Players and execution

Alabama won again. They keep piling up the wins....much to the chagrin of the LSU faithful. Nick Saban is a genius and Les Miles is stuck in the 1960's with his outdated philosophy!!!

But wait, Saban employs much the same, boring offense as Les Miles. It's fair to say the Saban offense is more varied than the one LSU runs....but not all that much different. Alabama ran the ball 58 times yesterday for 233 yards (4yd/carry) while throwing it 26 times (completing 18 for 204yds). Not nearly the 50/50 run to pass ratio to keep defenses honest! They ran the ball almost 70% of the time...

But Saban is a genius! Saban wins while Miles does not!!! Yep, Saban wins more....a lot more. He has the hardware in the trophy case to prove it. Why does he win so much???

Players and execution

Alabama players are generally superior to the opponent (Bama has the top recruiting class virtually every year) and they execute the gameplan. The Bama teams keep penalties to a minimum and they are smooth and efficent. Saban demands dicipline and perfection. He gets it more often than not. Saban's QBs are pretty good, too. They are able to pass it when it counts, unlike the Tigers.

Miles and LSU are not far off in the talent arena. I think LSU has a fine collection of talent. The problem comes in with execution. I'm not sure what is going on, but the coaching staff is doing something wrong getting them ready against top competition. Regressions in play over the course of the year sort of point to coaching. Getting plays in late. Presnap penalties. Sloppy execution. All point to the coaches. I hope they can "clean things up" and get back into the mix as contenders in 2016. A lot will depend on the QB....again (broken record?). If the QB play does not improve, the offense will not be good enough to beat the elite teams in college football.