re: Nice try, Aggies, but that game sucked

You can't double team Evans because our other WRs are too good. Doing that will only allow the other guys to go uncovered, which is a really bad idea. Against an offense like ours, you have to pick your poison and hope it works out because there isn't a weakness you can exploit.

Powerhouse offenses are the future of football. A great Spread offense with great players really can't be stopped and if the system gets good enough it becomes plug and play for QBs. Notthat great QBs won't make a big difference, but the difference will get smaller and smaller over time because the next QB won't play until he is a junior or senior and will have had years in the system.

When a quarterback can make pinpoint throws and force your safeties to respect his running, ALL your receivers look like Jerry Rice.

I really hate the Manziel hype and think he's a little douche, but calling him anything other than a remarkable quarterback would be lying.

Traditionally, we've had some remarkable dual threat qb's in college football, but I can't think of one that had his accuracy AND his legs. Having this combination is nothing new, but being this level at both is unique.

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Posted by AUsteriskPride
Welcome to the new style of college football. You should probably get used to more 400+ yard games

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How much do the new rules that protect offensive players affect the yards given up?

I enjoyed it.I think Saban knew Maziel would escape no matter how many he sent.So most of the game I believe he had C.J. Moseley chasing him and at least 5-6 DBs.

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my Alabama mindset will not allow me to enjoy any game where the opposition is moving the ball at will.

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I can completely sympathize with you there. It's always hard to watch a shootout that your team is involved in, even if your team comes out on top. It's tough to see all those yards and TDs being scored almost at will by the opposition - regardless of whether or not each score is being matched.

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It was disgusting. It's pretty obvious that our CB's can't cover Evans one on one.

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I'm worried about Evans as well. He is a stud, that's for sure. I am hoping Rashard Robinson has come into his own by that time. At 6'2, he's our best bet to match up with Evans.

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After all is said and done, I really think it would have been better just to go after Manziel on every play. He might escape, but if they're scoring on every drive anyway, I don't see much difference.

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As much as people may dislike him, you have to respect what he is capable of producing on the field. He was lights out on Saturday - other than a few errant throws.

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I think LSU might match up a little better against A&M, although, admittedly, I don't know much about their CB's this year.

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LSU's offense is evidently better. It's hard to gauge where the defense is at this point. The CBs have gotten beat on a handful of plays, by lesser opponents, but they are very, very young. Mills started as a true freshman last year, and at this point, is our best corner. Collins got solid PT last year, but has struggled at times, and was replaced by true freshman Tre'Davious White (who will be our best corner by the season's end, IMO). Rashard Robinson, another true freshman, is an interesting case... he was just cleared to play less than a few weeks ago, and is already receiving significant playing time. This shows how natural of a talent he is. Dwayne Thomas, a RS Freshman, has also received valuable PT.

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Also, as bad as our defense looked in that game, A&M's was 10 times worse.

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Agreed. It's not like Bama was out there surrendering all that yardage to any old offense. A&M's offense is a Top 3 offense in the country.

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I'm not saying Bama's defense will be bad against the rest of the SEC. It was just a gameplan that didn't really work.

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LSU will surely test them, as will Ole Miss next week. But aside from those two, it should be smooth sailing for the Tide.

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I think Saban's defense for this game is a good idea in theory, but on the field, maybe not so much. If we'd had a big, shut down corner, maybe.

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If you look at Saban's defenses, one of the things you will notice is that he hedges his bets by trying to take away every route on the field but the 30 yard route down the sidelines which is the lowest percentage throw in CFB. Very few college QBs can make that throw and you will notice that every close game/lose we have be in other than the LSU games was against teams who had great/Heisman-level QB play. When Manziel needed Evans, he went to him down the sideline which is theoretically where our defense is weakest.

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A great Spread offense with great players really can't be stopped

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There are two keys to stopping ATM's attack, and both are at the DL.

1. You have to get pressure up the middle to disrupt the QB's timing. Alabama got NO PUSH the entire game. This, even more than poor DB play, is what killed Bama's D. You can get away with less than stellar DB play if your DL is in the QB's face.

2. The DEs must be disciplined and maintain the edge. Too often on Saturday, the Bama DEs rushed inside, and that allowed that little punk QB to get outside. Once outside, the secondary has to decide whether to stay in coverage or break off to defend the scramble.

On the few plays where the DEs maintained the edge, the defense made plays.

All that said, I still think Bama's defense looked surprisingly slow and got pushed around. There were way too many running plays where the ATM ball carrier wasn't touched for five or more yards downfield.

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Game plan is to run the ball and chew clock. U have to score regardless. Rather give them less time than more obviously. That should be the gameplan.

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exactly. Id rather spy Manziel and take my chances on him hitting backshoulder throws to a tower of a receiver. It was a well planned game on both sides. 1 or 2 plays made the difference in the longrun. The turnovers cost both teams a chance to really turn up the pressure