Crimson Red Sports

First of all, major props to the boys for winning a huge one, and in a tough situation to boot. That was serious gut check right there. But I am stunned that LSU gained 430 yds of offense tonight. How did that happen? I was telling everyone before the game that LSU would not score on us unless we gave it to them. But tonight our defense got whipped. LSU dominated the LOS, we missed a bunch of tackles, and we missed several assignments. This was not the #1 defense in the country. And I refuse to believe that Mettenberger is that good and he just finally put it all together. This is the same offense that scored 12 pts against a horrible Auburn defense. I watched that one with my own eyes, and Auburn destroyed LSU's OL. I don't know how this happened, but if they don't get their act together, Johnny football and Texas A&M are going to hang 35 points on us and we will lose. I am glad we won but I am sick that our defense played so awful.

They had 2 weeks to prepare, it was in their house, Les put signs in their weight room right after the BCSNCG game that said "21-0", he put "#2 Nationally" on their rings, and this looked like our TN or barn game from 2009.  We still found a way to win, though.  I'm optimistic that this game was just a perfect storm that we survived.  We'll have another huge test Saturday.

Took bad angles all night.  Also, LSU attacked the outside flat area against a SS or Lb.   Took what was available and rarely threw the ball further than 8 yards.  Mett had the game of his life.  I think they may have simplified things this week for him.

Also, thank God they have miles as their coach. 

Coach Saban talked about LSU flexing out the TEs, creating mismatches with LBs on receivers. Made sense. Props to the Mad Hatter for film study.

This is what stood out to me all night. The A&M game will be fascinating.


 :popcorn2:

Zac M had the game of his life.  LSU had a great game plan.  They executed.  They had an extra week of rest and seemed more energetic.  It was starting to look like South Carolina all over again, but in the end Bama rose up.

I don't know if Les Miles' miscues hurt them too much...  Maybe it motivated them.

The fake field goal was just foolishness.  But the onsides kickoff was brilliantly timed and nearly pulled off.  Bama wasn't ready for it -- had the kicker not touched the ball early it would have been LSUs.

LSU seemed completely lost at the end though.  AJ executed a perfect 45 second drive to give Bama the lead-- passes for first downs, mostly on the sidelines, with a screen pass at the end (once in field goal range) to counter LSU's blitz.  Zac M, on the other hand, quickly bled 45 seconds off the clock with check down passes and allowing a sack to end it.

They didn't look good most of the night and gave up a couple of scores, but at the end of the day they stopped LSU at a couple of critical times left the offense in a position to win.  If the offense had been able to move the ball and sustain drives I don't the defense would have looked so bad at the end of the game.

Any kind of "revenge" game is going to be like this. Even an average team can come out and beat an exceptional team if the emotion and effort is there. We were shown some weaknesses in our defense and some great strengths. I doubt that we see our defense tested like that again this year. I'm still in awe of how AJ took this team down the field.  At the beginning of the game,I believed in my heart that we would win but even as "Pollyanna" as I am, I was beginning to REALLY worry. Congrats to a wonderful ending to a great game!

The thing that shocked me the most was that LSU dominated the LOS. Our defense was getting pushed around all night. Up until this game Alabama excelled at getting short or negative plays on first down. Last night LSU was averaging 4-5 yards on every first down play. And LSU ran the ball on 3rd and 5 and made it. Twice! That's unheard of. It wasn't just the bad angles, although that certainly played a part. But the majority of LSU's runs came right up the middle. They ran the ball into the teeth of our defense, and they were successful most of the night. Alabama's defense is at its best when a team gains 2 yds or less on first down. I fear that Texas A&M will have similar success on the ground. If Bama lets A&M get 4-5 yds on first down on a consistent basis, Bama will be in serious trouble.

There was also some uncharcteristically bad tackling, even by standouts like Millener.