Did Saban have a crappy gameplan the first LSU/Bama game

They played not to lose in November.
They played to win in January.

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good gameplan, just out coached by miles

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Being at that game, Bama made a ton of mistakes. So did we. The defenses were about equal, our offense sucked, and McCarron missed a ton of wide open passes. They weren't expecting the option either. More about mistakes than it was Saban being outcoached by Miles. I think we all saw in the 2nd game that was not the case. It's all about execution.

No his kickers sucked. His defense allowed one busted coverage leading to a FG. His QB got picked around their 30 leading to another FG and we kicked a FG in OT.

They could have easily shut us out in the first game.

On offense or defense? So far as I can tell, Saban's defensive gameplan didn't change from game one to game two. And indeed, the Bama defense was stifling in both contests. The primary difference in the rematch was that his players suffered fewer mental errors in coverage and in their defense of the option. (At half-time of the first game, Saban essentially stated that his defense wasn't properly attacking the option on the edge.)

Offensively, it appears to me that Saban did indeed change his gameplan in the rematch. Heading into the initial encounter, I truly believe he thought that he could overpower the LSUI defense with Richardson and the run game. He couldn't. To his credit, he recognized the strength of the LSU defensive line based on the outcome of the first game and adapted his stategy accordingly. He went to a pass first philosophy that exploited our nickel backs and LB's in coverage against bigger, faster receivers. That was the difference in the game. McCarron also played fantastically well.

He said in an interview that they made a mistake not letting McCarron throw on first down.

it was a pretty good gameplan. they fed richardson and went conservative in their passing game. they really did move the ball pretty well in between the 20's.

that Jan 9 gameplan was a thing of beauty, however.

yes. i hear bama fans are pissed because he never held a press conference excepting responsibility for it and explaining why he was attempting 72 yard field goals

Lol, its much easier game planning for a qb that is one dimensional and not much of a passer. A big difference was having a qb running an offense that was more multi than read option left read option right. Saban knew JJ was going the whole game, first time around not so much. Bama played great on the 9th but face it the game plan for Bama was not that hard to devise.

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No, it wasn't just about execution. Bama had a totally different gameplan in the second game that involved throwing on nearly every first down.

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Its called making adjustments. I'd guess they felt they could take advantage of our aggressivness on defense the 2nd time around and figured we'd work to stop TR. Perhaps in the extra 6 weeks they felt better about McCarron throwing so much. Many of the pass were safe, quick passes.

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No his kickers sucked

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When you kick from those distances, you tend to miss.