Great game. Some thoughs
by Zoltar on Jan 8, 2010 2:39 AM CST
Email
PrintFirst off, congratulations on a hard fought game. Texas was very impressive, even with Colt McCoy out. You guys really brought your A-game with few exceptions. I was very nervous going into the game tonight. There were many reasons, a lot of which were pointed out on this blog. Most of all, I was concerned that Alabama had put so much emphasis on beating Florida and played so well in that game. It seemed like we were set up for a letdown. Here are some additional post-game thoughts:
Colt McCoy-
I hate that we didn't get a chance to play you at your best, and I feel very sorry for Colt Personally. I can't even imagine how bad he must feel. That being said, if Doc Brown drove up in the Delorean with the flux capacitor charged and offered to change that outcome, I'd take the Colt-less win in a heartbeat! It's an unfortunate part of the game you just have to deal with. We've lost at least one key player this year (Dont'a Hightower). We had a great QB (Brodie Croyle) go down a couple of times earlier this decade. In 2005 we lost one of the most amazing receivers I've ever seen (Tyrone Prothro) to a career ending injury. We had an AMAZING defense that year and managed to go 10-0 before losing to LSU and Auburn. I still think we'd have had a chance to go to the sec championship and possibly further if we hadn't lost Prothro, our main offensive weapon, that year. In this game we were very concerned about whether Ro. McClain would be able to play or play consistently, but I don't recall people saying crap like "if he doesn't play and texas wins, it will be a tainted win. Put an asterisk by it". Anyway, you guys would surely have had a better chance to win had McCoy not gotten hurt. To hypothesize what the outcome would have been is futile IMO because so many things would have changed. Our offense surely wouldn't have been as predictable in the second half, and there's a million other things that could have changed. Butterfly effect, etc.
McElroy-
I've seen a few people bad mouthing his performance. Sure, his production and statistics weren't good, but the deck was stacked against him. Your D line was beating our pass protection consistently. Your secondary did an amazing job covering our receivers. Texas also seemed to do well at predicting our screens (not really that hard, it was very blatant IMO). What Greg did well was take care of the ball, and I give him a lot of credit for that. A few times I was very afraid that he'd fumble when hit. He didn't force any throws either, which was key against a D that gets so many pics.
Defenses- well, we ran all over your #1 rush defense. on the other hand, you guys blanketed our talented receiving corp. Maybe it really is a big 12 vs sec thing.
Saban- I've seen a lot of "douchebags" being thrown around, I suppose on account of the final rushing TD. I don't really know for sure why we didn't go to the victory formation. Usually we do, and from what I've seen Saban doesn't have a history of running up the score (last year vs Auburn withstanding. that was personal). But hey, it's not like we were dropping play action passes, hurrying up, and using timeouts. We were running it up the gut. Usually, "running up" the score isn't taken literally. So whatever. I'll chalk it up to sour grapes and anger, which is understandable. That was a tough loss.
Perhaps the most laughable things I've seen all night was a comment on this blog that Alabama is the least deserving BCS champion yet. Wow, that's pretty retarded. We went undefeated, and in our last two games we defeated the #1 and #2 ranked teams by a margin of 69-34. This is the most decorated team ever. 6 first team All Americans. Heisman and a handful of other trophies. This is IMHO one of (if not the) greatest seasons ever for any college football team. Not necessarily in terms of flat out domination of opponents, but in overall accomplishments. I'm planning on a post on Rollbamaroll to detail that statement more. Anyway, as far as least deserving we are far from it. Perhaps you can look up the 2007 LSU team or that Ohio State team with the infamous pass interference call.
All comments, FanPosts, and FanShots are the views of the reader-authors who create them.
27 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I wouldn't put this 'Bama team up with the all time greats
I wasn’t going to put either team in that category based on what I saw this season, regardless of the outcome. I think 2005 Texas squashes both of these teams easily. I think the runner up that year, USC, beats both of these teams handily.
That being said, I agree that Alabama is not the least deserving. They went undefeated, which can’t be said for a host of other national champions.
by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 8, 2010 2:48 AM CST reply actions
that’s not really what I was getting at. I was thinking more in terms of accomplishments than the overall strength of the team. Putting to rest the whole “alabama has never had a heisman” trivia question is one example. I’ll link the RBR post when I finish it.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
Bitter talk shadow
Have a bevo steak on me. We are talkin about 2010 NC you moron. Texas wouldnt stand a chance in the SEC. Be a man and accept your loss. Your post is full of shit and has no intellectual meaning to it. If VY played his ass would be on the sideline hurting too no team has successfully ran on us all year go back and look at the stats. We did not play good offensively but our #1 defense can take that pressure. We won you loss
Well, somebody didn't read my post on the front page.
