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

[Jaxbuck]

Nervous Bama fan here. This is how I see it.

Our OL: Not as good as getting a push as in year's past, but they play smart and are technically sound.

Our DL: Not the typical bama unit. Saban got tired of being burned by the spread. Some of the younger members of the DL have much more speed than size. These speedsters sit the bench inside the red zone. It is very tough to run on the big boys inside the 20.

Our secondary: Very susceptible if there is more than one speedster to cover. They also have trouble covering for a while, so a lot of big plays come from a scrambling qb's pass.

Our RB's: Yeldon is as good as any, but can fumble in bad spots. Henry is good late in the game as a power Rb.

Other stuff: jalston fowler is one of the best fullbacks in college football.

I'm worried because Saban doesn't have any tape on cardale. He seems to throw the ball well. I also understand you guys have an excellent DL. The best way to stop cooper is to get to sims. That's what Arkansas did. LSU didn't really do that, but Cooper had four drops in that game. Most of us "normal" Bama fans are pretty worried about this one.

That's everything I know. I haven't seen OSU play all year. Good luck!

Not sure I'd be "worried" as a Bama fan but I think it will be a good game.

One of the silver linings to being down to uur 3rd QB is the fact they don't really have any tape on him I guess. Good point!

 

[Gcashwell]

Not sure I'd be "worried" as a Bama fan but I think it will be a good game.

One of the silver linings to being down to uur 3rd QB is the fact they don't really have any tape on him I guess. Good point!

Bama struggled with Dobbs (Tennessee) for that very reason.

Saban and Smart like to have their D setup "perfectly"

 

[BuckeyeFan 52]

H

Nervous Bama fan here. This is how I see it.

Our OL: Not as good as getting a push as in year's past, but they play smart and are technically sound.

Our DL: Not the typical bama unit. Saban got tired of being burned by the spread. Some of the younger members of the DL have much more speed than size. These speedsters sit the bench inside the red zone. It is very tough to run on the big boys inside the 20.

Our secondary: Very susceptible if there is more than one speedster to cover. They also have trouble covering for a while, so a lot of big plays come from a scrambling qb's pass.

Our RB's: Yeldon is as good as any, but can fumble in bad spots. Henry is good late in the game as a power Rb.

Other stuff: jalston fowler is one of the best fullbacks in college football.

I'm worried because Saban doesn't have any tape on cardale. He seems to throw the ball well. I also understand you guys have an excellent DL. The best way to stop cooper is to get to sims. That's what Arkansas did. LSU didn't really do that, but Cooper had four drops in that game. Most of us "normal" Bama fans are pretty worried about this one.

That's everything I know. I haven't seen OSU play all year. Good luck!

Fowler is one of the best college FB's I've seen in some time, even though you don't see many in the game anymore. You're punter, JK, is also one of the best I've ever seen, that kid can completely flip the field from almost anywhere, huge leg.

Thanks for the insight, many of us OSU fans are concerned but excited as well. I think it will be a very good game, a ton of talent on the field. I hope everyone stays healthy and may the best team win!

 

[Bamu]

Yep, I think it's gonna be a great game!

It's not to often that you get to see two truly talented teams and two master coaches go head to head.

Roll Tide

 

[shiloh]

At the same time, Roger Staubach is from Cincinnati... Just sayin'...

But, as you probably know, when GB beat Dallas, Dandy Don Meredith was the Cowboys quarterback.

 

[shiloh]

That wasn't the play. The play was on 3rd and 6 with just under two minutes left in regulation. Gamble was blatantly held, then caught the ball in bounds. The refs didn't call the hold, and ruled the catch incomplete. They called Gamble out on the catch.

If the refs had made EITHER call, then the Buckeyes would have had 1st and 10 with roughly 1:45 on the clock, and the Canes with only one timeout...

The Buckeyes should have won that game in regulation. It was only terrible officiating that even let that game get to OT in the first place.

Indeed, as this is what Miami fans never seem to mention about the game. Also, Gamble was held not once, but twice on the same play and still made the catch. What I could never understand is why Miami didn't try to score a td after their long punt return. They played it safe and went for the field goal to tie and lost in o/t. Poetic justice!

 

[shiloh]

Re: Nick Saban born in WV ... made this post at HP a couple years ago:

"You're welcome Florida, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan, Notre Dame etc.

ie

Who put MI on the map late '60s ~ Bo Schembechler, Barberton, OH asst. coach for Woody Hayes at Ohio

State. Gary Moeller ~ born Lima, OH

Urban Meyer ~ born Astabula, OH

Bob Stoops ~ born Youngstown, OH Youngstown Cardinal Mooney HS

Bo Pelini ~ born Youngstown, OH Youngstown Cardinal Mooney HS

Les Miles ~ born Elyria, OH

Nick Saban ~ WV ~ Kent State grad

Lou Holtz ~ WV ~ grew up East Liverpool, OH ~ Kent State grad

Ara Parseghian ~ born Akron, OH

etc. etc. etc.

hmm, I'm seeing a pattern here ie if you want to win a National Championship hire someone born in Ohio or

has an Ohio connection, eh

btw, MI's Heisman Trophy winners: Desmond Howard/Charles Woodson both born in Ohio.

