Crimson Red Sports

It is time for a little honesty.  The question is:  Is Alabama that good or was UM that over rated?  I do think that Bama has a very good team and they very well could be the best in the nation.  I also think they have room to improve.  This was evident in the game notes where I spoke about AJM performance.  I also know there were a few missed tackles.  However, Bama played better assignment football with a lot fewer mistakes than the other teams I watched this weekend.  The problem is I just don’t know if UM is as good as everyone make them out to be.  Even if they had their #1 running back it would not have made that much of a difference.  I hate to say this, but the jury is still out. 

That is the million dollar question.

I sure hope it's us who's better.

I agree, the jury is still out.  I think UM was highly overrated.  Compared to what the other teams did, I think Alabama is much further along than most.

I agree, hscoach.  I just watched the first half. 

1.  Losing their #1 DB early really hurt UM (long TD pass was his side).
2.  Denard missed some open receivers early.
3.  Penalties hurt UM, but I saw some against us not called (block in the back on punt return; facemask not called, but holding against UM on same play was called).
4.  Denard's shoulder (hurt tackling Milliner) resulted in several weak throws, and might have kept them hemmed up during the 1st Q.
5.  Their RB and DE suspended likely hurt them, as did injuries during the game.
6.  UM got more pressure on AJ with stunts than I expected from them.

Alabama is that good, certainly top 3.
Michigan is a 15-18 ranked team.

I think Michigan has a good team but ran into a much better team Saturday night. My question is , is there another defense in the country that can shut Robinson down? This is what cost Michigan the game in my opinion.

I think it is a little of both. UM over rated and we are good just not that dominate yet. Only scoring 10 points in second half and the deep ball for Td should stick in their crawl. There is plenty of room for improvement. That said, we did a really good job of keeping DR in check. His lack of rushing yards was where it was.
It was by no means a perfect game, but I think we are ahead of the curve.

Robinson had 27 yds rushing and his longest being 9 yds. That is what won games for them last year and we shut him down. I saw no team as well prepared as Bama in the first game. Having said that, mistakes were definitely made as you all mentioned, but are things that CNS will get worked out. Missed tackles are a result of poor technique and that could be a concern, but I don't think there were enough of them to cause alarm. The offense showed flashes of brilliance, particularly in the first half, but appeared a bit complacent in the 2nd half. Big leads will do that to a team. I don't see that happening in close games. Just my 2 cents worth.

I think AJ can play a lot better.  One he needs to do a better job checking down.  I am really surprised he didn't get another slap on the butt for the little shuffle pass.  The D play great assignment football, but will have to tackle better on the outside.  In my opinion this team can go very far if they keep their head on straight.  I do like the team unity/chemistry.

The game Saturday will tell me a lot about this team's identity.

I think we will not know much about this team until we play Arkansas. Not.much competition this weekend either. When we play Arky we will know more about Bama. Michigan didn't really show me anything. It was a great win for us.

Welcome aboard. We appreciate your input.

I think our players are talented and strong but they have to improve every week. "PLEASE DO NOT let this stuff go to their heads. CNS will have a heart a tack when he hears all this Praise for these young men. RTR!

Every team they play will now have a blueprint, thanks to Saban and company.  They still have to put the players on the field to execute it though.

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I completely agree with this evaluation and hscoach. Good stuff guys.


 :clap:

We have plenty to correct, including penalties.  You know the players got an earful about the penalties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn1V1HEj7sY

I'm sure that Coach Cochran had a little to do with handling the corrective measures for the penalty getters. :D

We used to call that football.  :dunno:

I think a lot of the Gameplan was to lay back and not rush too much, but when we did send pressure off the end it didnt get there, so Saban has already said that need to be corrected. AJ was just fingertips off on two throws that were going to be scores or close to it, one to MW the other to Chritian Jones. so Yeah stuff to work on but I would say Bama is still a very good team and UM probably average team.

Anyone else think AJ throwing the ball away a couple of times could have been called grounding? it was close.

IMO Alabama, USCw, LSU and Oregon are the four best teams. There is a big drop off from there to Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, etc. I certainly think we deserve the No. 1 spot since we are the defending champ and we destoryed # 8 Michigan. However, the jury is still out regarding how good our team is. We should have no trouble with Western KY but the Arkansas game in two weeks will answer a lot of questions. Our game plan for the hogs will be much different than for Michigan. Our DL will have to have to cause problems for the QB or we will put too much pressure on our DB's. Arky is a true road game and the hogs want us bad. We are the team they must beat to get national respect. I discount how poorly they played against Jax State. They will be fired up and ready for us. Having said all that I still don't think Arkansas can play with us for four quarters. I think we are very good now and with our coaching staff we will get better each week. The one thing we can not control is injuries. We have a few spots where we can not afford the starter to go down.

