Nick Saban offered the best explanation of why Alabama lost to FSU: the Seminoles were tougher mentally and physically—FSU simply out-toughed Alabama.
It shows the Tide has a long way to go before being a good football team. With a second loss dropping the Tide to 3-2 on the season, fans and “experts†are going to talk about what’s going wrong in Tuscaloosa.
And that’s fair. Even during a reclamation project, reflecting on problems is a good thing. You can’t tell me Nick Saban isn’t doing the exact same thing in his office.
From a fan’s perspective, this season, Alabama’s coaches get a free pass. And to be honest, they should on most things. However since the coaches aren’t getting the blame, it falls almost totally on John Parker Wilson. And that’s unfair. Wilson isn’t a bad quarterback at all. Just look at his numbers from last season. You don’t net over 2,000 yards your first year as a starter without having some talent and ability. So, what’s the difference?
Coaches messing with mechanics?
Maybe.
But the major issue is how Alabama’s game plans over the last two weeks have been offensive in terms of offensive production. One other element is the horrible play calling. Alabama needs to run the football. Run the football, and run the football.
When the quaterback isn’t on, you’ve got to do things to help him. With a supposedly improving offensive line and a trio of decent running backs then you’ve got to put the ball in their hands.
It doesn’t matter if you aren’t as effective as you want to be. Alabama simply didn’t run the ball enough, and isn’t committed to running the football. Watching the FSU game made me long for the days of Mal Moore’s play calling.
To be fair, I’d prefer to see a fullback utilized. I hate having only one back sets. Give me an I-formation or split backs.
But that isn’t my call. Saban and his staff are paid good money to make these decisions. And they know much more than I do. Mistakes, losses and setbacks don’t undermine the public’s confidence in the new regime in Tuscaloosa.
Another Saban smear:
Nick Saban’s image grisly in comparison to Bear Bryant
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The coach who hung heaviest over this college football game was the one who last roamed a sideline a quarter-century ago, underneath a checkered houndstooth hat. Bear Bryant, as both man and memory, has been inspiring Bobby Bowden most of his long life. That very same ghost is chasing Nick Saban, who can’t get away…” That’s the start of a Miami Herald column on Saban. The columnist gives us the usual list of complaints about Saban calling him: paranoid, given to fibs, personality challenged. While I think Bowden is a good coach, I really am tired of reading about how he’s a Saint and Saban is the devil. Here’s the column in Flash:
3 thoughts on “Making sense of the FSU loss”
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I think you do a great job of telling the news! But I don’t think your a great football coach. So stick to the news. Alabama could not run the ball against FSU and that is why they had to throw the ball so much. I am not down on Wilson but I am concerned about his accurcy of throwing the ball. Also whats the deal with DJ Hall, CBS pointed out several times when he was going to get the ball he was only going half speed. Shula let them boys get away with that, if he is going to play that way I’ll buy his bus ticket back home. RollTide
I’ll be the first to admit I’d be horrible as a coach. I don’t have the patience to teach—which despite how Saban comes across, he is a great teacher.
I also don’t know 1/3rd as much as Applewhite or Pendry or anyone else on the staff. To be honest, I prefered Shula’s offense over what we’ve run this season. The problem with Shula wasn’t playcalling it was physical toughness, and execution.
Which is the same problem we’ve had this year. Any offense works, provided you are strong and execute.
As for not being able to run the ball against FSU, how do we know that? Just once in the FSU game or other games, I’d love to see us run three straight times! 😉 To know if you can run, you have to commit to the run…line up and knock people off the ball. But, like you said, the staff did what they did for a reason—and they know more about that than I do. 🙂
It’s amazing and frustrating how fickle our fans can be. During the Stallings era, when we were winning 10 games per year and winning a national championship, all our fans talked about was how boring the offense was. “We need to pass more!” they shouted. “Stop running the ball!”
Now, the “experts” are saying just the opposite, “Why aren’t we running the ball more?”
If we will all look back to the preseason, most everyone agreed that by September’s end, Alabama would be 3-2. Some said 2-3 (counting a loss to Ark.)
So let’s not hit the panic button, and let’s refrain from offering up our expert analyses of the offense, because most of the time we sound pretty ignorant.