re: The gap is on the sidelines, not in talent.

quote:

---

They gashed LSU running the football in 2012.

---

WE gave up 330 total yards and only 21 points, and caused 2 turnovers.

quote:

---

Kendell Beckwith might be the most talented player on the entire defense and he plays a handful of snaps. So embarrassing.

---

You're embarrassing because you are talking out of your arse completely. Tre White is fricking good, Robinson has been practicing with the team for three moths and has an excessively high ceiling. If Beckwith was ready he would be playing.

This thread is a knee-jerk reaction to losing, and is pointless.

The coaching was present to give our team a chance, even though the talent levels of the two teams weren't equal (only a blind homer would think we're equal with Bama through the entire roster). We are down this season on defense, and the front seven is pretty thin. Go rewatch the entire season, and that's evident- there simply aren't a lot of players ready to play along the line or at linebacker. Not this season. Johnson and Ferguson play almost every snap, and the rotations at linebacker and end aren't deep.

Now, the coaches knew that, and came up with what could have been an effective plan. The first half, our starters played Bama's well, and we could have led at the break. We didn't, but that wasn't on the coaches, it was on a fluke fumble by Copeland that gave away a TD, and a crowd-noise fluke fumble that gave them a gift FG. That's a 10 point swing right there, along with a lost possession at a time when we were moving the ball enough that conceivably we come away with yet another score.

It's possible, even likely, that if we don't make those screw-ups in the 1st half, we have a double digit lead at the break. If we would have, and tacked on that early FG to start the 2nd half, the game is way different. Bama might not run the fake near midfield and risk us seizing a larger lead if they fail (Nick doesn't gamble as much if he's in the hole), and that 14 play drive goes away... until later. Hell, that long, clock-grinding drive probably doesn't occur at all, because he'd be trying to keep pace, not seize physical control of a close game. What good is killing a quarter to get within 7 pts against a team who has been able to move against you? Not Nick's MO; he won't shorten the game when he needs more time.

A big enough lead and we can coast to the end, despite being short on depth. It worked just fine against Auburn- they also were grinding our defense into the dirt by the end of the game, but it was pointless because we had a cushion, and we won. We couldn't do that against Alabama, not because Saban knows more football than Miles, but because we didn't make our early cushion when we had the chance. But the gameplan was sound enough that we had the chance to do so.