Worried about stopping the run in Pasadena

I agree completely with Longhorns84, in that with a mobile quarterback you have to commit someone to the backend for the possible bootleg play. Against Ohio State, this was obvious at certain points during the game that we may have over-persued the back end, taking a linebacker out of the play altogether. This season we have done a great job of stopping the run against teams who want to run. Ex. Nebraska, Oklahoma State. Against tA&M we didn’t acount for the zone read and the draw from Johnson because they spread our defense out so much. We all know Muschamp accounted for this and that’s not a play we will have to worry about against a team like Alabama. We’ll see an offense more like Nebraska and Oklahoma State, just with more talent. I’m not worried about Alabama, because at the end of the day they run a more pro style offense and Muschamp can dial up a defense against a pro style offense with the best of them. This game all comes down to will. Does our D have the will to stop Alabama? Does our offense have the will to be physical against their D and run the ball better than we did against Nebraska? If our team has the will, then our coaches are going to put them in the right position to be victorious. Way to early prediction…Horns 21-Bama 17

We’ve seen a few spread attacks this year, and we’ve played them well…but it’s important to remember that all spreads are not created equal. Technically, Auburn, Florida, and Texas all run a “spread” offense, but none of those 3 offenses look like one another.

That being said, I think Alabama can handle it. Nick Saban’s specialty is defense, and his specialty within defense is DB play. Our coverage has a talent for confusing the hell out of offenses, we run a lot of combo coverage with corner blitzes aimed at hurrying the passer, as opposed to actively looking for the sack. Our D line doesn’t pass rush quite as much as Nebraska, their main job is to take away the run (a job they do to near perfection) and to contain the QB. Our Linebackers are some of the best in football McClain, in particular, is not only an amazing LB, but the captain of our D. He’s incredibly smart and understands Saban’s schemes better than anyone. Meanwhile, our secondary mixes up coverage, blitzes often enough to keep the threat constant, but not so often that you can assume the blitz is coming. Mark Barron is the SEC leader in interceptions this season, only trailing Texas’ Earl Thomas by one (last time I checked).

Bottom line, we know Texas is potentially an offensive juggernaut. You’ve shown it several times this season. One of the reasons I’m really looking forward to the game is that it has potential to be the classic case of the Unstoppable Force (Texas) meeting the Immovable Object (Bama).

As far as our offense goes, a couple of things:
Lots of folks like to paint us as a “rush first” team. If you look at pure statistics, at first they seem to reinforce that perception…but looking deeper into it, you see that most of the imbalance towards the rush has come late in games (4th quarter) when the game has already been decided. Throughout the first 3 quarters of most of our games, we’ve had a decided balance between the pass and the run. We’ve had quite a few games where we’ve thrown passes to 8 or more receivers, so while we’re a pro style attack, we do spread the ball out a good bit.

Greg McElroy is certainly not a quarterback with the big play, quick strike potential of Colt McCoy, but he is a reliable quarterback who can be counted on to not panic, and to not make mistakes. He’s only thrown 4 INTs all year, and has marched Bama down the field when we needed it the most.

Our rushing attack is lead, of course, by Mark Ingram, one of the most complete backs in the nation. What most people don’t realize, though, is how deep we are in that position: Trent Richardson is a true freshman who hits like a Semi truck full of dynamite and driven by a rabid badger. Before starting at Alabama, he could already squat 600+pounds, and now he’s had a season in the weight room. Add that strength to his natural instincts and agility, and this freshman is a backup that doesn’t feel second string. Our third string RB, Roy Upchurch, could start at most schools in the country and caught the game winning pass against Auburn. He’s also a great blocking back. Our 4th string RB, Terry Grant, was Alabama’s leading rusher in the 2007 season.

Our tight ends are receiving threats as well as great blockers- Collin Peak has been one of our most valuable offensive players this season for being able to do both those things exceptionally well.

Our line is not quite as big and strong as our 2008 line, but they aren’t far off and are still far more physical than most of the lines they go up against. They don’t get beaten often, and are much more mobile than last year’s line which allows for more guard pulling or tackle releasing.

Our receivers- Julio Jones gets the most press, because his raw ability is obvious. Leave the kid uncovered and it’s 6. He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s more physical than any other wideout I’ve ever seen. He hasn’t been as much of a receiving factor this season as he would like, simply because he’s double covered or worse every play. That said, he does two great things for us: he draws the double coverage, which means we know where the defenders will be, and he downfield blocks…like really blocks, not the shoving you see WRs usually doing. He actually manhandles people. It’s pretty funny to watch sometimes. Aside from Jones, we have Marquis Maze as a ball control threat, Darius Hanks as a deep threat, and we like to throw to our tight ends (especially on the left side) and to our running backs on either bubble screens or just out having them come out of the backfield on quick routes up the middle.

The overall thing on our offense is that we have the potential to be world beaters- we did put up 490 yards on the number one D in the country- but at the same time, we’ve struggled in a few games this season- look at the Tennessee game. I’ve seen Texas have similar issues, even though they don’t run a similar offense.

It all boils down to which teams show up on both sides. If the Bama O that played last week shows up, I like our chances. If the Bama O that played against Tennessee or South Carolina shows up…well, we’re in trouble from a very talented Texas team. Same thing in reverse with Texas- if the Texas that was able to put up ungodly offensive numbers several times this season is the team that shows up saturday, we’ll have our hands full. If it’s the Texas that was harassed and chain-sacked by Nebraska, then Texas will be in a tough spot against an Alabama D that’s even more aggressive and nasty than Nebraska’s.

Best case scenario- and this is what I think will happen- we get the best from both teams. Coach Brown and Coach Saban have these boys ready to go, Texas is breathing fire, Bama is chewing up nails and shitting quarters. We get the Texas O that can light up a scoreboard, coupled with a heroic defensive effort .We get the Bama O that doesn’t do much that is gaudy, but can control the pace of a game, coupled with a D that can be absolutely terrifying. If that happens, we may see the game of the century.

In the end, I believe that my Tide can get it done, but it won’t be easy. And we don’t want it to be.

What has been Kindle’s biggest problem all year? Facing double teams
and spread offenses that throw quick passes out of the shotgun.

I like his chances with slow mcelroy taking 5 step drops. He is decent against the run and can hold the edge while keenan holds down the other edge

A big game on the biggest stage could really help his draft stock which, I haven’t checked kipers big board, but has probably dropped to 2nd round

This is a legitimate concern considering the first half of the Fiesta Bowl last year, our thin rotation at DT and losing our best run stopping MLB (Norton). On a side note, Ben Alexander stepping up this year has been absolutely huge.

It is going to be imperative that the Texas defense does not allow Alabama long, time-consuming drives which could very well tire out the defense.

On offense, if Colt gets time in the pocket, I think we’ll be ok…even if we can’t run the ball effectively. If Colt is feelig heat all night it will be Nebraska all over again. On paper, the Alabama defense does not look cut out to stop our offense – oversized space eating DT, very big MLB (Saban – please have him cover the slot), very big at S.

A couple intangibles we have going into this game are that both Muschamp and Applewhite have worked on Saban’s staff. And Mack has scoreboard.

….does anyone know the status of Christian Scott? I hope he might be eligible for this game, b/c he could help stop those running backs w/o having to put another LB in there.