re: 2011 Alternative Scenario

quote:

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Were they the better team 1/9? Yea I'll give them that, but to say they were a better team than LSU in 2011 is just ignorant

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It really isn't ignorant at all.

Were they head and shoulders better? Not at all. The Ds were very similar, although I think Bama's was better at shutting teams down, while LSU's was a big play, momentum swinging machine, mostly due to TM7's historical play.

Running games were about equal, although I think Bama's D was better built to stop a running game like ours than we were to stop a straight ahead downhill running team like theirs. Our D strength was speed. Bama's OL could negate that by running straight at us. We held our own, but I think their matchup was better than ours.

But the real advantage was at QB. The bottom line is, against an all time level great D like Bama's, the limitations of our QBs were painfully obvious BOTH games.

I hadn't seen AJ play substantially better against a great D like LSU's than our QBs had until 1/9. That's why the "eyeball test" argument was bullshite by the media. There was NO indication that AJ could attack our D the way he did in The Rematch, so there was no reason to think that the game would be much different if played again other than maybe Bama winning 9-6, which wouldn't prove anything anyway.

Clearly his play this past year showed that 1/9 wasn't a fluke but was the game it all came together for him and he became a very good QB.

We didn't have a very good QB. We just didn't, as much as JJ or Lee partisans can't admit.

Regardless of whether they were "good" or not, however, no one should argue that either of them were ever going to consistently make plays against a D as good as Bama's was in 2011. That's my honest opinion after rewatching every game from that season, including both Bama games, multiple times (what can I say, I'm a huge nerd )

Our only chance to win was a big return, which we never got in either game, although Wing played great in the first game. Bama's coverage was solid and negated our biggest scoring threat against them.


None of this is disrespect to LSU in 2011. It's the most amazing season I've ever seen a Tiger team put together, and it's precisely BECAUSE of those limitations that we were able to overcome that makes them so special.

I love that team and think they got the all time screw job after winning THE GAME OF THE CENTURY, disregarding the monumental win that we achieved in Tuscaloosa.