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Why starters are in 31-3....

That was one of my favorite games... The people who are criticizing Shula are just looking for a negative in a game that was perfect... Contraversy sells!
 
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As they entered the fourth quarter that cool and overcast afternoon at Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida center David Swain and his teammates weren't thinking about holding on against Florida State.

Ahead 31-3, they smelled a rout.
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I was just about to post the same thing. Was already ready to copy and paste. I don't feel too bad about being a little slow this time. Glad there's others who don't feel the need to bash our coaches after our finest moment in years.
 
Why are they in?? Yes we are up by 4 TDs, but you can score 4 TDs in 15 minutes, and this is the #5 team in the nation we're playing!!! The starters shouldn't bee taken out anytime before the 7 minute mark against an SEC team like UF! PERIOD!!! What kept Prothro from gettin hurt in the first quarter?? NOTHING!!! It's an ACCEDENT, don't blame the coach!!!

That right there is my little rant/post on why i believe they should be in!!! LOL!! And I have a feeling i'll be telling it to the world tomorrow!!

:biga2:
 
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Let's make sure this thread stays up near the top for a little while. I'd be willing to bet anyone criticizing CMS today would be calling for his head if UF had mounted a comeback in yesterday's game. Even if they did come in to the game ranked in the top five in the country, and had put up 49 first half points the prior week against Kentucky.
 
Another Reason

This was the biggest game that any of these players have played in while at UA. These guys, especially the juniors and seniors have been through so many hardships and disappointments while at the University. Do we really want to bench the leaders of this team, who have kept the team together through all of this, during the entire 4th quarter of the biggest and most memorable game of their careers here? I have no doubt that after that drive, everyone was coming out, but that drive began at the start of the 4th quarter. Even from a coaching perspective, that would have been pretty early to pull your starters against a Top 5 team with as many athletes as Florida, but I think Shula also wanted to let these guys who have reprsented our University so well during a rough 4 years enjoy themselves for once.

Does anyone else notice that its not the coaches or even former coaches in the media who seem to be bashing this move, but merely the journalists who have never played? I don't think Stewart Mandell has what it takes to coach a pee wee team, much less questions Mike Shula's coaching ability.
 
and don't get me started on scarbinsky's article on it!! made me so mad!! :mad2: and i do so agree about the players being able to stay in and enjoy it, and the fact that the drive started at the BEGINNING of the fourth quarter, nobody has their starters out at that time against a top five team!

and you're right the coaches who i have seen comment said absolutely he'd still have his starters in.

again...hurry back pro!! any word on how the surgery went and if it was a clean break or not?
 
LSU, Florida, and a host of other teams have watched 2 to 4 touch down leads swindle and vanish in the 4th quarter and suddenly, a sure thing rout turns into a loss.

Against East Baby Foosball Acadamy, sure a 2-3 touchdown lead into the 4th is sufficient, against a top 25 team, nope. Leave the starters in unless up by say... 5 touchdowns.
 
Some folks just have to carp. The glass half empty types. I would be interested to hear TP's response to such garbage. He was clearly enjoying himself destroying the FL secondary all day, that he wanted more. It was a freak accident and injury but that's football.

For those of you wanting to nitpick and find something to criticize CMS and his staff, please engage brain before operating mouth, eh keyboard, and just enjoy the moment.
 
Doesn't matter what stats or examples you bring up. The pundits have determined that "Shula was stupid to keep the starters in" angle is going to get the most juice and they are going to run with it.
 
I had no problem w/ our starters being in at that point and time in the game..

1. That was #5 Florida...not Utah State, UL Monroe, Western Kentucky etc...

2. Previous games as mentioned above...also LSU / Tenn last Monday

3. Up by 21 late in the 3rd qtr only to lose to Arkansas 34-31 in 2003

4. The drive that Prothro was injured on started w/ 12 minutes plus on the clock (that's almost the whole 4th quarter left to play). You can't just say that they should not have been in at 9 minutes. What do you do, call a timeout, and substitute the whole offense in w/ 2nd and 3rd stringers in the middle of a drive?

5. When our backups did come in, we went backwards for a bit w/ about 3 straight offensive penalties in a row on one drive. We needed to run time off of the clock at this point in the game. Now imagine if that would have happened at 12 minutes plus left in the 4th... we have to punt (which we had one blocked last week) punt is blocked or we give up a big return.

6. If he makes the TD, comes down safely w/ no injury...none of us, or anyone else would be making any kind of issue about it.

I hate it for Tyrone because he is a hustler and represents what a true Alabama football player is made of, but he went down doing what he does best...making a play - and that's just football. By golly, if our number #1 playmaker had to go down, at least it was going for a TD, up and over a taller CB that he had been scorching all day long in the biggest win at Bryant-Denny, propelling his team to a top 10 ranking! Roll Tide!

Hang in there, Quatro, and we'll be looking forward to seeing you next year!

--cool eddie
 
As many have mentioned, you can't second guess or make judgements after something bad happens. Personally, I would have put the backups in earlier let them get some valuable experience and be a bigger part of the big win, but I do not fault MS for it. I think basketball works this aspect a little better although I think it is pointless to put the backups in with less than a minute, I do like the idea of honoring the starters by bringing them out and letting the crowd go nuts. AL has been down for a while and this was the big game, I can understand letting the players who struggled through everything stay in for a little fun.

