Crimson Red Sports

1)  Do you think the Tide goes undefeated this year? Why or why not?

2)  What is your explanation for the Tide's problems? Be specific.

3)  Ole Miss comes to T-Town. What is your main concern and what do you think Coach Saban is going to do? Be specific.

Good posts by both of you.  I want to see hscoach's take on CSU.

1.  Disappointing and underperforming? -- Yes, but we are 3-0.  It's the way we won that bothers us, and CNS.

2.  A mystery? -- Absolutely.  Hard for me to figure what all the problems are. Some like OL and DB's are obvious.  I don't understand why both are as weak as they are. Only way to get better is practice and playing.

3.  I think injuries were a factor in CSU game more than has been talked about.  Announcers didn't mention Steen being out.  Cooper & Norwood both being out may have affected timing/communication between AJ & receivers.  We also had, I think three guys out on D -- Jarrick Williams, Belue and one I can't remember.

In a post game interview AJ was very frustrated and kept talking about lack of communication among the offense.  His leadership is needed here.

Going undefeated??  Not giving up on this yet.  I think we find a way to beat Ole Miss, but game will be close and one blown assignment on defense could affect the outcome.

Then we gotta keep getting better before LSU. Barners ran the ball well vs. LSU.  If we can do that, and if DBs are better by then, then we'll win that one too.  But SECCG could be a big challenge.  Long way to go before then though.

I think all the losses to the NFL Draft may be finally catching up to us. I have some questions for my fellow posters:

1)  Do you think the Tide goes undefeated this year? Why or why not?
 


No I do not think we go undefeated this year because we are to young. The attitude seems to be greater than thou, and that communication AJ was speaking of, it has to change. Only 11 people on the same page goes undefeated in any year. We don't look like we near the same page. Oregon would kill us right now.



2)  What is your explanation for the Tide's problems? Be specific.
The NFL has taken experience away from us. Defense: We had leaders in the past we don't have that person or persons pushing as we should do. CJ and HaHa are to be leaders but if they can't get their own positions right how can they be leaders? Leaders must lead and then push. Our d-line is soft, and they make a play ever 9-10 downs and they jump up and down like a bunch of jokesters. Ed Stinson and Pagan should be eating people up on that d-line.



3)  Ole Miss comes to T-Town. What is your main concern and what do you think Coach Saban is going to do? Be specific.


Consistency from the defense and offense. Ole Miss has been a thorn in our side for years and they like Vandy for some reason play their best football against us. If CNS has to he needs to borrow a good pass rusher from a High School team so some pressure would be helpful. The WR's better quit dropping passes and AJ needs to learn to quit over throwing passes. We need the WR's blocking down field for each other and the RB's like we use to have done.


That you trust Saban to take care of things or every thing will work out.
I am not sure I can trust CNS to win games anymore. He doesn't run the ball or throw the ball. He doesn't cover WR's on defense or stop the holes in the D-line. So I am here to say CNS is only a coach. Looks like he has lost the power to light that fire some what. JMHO!

I am sad but I feel I am right. RTR!

In short, yes, I think Bama will go undefeated. The schedule is still favorable, and I think the matchups the rest of the way will favor them for the most part. I think we defend straight-up NFL-type offenses better, and that is pretty much what LSU runs under Cam Cameron. The barn might pose a few problems, but I think the overall talent of the team, plus their overall lack of depth will bite them in the end. Other than OM, I'm not sure anyone else will give us much trouble (UT is a dumpster fire, MSU is weak, and UK is, well, UK.

Two areas really concern me. First, the up and down play of the OL. Weak against VT, good against TAMU, weak again against CSU. More consistency is needed. I'm just not sure that this group is as dominant as some analysts say they are. Losing guys like Barrett and DJ were huge, though CK has the talent to be one of the best if he can curb the holding penalties. Cristobal is going to have to jerk a knot into the butt of these guys in practice this week. Second, the DBs are not performing at all. Other than Vinnie, I have not seen that killer instinct from any of they as of yet. That has to change, and overall technique needs to improve (i.e. Fulton getting burned so much last week).

OM has a good defense, and RK looks to be the real deal. If the OL doesn't shape up, AJ is going to be eating a lot of dirt this Saturday. However, I think that while OM has made great strides, they are still not up to the Tide's talent level. We hold them on offense, and AJ and the receivers make enough plays to pull away late in the third.

