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

[jwinslow]

All three,have better offenses than OSU, so I think we are good.

Which still doesn't really answer the question, fortunately others have. As for your comment:

The aggies infrequently field 1/3 of a football team. I don't find them to be a very relevant comparison.

The cowbells are a good football team with a somewhat similar scheme (though I'd argue it resembles Braxton's offense more than Cardale's).. I struggle to judge what kind of defense they have, given the 34 pts & 500 yds by UAB, 29 by a suspect LSU offense, 31 by aTm, 31 by UK.

Auburn has absolutely no defense. They gave up 234 pts over their final 6 games and never less than 31.



So while there are some things to look for offensively, the ability to control the tone of the game is greatly reduced when the defense is lacking.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Well hopefully he is having to make a lot of tackles like that during the game.

Yeah, I'd suppose so. lol

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Ohio State may have the better offense but do you think those stats mean anything? Have you ever taken a stats course? You cant take offensive production from an entirely different league of defenses and compare them to a different population. Stats don't compare like that.

JFC. You really wanna compare defenses? Wisconsin put up 24 points on LSU's defense, a defense that held you to 13 points in regulation. That same Wisconsin team not only failed to score on us, they never even reached the fucking red zone. So, I'd say our defense can be really good...

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

 

[SECorBust]

Looked pretty good behind a seasoned and hungry O-Line against a top 10 national defense in the Big Ten championship while winning the MVP in his first college start ever.

Yea, y'all beat them so bad it convinced me they were not a top defense fo sho. He did well given his limited role. It will be interesting to see how much more of the offense he picks up in bowl practice.

 

[BUCKDUBBS007]

I don't see it that way either. He throws a nice fade. He's pretty good with the short routes. First thing I did after finding out we were to play OSU was look and see if one of the other two QBs would be healthy enough to start for this game. Jones by himself will not beat Bama IMO. For Bama the game hinges on shutting down the run game or making OSU predictable. I have no clue what OSU has to do to win. Play very well up front on both sides and get some breaks?

I think it will come down to the play of the lines, special teams, and maintaining a superior mental focus to not commit penalties.

 

[beau]

Yes your defense should have it Eze all day.

My opinion:
Coaching: Push
Running game: Push
Passing game: ALA
OL: Advantage OSU
DL: Advantage ALA
Secondary: OSU
LB: ALA
Kicking game: Push
Run defense: Push
Pass defense: OSU
QB: Alabama
Receivers: Alabama
Strength of schedule: Alabama
Prediction: Alabama 27 Ohio State 23

 

[Jaxbuck]

Ohio State may have the better offense but do you think those stats mean anything? Have you ever taken a stats course? You cant take offensive production from an entirely different league of defenses and compare them to a different population. Stats don't compare like that.

actually if you have some way you feel normalizes the data, you can.

football outsiders



as an example

 

[BUCKDUBBS007]

it convinced me they were not a top defense fo sho.

Yet they are still ranked #12. Hmmm.

 

[jwinslow]

Who will Bama have on Devin Smith when he lines up in the slot? Devin lined up on a nickelback or safety is a key facet of the OSU passing attack. His speed is excellent, his leaping ability is pretty good and his big play ability is well established. The knock on him before this season was his consistency and effort on the little plays (open passes on 3rd down), but he has elevated his game a lot here (in part because of Urban's motivation technique by demoting him from the starting lineup). Do you ever have a starting corner shadow the other team's best WR?

Would you put Landon Collins on him? That kid is a phenomenal talent but that would not be very fair to him.

 

[BamaInHoustonRTR]

Who will Bama have on Devin Smith when he lines up in the slot?

Im not positive and it may vary depending on the defense but one guy it could possibly be is Geno Smith.

 

[SECorBust]

Yet they are still ranked #12. Hmmm.

Based on yards and shit. I don't know that much about the big 10 but one side looks like total shit to me.

 

[SECorBust]

Based on yards and [Mark May]. I don't know that much about the big 10 but one side looks like total [Mark May] to me.

WTF how the heck do you do that to Mark May?

 

[Gcashwell]

and the point previously being made was the home/away splits for Bama this year.

MSU is probably the team most like OSU that Bama has faced this year. It was at home and MSU still did alright.

My point was that MSU did not do alright. They were not ever really in the game. Bama has done fine in their neutral site games this year. I also think blake has improved away from Bryant Denny with experience.

 

[BUCKDUBBS007]

Based on yards and [Mark May]. I don't know that much about the big 10 but one side looks like total [Mark May] to me.

It was based solely on points scored against. We pushed that ranking down by hanging 59 on them, and I can understand being skeptical about them actually being a good defense after that. But wisky held Ameer Abdullah to 69 yards so I use that stat to refute your claim since eZe went for 220.