re: Tell me about Alabama's defense

OK, I'll give this a go...

Nick loves to use what the Chief might consider a 5-2 scheme with the extra D Lineman being a sort of Al Woods with an extra 40 lbs of lard to stuff up the middle against the rush so that the rest of the linemen can pretty much pin their ears back and attack nearly every play.

Since the scheme is front heavy, Nick mainly tries to get large (but still talented) CBs who are good at bumping to keep any timining routes inconsistent enough so that the QB won't get into any kind of rhythm.

All of this gives the Tide a very effective base D against the rush that also puts pressure on the QB while taking away many of the quick timing routes.

This year's defense is similar to ours in that they have lost some of their most impressive guys that are key to the 3-4 and haven't quite been able to fill their shoes. When people talk about their secondary not being very impressive this year, they are mostly giving too much credit to the more recently past squads. IMO, Although Nick has gotten some very good CBs to go thru Tuscalooser, LSU's DBs are nearly always better cover guys. Bama's constant penetration from the four LB spots with their more numerous angles of origin have always given the gump CBs an easier job of covering their guys for obvious reasons.

The point that I am making here is that the gump secondary might not have taken all that much of a drop in talent that many would believe. I think that their front seven might not be living up to the very high standard that past squads have set. We all know how everything starts in the trenches and this year's showdown will boil down to the same things. As long as the LSU OL can keep up their level of play AND Mett can continue playing in sync with his linemen and making the whole footwork thing look nearly effortless, he will make the gump secondary look like the weakest link.

My biggest concern here is that Nicky is pretty freakishly great at scheming for LSU's tendencies. It is something that I consider Les' most vulnerable weakness... his lack of imagination in the offensive game planning. It shouldn't be very difficult to see what Nick will do on defense. He will take away the Tiger's biggest weapons and make LSU beat him by getting out of their comfort zone. Fortunately, LSU has CCC and Cam has this year's offense looking very capable of scoring in every different way.

I specifically expect to see Nick try to take away our two wide outs along with keeping their front seven tight and their ears pinned which will also serve them well against the rush. This is nothing new for Nick to do against us. Mett will have to open up the rush with more than just a couple of passes. It will take a couple of scoring drives mainly through the air before Saban will back out of the box and replace a couple of their so called OLBs( Chavis DEs) with DBs for the passing game. Once this happens, the rushing attack can come into play more consistently. Hopefully by that time the Tigers will not be trying to come from behind through the air because that is essentially why Bama never had to worry about the rushing attack of their opponents even is they have the ability to run the ball.

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But what about the way the LOOKED against those teams?

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I wonder how we would fare if we took a month long bye and played Georgia State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee? Combined record 10-26. Domination! We're gelling against terrible teams!

BTW the 4 teams that assembled that 10-26 record during Alabama's bye month.....here's who the 10 wins came against

Austin Peay 0-9 (Tennessee)
Western Kentucky 5-4 (Tennessee)
South Alabama 3-5 (Tennessee)
South Carolina 7-2 (Tennessee)
Miami (OH) 0-8 (Kentucky)
Alabama State 6-3 (Kentucky)
UL Lafayette 6-2 (Arkansas)
Samford 6-3 (Arkansas)
Southern Miss 0-8 (Arkansas)

Georgia Southern is winless.

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Austin Peay
Western Kentucky
South Alabama
South Carolina
Miami (OH)
Alabama State
UL Lafayette
Samford
Southern Miss

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...and I guess since Tennessee beat South Carolina and South Carolina and if South Carolina ends up in the SECCG, that ultimately means that Tennessee is a better team overall and should be crowned SEC East Conf. Champs?

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That's the end of the schedule argument

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Dick Macho

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Great analysis!