Bama has its hands full with Oklahoma

Most of the media expect a Saturday night shootout when Bama takes the field against the 12-1 Oklahoma Sooners. Most Bama fans think it will be just another step on the path to glory. For once in forever, I think the media has it right.

Sooner QB Kyler Murray deserved to win the Heisman Trophy. So did the Tide’s Tua Tagovailoa but only one player can win it at a time and Tua did appear to be a mere human in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia. Murray’s stats are better than Tua’s and yes, part of that fact is because Kyler played more snaps in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Tua was usually watching Jalen Hurts inflict his own brand of pain in the second half. Murray has  more attempts, more completions, more yards per completion and more TD’s. But he also has more sacks and more INT’s—more on that in a moment or three.

Bama fans need to accept that a healthy Murray is a handful, especially with the corps of speedy, athletic receivers he has. Oh, and with a tandem of talented running backs. Any of the offensive guys Coach Lincoln Riley puts on the field could start and star for Alabama. They are going to score a lot of points against the Tide and by the time the 4th quarter gets into under 10:00 to play, Bama’s D will be tired of chasing Murray and tackling Sooner playmakers.

But I don’t believe Alabama will just have to outscore Oklahoma to beat them, because while the defense may get tired it’s just as likely that this won’t be as big a deal. The Tide defense continues to get better with each game.  It practices against a high octane offense every snap, and has vanquished some not-too-shabby SEC teams en route to 13-0. Quinnen Williams is sure to be a disruptive force up front. Mack and Anfernee are terrors backing the line and Surtain has turned into a frighteningly good weapon in the secondary. There will be plays where Murray is running for his life and where Q blows up the whole Sooner OL.

And then there’s Tua, who also deserved to win the Heisman and who wouldn’t be wrong in making this game a statement to the voters who had him second. Unlike Murray, Tua won’t be facing the best defense in the SEC. He’ll be facing a DINO--defense in name only. In fact, in his game preview Tidefans’ Jess Nicholas notes that Oklahoma’s highly suspect strength of schedule is a reason to suspect whether OU’s offensive line can hold up against Q and the gang.

It’s worth noting that Oklahoma has had Bama’s number and owns the series record. Alabama is 1-3-1 in the series, with a three game losing streak and a 45-31 humiliation of a Nick Saban team after the 2013 season. Football is a funny game. Not funny hah-hah. Funny strange. Alabama can exorcise some old demons Saturday night.

I think they will, in a high scoring affair.

Alabama 52, Oklahoma 42

The College Football National Championship will be decided Saturday night, y’all

If LSU can’t beat Alabama in Death Valley, at night, in front of 100,000 screaming crazy drunk Cajuns, nobody can. You might as well just ship the natty trophy to Tuscaloosa.

There is nobody else on the Bama schedule or in the likely College Football National Championship Playoff field with the personnel and scheme that can hang with the Crimson Tide.

Both teams are coming off bye weeks. Traditionally, the team with the most emotional investment suffers from a week off because it interrupts the momentum of success that the emotion is built on. That team is LSU, but the pause will be offset a little by the night kickoff and the crazy coon ass energy in the stands.

Alabama comes in with a Sabanesque business as usual attitude, having already sampled the road in Columbia and Knoxville.

LSU’s defense is what has brought them to this point. Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda’s base package is a 3-4 scheme that looks a lot like a Nick Saban strategy. Their problem though is a lack of true 3-4 talent and depth, forcing Aranda to rely on some nickel lineups and even a 5-2 look that’s designed to confuse the offense and create opportunities to disrupt. LSU is so-so when it comes to total defense but they’re 7th in scoring defense.

Their star defensive player, Devin White, must sit out the first half Saturday night due to a targeting penalty called on him against Mississippi State two weeks ago. 

They will be sorely tested by an Alabama offense that has yet to see a defense they can’t destroy by halftime. Starting QB Tua Tagavailoa is an absolute phenomenon (and he’s only a true sophomore!) and he has a young-but-freakishly-talented corps of wide receivers. Behind Tua is a fleet of at least three bowling balls for tailbacks, and the studly Jalen Hurts waits in the wings as Tua’s backup. LSU can’t afford to let Bama get up by two scores in the first quarter but my sense is that this will happen, anyway.

Alabama’s very young but very talented defense faces an LSU offense that Les Miles would be very proud to call his own. QB Joe Burrow is a so-so passer and a decent runner when the field is wide open before him. He managed to make a few plays against Georgia but was only 50% and no TD’s. He’s 53% overall with only six TD’s and three INT’s. Burrow in the pocket is not going to beat Alabama, and Burrow has only so-so backs to carry the ball. There is no Leonard Fournette at LSU this year.

Alabama’s defense is getting better as the season progresses. The injury bug that bit so hard last year has gone elsewhere in 2018, so the unit has been developing together all year long. Expect the Tide front seven to get LSU’s offensive line out of position from time to time, and for Williams, Davis and Buggs to wreak havoc. A very young defensive backfield has also gotten better through the first eight weeks but is still inexperienced and somewhat thin. One reason why teams have been able to score 20+ points on this defense is opposing receivers running free in long yardage downs.

Bama’s only weakness remains special teams. Tide fans should pray this game doesn’t come down to a special teams play or three.

It shouldn’t, though—the game of football is always and everywhere won or lost in the trenches. Alabama’s OL appears better than LSU’s front seven, and LSU’s OL might hold its own against Bama’s front seven for a half. If Alabama gets up by 14 or 21 before halftime… well… you’ve seen that movie before.