>

So let's recap, shall we:

If Michigan wants to win football games ~ (((hire someone from Ohio ...)))"

But not Brady Hoke lol as occasionally [Mark May] happens !!!

 

[Jaxbuck]

Indeed, as this is what Miami fans never seem to mention about the game. Also, Gamble was held not once, but twice on the same play and still made the catch. What I could never understand is why Miami didn't try to score a td after their long punt return. They played it safe and went for the field goal to tie and lost in o/t. Poetic justice!

They did try. Dorsey was driven into the ground by our LB Wilhelm (a play that almost certainly would have drawn a flag these days) and had to leave the game. With the backup QB in there they ended up kicking a long FG (barely).


EDIT

Ooops my bad I was thinking of OT

Simon Frasier sacked him in the 4th quarter and almost took them out of FG range.

 

[bukIpower]

Nervous Bama fan here. This is how I see it.

Our OL: Not as good as getting a push as in year's past, but they play smart and are technically sound.

Our DL: Not the typical bama unit. Saban got tired of being burned by the spread. Some of the younger members of the DL have much more speed than size. These speedsters sit the bench inside the red zone. It is very tough to run on the big boys inside the 20.

Our secondary: Very susceptible if there is more than one speedster to cover. They also have trouble covering for a while, so a lot of big plays come from a scrambling qb's pass.

Our RB's: Yeldon is as good as any, but can fumble in bad spots. Henry is good late in the game as a power Rb.

Other stuff: jalston fowler is one of the best fullbacks in college football.

I'm worried because Saban doesn't have any tape on cardale. He seems to throw the ball well. I also understand you guys have an excellent DL. The best way to stop cooper is to get to sims. That's what Arkansas did. LSU didn't really do that, but Cooper had four drops in that game. Most of us "normal" Bama fans are pretty worried about this one.

That's everything I know. I haven't seen OSU play all year. Good luck!

I agree with all of this. Having watched bama this year a bit its easy to see they aren't quite what they were up front and their back 7 on defense has some issues. Like osu they aren't perfect and like its been said it should make for a interesting game.

Finally, someone who isn't pushing the whole "this is big boy football and we have every advantage possible" angle

 

[Gcashwell]

How much do you guys think you have improved since the Michigan state game?

 

[Yertle]

More than you guys have since your LSU game. LSU was on the ropes against Wisky and only managed to squeak that out once Gordon got hurt. The transitive property is not in Bama's favor. But the transitive property doesn't always apply to football...

 

[Gcashwell]

More than you guys have since your LSU game. LSU was on the ropes against Wisky and only managed to squeak that out once Gordon got hurt. The transitive property is not in Bama's favor. But the transitive property doesn't always apply to football...

It definitely doesn't. LSU somehow became a totally different team several times this year. I actually think bama played well in that game.

The way I see it, there is no commonality between the schedules to make any sort of assessment of how these teams might look against each other.

 

[AirForceBuck15]

More than you guys have since your LSU game. LSU was on the ropes against Wisky and only managed to squeak that out once Gordon got hurt. The transitive property is not in Bama's favor. But the transitive property doesn't always apply to football...

= who (Mark May)ing knows if we improved or not since that game. We should've blown MSU out but had early turnovers. Besides those early turnovers we played outstanding. Then we played like (mark May) against lower level BIG teams (like the SEC east champ Indiana). Any given Saturday....

 

[Gcashwell]

Just to clarify, I know teams pressure Amari with double coverage. I meant that I've never witnessed a full game plan designed to shut Cooper down with double coverage ala ours against Melvin Gordon.

Regardless, I suppose I have time to go back and watch film on him while waiting for January to get here. I made it a point to catch every Bama game this year, but I didn't pay extremely close attention to what was being done to stop Amari.

If your game plan is to straight double cover Cooper, bama will either run all over you, or throw to jones, white, or (now) Stewart. It's just not a smart game plan. Meyer is too smart of a coach to do that. There are several other strategies that could work better. I think Arkansas and Ole Miss did the best against us. We didn't put points on LSU because Sims and Cooper were off. But, both Arkansas and ole miss had great defensive schemes.

 

[Gcashwell]

Anyone else think that Paul Finebaum looks like a Nazi SS officer? Along with that, he went out of his way tonight to pimp the SEC and slam the B1G tonight with is Sugar Bowl pick, and said, "Bama will not only win, but win big".

Fuck his scrawny skeletor SEC-homer ass...

FWIW he has been high on OSU for a while. He doesn't trust the 3rd string qb. He has said things like, "Alabama losing to a 3rd string qb would be extremely damaging to their program.

Think about that. You guys are playing with house money. If you get beat 35-0, you have a great excuse. If you win, you took down bama with an inexperienced sub. This type of thing makes bama fans very nervous.

OSU's potential strengths play very well to bama's weaknesses, but cardale is definitely a wildcard.

Saban will be throwing extremely exotic and complex looks at him, but he also is unable to adequately prepare for him, and we all know how Saban likes to prepare.