Bama 37, OM 17

Well, after 3 games the best descriptions for the football team is disappointing, under performing, and a mystery. All 3 games have been disturbing and left more questions than answers. The 2 biggest problem ares are the defense and the O-line. Our once mighty power running game is hot & cold and no one is really shining on the D. I think all the losses to the NFL Draft may be finally catching up to us. I have some questions for my fellow posters:

1)  Do you think the Tide goes undefeated this year? Why or why not?

2)  What is your explanation for the Tide's problems? Be specific.

3)  Ole Miss comes to T-Town. What is your main concern and what do you think Coach Saban is going to do? Be specific.


I'm not looking for a rah rah answer or that you trust Saban to take care of things or every thing will work out. Those were the answers after the VT and A&M games and they have not come to fruition. Please give me some real ideas or observations. Thanks guys.


 :worship:

1)  The odds are against us.  Undefeated seasons are pretty rare.  However we have a manageable schedule this year so it is possible.  If we can play well against Ole Miss and win that game, we will have a long time to "find our identity" before we are tested again.

2)  We are talented, no question about that.  I think it is mostly an attitude problem with the younger players.  We also have been slow to develop leadership, but I think AJ has taken the reins now.  The spankee has now become the spanker, and I was very fired up to see him take charge after Drake went the wrong way.  CNS has said that we have leaders but they are reluctant to be vocal with their team mates.  Hopefully that issue has been resolved now.  CJ needs to follow AJ's example and take over the defense.

3)  My main concern is that we loaf around this week during practice and don't take them seriously.  We need to play to our standard and get better every week.  I will be watching CNS closely this week during the press conferences to see if he is calm and pleased with our progress or if he has steam coming out of his ears and veins throbbing on his forehead.  If he brings up the dog on a leash story again we might be in trouble.  I don't think there is much CNS can do or he would have done it already.  I think it will be up to the leaders on the team to get in the face of anybody that is not giving full effort.  One thing CNS can do, and he has been doing it already, is to let some other guys get in there and play to send a message that no job is safe, you have to earn your playing time.

If all the starters who were left out of Saturday's game had played we probably would have seen a very different game.  Yes, the score probably should have been different, but with several key players out and many young, inexperienced players getting their first significant playing time the week after a physically and emotionally exhausting game it wasn't entirely unexpected.   

In response to the original questions:

1.  Yes, I still think there's a very good chance this team goes undefeated.  The schedule is set up perfectly for an undefeated season.  If we get past Ole Miss they have more than a month to work things out before LSU, which should be the only serious challenge before the SECCG, assuming the wheels don't come off out some point.  Midway through the 2009 I don't think anyone believed the team had what it took to finish undefeated, but they did. 

2.  Since I only see what happens on the field during games I don't know.  It seems to be a lack of experience.  The 0-line is talented but not playing well together.  The DBs are talented but got beat by Manziel (good news is we won't face another QB anywhere near his level this year).  I think we'll really know where we stand defensively after the Ole Miss game.  It does seem that we're missing the defensive leader that we've had in previous years.  The absence of Barrett Jones' leadership on the o-line is obvious, and no one has stepped up yet.

3.   My main concern with Ole Miss is the DBs.  Their passing game is good enough to put up some points if the secondary doesn't play well.  I'd expect to see more blitzes, pressure on the QB, something that couldn't really be done against A&M because of Manziel's abilities. 

1. Going unbeaten is very difficult for any team. I think we have a very good chance to do it because of our schedule. We have two ranked teams left on our schedule Ole Miss and LSU, both at home. Our remaining SEC road games are Kentucky, Miss State and Auburn. The A&M game was a huge win. That was a win on the road against a top 10 team. Some say it was the biggest game ever played on the A&M campus. That game was not as close as the final score IMO. I think we get by Ole Miss with very little problem and LSU will be a dogfight just like most of our recent battles with them. Injuries are always a concern.

2. We have not played up to our potential yet.

Offense: The OL has three new starters and it is taking them some time to gel and play together as a unit. The talent is there. Steen did not play against CS. Cooper and Norwood, our best receivers, did not play against CS. We have to get A. Cooper involved in the offense.

Defense: Our defense has not played well. I give as much of the blame to the pass rush as I do the DB's. We are not disrupting the passer soon enough. Even the best DB's can not cover a receiver for several seconds. Fanning did not play against CS nor did DB's Belue, Perry or Williams.

Overall: We are not playing with a sense of urgency. Our intensity is laking. The staff has to get this corrected this week.
3. I don't think we have to do anything special for Ole Miss. The staff will put in the OM game plan but I expect most of the work to be focused on our team getting better. Too many mental mistakes and missed assignments. We need an attitude adjustment to get our edge back.