Bama wins another one comfortably.

Alabama 44, LSU 17

After a great victory, there is nothing sweeter than relishing the abject misery of your opponents. Their suffering nourishes your soul. Their anguish warms your heart. Their tears satisfy that thirst for the sweet nectar of success.

Remember when they said this?

 ‘Bama wrapped up the regular season 11-1, although it ended with a 26-14 clunker at Auburn in the Iron Bowl seven days ago. The Tide fell from No. 1 to No. 5 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, so getting upset by the Tigers — they were playing as well as any program in the country at the time — wasn’t an eliminator.

However, with Championship Week now in the rearview mirror, Alabama doesn’t deserve to be part of the Final Four.

Or, how about when they trotted out this line?

 There’s already a problem that a four-team tournament for the championship is based on judges, as if this was the Miss Universe pageant. But at this point, it’s a total fail and a massive issue for the entire College Football Playoff process if the committee puts in Alabama just because its name is Alabama.

Haha!

Oh, and this poor fool:

“If you stripped away the name ‘Alabama’ right now, take it out of the picture, is that a resume that they’ve built this year that’s top-four worthy? Hell no, Colin!” he said. “Their resume is barely better than Wisconsin’s.”

Remember when yer mama taught you to ignore everything someone says after the "but?"

I've heard many variations of the following:

"Alabama's great but blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."

All of the talking heads in the media are now still chugging from that big stinkin' cup of STFU.

Just before Auburn's epic choke against UCF in the What's Your Name Again Bowl, I had the pleasure of giggling through the Tigers broadcast team giving their playoff picks. Those geniuses consensus-picked Oklahoma vs Clemson with Oklahoma winning it all.

Bama vs Georgia for the title sticks in Auburn fans like a flaming arrow they can't reach to remove. Bama winning it all is that arrow catching their butts on fire, and you're the only bucket of water around.

Muhahahaha...

Savor this win, Bama fans. They don't get much sweeter, and neither do the tears of the vanquished.

Obligatory "Alabama - We Are The Champions" video post

This video has gone viral, so who am I to stand in its way of winning the internet with winning the championship?




We're going to enjoy this.

But what we're really going to enjoy is watching these Freshmen do this again and again.

Yeah, this really is how I watched the National Championship Game

This really was the Classic for the Ages that was mentioned last week. And these really were the two best teams in the country.



True to form, Georgia fans are whining about the officiating.



Bama fans, like me, are just glad to 'suspire' today. Yes, suspire. It means to exhale slowly, with a sigh of great relief. Funnymaine nails it with this video.

Border War: Alabama vs Georgia sets up a classic for the ages.

It's Us versus Them.

Alabama did the improbable by reaching the 2017-18 College Football Playoff despite not winning the SEC West or playing in the SEC Championship Game. Georgia did the improbable by beating a traditional SEC rival in the Championship Game after having lost badly to that same team only a week prior.

Both teams did what they were supposed to do in their respective semi-final games. Both were slightly favored going into Monday and both teams won. Alabama dominated a good-but-not-great Clemson team and Georgia beat the media favorite in an overtime shootout.

But there are so many storylines here that in order to cover them all you have to be like Elton John and do a medley at the end.

Georgia hired Kirby Smart away from Alabama following the Tide's 2015 National Championship. In his two seasons leading the Bulldogs, he's posted a 21-6 record and has Georgia poised to play for its first national title since 1980. This is only his second year.

Alabama's Nick Saban is on the cusp of his fifth national title at Alabama and his sixth overall. He hired Kirby during his brief tenure with the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. When Saban shocked everyone not Bleeding Crimson to become Alabama's top dude, Smart came with him and helped Saban craft college football's most feared defense.

That defense was the key in each of Alabama's titles in the 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 seasons.

But these are just two generals in a border war that stretches beyond the memories of the living and some of the standout games in the series history have been shutouts. In fact, there have been 22 shutouts in the series' 67 games overall, which means that on average one team keeps the other off the scoreboard about once every three times they play.

Alabama recruits heavily in Georgia. Georgia recruits heavily in Alabama.

Alabama vs Georgia has been played in Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Columbus, Athens and Atlanta.

They have never played each other with a national title on the line.

Here are a handful of other interesting factlets about Saban and Smart and Alabama vs Georgia:

• Nick Saban is 4-1 against Georgia while at Alabama with the lone loss coming in 2007 in overtime.
• Alabama leads the series 38-25-4
• The teams met for the first time in SEC division play in 1995. Alabama won 31-0.
• Since then, Georgia won three straight followed by Alabama winning three straight.
• Georgia is the first 3 seed in the playoffs to win and advance to the title game.
• Kirby Smart is reaching the title game in only his second year.
• Nick Saban is 11-0 when facing teams coached by former assistants.
• Both teams play a 3-4 Over Under defensive scheme, aimed at stopping the run and forcing passes outside.
• Both teams play a Pro Set offensive scheme, aimed at running the football with play action passing. 
• Georgia is playing for a title in its home state. The last time that happened was in January 2012 when LSU faced and lost to Alabama 21-0.

I think this going to be a classic SEC Slobber Knocker. Both of these opponents beat teams who run trickeration offensive schemes that are too cute by half. The Tide and the Dawgs are not deceptive football teams. They're physical, they're disciplined and they're cold-blooded.

Whoever wins, both teams will get off the turf trying to see the scoreboard through the helmet ear hole.