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

[Telekinesis]

In a shootout I will take a 5th year senior QB and the nation's best wide receiver over a young QB with limited game experience and no great receivers....and We did ok in the shootout with Auburn too. As I stated earlier, I don't think either team will have great success running the football.....but heck ...I could be wrong.

I would take Jalin Marshall, Curtis Samuel, Dontre Wilson, Devin Smith, Michael Thomas and Ezekiel Elliott over Sims/Cooper any day of the week. You have one game changer, we have multiple. Our QB doesn't have to win the game, his targets can. A quick route or pitch can lead to 6 without needing to force anything.

 

[Mike80]

In a shootout I will take a 5th year senior QB and the nation's best wide receiver over a young QB with limited game experience and no great receivers....and We did ok in the shootout with Auburn too. As I stated earlier, I don't think either team will have great success running the football.....but heck ...I could be wrong.

meh - in a shootout I'm taking Tom Herman's playcalling over Lane Kiffin....

 

[Bestbuck36]

Some of you guys are silly when it comes to your thoughts on this game. I'm taking Cooper over every other single player in this game, period. He's the best player on this field in this game and quite possibly in the country. I can say that even though he plays for the enemy.

I love our guys and the heart they have shown this season but I'm not sure which gameplan or defensive team is going to show up. The wrong one and it's going to be a shitty evening. The right one's and it will be glorious. Either way I can't see a blow out in either direction unless a lot of mistakes are made. It's probably going to feel a lot like last season's Clemson game most likely. They had some studs on their defensive side of the ball as well but the WR they had (Watkins) was a man amongst boys. Hopefully Cooper doesnt do that on the 1st. I think our passing game is going to be better than they were vs Clemson for sure but Bama's defense is also better all around than Clemson too. Both have awesome punters and the ability to house a kick. Both have talented kickers with a possibility of shanking one.

It really is scary how even this matchup seems to be on paper. Should be happening in the NC game for sure but it was going to happen this season no matter what. I can't wait!

 

[beau]

Alabama is 4th in the nation in scoring defense. tOSU is 33rd.

Alabama is 2nd in the nation in run defense. tOSU is 23rd.

tOSU may light up the scoreboard on Alabama...but I just don't see it.

Everyone and their mama knows about Amari Cooper but did you know Alabama has one ot the best TE's O.J. Howard? And several wide receivers that would be stars on another team if Cooper did not get most of the passes thrown his way Also Yeldon, like Elliot is a great receiver out of the backfield.

If both teams bring their A game....I like the Tide in a close one.

 

[Mike80]

Alabama is 4th in the nation in scoring defense. tOSU is 33rd.

Alabama is 2nd in the nation in run defense. tOSU is 23rd.

tOSU may light up the scoreboard on Alabama...but I just don't see it.

Everyone and their mama knows about Amari Cooper but did you know Alabama has one ot the best TE's O.J. Howard? And several wide receivers that would be stars on another team if Cooper did not get most of the passes thrown his way Also Yeldon, like Elliot is a great receiver out of the backfield.

If both teams bring their A game....I like the Tide in a close one.

Bama played 3 Top-20 offenses and didn't outgain any of them (or stop them from scoring in Auburn's case).....Ohio State played 2 and completely shut down one of them and seriously hampered the other for long stretches of the game. What I'm trying to say is the best offenses Alabama played this year all moved the ball on Bama's defense. Ohio State is ranked above any of those teams (Miss State was 12th, Ohio State was 4th)....

I am going to look but I'd be willing to bet Ohio State played higher ranked offenses overall than Bama did...and obviously Ohio State did not play any FCS teams.

 

[cincibuck]

Just to clarify a point here: in terms of gifting, OSU academics receives far more money in terms of gifts than does the AD. Much more. The school's endowment fund is approaching 5B. The big payoff however comes from research which earns something on the order of $7 to every $1 the Athletic Department earns.

By comparison Alabama's endowment fund is just about 1B, 5th in the SEC, behind aTm, Vandy, Florida and Georgia.

Research is another strength with OSU ranked 16th nationally @ 780m in 2013. Alabama is near the bottom @ 40m but some of that is due to UAB where I suspect the med and dent schools to be and which brought in 400m in 2013.

