**** Alabama Crimson Tide Thread ****

[TedSlimmJr]

talk about a WTF year for you guys. that much talent for that to happen? crazy talk.

anyways - not why i'm here. slimm - what did i tell you about that kid dix? #7 recruit in the ENTIRE country now? and you got the back too? saban shows up for one damn practice and hart switches his mind (from UF by the way - he had changed his mind about michigan). typical. those two kids took that team to a state championship - which they would've won had fog not dropped in at halftime and freak out our entire team. remember the names dix and hart - they will be HUGE for you guys in the next few years.

so ... what happened to you guys this year? would love some knowledgeable bama fans' takes.

What happened was we lost 9 starters, 3 All-Americans, and 6 NFL draft picks off the defense... we only returned 2 starters on the defensive side of the ball (Mark Barron and Marcell Dareus).

It was a season of blown coverages in the secondary due to inexperience and kids getting their feet wet in the SEC.

Bama's season really boiled down to 3 halves of football where the defense imploded... other than that they played extremely well.

1st half vs. South Carolina - allowed 160 yards, 21 points, and 3 TD's on South Carolina's first 3 offensive possessions.

2nd half vs. LSU - allowed 334 yards, 21 points, and 7 plays of 15+ yards.

2nd half vs. Auburn - allowed 242 yards, 21 points, and TD drives of 69, 75, and 67 yards.


Bama's defense allowed opponents to convert 3rd and LONG at an alarming rate due to blown coverages... it was just inexperience and kids not being familiar with Saban's complex system yet.

The talent is there, and several of the new starters played EXTREMELY well, like Robert Lester, who finished 2nd in the entire country with 8 interceptions... Courtney Upshaw played like a 1st round pick. C.J. Mosely and Nico Johnson both played extremely well (just ask John Brantley)...

The pass rush just wasn't there this year like it had been for the previous 2 years, due to having all new starters up front.

The talent is there, and even more is being loaded up.... it's just a matter of getting all the bugs worked out and getting some experience in critical spots, so we can avoid the breakdowns that plagued the defense in 3 halves of football in key games.

When you lose that much talent, and that much experience off of one of the best defenses that college football has seen in many years, you're going experience a setback, and go through periods of inconsistency like Bama did in 2010.

A lot of the kids were just injured and worn down by the end of the season too from playing such a brutal schedule... but you saw what happened to Michigan St. after they had a chance to rest up.

[COphinphan89]

2010 Bama was essentially 2007 UF except they actually beat the Big 11 team they faced from Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. Defending champs with a high-powered offense featuring a Heisman winner (though Tebow hadn't won his yet) that could score a lot of points, but an inexperienced defense that gave up a lot of yards and points too which cost them a few games.

If you remember, that '06 defense carried UF most of the way to the title. Most of those games were nail-biters and the offense struggled most of the way up until the SECCG against Arkansas where they broke out and put up 38 and the OSU game where they put up 41. The next year, Tebow took over and the offense took off, but the defense was putrid. Good players like Moss, Nelson, RayMac, Lewis, Smith, and Cohen were gone and awful players like Kyle Jackson, Avery Atkins, Wondy Pierre-Louis, and Jacques Rickerson were starting. Yes guys like Dunlap, Spikes, Wright, and Haden were on that team, but they were all very inexperienced.

That unit gave up 42 points and 188 rushing yards for Knowshon Moreno in a loss to UGA, 41 to Michigan, and gave LSU all those 4th down conversions in that game we lost in the last minute in BR. Hell I think it was either WKU or Troy that ended up scoring 31 points even though they lost big. I still remember a very average Auburn team coming into The Swamp and running quick slants and short out routes all night long completely uncontested and beating us by a FG at the end of the game.

But our '06 and '07 recruiting classes were simply outstanding. The very next year, all that talent on the defensive side of the ball had matured, and with the additions of speed-demons like Demps and Rainey, that team was suddenly a machine and they won it all again. And that is why Alabama is my personal favorite to take the SEC in 2011 and possibly the Sears Trophy again. They've recruited very well the last few years and they will be very deep.

It really is a testament to how good our recruiting was under Meyer when you look at all the talent on that '08 roster. Numerous NFL players, several 1st round picks, and two Heisman winners in Newton and Tebow, even though one of them didn't quite work out here.

[COphinphan89]

Got a question for you Namor or Ted. Is AJ McCarron slated to start next season or is he competing with anyone?

[TedSlimmJr]

A.J. will compete with Phillip Sims for the starting job... the question is how the loser of that battle handles himself this spring. They could both start in a lot of places, and if the one who loses out transfers, it's going leave Bama with a true freshman or a walk-on as the backup.

[TedSlimmJr]

Namor I think you'll find this very interesting...

Albert Means Speaks Out...


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[Namor]

Cool..Nothing earth shattering that I hadn't heard before.
That's what bothers me about the Cam situation...Means did not know his coach was
shopping him,yet by NCAA rules,he was declared inelgible.
Now,don't get me wrong...Bama was wrong in trying to pay for Means...but so was Tenn,SC,
Clemson and a few other ACC schools.Roy Kramer long ****** us.
This is what makes the SEC look bad,Mike Slive,our commish,cut a deal,to keep Cam playing.
If Auburn isn't in the title hunt,Cam is ruled inelgible.

[TedSlimmJr]

Boosters like Logan Young are a cancer to college football, and Bama deserved what we got if it was indeed true what happened..

Albert's "I didn't know" defense seemed to be good as far as the NCAA was concerned, but it was the FBI getting involved and the fact that the payments came from an Alabama booster that caused the program to get hammered.

Remember how we used to talk about how incredibly similar Cam Newton's case was to the Albert Means scandal?

Lynn Lang was the coach and father figure for Albert Means, and he's the one who took the $160,000 according to the FBI... Cecil Newton is Lynn Lang.

Except Cecil already admitted to seeking money from Mississippi St. for his son....

Apparently, the FBI just hasn't nailed down the source of the money, and who Auburn's Logan Young is yet. They probably know who it is, they just can't prove it yet, they're still investigating the money trail.

Like I've always said, the right person just hasn't spoken up yet... it'll be interesting to see who ends up being the Roy Kramer against Auburn.

[Namor]

Boosters like Logan Young are a cancer to college football, and Bama deserved what we got if it was indeed true what happened..

Albert's "I didn't know" defense seemed to be good as far as the NCAA was concerned, but it was the FBI getting involved and the fact that the payments came from an Alabama booster that caused the program to get hammered.

Remember how we used to talk about how incredibly similar Cam Newton's case was to the Albert Means scandal?

Lynn Lang was the coach and father figure for Albert Means, and he's the one who took the $160,000 according to the FBI... Cecil Newton is Lynn Lang.

Except Cecil already admitted to seeking money from Mississippi St. for his son....

Apparently, the FBI just hasn't nailed down the source of the money, and who Auburn's Logan Young is yet. They probably know who it is, they just can't prove it yet, they're still investigating the money trail.

Like I've always said, the right person just hasn't spoken up yet... it'll be interesting to see who ends up being the Roy Kramer against Auburn.

I'm thinking once the McGregor/Gilly Bingo trial gets underway...Then whats on the FBI tapes will come out.
Thats when the dominos will start to fall.

[TedSlimmJr]

Breaking Down Bama's WR's for 2011...


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


A lot of talent.. a lot of speed.. and a lot of inexperience beyond Maze and Hanks.

[TedSlimmJr]

Finally some open date relief in Bama's schedule...


To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.