SB Nation User Blog: 5026

UT's (Kiffin's) Problems

5026 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:53:48 -0000

Ok, UT is excited because they have Bama’s recruiter. But UT has real problems. Recruiting talent to UT has never been a problem. For several years they were near the top. Yet somehow the talent has resulted in little except one NC.

The real problems with UT go back to that NC. It was 1998 and UT was on top. What happened? They (Fulmer) became obsessed with Alabama. From 1998 on the program declined including two losing seasons. Now they hire this kid and that is going to solve the problems? He has no experience as a college HC, no knowledge of the SEC, and a terrible record in the NFL. The only thing he has done is guide an offense that Norm Chow had already put together. USC is a great team, but winning there is not as hard as winning in the SEC.

So, wonderkid hires his daddy. That sounds smart, but who is going to be running the show? I can’t see dad taking orders. Then he gets what everyone thinks is the greatest staff ever. Ok, coach O maybe a decent coach. But I’m not so sold on the rest. I don’t think Gran or Wilson are the tops in their field. I think SC was pushing Reaves out the door. Supposedly these 3 were hired because they were great recruiters but I don’t see it.

Then, still obsessed with Bama, they get LT in an underhanded way. But, what have they got? A coach who is not a great position coach (they didn’t even like him at UCF.) As far as being a super recruiter I think he has done great at Bama, but he was assigned a talent rich area, Mobile, and kids wanted to get in on Saban being at Bama. Saban is the closer than made LT’s recruits sign.

So, has Kiffin blown it? He got supposed SUPER recruiters (debatable) at the expense of not having great position coaches. He got his dad to work under him (won’t happen). He has hired a bunch of guys that he has not worked with. He focused media attention on himself bragging that he had stolen other SEC schools top recruiters (stupid thing to brag on.) Now, he can’t fly under the radar even in his 1st year. He must win right out of the gate. Looking at UT’s schedule for 09 7-5 is about where they will end up- they could be 5-7. (They have 8 tough games UF, UGA, UA, Ole Miss, SC, UK, AU, and UCLA)

He has created problems for himself with his flamboyance as he now MUST win, but can he? I'd be shocked if he is better than 7-5. But hey, he is young, good looking, famous family and his wife is hot. Reminds me of Shula.

I don't like Tebow

5026 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:23:01 -0000

Well the Gators are #1 and I think most people will agree. I'm not so sure they are really the best team as it appears the Big 12 is just not as good as advertised. I think the USC defense could give them fits and I think Utah's quick pass attack would be hard to defend. OU could have won the game if they had played it smart after the 2nd Tebow INT when they tried to run it in. If they had passed to their TE down on the goal line they would have scored. If they scroed then it would have been a different game. The SECCG could have been different if we had not tried to go deep after falling behind in the 4th but instead tried to run Coffee to the left.

But even though UF is # 1 I don't like them and I really don't like Tebow. How does he not get called for celebration with some of the on field things he does after a run or TD etc? And, then even late in the game he is taunting the OU players doing the chomp etc. To me that shows no class. But is the same stuff he has been pulling for 3 years and everybody just gives him a pass. Remember the phone thing at LSU last year--and nothing. JPW does a lot less and we get 15 yards.

But it seems Tebow can do no wrong. And I am tired of these stories about how Tebow has done this or done that. To me half of what he has done has been to play to the press to hype him or UF. I'm sorry I do not see any humility in Tebow. I hope he does return, and I hope we get him one more time in the SECCG. I honestly think he can be stoped and I think we can stop him. I'd love to see him crying after the game too.

People...It Is ONE Game

5026 — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:41:21 -0000

It is amazing how some so called fans are ready to jump ship over one game. I say let them go. Let’s look at the facts.

Fact #1- Utah is a very good team. Their QB was spot on and when you run into something like that you are in for a long night. Our DB’s are not as good as Utah or UF’s receivers- RIGHT NOW. In time they will be. By the way I’d love to see Utah play UF.

