Ridder's biggest flaw was his inability to look off defenders. He would lock on to a receiver and the D line was watching his eyes and knocked down a number of passes. As to the first Ga.-Al. game the Tide ran an uptempo offense that literally ran Jordan Davis into the ground. I doubt we'll see him nearly as much in the rematch.
I think Georgia blitzes Alabama more. If Bryce Young gets time he is hard to stop. Alabama wont be able to run on Georgia like they did on Cincy. Alabama's defense has played well in the last.2 games and they will have to be in top form against Georgia.
Kirby Smart said after the Florida game that recruiting talent is a bigger factor than coaching. At least for the top 2 teams, that claim seems to have some validity although the truth is you probably need elite talent and a high quality coaching staff. 2021 College Football Team Talent Composite
No doubt it's a combination. Saban is clearly the best football coach in the Modern Era. It helps that he has a ton of talent for sure. The rest of us who have good teams have to rely more on player evaluation, fit and development. The elite still have to do something with the 4 and 5 stars that they have but they are starting at another level. College Football is sort of like MLB before they implemented the draft, the rich teams got all the talent. No surprise that the Yankees were the dominant team, they could afford to sign the best players and they had the money to have a top minor league system as well. For example the Irish, we are going to have our best class in a long time but it pales in comparison to what Alabama, Georgia sign every year. It's up to those of us whose programs are good, attractive, etc to step up to the plate and make the case why more of those highly ranked players should consider other options than just the top SEC teams and Ohio State. I think that USC has the most potential to do that now that they have Lincoln Riley, there is a ton of talent in So.Cal that Pete Carroll used to just own and built those USC powerhouses. That can happen again. Michigan used to be a big time power house in recruiting back in the 80's and 90's. Lou Holtz had an embarrassment of riches in his 87-93 teams. Penn State in the Paterno years also had a ton of talent. Times change and the population shifts to the South and West have changed that though.
I submit if you can get VERY good talent and add an elite QB, you can win it all. If you have elite talent everywhere, and a good to very good QB you can also do it with the right system. Anyone else is going to have to get very lucky.
Scott, the only thing I would add to your formulas above is that in each case you have to get lucky at least twice a season to win it all.
Once again, it depends on which Alabama team shows up. Our inconsistency has been a problem all season. We have exceeded my expectations but if the good Bama shows up I will be tickled. Protect Young and we can be dangerous.
At this point... you gotta think Kirby and his kids are looking over their shoulders for "oh no... not again!"
Yeah, Saban doesn't worry about what the other team does. The " process " says control what you can, don't worry about the rest.
Funny, the North Dakota State coach who just won the FCS championship mentioned that they had a process that the players and coaches understand and buy into that allows them to be so successful.
Starting to look like a low scoring defensive game. Tide not able to run the ball to slow down the Georgia defense and Georgia offense has been non existence so far