 

[shiloh]

Blake Sims was 23 of 27 last game setting effeciency records in the SEC CG. 6 of 6 on 3rd down for first downs, 20 of 21 inside five yards, and 10 of 11 on playaction for 132 yards and a TD. If Blake Sims plays badly tOSU is going to have to affect him and not count on him just screwing up on his own.

hmm, Missouri lost to Indiana and "#13 Georgia routs Missouri without suspended RB Todd Gurley." And 'Bama fans were probably extremely happy when MO beak AK. Just like I was kinda rooting for MN over WI. Maybe that MN game had a negative effect on WI.

Indeed, we can play the #s/stats game until the cows come home, but the what have you done for me lately argument isn't always a good argument. Especially when your next game is (4) weeks away. And considering the circumstances, C. Jones was more impressive than Sims imo. And it showed how OSU's team could adapt to a new qb in a short period of time w/out skipping a beat.

btw, even after OSU's pasting of WI they still rank 9th in defense, MO ranks 47th. And of course the SOS argument yada yada yada ie the SEC is soooo much better than the B1G.

Having said all this I still expect 'Bama to win, but I thought OSU had a good chance of losing to WI. As others have mentioned, OSU is playin' w/house $$$. Ohio State has looked very average at times this year, but so has Alabama.

I wonder who LSU fans at the Sugar Bowl will be rooting for?

Let the games er game begin ...

 

[beau]

What are the stats for your FG kicker?

 

[matt_thatsme]

I've only seen three Bama games, including the game I attended in Knoxville. While Cooper has been impressive, I haven't seen anything that makes me think Sims is a "special" or "elite" talent. At the same time, Cardale played a nearly flawless game against Wiscy and I think it is unreasonable to expect him to duplicate that performance against Bama.


I think Bama is the deeper and more talented team here, but not by as much as the experts believe. I think OSU needs to contain Cooper, play solid run D and win the turnover battle to beat Bama.

 

[shehadehot001]

Hey does anybody if Ohio state diamond quest white jerseys are on sale? And where can I find them? Been looking everywhere starting to think they just made one color

 

[bukIpower]

The deep ball from Cardale has this Bama fan a little concerned. I hope Smart and Co. are working on the " deep ball" seven days a week at practice. We have speed and talent in the secondary but the "plays on deep balls have been God awful, The last few games.

I hope you do too because we don't throw deep every drive or even every quarter. We will take our shots almost certainly but make no mistake we will test Bama' up front more so than any other team has.

The more I watch of Bama' the more I don't think this game is about speed at all like most will want to declare because I feel we are just as fast. However, watching Bama' what strikes me is the size of some of their players which I will be interested to see particularly their defensive front which is quite big. In saying that though I know this will be the best OL, the best RB, by far the best TE group, and collectively just as good of a WR group as any. Auburn may have more top end talent than us but they stop after their top 2 WR's but with us it's much more spread out among our top 5 WR's making it difficult to key in.

They say 60% chance Bama' wins this game and honestly I can see why. Frankly, I'd be mildly surprised if we do escape with the win but if we win it'll be because we ran the ball and stopped the run.

Also Beau not a slam but try posting with facts you can't just say "oh well if you stop Cooper then we have 4 others that would be stars elsewhere"... The reason why this just isn't is just true look at the stats.

Cooper-1600+ yards and the next closest? 400+ yards. That's not exactly striking the fear into anyone's heart. With how much teams keyed on Cooper it shouldn't have been this hard to get someone to provide more than 400 yards and 4 td's because the opportunities were there ALL year. If you didn't do it against teams with less of a pass rush, and less talent in the secondary then odds are you won't in this game either. Bottom line you are who the stats say you are which should be perfectly fine to win the game. You guys' are a team that runs power first, uses the quick passing game (solely to Cooper), and showcases it's best player (cooper) by putting him in different formations to make it hard to key on him which works for you. What you are guys are not is a balanced team but that doesn't mean you guys arent good at what you do because you obviously are.

However, so far teams have not been able to stop the run and stop your lone playmaker out wide regardless of it being forced into Cooper. There's a reason they move Cooper around and that's because you don't have anyone else close to keep teams honest. That's why I know Herman is twice the coordinator as Lane. Herman doesn't need to be creative with how he lines up our best players because we are just going to spread the ball around and give everyone a shot.

 

[kujirakira]

Ohio State has played highly ranked defenses - especially run defenses - all year and rolled. There's nothing Alabama does on defense that they haven't seen. If Cardale does good enough to keep us balanced and WRs don't drop balls like they did against VTech, they'll be able to score.
Just as many question marks about defense as the QB position... which D shows up? How improved will they be with bowl practices? Everybody talks about Cooper, but Alabama has plenty of weapons... Henry specifically worries me. Ohio State has struggled to match the size and nastiness of big power backs all year.