Fact #2- It actually could have been much worse. I’m sure when were down 21-0 with 3 qts. to go Utah was thinking they could make a real statement by hanging half a hundred on us. Thankfully we didn’t quit.

Fact #3- Even though we played a bad game against a good team we still had a chance to win in the 4th qt. That shows you the heart of this team.

Fact #4- Our team is young. Actually I was somewhat proud of the way they responded to being down by so much so early. I saw frustration but I did not see anyone quit. These guys will be back and they will remember this loss. It will motivate them in the off season.

Fact #5- We don’t lose that much by losing this game. This was not a championship game, not a conference game and we will likely finish # 6 or #7 in the polls. We will only drop 3 spots at most and it will be our best finish since 1994. Obviously you want to win every game you play but this loss is not a devastating loss. It only seems like a terrible thing because people think Utah is no good.

Fact #6- Our best days are ahead. We had the #1 recruiting class last year. We are presently ranked #4 in recruiting for this year. I think all our commits are pretty solid and will not let this game change their mind. We need to sign these guys and a few others and then we are going to really be good. We think the 22 we sent out there to start Friday night were the most awesome players since the 92 squad. Let me tell you, the 22 we start next Sept., as a unit, will be better athletes than the 22 we started Friday. Do you remember that when signed these guys Greenwood was 3 stars, Wilson- 3, Caldwell-3, Stover-4, Oakley- 2, Marlon Davis- 3, Walker-2, McCall- 3. These 9 guys averaged less than 3 stars. We are going to be better with the 4 and 5 stars we signed and are going to sign. I can’t say we will have a 12-0 start next year, because some of the games we won this year (UK, UM, LSU) were close and could have gone the other way. But we should be 10-2 regular season and after that who knows. We have a favorable conference schedule next year, and there are many new and inexperienced coaches on our schedule. There is not a game on our schedule that I don’t think we can win. Coming into this year I thought we absolutely could not beat Clemson, UGA, LSU, and AU. Our biggest problem next year is going to be getting a starting QB to play like a veteran. (Which we will do- just wait and see how good our new QB is going to be..)

We lost a game. One game. Our program is in good shape and the future is very bright. Those freaking out by this game need to just get over it. Those bowl less Aubies and Vols from the safety of their living rooms proclaiming us to be a fluke have no idea about what is in store for them. UF lost to Michigan last year it didn’t seem to mean much this year did it?

Hey Coach Saban

5026 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:54:48 -0000

I doubt if you have time to read this, but I wanted to comment. I read that you said you wished you could have done more tp help us win.

Well first of all I thought the team was very well prepared. I don't know if anyone in football can totally shut down Florida, but I think our D did a good job. I also think our offense showed great courage coming back not once but twice on a very good Florida defense. We definitely could have and should have won.

Secondly, we Bama fans take defeat, any defeat, personally. We let it bother us for a long time. I'm kinda glad you let it bother you too. There are no moral victories. We hate losing that game, the SEC, and even a shot at being Number 1. But, as I was leaving the dome I did not hear one Bama fan blaming any player or any coach. This team has won the respect of the entire Bama nation and we will never forget these 9 seniors. I was proud to be from Alabama today and I was proud of our players and coaches. We have the best head coach and coaches in the country.

Third, we made mistakes in this game, but they are mistakes which can be corrected. But, you can not correct everything in one day, or one week, or even one season. The improvement from last year to this year was beyond anyone's dream. If we can make even a small bit of improvement from year 2 to year 3 we will win it all next year. Last year we were not really even in the same league with people like Florida, Oklahoma and USC. But now we are a legit top 5 team and I believe we are not going backwards.