I also like the idea to go for the score on 4th - the game is for 60 minutes, both teams know that going in and the fans have paid a lot of money to be there. If it were my call, the backups would be in and doing their best to score. Some call it running up the score, I call it rewarding the players for all the hours of hard work they put in.
 
cooleddie said:
I had no problem w/ our starters being in at that point and time in the game..

I hate it for Tyrone because he is a hustler and represents what a true Alabama football player is made of, but he went down doing what he does best...making a play - and that's just football. By golly, if our number #1 playmaker had to go down, at least it was going for a TD, up and over a taller CB that he had been scorching all day long in the biggest win at Bryant-Denny, propelling his team to a top 10 ranking! Roll Tide!

Hang in there, Quatro, and we'll be looking forward to seeing you next year!

--cool eddie
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amen.
 
Gator, I think it was another Gator coach who taught

gator said:
As many have mentioned, you can't second guess or make judgements after something bad happens. Personally, I would have put the backups in earlier let them get some valuable experience and be a bigger part of the big win, but I do not fault MS for it. I think basketball works this aspect a little better although I think it is pointless to put the backups in with less than a minute, I do like the idea of honoring the starters by bringing them out and letting the crowd go nuts. AL has been down for a while and this was the big game, I can understand letting the players who struggled through everything stay in for a little fun.

I also like the idea to go for the score on 4th - the game is for 60 minutes, both teams know that going in and the fans have paid a lot of money to be there. If it were my call, the backups would be in and doing their best to score. Some call it running up the score, I call it rewarding the players for all the hours of hard work they put in.
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the SEC that games were for 60 minutes...SOS! We have Steve to thank for that. In years gone by teams tanked toward the end, but SOS realized early on that you must put teams away when you have the opportunity. It's one thing to try to score with a minute on the clock up by 28 and a totally different thing to try to score up by 28 with 9:00 minutes to go in the game.
 
cooleddie said:
I had no problem w/ our starters being in at that point and time in the game..

1. That was #5 Florida...not Utah State, UL Monroe, Western Kentucky etc...

2. Previous games as mentioned above...also LSU / Tenn last Monday

3. Up by 21 late in the 3rd qtr only to lose to Arkansas 34-31 in 2003

4. The drive that Prothro was injured on started w/ 12 minutes plus on the clock (that's almost the whole 4th quarter left to play). You can't just say that they should not have been in at 9 minutes. What do you do, call a timeout, and substitute the whole offense in w/ 2nd and 3rd stringers in the middle of a drive?

5. When our backups did come in, we went backwards for a bit w/ about 3 straight offensive penalties in a row on one drive. We needed to run time off of the clock at this point in the game. Now imagine if that would have happened at 12 minutes plus left in the 4th... we have to punt (which we had one blocked last week) punt is blocked or we give up a big return.

6. If he makes the TD, comes down safely w/ no injury...none of us, or anyone else would be making any kind of issue about it.

I hate it for Tyrone because he is a hustler and represents what a true Alabama football player is made of, but he went down doing what he does best...making a play - and that's just football. By golly, if our number #1 playmaker had to go down, at least it was going for a TD, up and over a taller CB that he had been scorching all day long in the biggest win at Bryant-Denny, propelling his team to a top 10 ranking! Roll Tide!

Hang in there, Quatro, and we'll be looking forward to seeing you next year!

--cool eddie
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#s 3, 4, and 6...enough said. i don't see how anyone could read those..and then criticize CMS. ESPECIALLY #3, that probably ran through his mind at some point i'm sure. #5 too, other words, ALL good points! :) how about if that florida db isn't hanging on him, he's able to right himself and it doesn't happen.

somebody refresh my memory on what happened on that drive after the pass interference...how did we not score? i guess we went for it on 4th down and did not get it?
another thing...i was at the game so haven't seen it on tv yet, did the announcers EVER question why the starters were still in BEFORE it happened?
 
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Honestly, this is crazy.

Injuries are a part of the game...they happen and it's time to just get over it. Prothro wanted to be in the game, and obviously the coaching staff had it's reason for having him in the game and going to him at that particular time. My guess is they wanted to work on some protection schemes with some younger OL, but hey, right now it's a pretty moot point.

The team will rally around this and be better for it. Other guys will have the opportunity to step up. Let's get past this and enjoy the off week and go to Oxford and continue our run to Atlanta!

-T17
 
i agree with that article. I think CMS was correct in having the starters in. Florida is still a very powerful team. If we put the backups in, they could have easily gained momentum; which would have been bad. ROLL TIDE!!!!
 
Anybody that blames Coach Shula for having his key starters in at that point in the game knows little about the game of football. If it was late in the 4th then maybe we should have had the #2's in, but not with a full quarter left to play. Leads like that can evaporate on a dime, especially against a team like Florida. It's happened too us way too many times and I find no fault in the personnel we had in. It was just a freak injury that somehow seems to curse this program like a black cloud.
 
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