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re: Our defense will return to an elite level
Posted on 1/5/15 at 4:05 pm to AllBamaDoesIsWin
Posted on 1/5/15 at 4:05 pm to AllBamaDoesIsWin
Maybe so...but allowing 300+ yards rushing to an FCS level team (albeit a very good one) is not shutting them down no matter what the excuse...if we didn't take 'em seriously, that's on us...
I'm not saying we weren't a great defense that year, as we ranked at the top of every significant defensive category. I'm just agreeing with the guy that said the 2011 defense wasn't really tested...SEC offenses across the board that year were down, so it's hard to argue our defense was tested when we played no top 20 offenses and only played one of the top 70 that year...
I'm not saying we weren't a great defense that year, as we ranked at the top of every significant defensive category. I'm just agreeing with the guy that said the 2011 defense wasn't really tested...SEC offenses across the board that year were down, so it's hard to argue our defense was tested when we played no top 20 offenses and only played one of the top 70 that year...
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Posted on 1/5/15 at 4:09 pm to OldPete
There is no doubt it wasn't tested.
I just don't wanna see people try to use it negatively against the 11 defense. It was one of the best in CFB history.
I just don't wanna see people try to use it negatively against the 11 defense. It was one of the best in CFB history.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 4:19 pm to OldPete
quote:
We played 3 top 20 offenses in '09 (UF #6, AU #16, Arky #20).
Anyone who watched UF in 2009 could see that they had some pretty glaring problems on offense.
AU wracked up stats on nobodies for most of the year.
I honestly don't even remember anything significant about 2009 Arkansas.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 4:23 pm to AllBamaDoesIsWin
That Georgia Southern game was an outlier. The night before, everyone was excited about Iowa State winning. Triple option is hard to defend, especially when nobody on the team took Georgia Southern seriously.
The 2011 Defense probably gave up just a handfull of legitimate TD drives that year. They were extremely good at feeling things out and then bringing down the hammer. It didn't face many good offenses, but it pretty much shut down every offense it faced in the same fashion.
The 2011 Defense probably gave up just a handfull of legitimate TD drives that year. They were extremely good at feeling things out and then bringing down the hammer. It didn't face many good offenses, but it pretty much shut down every offense it faced in the same fashion.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 8:31 pm to FairhopeTider
Even though the defense Wasnt tested, it doesn't mean they couldn't have hung with the best offenses of CFB that year (or even this past year)
Posted on 1/5/15 at 10:06 pm to MontyFranklyn
quote:
With our recent recruiting I think we should put one of our bulkier safeties in the middle on dime packages
Been saying this for two years!! When it is 3rd and 9, we don't need 300lb linemen and 250 plus backers trying to rush and cover receivers. So frustrating.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 10:28 pm to Bear88
I think we should run the 3-2-6 dime with Evans and Williams on the edges. With Hootie and Clark in the middle that would be hard to beat
Posted on 1/5/15 at 10:30 pm to MontyFranklyn
Never saw a time this year when Williams and Evans were in there that they didn't at least pressure the QB into making a quick throw. Just never saw them at the end of season anymore.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 10:33 pm to Funky Tide 8
quote:
Anyone who watched UF in 2009 could see that they had some pretty glaring problems on offense.
For a team that was #6 in total offense, #1 in passing efficiency, #10 in scoring offense, and #10 in rushing offense, I'm not sure where all the glaring problems were...
quote:
AU wracked up stats on nobodies for most of the year.
Can't argue against that too much...but they did put up some pretty impressive numbers against our D that year, at least for 3 quarters any way...
quote:
I honestly don't even remember anything significant about 2009 Arkansas.
Arky had a good passing attack that year; #9 in scoring offense, #10 in passing offense, and #11 in passing efficiency...
Posted on 1/5/15 at 10:58 pm to AllBamaDoesIsWin
quote:
We definitely want Ragland to stay though. We don't "need" him to, but he would give the D a huge boost.
I kinda think we do need him to stay. Need a veteran to get all the calls. He got a mid-to-late second round grade. He's leaning toward coming back right now.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 11:02 pm to LittleJerrySeinfield
If he comes back it would be huge. Having a veteran on defense is very important. He would be the next alpha dog LB
Posted on 1/5/15 at 11:31 pm to OldPete
quote:
We played 3 top 20 offenses in '09 (UF #6, AU #16, Arky #20). I agree with you 'bout 2011 (we played NO top 20 offenses), highest was Arky at 29) but our 2009 defense was a different story, at least in the quality of offenses we played...
quote:
Disagree. UF was 6th in total offense in 2009 while they were 15th in total offense in 2008...they were also 4th in total defense in '09 while they were 9th in '08...don't see any way that can be accurately described as "considerably worse"...
I was going off the perception of rant posters rather than stats. Thanks for bringing numbers to the argument, but they must be taken with a grain of salt. Who did those teams play against to generate those stats? I'm not automatically dismissing 2009 Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas' offenses but just wondering how good the SEC West and East were that season and their defenses. I truly appreciate your counterargument though and would like to know more about your opinion regarding the legitimacy of the 2009 defense.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 11:36 pm to Cumulonimbus
Is this a good time to bring up Garrett Gilbert leading a near comeback against us?
Going forward, we need to do something about preventing QBs from having career days against us.
Going forward, we need to do something about preventing QBs from having career days against us.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 11:49 pm to FairhopeTider
quote:
Is this a good time to bring up Garrett Gilbert leading a near comeback against us?
The two touchdowns were busted plays. For the most part, the defense dominated Texas.
quote:
Going forward, we need to do something about preventing QBs from having career days against us.
