Important! Alabama or Notre Dame?

[Elan]

Don't care about the mythical national championship game. Like last year's game, another match up of 2 pathetic offenses.

But I am enjoying watching Louisville show Florida how real defense is played. What a fricking beat down, and it would be even worse if Louisville could kick it thru the uprights.

[SunSand]

I'm a little concerned about the kind of monster that might be created with a Notre Dame win, but they do seem destined. Kelly is the "Coach of the year" for a reason. Coach Kelly should give Nick Saban a real test. I'm just happy to see two great Coaches and teams, playing for the top prize. Should be fun to watch.

[Carta]

Nd.....24-23

[phyllispsu]

Roll Tide!

[Talent312]

Originally Posted by phyllispsu

Roll Tide!

SEC... SEC... SEC... Where real football is played.
About Louisville: Guess where Coach Strong came from.
.
.

[jme]

Originally Posted by Talent312

SEC... SEC... SEC... Where real football is played.
About Louisville: Guess where Coach Strong came from.
.
.

Yes, he COACHED at Florida for 15 years, and he knows and breathes SEC football, and more importantly he knows how to recruit the 3 and 4-star players for his own program.....and of course how to properly coach them.

He also coached at South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Notre Dame-----and learned a few things at each.

Perhaps Louisville will become an eastern power now, who knows, but day in, day out, he will lose most games against SEC teams, mostly because the recruiting there is even better.

To his credit, his Cardinals played an outstanding game. I was pulling for them bigtime......he deserved the victory, and he's a good man. I'm surprised he stayed at Louisville, but he honored his commitment, and was loyal to the man who offered him the chance there.

I thought Florida didn't look as good as before the holidays. No excuses, though, Florida got beat. Yeehah, because I hate the gators. Coach Will Muschamp is a jerk, and it was a pure pleasure to see him seethe. It probably took him only 3 minutes to rake his yard today. And I pity his wife. She probably took off on a beach trip.

I'm a UGA fan, and I only wish we had survived the Alabama game......but Alabama's great....we've got a lot of young talent at UGA, and next year looks mighty good.

[Mosca]

Originally Posted by Talent312

About Louisville: Guess where Coach Strong came from.
.
.

I'm pretty sure that's a Big East school. Louisville went to 9 consecutive bowl games from '98 through '07. Bobby Petrino was the coach from '03 through '06. I guess if you can attribute a Big East bowl victory over an SEC powerhouse to their head coach having formerly been an assistant in the SEC, everyone else can say that Arkansas only got their 2012 bowl victory (2011 season) by taking a head coach from a Big East team.

Or you could just laugh at a primo SEC school being taken down by the cream of the crappy Big East.

[Elan]

No offense to Gator fans, but I don't see how anyone could have watched that game last night and not come away with the impression that Louisville would win that match-up at least 60% of the time. It wasn't as close as the final score indicated -- Louisville opened a huge can of whoop-ass on the Gators, dominating in first downs, yards, and ToP. The UF defense simply couldn't get the Cardinals off the field. Louisville was 9/14 on 3rd down and didn't punt until midway through the 4th quarter. Those aren't the signs of an upset.

[jme]

one thing's for sure----there have been some awesome bowl games this year.

right down to the wire.....

consider: Clemson-LSU, Ga-Neb, SoCarolina-Mich, Texas-Oregon St,
Mich St-TCU, Boise St.-Wash, Stanford-Wisc, Lou-Fla-------all amazing games.

in the past, 80% of bowl games have been boring, but this is great!!!!!

a few more good ones to go........

Can't wait til Fall !!!

[MelBay]

Some aren't wild about him, but I happen to love Clay Travis, who runs Outkick the Coverage. He also wrote Dixieland Delight (great read).

He came to Mizzou's first SEC game/beatdown, and happened to say in the hotel room next to us. He even signed his book for me.

Here's today's column:

15 Reasons to Hate Alabama and 15 Reasons to Hate Notre Dame

[jme]

here's an SEC hit for you (watch the whole thing for a cool slow-mo) :

http://deadspin.com/5972378/jadeveon...ium=socialflow

comments afterward on Twitter:

"With one hit, Clowney has obliterated the state of Michigan. Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have only 49 states."

"Today's forecast: Clowney with a chance of Pain."

"Somebody please call Michigan to see if it still exists."

"Even Chuck Norris is afraid of Jadeveon Clowney."

"Did anyone get that tag number?"

"Earthquake sirens went off in Cuba."

"Clowns can no longer wear red noses. Only Michigan players can do that."

"16 tons and whaddaya git? Clowney up da middle on a Mafia hit."

"Roger Goodell has already suspended Jadeveon Clowney for the first three games of his NFL career, whenever that is, for hits to be named later."

"Tampa's first murder of the New Year."





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[Beaglemom3]

Yikes. 21 - 0 !





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[am1]

I did not expect anything else.

