I'm going to rant a little bit here because I like this discussion..

Keep in mind we lost some big leads in 2008/2009 when we had the prototypical "MTAQ" offense. The LSU game was where that quote began and we had a tough second half against an inferior LSU team. Against LSU in 2011, McElwein called the Maze pass that IMO, was just as untimely as the one in the 4th quarter made that Von Bell intercepted. McElwein was also very suspect in the redzone. So maybe our memory of things is a little rosier than what they actually were.

To me, "MTAQ" either means crushing a team's will from the start (Notre Dame 2013) or slowly breaking it over the course of the game (Ole Miss 2009). Its more of a mentality than anything else. It means coming out in the third/fourth quarter and just taking the air out of the game. In 2008/2009, that meant having long, time consuming drives that eat clock and end up with a TD. It means the defense knows what is coming and can't stop it. Then our defense comes out and cleans things up. We did that against Miss State and it didn't really make them quit. We made AU quit this year. We made Missouri quit. We didn't do it against Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU, or Ohio State.

So maybe we still have it. Maybe we don't. You have to be efficient on both sides of the ball to truly make a team quit. All year, we were not consistently efficient in the second half. Both units gave us oppotunities to win the Sugar Bowl that the unit on the other side of the ball failed to capitalize on. You also have to be able to suck it up and commit to running the ball.

Another thing to factor is that teams are not as intimidated by us anymore. They actually get a little more energized because they know we can be beaten. That feeds their resolve. Its gotten to the point now where we get out to big leads and the other team doesn't always fold. If a team is hanging with us in the second half, they catch a second wind because they think want their own "2013 Iron Bowl" moment.