re: Karl Dunbar... what if?

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the losses to KY and Ark had nothing to do with Lane. We clearly looked past KY and Pelini had no gameplan against a team that had some serious weaknesses (an statue/immobile QB being one)

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I think the point being made is that our DL seemed to underachieve the whole time Lane was here. Hence, Pelini had to "coordinate around" that game-by-game. IOW, if Pelini wanted to get pressure on the QB he had to resort to blitzing; he could never count on the DL by themselves. Whether that was the case or not who knows.

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In general, our DL play has declined since Saban, but then again, our entire D has really... we had a couple of flashy games against overmatched teams such as Arizona a few years ago..but Saban's Ds were better all around... better in coverage, better at pressuring opposing offenses, better intensity, etc.

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In general I would agree. The '03 D was dominant. '02 and '04 also were very good (the '04 UGA blowout notwithstanding). And I too wasn't overly impressed with Pelini nor disappointed to see him leave (similar thoughts about Chavis's arrival but hoping for the best).

But consider this - how would Tiger fans have felt with Nick after the '02 Arky ending and the '04 Iowa finish every time the opponent came to a long pass finish? Sort of like we felt after a JL int in '08, i.e., "here we go again"?

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I didn't mind Earl Lane as much as most on this forum ..at least he recruited well and gave us a solid pipeline in FL, which is crucial IMO

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Last year should have convinced everyone that talent alone can only marginally succeed in the SEC. We had as much DL talent as anyone and twice as much as most and yet our DL was THE disappointment of '08.

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Brick BETTER have a good coached-up product on the field because he sure hasn't wowed anybody by his DL recruiting so far

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Not sure what you referring to here. Our DL signees this year were among the best of any school's. Obviously, he's not the only one recruiting them but we're still getting DL talent. No drop-off to this point. I would agree that Tiger fans are expecting some much improved DL play.