[jme]

Originally Posted by Elan

Don't care about the mythical national championship game. Like last year's game, another match up of 2 pathetic offenses.

But I am enjoying watching Louisville show Florida how real defense is played. What a fricking beat down, and it would be even worse if Louisville could kick it thru the uprights.

pathetic offenses? you mean perhaps non-flashy and boring in the case of Alabama, mostly because they march up and down the field scoring at will. In my mind, that's a dominant offense in the best sense of the word. All business. Maybe one of the best college offenses of all time. Hope you're watching the "pathetic offense" being displayed in the first half vs ND, to the tune of 28-0. Guess you're not familiar with the SEC. I'm not an Alabama fan, but I do recognize greatness.

[Elan]

Originally Posted by jme

pathetic offenses? you mean perhaps non-flashy and boring in the case of Alabama, mostly because they march up and down the field scoring at will. In my mind, that's a dominant offense in the best sense of the word. All business. Maybe one of the best college offenses of all time. Hope you're watching the "pathetic offense" being displayed in the first half vs ND, to the tune of 28-0. Guess you're not familiar with the SEC. I'm not an Alabama fan, but I do recognize greatness.

Missed tackles don't make great offense. You must be listening to the game on the radio.

[TUGBrian]

not sure how you see 500+ yards of offense against the "number 1 defense in the country...ha" as pathetic....

are 120+ other schools in FBS that would trade anything to be this pathetic.

[jme]

Originally Posted by Elan

Missed tackles don't make great offense. You must be listening to the game on the radio.

you miss 'em when you can't bring 'em down.

certainly you've not watched the runs up the middle. time after time after time, 7, 8 10 yard runs. All due to missed tackles, I presume. are ND players falling down on purpose? really. again, Alabama has one of the best offenses ever. Even Kirk Herbstreit says they're running against a 7-man front, and running right thru them.

kirk just said ND "hasn't seen this kind of speed all year". Guess he and I don't know much. watch a lot of football there in Idaho?

[jme]

Originally Posted by TUGBrian

not sure how you see 500+ yards of offense against the "number 1 defense in the country...ha" as pathetic....

are 120+ other schools in FBS that would trade anything to be this pathetic.

AMEN, bro

and of course you're absolutely right.

STATS TALK.

Monti T'eo, Heisman candidate, has been invisible tonight....wonder why. i say he hasn't faced a team like this! Sure, they beat USC, but then lowly ACC team Ga Tech (7-7 record) whipped USC.

passing game ain't too shabby either. great team Alabama, truly great----one of best ever, and it hurts because I'm a Georgia fan.....gotta watch these guys a few more years under Nick Saban....he doesn't make 5.3 million a year to run a "pathetic" offense. maybe he's greasing up the running backs.

btw, A. J. McCarron is the FIRST and ONLY Quarterback in HISTORY to win back-to-back National Championships. (darn, those missed tackles must be contagious)
That's a fairly lofty status, I'd say. Anyway, i've had a good laugh tonight. wonder how many yards of offense Alabama has? It's a bunch!

Commentator Kirk Herbstreit just said near end of game, "Alabama is the best dynasty he's ever seen in college football". Pretty strong words.

Anyway, Thanks for backing me up, Brian.....guess we have a better perspective listening on radio.......lol





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[Elan]

Originally Posted by jme

you miss 'em when you can't bring 'em down.

certainly you've not watched the runs up the middle. time after time after time, 7, 8 10 yard runs. All due to missed tackles, I presume. are ND players falling down on purpose? really. again, Alabama has one of the best offenses ever. Even Kirk Herbstreit says they're running against a 7-man front, and running right thru them.

kirk just said ND "hasn't seen this kind of speed all year". Guess he and I don't know much. watch a lot of football there in Idaho?

The game has actually gone pretty much as I expected. Both defenses, as good as they have been against the run, are vulnerable to the pass (as Manziel and Murray showed). I figured McCarron would do a better job exploiting the weakness because he's more experienced than Golson. That doesn't make Bama a good passing offense (they're 79th in the country in passing), but it does make for a long night for UND, because their inability to move the ball let Bama's offense get back on the field. A team with a decent set of corners that could put 8 or 9 guys in the box is what it takes to slow down Bama. That's not the Irish.

One lopsided game isn't going to change my opinion when the year long stats fully support my position. This game was a very good match-up for Alabama. Just like LSU (another piss poor passing team) was last year.

Yeah, I watch a lot of college football.............

[jme]

Originally Posted by Elan

The game has actually gone pretty much as I expected. Both defenses, as good as they have been against the run, are vulnerable to the pass (as Manziel and Murray showed). I figured McCarron would do a better job exploiting the weakness because he's more experienced than Golson. That doesn't make Bama a good passing offense (they're 79th in the country in passing), but it does make for a long night for UND, because their inability to move the ball let Bama's offense get back on the field. A team with a decent set of corners that could put 8 or 9 guys in the box is what it takes to slow down Bama. That's not the Irish.