Finally, if I could say anything to this team I'd tell them that the 2009 season starts on Jan. 2, 2009. Last year, after Auburn, our team started working hard toward 2008. Well look here we won 13 in a row and are 13-1 since Auburn last year. Now we start 2009. We have Utah and then just a short stretch before a tough ACC winning Va Tech team( I'm guessing we are playing them) back at the same dome. And as far as I'm concerned yesterday was just Bama vs UF round one. Right now we start getting prepared for round two come next Dec. And we start by getting back on the winning track by waxing a Utah bunch where Urban Meyer once coached. Surely he has some friends still there, what do you think?

Lucky Alabama ?

5026 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:04:42 -0000

I keep hearing how Alabama is lucky. How we just get all the breaks like the INT against LSU or Ole Miss throwing an incomplete pass etc.

Well I guess in some ways we are lucky. We are lucky that Mrs. Rich Rod cried about coming to Bama. Can you guess where we would be now with RR. We are also lucky that Nick Saban was not happy in the NFL at just the time we needed a coach. He is not only a great coach, he is the perfect fit for the way Alabama wants to play and win football. And we are lucky that Major Applewhite went to back to his alma mater because he might fit there but not here and we would not be undefeated this year with him as OC. We are also lucky that the guy who coached Cody in juco ball called Bama, and not say Auburn, and that Saban was willing to gamble a scholarship on a kid too big to play in D1. We are even lucky that Mike Shula, who may have been just an average recruiter, took a chance on a punt returner named Arenas when no one else wanted him.

But these 12 wins have nothing to do with luck. If anything our schedule before the start of the season looked like a bad draw. No, these 12 wins came about because this team bought into "The Process" and worked from the day after last year’s Auburn game until now. In fact how far we have come is a result of how hard these guys have worked.

Now we face a team that has great athletes, probably more great athletes than we have, and Superman playing QB to boot. Their team has also worked hard. But, and I truly believe this, they have not worked as hard as our guys have to get to this game. What will happen Sat. is very difficult to say. If the hardest working team wins, then Bama will win. If the super star filled team wins, then we will likely lose. But, even if the super stars beat us we will not hang our heads because nobody has given as much as our guys have given. And sometimes, maybe even this time, hard work trumps raw talent. And if we win this game it will have nothing to do with luck!!

Question About The Sugar Bowl

5026 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:01:13 -0000

I've got a question about the Sugar Bowl. It looks like Utah is going to be in the BCS. I've seen predictions that they will be in Sugar Bowl against the loser of the SEC Championship game (assuming both UA & UF win next week.) I do think Bama can beat Florida. But no matter who goes from the SEC, playing Utah stinks. I think UGA got a bad deal last year playing Hawaii. And how many Utah fans will travel from Utah anyway? My question is, and maybe some of you guys know this, is Utah a lock for the Sugar Bowl? How could we get such a bad deal two years in row? Not saying the SEC would kill Utah, I just would rather play Ohio State, USC, Texas, etc. I'd even rather play Cin.

Upchurch: A New Wrinkle

5026 — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 17:40:37 -0000

When we ran the "bone" in the 70's one of the best things about it was how we kept adding new wrinkles just to keep the other team off balance.

Last night we ran a new wrinkle, at least I had not seen it - Upchurch at a fullback with Coffee at a tailback. Upchurch at fullback really creates problems for the other team. I don't think they can cover him with a linebacker if we pass it to him. But if they bring a DB to cover him then I think it gives us an advantage if we run. And by the way, what a great block he got on Coffee's TD run.

Upchurch ran great last night at Running Back and I think he is a hidden talent for us there. But, I can't wait to see all the ways coach Mac is going to use him at fullback. Don't look for too much this week against Ark St. but I suspect we will see something from Upchurch at Fullback against LSU.

Can We Put Someone Away?

5026 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:10:57 -0000

Going into the UGA I was actually very confident we were the better team and believed we would win.

However, UK & Ole Miss, although pretty good teams, have really made my confidence level low.

As we head to UT I'm concerned. Their D is very good and they seem to pick off QB's a lot (JPW?). I know their O has been bad, but it seems they have at least settled on a QB and a style of play. They seem to be improving.

