Not OT: Alabama football

[HuskyNan]

Alabama football is similar to UConn women's basketball in that it's a juggernaut in its sport. Teams fear it before taking the field and elite players want to go play for Head Coach Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide has dominated an outstanding football league for several years and won 4 national championships since 2009.

How does this apply to the UConn women? Well, Alabama lost to Clemson last night in a game where it was up and had a chance to extend the lead. Do you think Geno and/or Chris Dailey will let the team know that nothing is a given, that everything still needs to be earned on the playing field?

My condolences to our South Carolina friends. You've got to hear the crowing from the Clemson fans for the next year.

 

[eebmg]

Agreed. But the most important lesson from the the game is the proper way to set screens. Dabo is the real genius.

 

[stwainfan]

Alabama lost

 

[alexrgct]

Somewhere, South Carolina HC Will Muschamp is setting himself on fire. Eastern Alabamans are enjoying a day of Schadenfruede. Clemson fans are partying like it's 1981.

I don't see much application to UConn WBB. I don't like Nick Saban or how he runs a CFB program, whereas my admiration for Geno and his integrity is boundless.

Perhaps, if UConn can keep winning, Geno and company can double OU's record winning streak of 47 games! That's a big if, though.

 

[oldude]

I am not sure why some feel the need to denigrate Alabama. What I saw last night was two outstanding teams playing their hearts out in one of the best football games I've watched in a very long time. My only regret is that the game didn't start & end a lot earlier in the evening.

 

[meyers7]

I am not sure why some feel the need to denigrate Alabama.

Ummm, because they're Alabama.

 

[oldude]

Ummm, because they're Alabama.

By that rationale, I guess it's ok for non-Husky fans to disparage Geno & UConn WBB.

 

[meyers7]

By that rationale, I guess it's ok for non-Husky fans to disparage Geno & UConn WBB.

Of course not, duh, they're UCONN.

This is not a difficult concept to grasp.

Evil is ok to disparage - Alabama, Tennessee, Yankees, NY Giants, Peyton Manning, Tottenham, etc.

Good is not - UCONN, St. Louis Cardinals, Arsenal, Tom Brady, etc.

For an oldude, you seem pretty new to this fan(atic) thing.

 

[bags27]

I realize that, if, if, if, and that injuries are part of the game. But IF, IF, IF Scarbrough doesn't get injured, Alabama wins. Without him, there wasn't enough ball control to give the defense adequate rest.

The take-away for UConn is that Alabama was a great team in some ways, but thin (freshman quarterback who can't (yet) hit the long ball, brilliant but thin defensive line) and that one key injury was all it took to expose them.

 

[msf22b]

Before Last season's NCAA total destruction of Mississippi State in Bridgeport
(which I revisited just the other day after the State Tennessee game just to remind myself how ineffectual and passive that team could be).

There were a host of monster upsets the night before
And both the team and coaches spent a wee bit of time reminding each other that it could happen to them.

That complacency and overconfidence had no place in that locker room.

I've fretted about tonight's game as well

A wonderful opportunity for the team and staff to remind themselves how little margin for error they have.

And that kid on South Florida can light it up...like a certain Wiggins gal did some time ago.

 

[oldude]

meyers7, I am going to assume that your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek. I truly enjoy the wit and wisdom of most BY posters. I also enjoy a respectful debate, even one that includes some good natured ribbing. As our outgoing President has said, "We can disagree without being disagreeable."

With that said, there are some who feel compelled to denigrate the success of other programs such as ND, MD, Baylor, Tenn, Bama football, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the ____ (fill in the blank).

When you are a fan of the Huskies, one of the most successful teams in the history of sport, you can afford to be gracious to other, less successful programs, such as Alabama football.

 

[blaqtech]

I realize that, if, if, if, and that injuries are part of the game. But IF, IF, IF Scarbrough doesn't get injured, Alabama wins. Without him, there wasn't enough ball control to give the defense adequate rest.

The take-away for UConn is that Alabama was a great team in some ways, but thin (freshman quarterback who can't (yet) hit the long ball, brilliant but thin defensive line) and that one key injury was all it took to expose them.

Alabama had plenty of depth....
That replacement running back is very good. Damien Harris has a 1000 yards for the season . Clemson lost their best Defensive end / pass rusher in the game and the replacement held his ground. Also, freshman Right Offensive Tackle starting. Alabama has probably the best depth at each position. NO EXCUSES for them.

 

[Phil]

When I finished watching the game last night, well this morning, I mentally composed a post which was going to include a theme that it was not off-topic. Apparently, you have to get up pretty early in the morning, too early, to be the first to make that point. I see that Nan and others have beat me to it.

I guarantee Geno will be talking about the game to the team. A classic example where a team can be viewed as better than another team in almost all facets of the game yet still lose.

 

[diggerfoot]

I realize this comment is a little tangential to the main thrust of the OP, yet even more on topic. Saban turned a relatively obscure LSU program into a champion ... then he left for the more storied Alabama program. If Auriemma had a similar mindset he would have been the coach Rutgers hired instead of Stringer.

