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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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BamaInHoustonRTR said:
Jumping a talented TCU squad who has been ranked higher all year because Ohio State is a media darling beats that's out... And 21-0.
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Tcu was jumped because they were the second best team in their own league, according to their initial bylaws and the committee. Tcu was all the talk in the media but frankly they were a side show after the results in the final weekend. In the end it was osu vs Baylor and that is a very winnable battle in resumes.

It's a brand new world and the days of rigid, premature polls are gone. Sparty sure could have used this system last year as they would have broken the wide eyed fsu frosh qb (whereas auburn would have been a good game )
 
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jwinslow said:
Tcu was jumped because they were the second best team in their own league, according to their initial bylaws and the committee. Tcu was all the talk in the media but frankly they were a side show after the results in the final weekend. In the end it was osu vs Baylor and that is a very winnable battle in resumes.

It's a brand new world and the days of rigid, premature polls are gone. Sparty sure could have used this system last year as they would have broken the wide eyed fsu frosh qb (whereas auburn would have been a good game )
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To paraphrase a BPer:

Why should the committee decide who the champion is when your own conference can't even determine it?
 
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Fungo Squiggly said:
I like this format - I'll play!

Coaching: Push
Running game: Push
Passing game: ALA -- (TBD, I guess?)
OL: Push
DL: Push
Secondary: Push
LB: ALA
Kicking game: Push
Run defense: ALA
Pass defense: Push
QB: Alabama -- (TBD, I guess?)
Receivers: Push (with a big nod to Cooper as being way better than anyone OSU has seen)
Strength of schedule: Alabama

I also didn't come away from the Wisconsin game feeling as good about the offense as others -- too much reliance on big plays for my taste. I don't see Smith winning those jump balls against better corners -- I can't think of many other 50/50 balls that he has won, so I'm counting it as a fluke.
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I like it too:

Coaching: Push
Running: Bama
Passing: TBD
OL: OSU
DL: Push
Secondary: OSU
LB: Bama
Kicking: Push
Run D: Bama
Pass D: OSU
QB: ?????????
Receivers: Bama (cuz Cooper)
SOS: Bama

Fungo, bama loves to give up big plays and long passes on 50/50 balls. Its what they do.
 
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BamaInHoustonRTR said:
Agreed. I like these though because its a good indicator of how well your defense is playing against a backs production. A good run defense will hold most of the backs its play below their seasonal avg.
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Yep, Personally, I think Alabama will be able to move the ball and score, as Michigan State did - I see Sparty as the closest in style to Alabama's offense that we have played. For me, the question is whether Ohio State can move the ball and score on Alabama's defense.
 
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BamaInHoustonRTR said:
Agreed. I like these though because its a good indicator of how well your defense is playing against a backs production. A good run defense will hold most of the backs its play below their seasonal avg.
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I don't think there was any confusion about OSU's average run defense, which ranks 45th in the country, and a decent chunk of that is the pretty good pass rushing unit on passing downs. Vonn Bell is hit or miss and safety Tyvis Powell is inconsistent against the run. The MLB position is manned by a talented but young true freshman in Raekwon McMillan and a flawed veteran in Curtis Grant. Alongside them are an undersized speed merchant in Darron Lee and a big, decent LB in Perry. No one is going to mistake this run defense for many of those the buckeyes have deployed.

The other problem is that OSU has 3 very disruptive, attacking DL in Bosa, Bennett & Washington. They do not always stay disciplined and maintain their assignments, which leaves the underwhelming run defenders behind them overmatched in terms of numbers. That was the biggest difference in Wisconsin. Not only was it the first healthy game from Rashad Frazier in ages, but the whole DL played disciplined football and it allowed the guys behind them to clean up nicely.

In typical media fashion, because they are good to great on offense, they are adored by those who can't play the game themselves. The media hated the ugly, physical Tressel teams that were the complete opposite of this squad. And no, I'm not referring to 06 or 07, which were both worshipped for large portions of the season despite charmin soft defenses (07 would have been smashed by half of JT's squads and I like 02, 03, 05's chances against 06 and the bowl versions of 04, 08, 10 would've been interesting).
 
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jwinslow said:
But in typical media fashion, because they are good to great on offense, they are adored by those who can't play the game themselves. The media hated the ugly, physical Tressel teams that were the complete opposite of this squad.
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True.

And sort of to the point on media... (and not directed at you but others) If you are watching ESPN and getting mad at what they are saying then you are playing into their hands. They have a sort of formula they follow. They will bring up the cliché's because they know it aggravates you. They have guys on their like Finebaum etc who don't believe half of the dumb shit they say, they just say it because that's what they are hired to do. One guy is suppose to argue for one side, the other guy is suppose to argue for the other side. Its just like cable news. If you watch Cnn, Fox, or msnbc you are getting the same fake news and repackaged propaganda just from a slightly different slant. The good thing about football is we are able to actually watch the games and get real information to compare to what the talking heads are saying. My advice, avoid reading too much media between now and then. Its going to be rehashed bs anyways.
 
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BamaInHoustonRTR said:
True.

And sort of to the point on media... (and not directed at you but others) If you are watching ESPN and getting mad at what they are saying then you are playing into their hands.
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Agreed, though Tatgate was very helpful to push us from 'aware but addicted' to 'banning ESPN outside of game broadcasts."
They have a sort of formula they follow. They will bring up the cliché's because they know it aggravates you. They have guys on their like Finebaum etc who don't believe half of the dumb [Mark May] they say, they just say it because that's what they are hired to do. One guy is suppose to argue for one side, the other guy is suppose to argue for the other side. Its just like cable news. If you watch Cnn, Fox, or msnbc you are getting the same fake news and repackaged propaganda just from a slightly different slant. The good thing about football is we are able to actually watch the games and get real information to compare to what the talking heads are saying. My advice, avoid reading too much media between now and then. Its going to be rehashed bs anyways.
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How will I know who is "now" though? :huh:
 
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cincibuck said:
Neither did the North. Was lucky in my Army tours to get three staff rides; one through Gettysburg, one through Fredericksburg/Wilderness and one through Shiloh. Scary to see how close the sides were, packed together, and facing cannons and accurate rifles.
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The reason for my nic is my dad was a Civil War buff/nut/expert. So informed about the subject he gave Civil War lectures after he built from scratch a Civil War Map w/lites that lit up while he was talking about a particular battle site. My mom donated most of his Civil War collection ie books, etc. to a local Civil War Society.

This is my roundabout way of saying I'm quite familiar w/the why's and wherefore's regarding the history of the Civil War. Coincidentally, my dad also did a background report/essay concerning the history of the CSS Alabama. Something about ships fascinated him as he was also intrigued by the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack.

I digress as we now return you to the battle of Ohio and Alabama.

btw, I noticed at least 3 maybe 4 of this sites new Alabama posters joined on Dec. 7. Please feel free to make up your own "sneak attack" joke.

carry on
 
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BamaInHoustonRTR said:
You don't want to go down that road. Its not an intelligent way of dismissing stats because all stats have them. The runs happened so they are included, and are very significant to what the defense gave up. There was a back that had a very high ypc but he only had a few carries against you guys. Those are the type that can be more intelligently viewed as outliers, which is why I didn't include his #'s.
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True, but OSU faced an even better runner in Gordon along with a better OL just a few weeks later, and they learned their lesson from the Indiana game. The 90-yarder Coleman had was due to the defense not holding containment on the outside...that problem was virtually eliminated against Wisconsin. Good defense do that--learn from their mistakes and then adjust accordingly.
 
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