It is nice being on top. I got a kick out of the barners at the gym last night trying to make themselves believe Clemson is a good team. 

Exactly.

Welcome aboard.

Our defensive secondary gave up some big plays to a QB who isn't much of a passer.  I expect Arkansas to attack our D better than Mich, and they have a much better passer to do it with. 

Bama's offense is a juggernaut, however, and should make it difficult for other teams to keep up in the scoring department.

I think it is a combination of both. Bama is very good, but UM is definitely overrated. I will say this: as far assignment football and playing level, Bama was the best team I saw Saturday. The thing is I believe Saban saw the things that need to be corrected and will work toward that. One game does not a season make.

I think Michigan is a very good Big Ten team but they did not have the size & speed to handle Bama. They will do very well in the Big Ten, assuming Robinson stays healthy, and I wouldn't be surprised to see UM in the Rose Bowl. I agree with pull, Bama, LSU, Oregon, and USCw were bye far the best of the first week. But I expect UGA, ARK, OK, and USCe to show big improvements over the next couple of weeks.

:lol:

I don't think the Arkie game will show us much about ourselves either.  They are as overranked as UM is.  Arkie will test our DBs and pass rush more, but not much else.  Their D is so weak that JSU scored over 20 on them.  We'll see how the young guys do in front of an away crowd, but these days, most of the kids have played in some sort of hostile environment.

having  a talented OL that are the same size of the defending Super Bowl Champs OL don't hurt things much either ...
they were just saying that some of the OL starters in the NFL
could not start for Alabama because these guys are so talented  :dunno:

combine that with all the other great players we have , then yes
Alabama is that much better than the likes of UM  ...

I think Arkansas is probably overrated too.  If Petrino were still there, they might have a shot this time.  As it is, they still have Petrino's weak defensive players, and they don't have Petrino to call plays for the offense.

We will see how they do against this week's cupcake, La. Monroe, and re-evaluate.

Not a big fan in John L. Smith, SC. :o

Why in the world would Michigan drop to 19. That was the same beating (well almost) we put on LSU in January and they didn't drop that far.  ??? ???














Not serious (for HL)

LSU didn't have to play the next week.   :)





not HL, not serious

I think Michigan is a good team, but they were nowhere near Bama's level of being physical in the game.   Milliner essentially throwing a WR out of bounds, I forgot who, but a WR clocking a LB.   Most of the team clocking somebody after Milliner's INT, etc...  I think by halftime, they were shell-shocked...

The other side of this, is I also think by halftime, we were approaching over confidence, which is something we will need to work on, to avoid 2010 again...

All that being said....wow, just wow, did Bama come out of the gate ready to kick butt or what ?!?!?!

So, a bit of both, yes, we are good, but there is room for improvement, pass coverage, pass completion percentage, gaining experience and so on...

On a related note, living up here in Ohio, you do run into a few Michigan fans, I have a friend who is one...he is still just dumbfounded...cannot believe the giant can-o-whupp-a$$ we opened on them...    :D

As for pass completion percentages, AJ can chunk as many OOB as he wants to avoid INTs and sacks.

Agreed.

I don't mind that either, but he didn't do it once and put Bama in a  2nd and 26 while starting with good field position.  Also, he missed 2 wide open, back to back, rec for big plays.

Definitely room for improvement, including the pass protection.

If we are discussing the same play HSC, it seemed like he was trying to get out of the box when they sacked him from behind. What say you?

One of those, AJ just flat out held the ball too long.

He motioned to his rec with a player breathing down on him.  He could have thrown it at his feet or over his head out of bounds.  I think he was already out of the box.

Seems there was a guy in his face too. Let's see if there is something we agree on with that play. Way too much pressure on our star QB?

I will agree to that.

How about this one: AJ may have got so caught up in directing traffic, he forgot where he was in relation to the box.

I think it is a pretty good sign that we are obsessing about one play, and talking about only a handful for the entire game.

I will go back and check again, but you don't have to be out of the box if there is a player in the area.  OVerthrow out of bounds if fine, not a 16 yard loss.

If that is the rule, no need to check the play. We are both agreed there was at least one guy on his trail. Thanks.