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Game Thread 2015 Sugar Bowl: (1) Alabama vs. (4) Ohio State, Jan 1st @ 8:30p ET, ESPN (civilized thread)

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tidefan1 said:
Not sure what you are referring to?
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ncb_g_clinton_b1_300x300.jpg
 
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Our punter's weird running punt concerns me. Every time he does that Aussie rules thing it looks awful close to being blocked. Understand that was what he grew up with but it seems strange on an American football field.
 
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I see three major weaknesses for OSU:

Cardale's mobility - This is a well known achilles heel of Alabama but I'm not sure if it will play out that way given the QB injuries. He is a monster in terms of strength and has surprising mobility but his feet and confidence are just okay. He's typically better than the nervous runs on display in the CCG but he's a big step down from Barrett (who was the same versus Braxton). The other concern is how well he will operate the option. Braxton is a gamebreaker but was not great at running the option. Barrett is a good, physical runner but it is his smarts and vision that elevate him into the playmaker he is. We do not have much to go on with Jones, as they limited the amount of option plays and his previous PT was in blowouts.

Defensive discipline - OSU has 2 top-15 picks in Bosa and Bennett with another very athletic guy in Washington (though no true nose tackle). These guys are phenomenal at getting upfield but opposing lines can use that against them and lead to an even worse situation behind them against an already average interior run defense at LB & S. Rashad Frazier has been injured for most of the year but had a huge game last week. If he can keep that up that transforms this defense. It would be ironic if the defensive line became more effective by losing Noah Spence, another first round talent, who was supremely gifted but was the least stout against the run.

Ball security - Jalin is well known for this issue on punt returns. Thomas does a great job fighting through traffic but tends to leave the ball out there. Elliott has not had too much trouble here but has put the ball on the turf on the sideline about 3-4 times (I'm not sure that any of them counted as actual fumbles since it coincided with going out of bounds). Cardale is a young QB who will not be comfortable in the pocket when Smart deploys confusing coverages and forces coverage sacks or pressure.
 
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MoCoBuck said:
Our punter's weird running punt concerns me. Every time he does that Aussie rules thing it looks awful close to being blocked. Understand that was what he grew up with but it seems strange on an American football field.
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It lets the gunners get downfield and it lets him punt it whenever he wants from a half step. Gone are the days of the painfully long punting technique where you can see the block coming 2-3 seconds earlier but the punter takes their sweet time anyway and gets blocked.
 
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MoCoBuck said:
Our punter's weird running punt concerns me. Every time he does that Aussie rules thing it looks awful close to being blocked. Understand that was what he grew up with but it seems strange on an American football field.
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His first punt was 72 yards and it was using that technique. I mentioned to the Wisconsin fan sitting next to me that camping out 40 yards downfield was a bad idea for their punt returner. Result? About 55 yards in the air with a nearly 20 yard bounce and roll. Next time he punted conventionally and boom; again way over the punt returners head. We're are very lucky to have the punter we have now particularly given what we had before this.
 
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BuckeyeNation27 said:
Reading through the thread from page 40....I'm loving the condescending way our visiting friends act like we don't take football seriously because we don't live in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, or Florida.

"You guys don't understand....we LOVE college football down here."
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3 of the top 4 markets for the College Playoff show were Ohio. Columbus, Cleveland, and Dayton. Tuscalosa was the other market.
 
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