 

[Zorro]

Before Last season's NCAA total destruction of Mississippi State in Bridgeport
(which I revisited just the other day after the State Tennessee game just to remind myself how ineffectual and passive that team could be).

There were a host of monster upsets the night before
And both the team and coaches spent a wee bit of time reminding each other that it could happen to them.

That complacency and overconfidence had no place in that locker room.

I've fretted about tonight's game as well

A wonderful opportunity for the team and staff to remind themselves how little margin for error they have.

And that kid on South Florida can light it up...like a certain Wiggins gal did some time ago.

Bite yo' tongue, amigo!!

 

[Phil]

A more plausible scenario is - What if back in 1995 the Rutgers program had gone after Chris Dailey rather than CViv - Maybe a la Belichick we would be finding out who the real brains of the coaching duo is.

 

[oldude]

I realize this comment is a little tangential to the main thrust of the OP, yet even more on topic. Saban turned a relatively obscure LSU program into a champion ... then he left for the more storied Alabama program. If Auriemma had a similar mindset he would have been the coach Rutgers hired instead of Stringer.

One minor correction. Saban left LSU for the pros (Miami) for 2 years before he returned to the college ranks at Alabama.

 

[diggerfoot]

One minor correction. Saban left LSU for the pros (Miami) for 2 years before he returned to the college ranks at Alabama.

Thanks for the correction, though this makes Saban's trajectory even more like Pitino or Calipari.

 

[diggerfoot]

A more plausible scenario is - What if back in 1995 the Rutgers program had gone after Chris Dailey rather than CViv - Maybe a la Belichick we would be finding out who the real brains of the coaching duo is.

I'm not a devoted follower of football so I don't know what the ultimate explanations are, but after they first split didn't Parcells have better success? Belicheck did not do well with Cleveland I believe. Maybe he had to learn both from Parcells and his own failure?

 

[DefenseBB]

meyers7, I am going to assume that your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek. I truly enjoy the wit and wisdom of most BY posters. I also enjoy a respectful debate, even one that includes some good natured ribbing. As our outgoing President has said, "We can disagree without being disagreeable."

With that said, there are some who feel compelled to denigrate the success of other programs such as ND, MD, Baylor, Tenn, Bama football, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the ____ (fill in the blank).

When you are a fan of the Huskies, one of the most successful teams in the history of sport, you can afford to be gracious to other, less successful programs, such as Alabama football.

You are absolutely right about being gracious when winning AND losing. That said, I agree that while Nick Saban is a phenomenal football coach, he is a jerk as a leader and a person. Think of how small he was when he refused to let a student transfer even though the kid would never play at Alabama. Only after the media got a hold of it and the school realized how poor they looked did he reluctantly acquiesce. Geno has never blocked a student and has continued to show support. These are young people who are growing and evolving. The hypocrisy from Saban who has jumped ship too many times to mention is appalling with how he treats these young men. So yes, we can be a bit disparaging at times if we want to!

 

[SCGamecock]

My condolences to our South Carolina friends. You've got to hear the crowing from the Clemson fans for the next year.

NEXT YEAR?

How about next lifetime... they are never going to shut up now. Very thankful today at least that I no longer live in SC.. they are absolutely unbearable.

 

[Blueconn]

For reasons I haven't bothered to analyze I've strayed away big-time from football at all levels. Sadly ambivalent even about UConn's stumbling path at the D-1 level. But a couple of things I'm not tentaive or ambivalent about are the following:
1.) Geno won't ever believe that victory is a given. And he'll never cease emphasizing that to his players. Ain't in his DNA.
2.) That as dominant as Alabama has been in football, their success comes nowhere close to the record established during the past generation by Connecticut women's basketball.

 

[bags27]

For reasons I haven't bothered to analyze I've strayed away big-time from football at all levels.

Many of us, I think, have strayed. I couldn't bear to watch the dreary over-the-top production last night, so I taped it and powered through it after it was over. I have a friend who believes football will go the way of boxing. I wish I could agree; I'm afraid that Americans desperately need a Fall/Winter sport and the optics are perfect for TV (as well as the violence). It's a guilty pleasure, and I'd be delighted to be fully weaned off it.

 

[oldude]

NEXT YEAR?

How about next lifetime... they are never going to shut up now. Very thankful today at least that I no longer live in SC.. they are absolutely unbearable.

A long time ago I lived in Syracuse before moving to Jacksonville, FL. I became a fan of Syracuse sports. While in JAX, I attended the Gator Bowl back in 1996 when Syracuse played Clemson. The stadium was full with 90% of the fans from Clemson, all dressed in orange, responding in loud & perfect unison to the team cheers.

Behind Donovan McNabb & Marvin Harrison the Cuse buried Clemson 41-0. By the 4th quarter the stadium was largely empty except for the handful of us Cuse fans who thoroughly enjoyed the game.

You probably would have enjoyed that game.

 

[alexrgct]

Indeed, Alabama is consistently deep because nick Saban consciously oversigns. Some research on Google will tell you about this unethical practice.

I'm also happy an SEC team lost. I hate that league, passionate and fun as that fan base is when it comes to football. They seem kind of soft in wcbb, however. There's that one program with eight NCs, plus a&m from its Big XII days, but UConn fares well against them.