Let me bring up Alabama

Saban is a damn good recruiter and he's now competing with Miles and Meyer for the SEC. He was smart to open up the competition all across the board last year and had 10 freshman starting at various positions. Changes the work ethic tremendously.

Our o-line last year was All-World but it didn't leave much opportunity for backups to get time in... and now we pay the price. Rotate the newbies here and there but not enough time to gell and we start all over again. It's the part of the team that has to work as a group for everything else to work as well... holes for running backs, protection for the QB, screens, etc.

Bama has done an amazing job with the number of personnel they lost last year, including All-American Smith. My money is on them over Florida to get to the title game.... which would be fine by me.

 

Great post imho. I think some of the best examples of this from the past 2 seasons are Hawaii and TX Tech, which both racked up the stats but folded against more physical competition.

 

more on softness. if i were an opposing reciever againt this defense, i would have absolutley no fear in catching a ball in the middle. or anywhere on the field for that matter. i know it is a completey safe catch will little possiblity of getting the s**t knocked out of me. i know i will be allowed to catch my pass and then i will be safely wrapped up and taken down. that's soft. under the circumstances this defense is to be applauded but there are no head hunters on that team.

 

Wasn't this supposed to be Quentin Carter? I think we all expected him to be delivering some knockout blows after that Missouri game last year, and it's disappointing that he hasn't. Even in the dark ages, we had a head hunter back there to level the unsuspecting. And the suspecting, for that matter. Gana Joseph anyone?

To be fair, I think we were much better at not conceding the pass in this last game, but this has been something that has frustrated me for a while and I won't believe we've given up this bad habit until I see us do otherwise for several games in a row. And now that you guys are saying it, the "softness" makes perfect sense, because it explains why I currently have a huge man crush (yeah, I said it) on Demarco Murray right now: he's lowering his shoulder and blasting people. He's welcoming the contact like he never has before. If only he could play 10 other positions at the same time...

 

I guess I can't quite agree with this one. I agree that our players aren't always making plays, but I definitely think they're putting in effort. It's just missed opportunities and mistakes, which is way different than "not giving enough effort". I have my theories as to why, but regardless, I don't think that we're failing for a lack of trying.

 

psst Gator. I was comparing the McElroy led Alabama passing game to the JP Wilson led Alabama passing game. Not to the Oklahoma passing game.

If I was going to compare receiver ineptness between two teams, it would likely be Oklahoma and Florida.

 

I'd rather have someone who can cover, rather than someone just looking to blow people up. With the exception of a few breakdowns, the secondary has been great.

 

It's been around a lot longer than that. CHS is a great website but this commentary is so off base.

Oklahoma's practices are about as hard hitting and physical as you'll see across the nation. The author has obviously never been allowed to see an OU practice (I've been to many), but he continues and so will I:

BYU, Utah both run a spread. But they're exempt from his previous theorey that spread offenses induce softness?

Lumping all three games together instead of looking at these games individually makes sense. It's not like there were a number of extenuating circumstances leading into any of these games.

Then you should probably STOP TALKING. And continue to ignore stuff like OU was a spread passing team in 2000 when they were known as the hardest hitting team in college football. OU was not a spread team in 2005 or 2006, we were a power and zone-rushing offense. But let's not let more inaccuracies stand in the way.

Yea, replacing 100 combined starts on an offensive line is no big deal. But please pat yourself on the back for guessing that it'd be a close game. You obviously predicted the injury to Bradford.

"Spread, spread, spread! I still don't have any evidence for what I'm saying and I'm mislabeling teams, but spread is a cool buzzword!"

Again, Florida plays through the spread offense. Amazing that OU struggles against four teams that have combined to lose 4 games in the stretch we're talking about.

And yet you've never set foot on the OU practice field.

You mean like, when OU was a strictly spread-offense and not the multi-dimensional offense they are now.

Like I said, CHS is a great website but this piece is just trash.

 

LAUGHABLE! The defense was like a sieve that day. Couldn't tackle anyone, for crying out loud!

The only thing more physical about that day was Adrian Peterson. Yeah, you're right, I wish he still played.

 

Oh, me too. But I'd very much like someone who can do both.

 

Good job breaking down the breakdown. As I indicated I was just being the messenger, so it's good to know that there are those on this board that can factually refute stuff like this. Additionally, I know CHS has been around for awhile ... I justg became aware of it last season through another SF poster.