We Have A Major Problem That We Must Address

[Bamafan78]

It's a shame losses are required to motivate. I don't think it has to be that way, but then I've never coached 19-year-olds.

Yes it is, but its easy for us humans to forget the things that have made us successful. Success breeds complaceny.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

To me he probably thinks it has more to do with lack of execution than it does with the actual gameplan itself. I mean look at it like this. The lack of execution on three td killing drives kept us from ending the game in the first half. Trents dropped pass, Ingrams fumble and Gmacs fumble. All were potential td's but due to lack of execution killed us.

Then all of a sudden the the secondary doesn't execute and gives up two td's due to lack of execution. So in his mind the lack of execution potentially cost us 21 points on our end and gave them 14 pts on their end from our lack of defensive execution. So he's not ready to fall on his offensive philosophical sword and say that's it.

We've seen this over and over and talked about it over and over. So what's the issue? Saban too stubborn to change? Too arrogant to?

 

[TidePrice]

I think it comes down to those are 18-21 yr old kids, they are not mature. they are focused on results rather than the process. I dont care if that is over used, doesnt mean it isnt true.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Welcome to life. You've got 35 year olds that have to have something tragic or major happen in their life to succeed. It's human nature and most people aren't immune to it.

It's a shame losses are required to motivate. I don't think it has to be that way, but then I've never coached 19-year-olds.

 

[teamplayer]

I have a different perspective on this but that does not mean you are not right. I tend to view the world in simple terms, so I have been told. You are asking perfection on the field game after game, year after year from human players and coaches. It is not going to happen.

I ask no more than what we have going on now and that is to be a player in the hunt for perfection (BCSCG) every year. This is three years in a row we have done exactly that. Three years in a row we have been ranked #1 at some point of the season. There are only a very few teams who can make that claim.

I remember when the main topic of college football was "can anyone stop USC and Pete Carrol." Then in his last couple of years they quit finishing the game too and reverted from machines back to being human players and coaches.

14-0 would be nothing special if someone did it every year. It would become average and that would not be exciting, just expected. So I think our main problem is that we are human.

Even if we went 14-0 and won the SEC and national titles every year, there would be Bama fans who complained. They would complain that we didn't win by enough points or that the games were becoming boring to watch. If you will remember earlier this year, there were some fans on this site who were complaining about the games being boring. Well, I hope those fans are happy with the three losses. Maybe they thought those games were fun to watch. Personally, I would rather Bama win by a large margin every game. I'll watch other games for the excitement of a close game, but I want Bama to win every time.

Like Redwood said, however, we can't win them all. I have enjoyed the last three years of the Saban era, and I hope that he stays in Tuscaloosa for a while longer. Truth be told, though, I enjoyed last year more than this one and will always hope that we go undefeated and win championships. Roll Tide!

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Even if we went 14-0 and won the SEC and national titles every year, there would be Bama fans who complained. They would complain that we didn't win by enough points or that the games were becoming boring to watch. If you will remember earlier this year, there were some fans on this site who were complaining about the games being boring. Well, I hope those fans are happy with the three losses. Maybe they thought those games were fun to watch. Personally, I would rather Bama win by a large margin every game. I'll watch other games for the excitement of a close game, but I want Bama to win every time.

Like Redwood said, however, we can't win them all. I have enjoyed the last three years of the Saban era, and I hope that he stays in Tuscaloosa for a while longer. Truth be told, though, I enjoyed last year more than this one and will always hope that we go undefeated and win championships. Roll Tide!

You clearly remember the Bear Bryant era!!!

Folks complained about the wins back then, too.

 

[CrimsonProf]

Anyone seen the Wire? Remember what Slim Charles told Bodie? "The thing about the old days is...they the old days."

Something to keep in mind when we rehash how Bama played in the 60s and 70s. Times and kids have changed.

