***** NCG: Tide v Tigers Game Thread *****

Based on this game iI think Our pass defense is pretty. Let's get some meat on the lines and we'll be good

 

Even the tide defense had problems stopping the tiger running game, that last drive anyway. Predictably, the bama secondary gave up a lot yardage but they held on in the fourth quarter to shut down the Clemson comeback. It was also somewhat gratifying to see so many negative plays suffered by bama. They gave up what, 5 sacks on Coker. There was a comment about how many times they faced 3rd down and 9 yards to go or more. I kept thinking, "See! OU is a good team but that Clemson line is very good!"

 

Kicker by rule can never be offsides on a kick

 

Those were two good teams with big, fast athletes. Another championship for the South.

 

How many times did Venebles defenses get beat deep when he was with us? Those 2 TD's to the tightend brought back some bad memories.

 

On a play by play basis, Clemson appeared to be the better team, but they made *all* the mistakes. The 1 turnover, the 2 blown coverages on the TE and the mistakes on the KO return team (I believe a KO TD can only happen by blown coverage). I actually like it when good coaching trumps physical prowess and that's what happened last night. Bama coaches saw a flaw in the TE coverage and took advantage at just the right time. And they noticed the open area on the wide side of the KO coverage and dared the onside kick (credit the kicker for perfect execution). Had the mistakes been even or just slightly in Bama's favor, Clemson wins the game. I hope Bobby and staff take that as a challenge.

Also, no way is this an SEC!SEC! victory. The SEC was weak overall this year and this was just a pure Saban/Bama victory, although I'm sure the SEC riff-raff teams will claim otherwise.

 

A well fought game. Was rooting for the Tigahs, but alas. Both teams were in it.

5-0

 

Venables' defense gave up 200 yards in four plays. Seems depressingly familiar, somehow.

 

Clemson got out coached. Veneble's defense didn't looked as prepared.....

 

I wonder what the outcome would have been if a few penalties had gone Clemson's way like an unsportsmanlike for the many times an Alabama player clapped towards a Clemson player or a face mask on the Alabama runner who used a stiff arm to the head of the Clemson tackler.

This game came down to Saban and his offensive coaches finding a glaring weaknes in Venable's defense....the inability to account for the TE. I liked how they moved him around and put him in motion. It was the difference in the game. I know that LR was watching this game and he is a bright boy.Hope to see a lot of Andrews next year.

 

Neither defense looked great which was surprising

 

All I'll say is what a ballgame! Hats off to Dabo and Clemson. They played about as well as could be asked of them. Kirby Smart and our D were severely out-coached, we were not able to drive consistently, but had a bevy of explosive plays on O which were, along with the onside kick, really the difference. When it came to moving the ball between the 20 yd lines, I felt like they outplayed us. But, fotunately, our B- game beat their A game. That fourth quarter was one for the ages. If you had told me before the game that we would win a shootout, I would have laughed. Unpredictability though is one of the things that makes college football so great. It's been a great run and will be interesting to see how long Saban can sustain this level of success.

Let's meet in Tampa on 1-9-2017.

 

Not gonna happen. See the "Does anybody really think Stoops.." thread.