 

[Mike80]

What are the stats for your FG kicker?

There's a search function. I'm certain that was discussed.

 

[kujirakira]

I hope you do too because we don't throw deep every drive or even every quarter. We will take our shots almost certainly but make no mistake we will test Bama' up front more so than any other team has.

The more I watch of Bama' the more I don't think this game is about speed at all like most will want to declare because I feel we are just as fast. However, watching Bama' what strikes me is the size of some of their players which I will be interested to see particularly their defensive front which is quite big. In saying that though I know this will be the best OL, the best RB, by far the best TE group, and collectively just as good of a WR group as any. Auburn may have more top end talent than us but they stop after their top 2 WR's but with us it's much more spread out among our top 5 WR's making it difficult to key in.

They say 60% chance Bama' wins this game and honestly I can see why. Frankly, I'd be mildly surprised if we do escape with the win but if we win it'll be because we ran the ball and stopped the run.

Also Beau not a slam but try posting with facts you can't just say "oh well if you stop Cooper then we have 4 others that would be stars elsewhere"... The reason why this just isn't is just true look at the stats.

Cooper-1600+ yards and the next closest? 400+ yards. That's not exactly striking the fear into anyone's heart. With how much teams keyed on Cooper it shouldn't have been this hard to get someone to provide more than 400 yards and 4 td's because the opportunities were there ALL year. If you didn't do it against teams with less of a pass rush, and less talent in the secondary then odds are you won't in this game either. Bottom line you are who the stats say you are which should be perfectly fine to win the game. You guys' are a team that runs power first, uses the quick passing game (solely to Cooper), and showcases it's best player (cooper) by putting him in different formations to make it hard to key on him which works for you. What you are guys are not is a balanced team but that doesn't mean you guys arent good at what you do because you obviously are.

However, so far teams have not been able to stop the run and stop your lone playmaker out wide regardless of it being forced into Cooper. There's a reason they move Cooper around and that's to get him the ball and frankly that's why I know Herman is twice the coordinator as Lane. Herman doesn't need to be creative with how he lines up our best players because frankly we are just going to spread the ball around and give everyone a shot.

Regarding last paragraph, when I watched Missouri game it seemed like they were trying to break that pattern, or at least put up some tape to make whoever their playoff opponent was going to be think twice. They succeeded to some degree, but stats still heavily favored Cooper.
It's also interesting how hard they leaned on him against Auburn. Over 10 receptions, 200+ yds, several TDs... the next guy had like 20 yards. Their offense reminds me a lot of MSU, with better checkers. Though I rate Cook higher, and Langford is at least on par if not better.

 

[bukIpower]

Regarding last paragraph, when I watched Missouri game it seemed like they were trying to break that pattern, or at least put up some tape to make whoever their playoff opponent was going to be think twice. They succeeded to some degree, but stats still heavily favored Cooper.
It's also interesting how hard they leaned on him against Auburn. Over 10 receptions, 200+ yds, several TDs... the next guy had like 20 yards. Their offense reminds me a lot of MSU, with better checkers. Though I rate Cook higher, and Langford is at least on par if not better.

My thought's exactly. That's why Kiffin will fail next year without his crutch in Cooper. Good luck Bama' next year on offense and congratulations in giving zero development to anyone at the WR position. I have no doubt you guys will win most of if not all of your games next year but that'll be because of your run game and your great defense. I personally predict though you guys as a fan base will be frustrated as to why the throwing game is not as strong and most will blame Coker. However, that'll be because of Kiffin stunting your growth of all your capable WR's this year by constantly targeting one man. No reason why it couldn't have been 1000 yards Cooper, 700 yards 2nd, and 600 3rd. Now that would scare me as stat line more than what it does now because I feel if we stop Cooper you guys won't amount to much through the air at all.

Most people compare this Bama' team to MSU this year and yes I see the similarities as well. I think MSU is just as good on the offensive line (what the B1G does well is develop OL) They are a one man show at WR and a huge drop off outside of that (their one man is better), and running backs that are very hard to stop I do think personally Bama' has a better duo but Langford is just as good, the biggest difference is I feel Cook is hands down better. The numbers may tell us Cook perhaps isn't but MSU was a much more balanced team and relied less on Lippett than Bama' relies on Cooper.