How Do We Beat Bama?

Score more points...

Seriously though. We just have to keep doing what we've been doing. Auburn's defense is really bad. People have been rolling up huge point totals and yards on them all year. We get a few stops and Saban will go into uber conservative, field position mode.

Cut down the damn penalties, and don't turn the ball over and we have a good shot at winning this game.

Control Cooper. Cooper is the key to shutting Bama offense down. If Mizzou doesn't have a plan for Cooper and execute that plan for 4 Q's, we (Mizzou) won't win.

How do you control Cooper? I don't know if you control Cooper himself. I think you control Cooper through Sims. Those long routes. Those won't work against Mizzou's D-line. Like they were saying last night, they for some reason were giving Cooper a free release up the field. We have to do the opposite. Try to jamb him at the line as much as possible and let your pass rushers do the rest. I don't know if we have a corner that can run with him. Penton maybe?

But jamb Cooper at the line, try to cover him as best you can and hope the pass rush levels Sims enough times to make him drop his eyes a little.

But of course you have to stop Yeldon first. I think Mizzou can do that. Then it's to the air to Cooper. One dimensional. But Saban is not stupid. So the Defense will have to keep it up the whole game. That means the offense has to score points when they have the ball. Would love to see them try and stick with the run game to eat the clock a little too and rest the defense.

Just my uneducated outlook.

Starts with what we've done all year. Pressure from our DLine. That means tackles for losses. QB sacks, hits and hurries. Don't give Cooper the time to get into his routes. Our D backfield is better than in most years, but the key will always be getting that pressure on him. We saw this week that Sims is also susceptible to the INT if you get that pressure on him.

On offense, the same as always. Avoid the turnovers. Grind it out and just don't stop. Win the 4th quarter. Oh, and if we can cut back a bit on the penalties, that would be nice too.

DLine needs to have their best game of the year. Ray, Golden, and Brantley need to takeover. We can't cover Cooper but we can make sims be inaccurate. Ray needs to prove why he is the best defensive player in the country.

Special teams. Murphy probably needs to have a special teams touchdown and needs to put the offense in good position.

Run the ball. Use the whole field. Use Mauks legs. RH and Murphy will be huge.

No mistakes. No drops. No picks. No drive killing sacks. No fumbles. Bama is not unbeatable. But we can't beat ourselves either.

I have a feeling Steck will not press Cooper but stay in our Zone to stop the big play. I hate the 8 yard cushion but what it does is make the opponent execute to score. I would like to see the DB's cut the cushion to 4-5 yards to keep Cooper in front of them and then make sure tackles.

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I have a feeling Steck will not press Cooper but stay in our Zone to stop the big play. I hate the 8 yard cushion but what it does is make the opponent execute to score. I would like to see the DB's cut the cushion to 4-5 yards to keep Cooper in front of them and then make sure tackles.

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That is a recipe to lose big to Bama, and I think the entire staff knows it. The last thing we need is to have our defense ground down by long drives. Our DB's have to stay close and our line needs to upset the QB with hurries, knockdowns, and sacks. They cannot do that if the QB gets a quick release on a big strong wide receiver like Cooper who will not only catch it but get yards after. No, we'll need to press coverage and possibly rotate a safety to cover behind. If we can take away quick throws, we give our greatest asset, our line, time to work and force the issue.

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In fact, I love our chances.

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yea not really feeling that love for our chances, we may have a better D-line than Bama, for once in our life, but that doesn't discount they probably have a better pretty much everything else.

You know Saban has his staff in the bunker planning for every contingency, a staff that got whacked on the face by hoosiers isn't gonna "level the playing field" either.

Then you have SLive's office brainstorming to somehow "sell" a Mizzou win over Bama, and I'm not sure even his lawyers are that good.

I wish I liked our chances better, I really do, but we know we were brought in to fill an extra chair, not to kick the conference heavy weight in the nuts and take away their shot at the big trophy. You could say the reality of being "we are Mizzou" peed on any real chances we have.

I think everyone has come around for the most part, but we can't have the WRs waiting until the 3rd quarter to find their hands. Drops are just demoralizing for the QB and OL as well. Their downfield blocking also needs to improve; it looked poor against Arky.

Special teams have also regressed. Here's hoping they get their heads on straight.

All that said, I think we have a legitimate shot. Our D is salty and Mauk can get it done if he plays smart and his WRs show up. I love the fact that no one is giving us a prayer. These kids seem to thrive on that.

Can't wait...

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Special teams have also regressed.

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The block in the back penalty is whats frying our ST.

how hard is it to teach a kid not to hit anyone unless its on the front side only, if you can't see front numbers and hit them then don't touch them. Never touch the kicker ever, period, unless he's actually running up the field w/ the ball tucked away.

Play every quarter like we've played the 4th quarter the past month and a half.