Congrats kp and all Tide fans everywhere. What a convincing win! MSU was not a bad team, but Bama dominated and appeared to be much improved from earlier in the season; always a good sign for a young team...
Alabama was the one team I would not have wanted to play and they proved it today. A dominating performance by the Tide that bodes well as they move into next season....Congrats kp...
This was one of only 2 or 3 complete games we played this year. It was kind of wierd, but we are young so I am optimistic about next year. 8)
in my humble opinion, Alabama is the best team in the SEC and it isn't even close. They are heads and tails better than everyone else. For whatever reason, they just zone out. Be it interference by Saban, be it a lack of quality leadership.. be it some character issues from the younger kids, whatever... it's there. However, when they show up to play they are one of the 2 best teams in the country... perhaps the best. It's a shame they couldn't keep the chemistry together this year.
Corey, You're description jives with my feelings about this team. I think the secret this year was in the offensive line. When they protect the qb and just open a few holes for our RB's, then Alabama is very, very good. If our OL is off, we are very, very vulnerable. Our defense is good, yesterday they were very good and hopefully next year back to great.
I think Auburn's problem is no defense. The spread is too dependent on one person. It should be interesting though.
Auburn has THE most significant player on defense in Fairly. Auburn gets just enough stops and wins 35-31.
It was a helluva win, but I agree with Corey--there was an inconsistency there this year. Part of it could have been all the new starters on D, and like so many have said, repeating is really tough. Just a guess, but I'd figure M. Ingram, J. Jones and M. Dareus to go pro. I think D. Hightower is a toss up. I think Oregon has to have a big game throwing the ball to beat Auburn. The Auburn secondary has shown some weakness and I think the Ducks need to take advantage of that. RTR
two things I think should be of concern for Auburn. -Oregon is the fastest team in the country and it's not close. They aren't 2 or 3 guys fast, they are 22 fast. They will run you sideline to sideline. You penetrate north/south and they run underneath you between the tackles. You come up the guy, and they go around. They have very similar TEs. Auburn uses theirs as a surprise in the flat or behind coverage. Oregon uses theirs as a bonafide deep threat and he makes some incredible catches. For Oregon, they are patient.. they keep the tempo up and they don't stop. They wanna wear you down and when you tire, they toss you into the wood chipper. -On defense for Oregon, it's a schematic thing. They have to stop Newton (which no one has done aside from Alabama for a half).. That may be too tall of a challenge. What's unique about Oregon defensively is that they have play makers in the secondary. You may torch them all day long, but if you throw 2 INTs, you don't just lose possession. Those SOBs are going to try to score. It's like Australian rules football breaking out. If Newton makes 1 or 2 bad throws, Oregon won't just get the ball, they will flip the field. -Oregon has shown the ability to throw the ball and their Super Honky WRs tend to make clutch catch after clutch catch. If Oregon's QB throws for 60% or better, get ready to hear a lot of foghorn. -The big concern for Oregon is Newton. No one has been able to keep him under wraps for long. I've yet to see a team dare him to throw the ball for 4 quarters. Even in his big passing games, they've had several magic moments of DBs falling down or like the Alabama game.. a safety not catching a ball that was thrown to him AND giving up on the play so the Auburn WR goes for the score. The CBS talking heads have declared that they don't play defense in the Pac10. We'll see. As for Alabama.. I hate it for them and their fans. They might be the best team in the country.
If we had a playoff format Alabama would have to be one of the odds favorites with their current play...