Alright folks it’s time to talk some actual ball about the game. What do we have here? Two very similar philosophies and teams. Ball control offenses that don’t make a lot of mistakes and limit the opponent’s opportunities, along with stingy defenses that are tough to score on. It’s the age old recipe for winning lots of games, and this season it has worked well for these two. Here’s what I see when I look at them (admittedly I have more info on Bama, having seen my team play them) Bama Offense: Elite offensive line, and big bruising RB’s to move the chains. A QB that is exactly what Saban wants - another good game manager with above average skills and doesn’t make many mistakes. The passing game is old school, but will attempt to stretch the field if you jam the box too much. They don’t beat you with flash and glitter, just grind you to dust over four quarters of trench warfare taking advantage of your mistakes. ND Offense: Also a big bruising OL built to run. Not quite the size and power at RB, but probably more speed. The QB was something of a two-edged sword early in the season but has progressed along the way to be full-service now. He’s also a threat to run… which stresses any defense. I think that might be the x-factor most SEC fans overlook. Somewhat more diverse targets in the passing game - Excellent TE that adds an extra dimension. Two of the best defenses of 2012 to face off. Bama defense: Excellent front 7, but not as dominant as the past few. No elite pass rusher so a mix of blitzes will probably be used to attempt to disrupt the ND passing game. The secondary is decent, but again not quite as good as in the past. When combined with a less ferocious pass rush, this creates Bama’s “weakness”. ND defense: Elite front 7. They do have gate crashers here not only at DE, but at DT as well. Tough to run or throw on them in the base sets. The secondary was expected to be the weakest unit as with Bama, but they seem to have held up well over the season. Maybe that’s been masked by the disruption caused by the front 7? VERY stingy in the red zone. I really don’t have a good gut feel for who will win. It looks like a clash of charging rhinos! The coaches have over a month to prepare some nasty twists. I tend to give the nod to Saban – his track record is tough to argue with, but who knows what Kelly might come up with. Anything can happen in winner-take-all games… So… add/subtract/correct what I’ve started, but please try to keep it to discussion of the GAME and RELEVANT factors. I PREMEPTIVELY REQUEST THE MODS DELETE ANY REFERENCE TO A TEAM THAT RESIDES IN THE SUNSHINE STATE.
Understood! Bowl contest: I am in two of them and this is the only game that I have waffled on several times and will probably continue to do so. I will probably at the last minute look to see which team has the highest percentage of being selected and go that route. This should be a complement to both teams. Bama that has been among the elite for many years and Notre Dame that used to be in that position and has clawed its way back to the elite. Does the new guy on the block beat up the reigning bully or does the new guy have a glass jaw? Good luck to both teams. May injuries be minimal and may the best team with the best game plan win.
Agreed on almost everything. Alabama’s O was entirely one-dimensional in the SECCG. Their team is built to run, but even when the pass was there, AJ couldn’t make the throw most of the time. Even the throw that looked really good at first (AJ’s long TD throw with single coverage to his WR) on replay showed it was a bad pass that the WR had to adjust to the inside on, rather than the ball being led to the outside away from the defender. Usually you hear people talk about running the ball to set up the pass. Well, the pass was set up, and several play actions were there, but when you can’t get the ball to the open guy, or hit the correct shoulder, or give the receiver a chance to run, setting up the pass leaves you as one-dimensional as if the other team is taking it away from you. Most of the weakness in passing wasn’t as a result of it being taken away by Georgia, but by Alabama’s shortcomings. Now, that rushing offense is a load, but ND showed they could stop a running team in a similar Stanford setup that has a better passing game. Notre Dame’s rushing offense isn’t as good as Alabama’s, although their entire offense is less one-dimensional. ND’s pass offense is more reliable (when it’s working) giving them better balance. Against Alabama’s D, they’ll need to have that balance to move the ball because I don’t see their rushing offense taking advantage as easily as Georgia’s did. The matchups: Alabama O vs. ND D: Rushing game is advantage Alabama. Passing game is advantage ND. If ND can continue to rotate people in and keep them fresh throughout the fourth quarter, ND has a chance to limit the damage Yeldon and Lacy do, but they will get their yards. ND O vs. Alabama D: Rushing game is again advantage Alabama. Passing game is advantage ND, IF the QB remains in his improved state. Maintaining balance will help with the running game, but if ND gets one-dimensional with the pass, mistakes will be harder to limit. Special teams: draw Coaching: draw. It’s hard to go against Saban and what he’s done at LSU and now Alabama. However, this Alabama team isn’t even the second-best Alabama team Saban has coached, which leaves them vulnerable. Saban will have them coached up for sure, but Kelly has done a terrific job in what was supposed to be a year before they ND was supposed to be back. In my bowl picks, I chose ND because of the offensive balance, but I only put one point on them because this could go either way. It should be a very good, rough and tumble, defensive struggle. If ND’s D get’s worn down, look for Alabama to just run the ball down their throats in the fourth quarter. If ND’s offense shows poise and balance and gets hot, looks for Alabama to get desperate late, which would be bad news with a QB that doesn’t give his WRs a chance to run in space (usually). Most likely, I see it being close the entire game.
