Crimson Red Sports

Most of these are no-brainers, but I thought I would put them down for discussion.

Bama’s cover teams on the kickoff and punt coverage must be great.   Also, Bama’s return team must not make mistakes and loose valuable yardage on balls that should be caught.

AJM must have a good to great game.  He must pull the trigger and make the throws and hit the recs in stride.  Also, he must have the ability to check out of bad plays.   Bama has to minimalize the negative plays.  Also, he needs to hurt those rolled up safeties and force them to stay deep and out of the running game.

The penalties must again be held to a minimum.    In the last game Bama had few penalties, however, they happened in crucial situations and those must be eliminated.  There was an illegal substitution that hurt in the early goings and put Bama in a 1st in 15 on LSU end of the field.  We all know about the block in the back and how it hurt.

Bama must convert on 3 and med to long, or keep themselves out of those situations.   

When Bama gets a turnover they must get points out of the turnover.

As a blitz control I would love to see TR flair out of the backfield. 

Bama on D must do a better job defending the option.  I expect to see JJ and the only way JL gets in the game is that JJ gets hurt.  I would be expecting some type of pass off of the option look.
Bama will again have to play great assignment football because LSU did not run a trick play last time so I would be ready this time.    The D also cannot afford to miss tackles.  They need to wrap up and punish the runners and recs.

I truly think Bama is the better team and they should win the game.  However, these teams are so close a single mistake can alter the outcome of the game.

Roll Tide Roll

I think CNS has been working on assignment football. I could see DH or NJ as the jefferson spy. Kick coverage worries me. The theory that punting is not a bad thing, doesn't ring true. I don't think we kick it to #7. The KO coverage won't bother me if we get up a few scores.

I too have a good feeling about the game.

I wasn't too worried about this game and figured Bama to beat them again,-- until HSC started worrying. Yeah, coverages breakdown, penalties happen, officials miss a crucial call. But would you rather be preparing BAMA for this game or LSU? The Tide is as fundamentally sound and always as mentally prepared as you can expect a team to be. We are not heading into a NCG depending on miracle throws and career rushing days to get a slight edge-- they are! RTR

Is it automatic that an SEC officiating crew will do the game??

As I posted on an earlier thread, our kicking game really concerns me. This is the one true and INMHO area LSU is markedly better than us. I agree with HSC that we cannot give them good field position on kick offs and punts and we MUST not put our FG kickers in circumstances where they are forced to kick 40+ FG's. Thus, our offense has to perform better and finish drives this go round. If we can do that, we should win. If not, it may be a long evening.

I read somewhere that the officiating crew will be Big 10?

Physically, both teams are ready but the mental game will be the difference in the game. Execution is the key to the mental game, doing the right things on every play.

This is bad. At almost 56, no way am I ready physically. Oh, I was hangin' pretty good in the regular season, but now we are talkin' NCG. Mentally, I might wander all over,-- from cheerleader shots to Mrs BAMAWV's chicken to lit cigars down the chair cushion. I am going to run the game on the BAMAWV jumbotron so maybe that'll help some.  I have a new sports drink called Mister Yaeger (or somethin') that is supposed to help me see the field better. Roll Tide!

BAMAWV, That's what happens when you party during the holidays instead of focusing on the game. Maybe if you double-up on the Mister Yaeger you can still make it deep into the fourth quarter.

There is always that distraction as to whether to return next year or not. I feel I can eat and drink well enough to make immediate impact at the next level and getting paid to eat and drink has always been my dream. While every fall, new covies flock to campus, the big boys have divorcees and pole dancers.  :dunno: But if you say so, I'll try doubling down on the MY to improve my focus.

This meeting will be much like the first one, if we execute and don't screw up, we will win.   That's not what happened in November.   I expect that CNS will have the team ready to do both, as he has a pretty good track record on "payback" matchups, like against Florida in the 09 SECCG.

Like HSC, and everbody else, I do have concerns about the kicking game.   Specific to the first game, after Foster missed the second kick, they went to Shelley for the next one, which was out of his effective range.  I think that pretty much demoralized both kickers to a certain extent.  This time we need to play it smarter and stay within what is reasonable, otherwise, just punt the thing on an angle out of bounds and trap LSU deep in their own territory.   As far as punting goes, first, see above, beyond that, kick away from Mathieu when possible, then stay disciplined and in your coverage lanes.

The other big thing I would like to see that HSC hit on, was hitting TR out of the backfield.  It will slow down the blitz, plus TR with a head of steam would be awesome anyway.   :o   I would also like to see us go downfield at least some to spread the LSU defense out.

So, if we stick to what we excel at, execute it well, and don't make mistakes (turnovers, untimely penalties), I fully expect that we will win.   Seems that CNS is thinking the same things, based on what he has been saying to the media.

I am totally pumped about the game, mostly just want it to get here and kinda bummed it's on a Monday night.   Already had to take my first vacation day today in order to watch the bowl games that should have been on yesterday... guess I will be going to work groggy next Tuesday.    :)


Happy New Year and Roll Tide !!!