Would you make the defense less advanced?

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We have young guys who I know will be really good in the future but it would nice to of seen them a little.

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This was pretty frustrating to be honest. Back in 2015 we put in Rashaan Evans and Da'Shawn Hand in the title game to get pressure and it worked.

The fact we didn't even attempt it on Monday night is baffling.

I might be misremembering but I could've sworn I saw 9 out there rushing the passer.

Anyway, to answer the OP, yes I think it needs to be dumbed down a little. Their gameplan was literally take advantage of Alabama trying to get into the perfect play call. At some point that stuff is just eye candy and you end up with blown assignments and easy big plays. They were like 10-15 on 3rd down and many of those weren't just 1st downs, they were huge plays. Saban acknowledged what they were doing with his "copycat" comment like he knew exactly what they were doing but didn't plan for it because Clemson hadn't done that stuff yet. It's like he was surprised that they scouted well.

I digress. The "complex defense" used to work because offenses weren't so multiple. Nowadays they just look to the sideline and change the play to Spongebob or Lee Corso and, with a heady QB, just take what the defense gives them. A complex defense also greatly hinders your team if there is any sort of turnover related to injuries or suspensions. It's a great concept in theory, but it's pretty difficult to implement with moving parts. It's an NFL defensive scheme that takes time to grasp. We had guys that've played 25+ games in this scheme and their heads were spinning at times saturday night. They did things from a formation and motion standpoint that they knew would cause confusion and the result was probably about 150 yards of offense that was essentially uncontested.

At some point I think it's beneficial to put a hat on a hat and ask your guy to handle their guy

Let's not over-react to a loss. We were young on defense and played a bad game. Also have injuries and personell issues. Clemson has probably been getting ready for bama all year long.

Saban's bread and butter is being one of the best defensive minds out there. Sure when we are young, I could see "dumbing it down" a small amount - but anything drastic would be like taking away a strength

You’re right! I guess it’s a bigger discussion than just this game. As a Falcons fan people complain because Dan Quinn comes from the Pete Carroll school of defense...get athletes, let them play fast, keep it really simple, make teams drive on you. He gets killed for it being so simple. I remember when I realized how advanced our D was is when Kirby said after two years said he STILL couldn’t do the pattern matching scheme because it wasn’t enough guys in the secondary who could do it.

When you are young like that you simplify what you are doing or you better get a pass rush.

I think Clemson had been scouting us for quite some time and if we get back again this will be the case once more. Not just having a consultant or two breaking down film but gameplanning. Let me preach on it.

They got a draw in the playoffs they knew they could handle. Their regular season and the championship game were all cakewalks, or should have been and will be next year. They could turn their attention to the team they knew they had to beat to win it all.

After the Aggie game next year they will waltz back to the playoffs. No one will come close. They will have weeks and weeks to get ready for a 1 or 2 week season.

If we play them again, I am not letting Lawrence stand back there on third down. If they block with 5, I send 6 or maybe 7. I am getting to him on third down no matter what.Not every third down, mix it up a little. But he is going to understand what real pressure is when that night is over with. I saw signs that he doesn't like it much at all, when he got a little on him he made some errant throws.

He isn't used to it and won't be .Heat him to beat him.

Scheme and philosophy are fine imo. It was the game plan and lack of adjustments that done us in. More than that though is that our offense did our defense no favors. We were built to win a shootout if needed this year yet only scored two touchdowns. If we still had a Lane Kiffin on the sidelines our offense matches them score for score at least giving us a chance.

I don't get some of you. Threads about firing folks, threads about making massive or fundamental changes, etc.

We just 55-4 with a senior class and you guys want to make wholesale, massive changes just because we had a bad game?

Sure, coaching stability would definitely be a positive, but if anything has been proven, Saban needs to keep doing what he's doing as it is obviously the Gold Standard of what a program needs to be doing.

We were a great team with some flaws. We went up against a similarly great team with flaws who played their A game the same day we brought our C game.

Get over it.

No, we just need more depth in the front 7. We beat Clemson with a pass rush on Monday

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We weren't out coached

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I won't beat the dead horse but we weren't just outcoached, Dabo took him behind the woodshed.