But what worries me is not UT, but Bama's inability to put teams away at home none the less. We could not put Tulane away, let UGA make a comeback, and definitely could not put UK and Miss away. It seems it doesn't matter who we play we have a hard time ending the game. If we let UT stay in the game you can never tell what could happen late.

This reminds me of not putting people away last year. Houston was a crazy game we almost lost and we certainly didn't put Ole Miss away when we had a chance last year . Even Colorado had a chance at the end. That game should have been a blow out but was tooooo close. Then the losses to FSU, MSU & ULM were just terrible football on display. (UGA, AU, & LSU had more players than us last year so those losses hurt but not as much.)

So, I expect to win Sat. as I believe we are the better team. But would I bet the house on this game? No, I wouldn't even bet dinner. I just hope we can put them away and relax a bit late and not be having as my daughter says "Come To Jesus Meetings" in the last 2 minutes.

It's all on the D now

5026 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:10:13 -0000

With 5 games to go it seems to me our success is going to be totally decided by the Defense. Everybody has figured out the way to stop Bama is play a tight man, pack the box, and then make JPW beat you. JPW is better this year than last year thanks to our new OC, but is he really the guy you can count on to win the close games? I don't know, but I am not confident.

Our running game seems to be less each week and to me our offense is now in middle of the SEC. ( I think UGA, UF, Ole Miss, & LSU are all better on O than us.) Our "great" line may have 3 future NFL guys playing there, but they are not good enough to play 5 on 7 and have success. Since the 2nd half of UGA we have looked unable to control the game from the offensive side. We will have long runs or long bombs, but we can't seem to grind much out. Even a good drive against UK ended with only a FG. Saturday success was largely due to field position and big plays.

So, it seems it is all on the D now. Fortunately UT, MSU, and AU all seem to be poor offensive teams so maybe our D can handle them. Unfortunately, as we saw Sat., our D is not as good without Cody. Hopefully he will somehow make it back for LSU which has the best O we will face the rest of the way. Even if he is 90% I'd play him just to get their mind on him.

The really bad thing is if you are playing to win with the D you need a good kicking game. Both punting and kick-offs are weak. Do you ever notice how almost every school's kicker get's it to the end zone on kick-offs except us? Do you ever notice how almost every school's punter punts it higher and deeper than us? We are terrible here and even when we signed a kicking guy to a scholly he can't beat out the walk-ons. Man, we could sure use a good punter now.

Ole Miss= Biggest Game of the Year

5026 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:31:10 -0000

Hear me out. Our biggest game to date was UGA. But, AT THE TIME, we were not thinking of a NT or an undefeated season. We were hoping to get to the SEC championship. In that light a loss to UGA would not have changed much. We figured we would still need to beat LSU and so LSU was seen as our biggest game.

But now things are different. There is a good chance LSU will lose to either SC or UGA. After last Sat I'd say there is at least a 60/40 chance of this happening. Now, look at our schedule. I just can't see us losing to UT, MSU, or AU because none of these teams has an offense. Now that could change as their coaches are trying anything to kick start them. But you have to say our chances to beat all three looks preety good.

Considering that, a win Sat. should mean we finish the SEC 7-1 at the worst. That would be if we lost at LSU- the worst case senario. I just have to think 7-1 will get us to ATL even with a loss at LSU. Furthermore, 11-1 regular season should have us ranked about #4 or #5. We would be playing a UGA or UF team ranked #2 or #3. If we win that game say against a #2 ranked UF, we would jump to #2 and play for the NT.

However, lose to Ole Miss and, although we still control our destiny, that destiny runs through Baton Rogue. That is why I think this is the most important game of the year. And, Ole Miss is very capable of beating us as we all know form their win at UF. Based on their game with UF and LSU's game with UF you would have to think Ole Miss is the most likely team on our schedule to beat us. This game has "trap" written all over it even at home.