One lopsided game isn't going to change my opinion when the year long stats fully support my position. This game was a very good match-up for Alabama. Just like LSU (another piss poor passing team) was last year.

Yeah, I watch a lot of college football.............

all fine and good. But you'll never convince ANYONE that Alabama has a lousy offense, much less pathetic. If you truly feel so, please be my guest to call ESPN Radio post-game show and share your assessment, and please record it for me---I'd pay to hear the responses. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, just call the ND defensive line and ask those guys. Or at least, call those who can still walk and talk. I'd pay to hear that, too.

Alabama's offense is talented, consistent, and relentless.....and most of the whole offensive team will play on Sundays.

79th in passing because they don't NEED to pass to win. They're a running team---what every other team in history is trying to accomplish. Purely passing teams lose in the end. Where've you been?

Alabama is simply a solid team top to bottom, especially for a bunch of 18-21 year olds. The offense, as you witnessed tonight, cut and slashed and mixed it up very well, and the end result was that they annihilated ND. I'd love to see them play A & M again. For a college team, their offense is about as dominant as any team ever. A solid offensive line--- as good as they get---- and perhaps as good as some NFL teams. Opposition looks terrible when they get blown away at the line.

and then the great RB's run 7,10, 15 yard plays at will, and many times break for longer. Then a 40 yard "out" pass on a rope gains big......just a magnificent display of offense for kids.

and if they're not good, who is? When you whip a supposed great defense like this (not my opinion), it only means one thing----you're good------ and I surely didn't witness a series of lucky plays tonight---it was pure domination-----like i said, not flashy, but efficient, precise, and overwhelming.

If their passing isn't great, as you say, then at least they're as good or better than anyone else. If not, where's that team? Sure looked to me like Alabama completed a lot of passes tonight, long and short, sideline to sideline.

enough. I'm trying to state the obvious, and there's no need.

Just remember, there are a lot of reasons for missed tackles...and one is a great player with deceptive moves or power, or both, who is far superior to the opposition. Pro scouts are not ignorant.






.

[mjm1]

Hats off to Alabama. I don't care for Saban, but he has rebuilt the Alabama program like none other. I am a Notre Dame fan and hoped for the best, but knew Bama had the better team. Great year for both programs. Now back to the NFL.

[Mosca]

Ouch. Too bad Ohio State was on probation, Alabama wouldn't have been in the championship game, and ND might have had someone they'd have had a chance against. Urban Myer was overheard leaving the ESPN studios muttering that he'd better get started on next season right away! (Heard that on Mike & Mike this morning on the way to work.)

Congratulations, Alabama fans! How the heck did the Tide manage to lose to A&M? Truth be told, A&M looked really freakin' good the other night. I'd give them the #2 final ranking.

Best part for ND fans is the way the team responded afterward: they admitted the obvious and were thankful for being shown how much further they need to go, how much better they need to be.

Worst part for ND fans was watching guys not finish up tackles. I don't think there was anything that could have changed the outcome, but they were clearly dominated emotionally as well as physically; they were hesitant and intimidated right from the get-go. Had the defense played as well as they had in their best games, they could have kept the game from getting so far out of hand early on. I'll chalk that one up to coaching. Saban is the best when given a month to prepare. His team came in confident and ready. Kelly had to have learned something from him this time around.

All told, I'll take going 12-0 regular season and getting beat in the championship game every year, if the alternative is the 5-7, 6-6, 3-8, 7-5 stuff we ND fans have endured for the last 10 years. And ND is more than just the football, just like Alabama is. See you next year, Tide, I hope!

[csxjohn]

IMO there is something wrong with the ranking system when a team that squeaks by some mediocre teams is ranked #1. There were other teams more deserving to be in that game and Ohio State is not one of them.

I don't think the actual strength of the opponents is given enough consideration. For all the money spent to present and broadcast this game, we deserve more from the BCS.

[Mosca]

Originally Posted by csxjohn

IMO there is something wrong with the ranking system...

Really? That's the first time I've ever heard anyone say this.

(J/K)

Actually, I liked it better when they just played bowl games and everyone argued about it, and there was no "crowned" national champion. You had the big ones, the New Year's Day games: Sugar, Cotton, Rose, and Orange. Then there was Sun, Gator, Liberty, and Tangerine, all of which could have been any date, but were usually before Jan 1. Then the Fiesta Bowl was added in '71... then the Independence, then Holiday, then all the goofy stuff like the Meineke Car Care Bowl, and now we have 6-6 Pitt playing 6-6 Ole Miss in a bowl game. Who watches all that? I'd rather watch reruns of Family Feud.

[Beaglemom3]

Originally Posted by mjm1

Hats off to Alabama. I don't care for Saban, but he has rebuilt the Alabama program like none other. I am a Notre Dame fan and hoped for the best, but knew Bama had the better team. Great year for both programs. Now back to the NFL.

Well said. 'Bama outplayed ND at every turn and deserved the win.