My bigger concern is Earle's point - the offense, while talented, is way too predictable. I was sitting in the west upper deck and our receivers looked dejected every time we pulled a three and out in the second half. It is very hard for these players to maintain intensity when they're not playing to win the game. And against a quick-strike offense like Auburn's...well, you better come out with both guns blazing.

 

[T-boy]

I think a lot of people including me think Alabama should dominate every team we play. There are a lot of teams that spend millions recruiting, on facilities, on hiring the best coaches, and trying to turn different players each year into consistent National Champions.

No one team is going to dominate 4 or 5 years in a row very often.

Look around you:

Texas won 4 or 5 games this year with a top 5 recruiting class every year.

Florida is now average. Notre Dame and Michigan have to fight every game to win. Texas AM, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have had several off years.

Auburn lost like 12 games in two years before this year..

In the last 3 years Saban has a record of 35 wins and 5 loses.

The loses were to (I Think) a #1 Florida, a #4 Utah State, #5 LSU, #2 Auburn, and a #22 South Carolina.

Think about it, who has been more consistent the last 3 years than Bama.

 

[gladIam4UA]

My bigger concern is Earle's point - the offense, while talented, is way too predictable. I was sitting in the west upper deck and our receivers looked dejected every time we pulled a three and out in the second half. It is very hard for these players to maintain intensity when they're not playing to win the game. And against a quick-strike offense like Auburn's...well, you better come out with both guns blazing.

Surely Saban is smarter than we are (I'd almost guarantee he's smarter than me) and would also see what we see, yet the story has been the same - a predictable offense playing not to lose.

 

[gladIam4UA]

I think a lot of people including me think Alabama should dominate every team we play. There are a lot of teams that spend millions recruiting, on facilities, on hiring the best coaches, and trying to turn different players each year into consistent National Champions.

No one team is going to dominate 4 or 5 years in a row very often.

Look around you:

Texas won 4 or 5 games this year with a top 5 recruiting class every year.

Florida is now average. Notre Dame and Michigan have to fight every game to win. Texas AM, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have had several off years.

Auburn lost like 12 games in two years before this year..

In the last 3 years Saban has a record of 35 wins and 5 loses.

The loses were to (I Think) a #1 Florida, a #4 Utah State, #5 LSU, #2 Auburn, and a #22 South Carolina.

Think about it, who has been more consistent the last 3 years than Bama.

I don't expect a team to dominate every game...I don't expect a team to win every game. I do expect that a mostly well coached, and mostly talented team can hold a 24-0 lead at home against it's biggest rival. I also expect that a team can play with some kind of consistency from the first half to the second half most of the time.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

In the last 3 years Saban has a record of 35 wins and 5 loses.

The loses were to (I Think) a #1 Florida, a #4 Utah State, #5 LSU, #2 Auburn, and a #22 South Carolina.

Think about it, who has been more consistent the last 3 years than Bama.

T-Boy,

I mean no offense, but you must still be in mourning.

1) We were #1, Florida was #2.

2) Utah STATE? No, we rolled them. But UTAH UTES is another story.

 

[Alasippi]

Turnovers and mistakes will kill any team.

It's that simple.

If we don't fumble and drop passes in the first half we would have won this game by the score we chose to win it.

It might have been 63-0 the way the momentum was going.

The game plan, at the outset was absolutely perfect, both offensively and defensively, but our primary leaders like Mark, and Trent, and Greg made bone headed errors.

That simple.

That ain't coaching.

That's talented players not making plays when they had the opportunity.

And when your stud hosses start making mistakes it's hard for those young ones to overcome the momentum shift.

We left at least 17 points on the field in the first half because of turnovers and dropped passes.

This game should have been a total all out rout by half time.

All the players had to do was to execute the game plan, and they didn't.

sip

 

[bama579]

I can't agree with you on the premise. We don't have a MAJOR problem. Tennessee has a major problem . . So does USCw, and several others.

We certainly have for areas for improvement. I'm counting on it to happen, too. BY NEXT SEASON.

We had a major problem for a good chunk of the last ten years. Thank goodness adults are back in charge of football at my alma mater.

