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re: Golding needs to go.

Posted on 1/28/20 at 6:04 am to
Posted by bamameister
Right here, right now
Member since May 2016
14521 posts
Posted on 1/28/20 at 6:04 am to
quote:

So how would you describe the 127 defenses that finished the year ranked below us in SP+ total defense?

[It's a rhetorical question. Your opinion means less than nothing to me.]





Not sure reality means much to you, period. So, there is that "Rainman." You are now most adamant we should all feel warm and fuzzy about this Golding defense with your ESPN stats, when the reality is, when we played anyone with an SEC pulse, we often got walked down the field for 4 quarters.

Here's a better stat and works just fine with what Alabama fans actually had to live through this season.

Leading up to the LSU game, Alabama’s opponents had the lowest winning percentage in Power 5 football. Power 5 football "Rainman." Due to crappy scheduling, our entire credibility in SOS was coming down to LSU and Auburn on the road. They were the only 2 teams left with any type of winning %. That's fine, they were also our hated rivals anyway, beating these guys to get where we want to go is kinda what we do anyway.

BUT, when it came to year's Alabama closeup we promptly lost both games. Gave up a total of 913 total yards and 94 points. The only 2 teams with a winning pulse, much less our hated rivals, and that was the best this DC could do.

You can throw out here all the FYI and FPI bull crap stats you want. The Bama fans who had to watch these games know what they saw for 4 quarters. We were the ones wiggling and screaming in our man caves. And against the "Big Boys," it often looked like amateur night. That ain't Alabama!

No amount of ESPN hocus pocus is going to change what we saw in our biggest SEC/Rival games this season. Nor that it cost us an SEC and playoff shot. Nor the fact that it was Pete Golding who dialed up those defensive gems "Rainman."
Posted by Sauron
Birmingham
Member since Dec 2015
996 posts
Posted on 1/28/20 at 11:00 am to
quote:

And against the "Big Boys," it often looked like amateur night. That ain't Alabama!


The point I've been trying to make throughout this discussion is exactly what you wrote … it WAS "amateur night" during those two games.

More than half of our front seven for both games were true freshmen: DJ Dale, Byron Young, Shane Lee, and Christian Harris. Two more freshmen -- Jordan Battle and Justin Eboigbe -- were in the two-deep of the overall defense.

I don't know if you fully understand the tremendous disadvantage that is. Literally the entire middle of our defensive front was playing high-school football just 11 months prior to those games.

I don't know if Golding is a good DC or not. Maybe he's terrible; maybe he's a genius. But refusing to accept the handicaps he faced while trying to plan for and defend those teams is myopic at best. Based on the losses we had in 2019, though -- particularly the timing of those losses -- I'm not ready to call him a failure. It's like tying a man's legs together right before a marathon and then telling him "Now go win this race."

I'll say this: If he remains on staff throughout 2020 as DC, and the defense continues to struggle (by our standards, anyway), I'll be leading the charge to get rid of him.

This post was edited on 1/28/20 at 11:03 am
Posted by 3down10
Member since Sep 2014
22867 posts
Posted on 1/28/20 at 11:16 am to
quote:

And against the "Big Boys," it often looked like amateur night. That ain't Alabama!


Yep, the offense that was supposed to be the greatest in Alabama history wasn't very good.

The first 2 drives against LSU ended in a fumble. 1 of them Tua fumbled without being touched, the other the punter fumbled.

Following drives:

3 and out
7 plays, turnover on downs.
4 plays, TD - the only TD of the first half by the offense.
3 and out
1 play and interception that lead to another LSU TD right before half.

Starting the 2nd half of the game, the offense finally got things going a bit. But only because Alabama finally started to run Najee Harris.

3 and out.

10 plays, 95 yards for a TD - Tua below 50% completion on the drive, was mostly Najee including the passes Tua did complete.

9 plays, 78 yards for a TD - more Najee

And then finally Tua starts to hit some passes.

14 plays, 75 yards for a TD.

And then the last Alabama TD, a long strike 85 yard pass to Devonta.

The Alabama defense only gave up 13 pts the 2nd half, and all of them came in the 4th quarter.

Just a tiny bit of actual offensive support in the 1st half would have been enough. Instead the Alabama offense supported LSU. Leaving points on the field with a fumble. Giving LSU the ball in scoring position multiple times. Constantly going 3 and out.

And don't even get me started on the Auburn game. 14 points directly given to Auburn.
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