Interestingly, ND had opponents rush the fewest time this past season. This can be attributed to an offense that was proficient in running long sustained 80+ drives capped off with FGs. Of course, opponents chose to pass more often that they normally do against our front 7. As is usually the case, the key is for ND's D to hold Bama to less than 4 yds. on first down. The key matchup will be their O line vs our inside LBs. Golson has matured a lot over the season. The game has slowed down for him and he's much more calm in the pocket and rolling out. He still however, does not find open receivers nearly enough. I think our passing attack will have to be efficient because I do not believe that we can consistently run against the Tide. I have to give the special teams edge to Alabama mainly due to our complete abandonment of punt returns. I also think that Bama's KOs are better than ours often are. They did seem to prefer taking the touchback to the 25 yd. line rather than the return when they could in the SECCG. They say in boxing that there is nothing more dangerous than an undefeated boxer. I'm hoping that holds true for football and this game. I've been impressed with Alabama's poise in the LSU and GA. games. ND too has had it's share of wins in close games. As it so often does, it will probably come down to breaks and mistakes. I'm hoping for the luck of the Irish.
Lacy and Yeldon in the second half were awesome vs. Georgia and so was Amari Cooper. Those three plus Saban yield the difference in this game. Close...hard fought but Bama pulls away in the 4th..... 27-19 Tide. RT&SEC...R!! P.S. there is no sunshine state team still relevant to the national title discussion and neither BCS title game participant played 'em so they are no longer of significance to this game.
Seriously, it seems we try to mix up pass and run too much. Finally in the second half of the SECCG we chose to run the ball no matter what. It worked.
You mean you guys don't want to talk about FSU??? All good comments but I do think that you are selling AJ McCarron short. I have watched him throw a lot of TD's when he needed to and he did hit the game winner against Georgia. Bama's running backs are very good and run behind a great OL. I have seen Notre Dame play less but I saw the end of the Stanford game and Pitt games and watched all of the USC game. The goal line stands against Stanford and USC were as good as it gets. I still think Bama wins but this should be a very good game. I might add that I did not think Georgia would be able to move the ball against Bama like they did.
:shock: There's real hysteria surrounding this game. I see where a lot of Bama fans are predicting the Tide will roll with 30 or even 40 points on the scoreboard. I just don't see how that can happen against an opponent that has given up only two rushing TDs the entire season and who has three All-Americans (Te'o, Tuitt, and Nix) in it's front seven. I foresee a low scoring game where every turnover and penalty will be critical. Both teams like to play physical and milk the clock. Both teams have depth, so don't expect either team to wear down. Golson should be a problem for the Tide defense, but he's not JFF. He's just a mobile QB who's still learning how to play within the system. The real matchup has nothing to do with passing. It's the classic matchup of the Bama Oline vs. the Irish Front Seven: that will be a war...
I'm just staying real quiet down here. I know KP says that 'real Bama fans' aren't like that, but I wish I could carry a hidden camera around with me all day. It's everywhere. There's a euphoria about the Irish for sure for Tide fans. They aren't accustomed to being on the short end of much of anything, and the Irish have broken their hearts a lot more often than anyone else (Southern or otherwise). Auburn is still their rival. They still hate Tennessee. However, there is a big chip on their shoulder about the Irish. Everyone thinks/wants their team to win. That's not anything new or specific to any one team. What I don't understand about 'down here' (and this is region wide, I partially blame ESPN and the lack of context/history taught about the game) is that it isn't enough to say they're going to win. Te'o is a POS who wouldn't even start for Alabama. If ND played in the SEC, they'd be a .500 team at best. 'Bama is going to tack 40 on the Irish defense and the offense won't cross the 50. It goes on and on. I just don't understand the mindset, especially given that these people DO know football. Eh, whatever. Maybe all of those things will happen? Maybe we'll get slaughtered? Maybe our D will get crushed under the Crimson Tide's massive OL, McCarron will hit the play action pass all day and their 2 headed monster RB situation will run wild.. I like our chances though. I think our margin for error is smaller due mostly to Golson, but we'll see how it falls together. Regardless, I've enjoyed this team for so many more reasons than their record or the fact they are playing for the title. I love the passion on this team and the character they've shown to date. No matter how it shakes out, I'll always fondly look back on this team.