Again, major problem? No.

 

[T-boy]

T-Boy,

I mean no offense, but you must still be in mourning.

1) We were #1, Florida was #2.

2) Utah STATE? No, we rolled them. But UTAH UTES is another story.

Thanks, did it from memory which is fading like me. Didn't Florida end up NC's after beating us in the SEC Championship.

For the other guy.

And yes we should hold a 24 point lead against anybody. And if we want to blame the coaches for blowing a 24 point lead, who takes credit for getting the 24 point lead against the probably next National Champions.

We should have won but fumbled the ball all over the field. Ingram dropped three, TR dropped a pass, Gmac got sacked because we have a RS freshman in the game.

Why we only gained 67 yards in the second half is a concern but every team in the NCAA has the same problems sooner or later.

The OP thinks we have a problem with our coaches getting us to play a full game. Tell me who you want to come in and do a better job.

 

[Lou_Holtz]

I'm just glad basketball season is here.
Oh wait, bad idea. :eek2:

 

[Relayer]

I can't agree with you on the premise. We don't have a MAJOR problem. Tennessee has a major problem . . So does USCw, and several others.

We certainly have for areas for improvement. I'm counting on it to happen, too. BY NEXT SEASON.

We had a major problem for a good chunk of the last ten years. Thank goodness adults are back in charge of football at my alma mater.

Again, major problem? No.

Best reply in the entire thread.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Thanks, did it from memory which is fading like me. Didn't Florida end up NC's after beating us in the SEC Championship.

1) Yes. We were #1, Florida was #2. They beat us and moved up to #1 and then beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game.

2) I started the OP, and my point is not to blame the coach (and I thought I made that clear).

But we MUST, we MUST play complete games more often. I'm not demanding perfection. But there are WAY too many games where we come out like gangbusters and then pack it in and let teams back in.

Yesterday was a meltdown of biblical proportions. We let them back in; had we been up 42-7, they would have packed it in.

 

[T-boy]

1) Yes. We were #1, Florida was #2. They beat us and moved up to #1 and then beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game.

2) I started the OP, and my point is not to blame the coach (and I thought I made that clear).

But we MUST, we MUST play complete games more often. I'm not demanding perfection. But there are WAY too many games where we come out like gangbusters and then pack it in and let teams back in.

Yesterday was a meltdown of biblical proportions. We let them back in; had we been up 42-7, they would have packed it in.

I agree and I cannot see how we get shut down so completely after looking so good.

However, if S. Carolina can score 35 points on us I am not amazed when we give up 28 to Auburn. What is a amazing is Auburn starts rushing the passer and covering all our receivers like a blanket.

We don't seem to have an offensive answer sometimes but I think our line is below average this year and we can't run the ball like last year.

 

[BamaMoon]

I understand the complaints about predictable play calling. I've asked alot of questions about our second half play calling too.

But let me tell you what will fix that and here's what I want to see next year. I want us to return to the commitment to run the football and control the los. When you control the line of scrimmage everyone knows what's coming but they can't stop it.

Some have complained about the wildcat. Remember the SC game in 09??? How we lined up in the wildcat and MI got the snap and ran straight ahead for 5-10 everytime??? We didn't complain about it then. What's the difference? That everybody knew what was coming? Yeah, we knew what was coming, the opposing defense knew what was coming, but the beauty is they couldn't stop it.

So, IMO most of our problems this year can be solved by simply doing what CNS said Bama would do the day he got hired: Make their tails quit. We didn't do that this year because we couldn't control the los.

 

[gladIam4UA]

The loses were to (I Think) a #1 Florida, a #4 Utah State, #5 LSU, #2 Auburn, and a #22 South Carolina.

Think about it, who has been more consistent the last 3 years than Bama.

Great points. However, I think the frustration is not with the losses, but with the way they lost. No shame in losing to number #2 Auburn; some shame in having a 24-0 lead on them at home and then losing.