fumbled at Wash 6, they drove 94 yards for a TD (7)
18) Oregon St throws pick, Wash runs out the half
19) Oregon St throws pick, Wash runs out game
20) Cal – throws pick in end zone on third down, Washington drives 80 yards for TD (7)
21) Cal – throws pick at Washington 37, Huskies drive and kick FG (3)
22) Cal – throws pick, Washington drives 65 yards for TD (7)
23) USC – throws pick at Wash 29, drives 65 yards and kicks FG (3)
24) USC – throws pick, 15-yard drive, Wash misses FG
25) ASU – punt fumble, Wash recovers at ASU 11, four plays for -2 yards, FG (3)
26) ASU – throws pick after getting one, Wash drives for TD (7)
27) WSU – fumble at own 46, Wash drives for TD (7)
28) WSU – throws pick in end zone seconds from end of half, Wash takes knee
29) WSU – throws pick at Wash 29, they wind up punting
30) WSU – throws pick at Wash 43 in final seconds, Wash takes knee and ends it
31) Colorado – throws pick six at start of second half (7)
32) Colorado – throws pick at Wash 2, returned to 25, Wash drives for FG (3)
33) Colorado – throws pick in own red zone, Wash drives for TD (7)


I don't know whether I can find any significance yet (since I have to look at it for Alabama as well) but FIFTEEN of the 33 turnovers Washington forced came by teams already trailing by 21 points or more - and another when Stanford was already down by 16. MOST (but not all) were interceptions, which CAN suggest: a) the rushing defense is inflated because teams are trying to get back in the game; 2) throws into coverage for easy interceptions. Of course, that does not explain fumbles, either, which is what both Stanford and Oregon did.

I'll be running numbers for both teams, just this is what I've seen so far.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

TURNOVERS COMMITTED BY ALABAMA (WITH RESULT) IN 2016

1) USC - Hurts fumbles first snap of career
2) USC - Hurts throws interception while leading, 31-3
3) WKU - Foster fumble, WKU drives for TD (7)
4) Ole Miss - Hurts fumble, Ole Miss return for TD
5) UK - fumble, Tide forces fumble a few plays later
6) Ark - fumble going into end zone, forced punt after six plays
7) Ark - A Stewart fumble after reception, Tide picks pass off on next play
8) Ark - Hurts interception, Ark drive for TD (7)
9) Tenn- Hurts fumble at own 11, UT only TD (7)
10) Tenn - Hurts interception, small return just prior to half
11) ATM - Hurts pick, Tide picks off pass in return
12) ATM - Hurts pick in end zone to end half
13) LSU - Hurts pick in own territory on first drive, LSU missed FG
14) LSU - Hurts sack fumble at own 46, forced punt
15) MSU - Hurts pick, turned over on downs
16) MSU - Hurts fumble recovered by MSU, forced to punt
17) UTC - Jacobs fumble, held Mocs to 3 and out
18) Auburn - Hurts pick, Auburn gets FG shortly thereafter (3)
19) Auburn - Hurts pick, Auburn gets FG shortly thereafter (3)

TURNOVERS FORCED BY ALABAMA (WITH RESULT)
1) USC - interception, pick six by Humphrey (7)
2) WKU - interception by R Harrison, Tide scores TD on possession (7)
3) WKU - Interception, pick six by Jackson (7)
4) Ole Miss - fumble recovery by Payne for TD (7)
5) Ole Miss - fumble recovery by Allen returned for TD (7)
6) Kent - fumble recovered by Harrison, Tide gets FG (3)
7) UK - fumble recovery by Anderson, Tide gets field goal to tie game (3)
8) UK - fumble returned by Harrison for TD (7)
9) Ark - Tim Williams fumble return for TD (7)
10) Ark - Fitzpatrick interception, 18-yard drive for TD (7)
11) Ark- Fitzpatrick pick, Hurts throws pick back 2 plays later
12) Ark - Fitzpatrick interception, 100 yd TD return (7)
13) Ark - kickoff fumble, Wilson recovery, TD on drive (7)
14) Tenn- interception pick six, Harrison (7)
15) ATM - interception by Humphrey, missed FG on drive
16) ATM - fumble recovery by Allen, TD (7)
17) LSU - interception by Fitzpatrick, results in FG (3)
18) MSU - interception by Brown, Tide punts
19) MSU - fumble, recovered by Bama, game basically ended
20) UTC - fumbled punt, Tide recovers, touchdown on following drive (7)
21) UTC - fumble at own 20, Tide recovers, TD on following drive (7)
22) Auburn - interception by Hamilton, ran out game clock
23) UF - interception by Hamilton returned to 12, Tide gets FG (3)
24) UF - Fitzpatrick pick six (7)
25) UF - Brown interception, TD on ensuing drive (7)

 

[BamaInMo1]

Just my$.02 worth: UW will come out fired up for this game as they are hearing that they have no chance at all of winning this game. They will play with emotion and throw everything including the kitchen sink and foundation at us. That will last for about a qtr or so. After that, like everyone else, you still have to line up and play football. I haven't really seen this one subject brought up much so I'll mention it here. You don't see Bama really "circling" games on our schedule. There is no game, other than the NC, that is any more important than any of the others. Yes, we have our rivals and such but in the grand scheme of things they are just one more team on the road to playin for it all.
If you come in playing with all kinds of emotion and are all hyped up and Bama hits you in the mouth and goes up by two scores that emotion will be spent and what will you have left to fight us with?

 

[BamaInMo1]

Just my $.02 worth:
UW is going to come out fired up and play a very emotional game for about a qtr or so. They may even get an early score and go on top. Bama is going to keep hitting you in the mouth and when all that emotion wears off you will still have to line up and play football. Emotion takes a lot out of you not only mentally but physically. The thing about this Bama team is that we approach every game the same: that is that each team we play is just another stepping stone on the way to a NC. We really don't get up for one game any more than we do for another, including our rivals.
We've been down in ball games and have come from behind to win (with a freshman qb leading the comeback). We simply go about our business.
UW can absolutely win this game. They are a talented team and play good football. I just do not think that UW has enough depth and I think Bama's strength and conditioning program will really show in the second half of this game.
To all the UW fans on this board, y'all have been insightful concerning your team and reasons why you think your school can win. Y'all have been classy up to this point. That is much appreciated here.

A little side note: my grandmother on my mom's side is from Bellingham. My Mother has a photo of "town" back in 1908.

 

[BamaInMo1]

Sorry for the double post. The computer is a little screwy acting today.