Yes, but what? Why can't Saban (Smart) just take a lesson from defensive coaches that have had success versus the kinds of offenses that give Saban trouble? Saban's defenses should be used to giving up 400+ yards to the elite offenses in the SEC, but the points need to come down. The staff should have looked into copying Derek Mason's Stanford defenses.
Is it possible to recruit for 2 styles of offenses? 2011 LSU had a rare combination of athleticism and power that allowed them to handle up-tempo and pro-style offenses without much difficulty. That level of defense would be hard to reproduce, but Alabama should be able to reproduce the 2012-2013 Stanford defenses since Alabama outrecruits Stanford. Heck, Oregon for the most part can handle modern and pro-style offenses.
Posted on 1/6/15 at 9:10 am to Cumulonimbus
quote:
Thanks for bringing numbers to the argument, but they must be taken with a grain of salt.
I agree, stats don't mean everything...but they do bring a bit of perspective, especially when lookin' back on past seasons. Most of the talkin' heads think the 2008 Florida team was one of the all-time SEC greats and I'm not arguing against that...but when you consider most of the 2009 UF team's offensive and defensive rankings increased significantly from the previous year, I don't see how people can say that the '09 Gators were not in the same class as their '08 team. I'm pretty sure I'm safe in saying that had Tebow & UF won the SECCG in '09, they'd probably be considered one of the best of all-time, maybe the best...
quote:
your opinion regarding the legitimacy of the 2009 defense
I think our 2009 defense was a great one and very underrated on reflection, likely due to our 2011 defense. While we had a number of good defenders on that team, there weren't as many studs as 2011/2012, but they played so well as a team...
Rolando McClain was the glue; he was the personification of Smart/Saban on the field. He had a great grasp of the defense and made all the calls...I remember whenever we were playing spread teams that year, as their QB would look to the sideline for the call, McClain would immediately change our D and get everyone in position, most times without even lookin' over at Smart. While we've had good LBs since him, I don't think we've ever had another one who grasped/embraced the defense like Ro did...
Again, I know stats don't mean everything, but here's how the '09 D stacked up that year:
#2 in Total Defense, Rushing Defense, Scoring Defense, Pass Efficiency Defense, Passes Intercepted, First Downs Defense
#6 in 3rd Down Conversion %
#10 in Passing Defense, Turnovers Gained
Definitely legit. They're one of my favorite Bama defenses as they had a few stars (McClain, Cody, Arenas) and a lot of overachievers: Jackson, Anders, Reamer, Woodall, Deaderick, just to name a few. They also had a few that were making a name for themselves and would especially excel in the following years: Upshaw, Barron, Dareus, & Hightower (got hurt in the 3rd or 4th game and was out for the season)...
ETA just another nugget: Sagarin ranked Bama's strength of schedule as the 2nd toughest in the country in 2009...
This post was edited on 1/6/15 at 6:41 pm
Posted on 1/6/15 at 9:24 am to FairhopeTider
quote:
Is this a good time to bring up Garrett Gilbert leading a near comeback against us?
Going forward, we need to do something about preventing QBs from having career days against us.
I agree with you 'bout our tendency to give up career days for opposing QBs as that's very frustrating. As far as Garrett Gilbert goes though, he just beat us deep on a couple of long plays, one of which was an especially bad busted coverage...other than those 2 plays, he had a pretty miserable game against us: 15-40, 185 yds, 2 TDs, 4 INTs, 1 fumble lost, and a QB rating of 5.6. Our biggest mistake that game was thinking the game was over at halftime and we kinda flipped the switch off...which is some times another frustrating tendency we've had in the past few years...
I can't ever understand why folks, especially UT fans, say that if Colt McCoy had never gotten hurt, that Texas would've won. First off, it's especially ironic since if Sam Bradford hadn't gotten hurt and knocked out of the OU-UT game early on, then you could say that UT would've never even been in the BCS championship game. Second, our whole defensive gameplan was built around the UT offense with McCoy running it...when he was knocked out, we pretty much had to play vanilla D the rest of the way 'cause we had no idea 'bout what UT would do with Gilbert at the helm...
This post was edited on 1/6/15 at 9:26 am
Posted on 1/6/15 at 9:56 am to OldPete
quote:
I can't ever understand why folks, especially UT fans, say that if Colt McCoy had never gotten hurt, that Texas would've won. First off, it's especially ironic since if Sam Bradford hadn't gotten hurt and knocked out of the OU-UT game early on, then you could say that UT would've never even been in the BCS championship game. Second, our whole defensive gameplan was built around the UT offense with McCoy running it...when he was knocked out, we pretty much had to play vanilla D the rest of the way 'cause we had no idea 'bout what UT would do with Gilbert at the helm...
They had success those first few drives and Gilbert had enough success to make a game of it. So that's where that nonsense is coming from. I can understand it, because our offense wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire and I'm not sure how it would've responded if Colt was in there making plays. I agree that our defense changed when he went out.
That said, if Colt McCoy is your entire offense, then it is stupid to risk him getting injured by running him into the teeth of our defense. If you are a national championship team, you should also be able to score a TD with 3 chances from the goal line no matter who the QB is.
Speaking of that game, it just felt like we had a bunch of grown men on defense. Dareus, Ro, Arenas, Cody, etc. You knew they could handle any situation and would never get intimidated. It hasn't felt that way on defense in a few years. That's the kind of elite defense I want.
Posted on 1/6/15 at 10:24 am to MontyFranklyn
Safeties in coverage support was a big weakness.
Posted on 1/6/15 at 10:45 am to nc14
To be honest, our defense was bailed out by our badass run defense and our one good CB all year, and when OSU proved that they could run at will on us, it was bad news.
Posted on 1/6/15 at 10:50 am to Funky Tide 8
We could have run at will on them too, even they admit that.
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