Man, Corey, I really don't know who you are hanging out with but the vast majority of the people I work with and hang out with are not talking like that at all. Like I said before, I see this going similar to the SECCG. The only real advantage I see Alabama possibly having is at QB and at the end of the season that is not a big difference. A first year qb can be very up or very down and if he is very down he may not realize it until he has made some costly mistakes. I'm not saying that he is going to have a very bad game, what I am saying is he hasn't been here before. Other than that, I think Notre Dame and Alabama are very similar teams and this should be a close and fairly low scoring game, with turnovers possibly being the deciding factor. :!:
You know people who have been Alabama fans only for the last couple of years are usually overly optimistic. Long time fans usually remember the losses and the close games and are more realistic. I don't know, I just don't run into many people that are saying we are going to win this one big. Win yes, but most expect a very good game.
I have to say this, as you most of you know I have season tickets to the team not supposed to be mentioned here so I won't mention them. What I will say is that my seat is in an area where there are usually a lot of visiting fans sitting above us and also run across them as we roam the shops on game day. And my observations are that the Bama fans have always been among the most classy and friendly fans we run into. Every team has obnoxious fans and they are frequently the most vocal but I always look forward to a Bama game at the Swamp because we are playing one of the best and their fans are always great. To illustrate my point Notre Dame fans as we know are a classy group. However after my one experience when playing them in the Sugar Bowl after the 91 season when Lou Holtz's group proved the old adage that touchdowns beat field goals and the Irish beat us like a drum in the 4th quarter. After the game My daughter, son-in-law and my self were getting in our car when several Notre Dame fans started yelling, screaming and gesturing at us. Not friendly at all. I shrugged it off and was pretty sure it wasn't any of my Skybox friends or representative of Notre Dame fans. Hope the word Swamp didn't violate the ban.
I've been here 12 years now, it's more than a weekend trip or a few run ins with loud mouthed idiots. That being said. I've noticed that Tide fans are quite often hated by other SEC fans. (in the whole 'in conference battle' type thing) I don't get it.. from what I can gather the worst fans in the SEC are 1. LSU 2. Auburn (note, there is a huge gap between 1 and 2 for a reason) They aren't all that bad, but they aren't all that reality based either. Perhaps the worst case of 'short man/little sibling' syndrome in college football. More than anything, they're really obnoxious. 3. Georgia, but to be fair.. there is a HUGE difference between people who went to Georgia and the regular 'fans' of the team.. perhaps more so than any other team in the country. I'm quite fond of UGa grads, it's those who just grew up in 'Dawg nation' who can be a bit much. That's it.. the rest really aren't that bad at all. Everyone has their 'peaches' but by and large, they're all pretty good while playing with each other. Ole Miss still has a very... ummm negative legacy that despite the best efforts of everyone still exists.. I don't really have an answer for them other than breeding it out...but even then, those are now the small minority of their fans. Tide fans have a boner for ND, but that's just a thing. If I wear a UGa hat, or North Carolina hat..no one says anything. My ND gear has drawn at least one comment a day, every single day, for 12 years.. It's not always ugly, but it's not friendly. My game day experiences in Tuscaloosa have been wonderful. I'd recommend it to anyone as a 'must stop' on your college tour.
Corey, we see Georgia, LSU, and Tennessee hats all of the time. Notre Dame hats are rare. That's why you get comments and not the others. When I lived in Maryland, I didn't see many Alabama hats and when I did, I made sure I said something to the guy like "Roll Tide". But that still doesn't explain the unrealistic predictions for the game. This should be a great, close, hard fought, low scoring game. The only thing that would change that would be if one of the teams turned the ball over several times. That could make this one lopsided.
Sid, It is always a concern, but I think if Alabama or Notre Dame was playing a team like Oregon for instance, if they turned the ball over several times it may not hurt them like it would hurt us, because they score so quickly. In several of our wins this year, we capitalized on turnovers early and with our defense we ended up with a lopsided victory. When we lost to A&M earlier, they jumped out to an early lead but we came back to within a touchdown and on one drive we fumbled on their 10 yard line and threw an interception on another. I just have a feeling that scoring is going to be low, and it will be really a close game if both teams play well, however if one team commits a turnover or two, coming from behind will be really tough.