Alabama entered the game ranked #24, and Clemson entered the game ranked #9. And I don't know where you were in 2008, but this is the exact write-up I posted on Covers for that game.
Boy where do I start with this one? I guess I may as well start at the beginning.
Under the previous regime, the players walked all over previous coach Mike Shula. Shula had totally lost control of the team, and the inmates were running the asylum. Under Shula, Bama was 0 & 22 in games in which they trailed entering the 4th quarter.
Enter Nick Saban. One of the first things Saban did was institute the “4th quarter conditioning program.” I won’t get into the specifics of the program, but take my word for it, it’s absolutely brutal. Those of you who think we are torturing Iraqi prisoners, you haven’t seen anything yet.
As you can imagine, this didn’t go over very well with guys who weren’t recruited by Saban, and who had been coasting under the Shula regime for 3, 4 & 5 years. Guys like wide receiver D.J Hall just wanted to go through the season on cruise control, and then sign a million dollar contract in the NFL. Well, it didn’t quite work out like they planned. Guys like Hall, Simeon Castille, Keith Brown & Wallace Gilberry who were sure the NFL would come knocking got a rude awakening. As I’m sure most of you know, for the first time since 1970, not a single
Appalachian State, Bentley, Coastal Carolina, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Gardner-Webb,
The upshot of all this is that Bama was a divided team last year. There was the group that who wanted to win and bought what Saban was selling, and those who didn’t give a garbage about Saban or the team. Some of this trouble manifested itself through numerous arrests culminating with the arrest of Jimmy Johns for slinging coke on campus.
Year two of the Saban era is completely different. Gone is the pugnacious senior class and others who permeated the roster. Think Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys. Despite drastic over-signing by Saban in last year’s #1 recruiting class, and the media hounding Saban about how he would make the numbers work, Bama only ended up with 81 scholarship players on the roster (4 short of the maximum allowable 85). They are now at 84 because Saban has since awarded 3 scholarships to non-scholarship players.
I lay this foundation for you because it is critical to understanding this Bama team, and because you won’t hear it from the media. This year’s team is extremely tight and singularly focused. They are young (only 9 scholarship seniors on the roster), strong, fast, mean, hungry, pissed and probably the fittest group in the country.
*** Continued ***
*** Continued ***
I believe Bama will not only cover the point spread in this game, but will win fairly decisively. What you will see against Clemson is an extremely physical football team. They will hit Clemson in the mouth and out physical them the entire game. Yes, they will make some youthful mistakes, but I think they will win the battle of the line-of-scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Clemson will start 4 guys on the offensive line that played behind a group that gave up 35 sacks last year. That’s not good news for a team that will have to deal with 365lbs
Not only is Cody huge, he is extremely athletic and quick for his size. Quite simply, he has wowed everyone who has seen him. His teammates constantly marvel how athletic he is for his size. Ironically, he has impressed many on the basketball court as well with his amazing 360 dunks. This guy is an absolute monster, and will collapse the Clemson offensive line all day. Clemson may not even be able to handle this guy with a double team.
In one of his recent press conferences Tommy Bowden said that he is concerned that Saban has had the whole off-season to formulate a plan on attacking Clemson’s offensive line”. As Bill Belichick once said “Nobody is better on the defensive side of the ball than Nick Saban.” When asked about his confidence level of his O-Line, Bowden responded with a “6”. Now I’ll admit that James Davis and C.J. Spiller are good running backs, but they are only as good as their offensive line.
On the other side of the ball, Bama’s veteran offensive line will face a Clemson defense that returns only 2 of their front 7 players. The X factor for Bama on offense is all-world phenom freshman Julio Jones. Jones will have an immediate “Randy Moss” effect on the offense. What I mean by that is when Randy Moss played for the Minnesota Vikings, the Vikings lead the league in rushing almost every year he was there. Why? Because defenses simply could not afford to stack the box lest they leave Moss in single coverage, and we all knon what happens when Moss gets single coverage.
After torching
Clemson will have to pick their poison in this game. Double up on Jones and open up Bama’s running game, or take your chances with a 5’9” cornerback against the tall, super athletic receiver with a 42” vertical leap. Clemson will lose either way.
