Some thoughts on Bama, and some on Ga, from IrishEnvy

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Honestly, the only person I am scared of on Alabama's offense is Amari Cooper. Dude can ball. Bama's backs looked good, but Georgia doesn't believe in fundamental tackling. Instead, they tried to go for the big hit everytime.

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Definitely agree. Of course, we'll have to deal with a nearly month-long, vomit inducing, cringe-worthy nonsense of how overrated ND is from the pundits and fanbases we've discussed ad nauseum around these parts, but the key for me is that the players will too. I saw numerous tweets from ND players welcoming the hate. They use it, take it in, and spin it into their already deep, dense motivation and team unity that they already have.

That's not to think that Bama isn't good. They surely are. They run the ball extremely well and seem to handle their business in an undeniably professional way. They'll be ready to go, and they will play physical for 60 minutes. That, for me, is the toughest matchup - 60 minutes of tough, physical battles in the trenches.

But ND has had those battles all year. That's why I don't understand the ignorance/arrogance and hate towards this Irish team. We've gone through several games just like the one Bama just won, where the team lays it all out there, fights hard and physical the entire time, and relies on their defense to pull it out. It is in those times that team brotherhood is formed, and that is one category where we have Alabama owned.

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It just seems that both ND and Bama stack up pretty evenly across the board in almost every category, so shouldn't the game come down to intangibles like desire, intensity, unity, coaching, and most importantly, team leadership? I like ND's chances in all those.

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Although, Georiga's run D just stinks. Does anyone know how big their linebackers are? They looked really, really small. I don't think Alabama will be able to go for 3-4-5 yards after contact against Carlo and Manti. EDIT: The linebackers of Georgia (that wasnt very clear when I reread it).

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2). Our quarterback, if he doesn't turn it over, is better than theirs, maybe significantly better --- certainly much more talented. Weird to say that going into an NC game. Our receivers also look more athletic than theirs, as a group anyway. They have nothing approaching Eifert, nor did Georgia.

3). Their running backs are brutal, but so are our tacklers --- we're bigger and stronger than Georgia defensively. Still those RBs pose our difficulty. Contain them, no ball turnovers, and we severely limit their scoring. Same verse, just like the first [twelve].

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6). I am not sure that I would say that Alabama is clearly better than either Stanford or Oklahoma. Stanford's as tough, and Oklahoma's as fast or faster. Both are better than Georgia, even though Georgia is a good football team.

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Similar yes, but not as effective. Lacy and Yeldon are good, but they aren't Montee Ball and James White good. Alabama's line is almost or about as good as that Wisconsin line. Difference is, while Ball wasn't as big as Lacy, he was just as powerful and a lot faster.

ND has faced RB's as good or better than Lacy and Yeldon (Le'Veon Bell, Stepfan Taylor, Damien Williams/Brennan Clay, Ray Graham, Curtis McNeal/Silas Redd). They also faced the best FB in college football (Trey Millard). So power running doesn't scare me at all. ND has seen it before.

Georgia couldn't handle it because they weren't coached very well on tackling. Georgia tries for the big hit and uses poor tackling mechanics, while ND wraps up and brings down the player and makes sure he's down.

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