*** Continued ***
*** Continued ***
Bama will also have decisive advantage in special teams. They return one of the best return men in the country in Javier Arenas, and have an accurate kicker who can put it through the sticks from 60 yards away. Julio Jones will also join Arenas as the second return man on kickoffs. Clemson does have the better punter however.
Clemson’s history works against them as well. Their signature wins last year were against
Clemson’s defensive coordinator Vic Koenning also was kind enough to provided Bama with some bulletin board material when he said the following the other day:
"I actually ran into Julio in the spring recruiting. I said hello to him. I said, 'Well, I guess I'll be seeing you at the end of August.' And then he got out and got in his (Cadillac) Escalade and drove off. That's serious. And then I went over and watched
After he said this he followed it up with “I’m serious.”
Unfortunately for Koenning, none of it was true. Koenning and Bowden spent the next several days trying to pawn the whole thing off as a big joke, but it’s pretty obvious that wasn’t the case.
B.J. Scott’s high school coach from
I think this game will be close for 3 quarters before Bama physically imposes it’s will on Clemson in the 4th quarter (there’s that 4th quarter program again). When the final seconds tick off the 4th quarter clock there will be no doubt who the better team is, and it won’t be Clemson.
Predicted Score: Bama 31 Clemson 10.
BOL TO ALL!!!
FREAK OUT!!!
It looks like I did my homework on that 2008 Clemson game. And not only did I do my homework on that game, I attended two Alabama closed practices and a closed scrimmage last week in Tuscaloosa. I didn't see you there.
All indications right now are that Blake Sims will get the start against West Virginia, but that Jacob Coker will also get some snaps too. That is still subject to change, but that's the way it looks today.
Because of their limitations at the QB position heading into game one, I don't think Alabama will score than about the mid 30s against West Virginia. I think we will see a very conservative, ball control offense that will focus on limiting mistakes - not running up the score.
Alabama's defense is ridiculously talented and ridiculously deep. At this point I can't see them finishing the season any worse than about 3rd overall in the nation. If Alabama covers this game, and I'm not at all certain they will, it'll be because the defense limited West Virginia's offense to 10 points or less.
As of this writing, I don't think for a minute that Alabama covering a 4 TD spread is a slam dunk. I think the better play is the UNDER.
With regard to the Alabama v WVU matchup, how long has it been since Bama was coming off of two straight losses? Sure, Holgorson will have some tricks up his sleave. But, from a talent and coaching and motivation perspective, this game is not going to be close. And normally, I think Saban calls off the dogs in the 4th. I don't think he will this time. There has been a feud between Saban and Stoops (Big XII). WVU is a Big XII school. I just think this is going to be a beat down from the getgo, not because this is Alabama and everyone thinks they are a quasi pro team and all that rhetorical crap, I just think and feel in my gut, that Kirby Smart will learn from his mistakes the last two games, and call a D that is going to stifle West Virginia. Yeldon and Henry with that newly motivated OL of Bama, is going to run rough shod over WVU, and with everyone questioning the talent of Kiffen and Coker, they are going to hit high % passes to Cooper and the other 5 star athletic freak WR's and throw an occasion home run ball that will probably score at least half the time.
Personally, prima facie, I think this is going to be an epic beat down...
GLTA
Everyone knows Alabama is the superior team across the board, which is why they are almost 4 TD favorites. I'm not saying that Alabama can't or won't cover the spread, I just don't think it's a good bet that they do.
As I stated above, all indications are that Blake Sims will be the starting QB against West Virginia, but that Jacob Coker will get a fair amount of snaps as well. Ultimately Coker will be the starting QB this season, it's just a matter of time. Everyone in the organization knows that for Alabama to have a successful season they will need a legitimate SEC caliber QB under center, and Sims is simply not SEC caliber.
Alabama is replacing 3 of the most critical offensive positions - offensive coordinator, 2 new quarterbacks and left tackle. They chances that this offense will come out of the gate hitting on all cylinders is slim. Couple that with very conservative play calling, and that doesn't add up to an offensive explosion.
Conversely, Dana Holgorsen is a very good offensive coach who has had plenty of time to figure out how teams like Texas A&M, Auburn and Oklahoma had so much success against Alabama's defense last season. The chances are good the Holgorsen will get his offense into the end zone a couple of times, and if that happens, I think an Alabama cover is in serious jeopardy.
Established in 1995,
Hot Forum Topics