Later. There may be a lot of idiots in the world, but that doesn’t mean we have to read what they say.
by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 8, 2010 3:01 AM CST up reply actions
I believe he brought up that comparison because he misinterpreted what I was talking about at the end, not to pick a fight or anything like that.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
You're right about Alabama's accomplishments
I look forward to your post.
by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 8, 2010 3:22 AM CST up reply actions
some nice points. Ingram missing part of 2nd half ends up a no-story considering the outcome but had we comeback, that probably is the narrative for you guys, que no? Since you admit that your offense wouldn’t have been so predictible in 2nd half after Colt goes down, you also know it could have been 10-0, 14-0 with Colt in there to start the game. The game began as a perfect script for us until Colt goes down. At that point, it beacme your perfect, your necessary script in order to gut out a win.
you also know it could have been 10-0, 14-0 with Colt in there to start the game.
Could have is the key. I said that Texas is much more likely to win with Colt in the game than out of the game. But it’s impossible to tell what would have happend. Maybe he throws a pic-6 on the next play. It’s all conjecture.
And if you’re going to hypothetically get Colt McCoy back, why can’t we hypothetically get Dont’a Hightower back? You want to go through some analysis of what that would have done? In the end it’s all pointless. Yes, losing Colt was a huge deal. Yes, I believe you would have had a much better chance of winning with him. I’ve been very complimentary of your team and the way they played tonight. What else do you want? I’m not going to say you win with McCoy because that’s BS. Nobody knows what would have happened.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
"why can’t we hypothetically get Dont’a Hightower back?"
To be fair here, it’s very different. Losing a player for the season is much, much different than losing a guy like Colt in the beginning of a game like this. Not only would I love to make that trade in the first place, it’s not that accurate of a comparison. Colt McCoy was our starter all year and took all the important reps in practice leading up to the game. That made his sudden departure all the worse when we threw Gilbert into the fire.
by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 8, 2010 3:37 AM CST up reply actions
you are right about shoulda, coulda, woulda guessing on our part – i’m amazed we fought back like we did after colt goes down. heck, if he stays in maybe ingram goes for 300+ and 3 scores, you just never know. congrats on your win. btw, not that it matters since it is a TV quote you are pimping, but i do believe hank hill is a longhorn fan.
by Class of Beef on Jan 8, 2010 3:43 AM CST up reply actions
Agreed.
Anybody that talks with that much chutzpah didn’t watch the game objectively. With 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter this game was a toss up. Actually, with all the momentum on Texas side Bama was looking like it was going to be the victim of the greatest comeback in college football history by a freshman who had never played a complete game of college football in his life. Sorry to say it son, but if you can’t see that you don’t know football. Be humble, enjoy the win and give props where they are due.
Why did you respond to all of the comments but not this one?
Also at the end of the game the reason you weren’t running play action passes is because you couldn’t… not because you chose not to.
The only issue I have with you proclaiming your offense ran all over our defense is that you ran the ball 51 plays and got 205 yards. Your two main backs avg just over 5 yards a carry, while that is excellent in the NFL that is not what I would call dominating in college.
You seem like a sensible guy, and you seem to get that we gifted you 21 points, and that saban should have taken a knee at the end instead of scoring again; but then in your argument you bring up the victory margin (against #1, and #2) as if that proves how great your team is. Yes the scoreboard reads your team won by 16, but you thinking that is an accurate depiction of the game, and using it in an argument for your team’s excellence makes me lose a lot of respect for you.
+1
"Stats are for losers. I like winning games." - Will Muschamp
"Somebody will always break your records. It is how you live that counts." - Earl Campbell
by Mulliganville on Jan 8, 2010 11:41 AM CST up reply actions
Thanks for the graciousness on cough-OUR-cough website, but,
your entire first section about McCoy is a very long list of excuses and injury situations that PALE IN COMPARISON to losing your best and almost heisman-winning (twice) player to injury in the very first drive of the effing NC game.
would just appreciate some intellectual honesty in that regard, since you’re able to provide it.
well, I take issue with the claim that I was giving excuses. Those were examples, though as you say they aren’t necessarily equal in magnitude to the loss of McCoy. However, the Prothro example might come close. The big difference is we lost him early and (possibly) as a result never made it into meaningful postseason play. Imagine if you had lost Shippley 1/3 of the way through the season and didn’t even get to your championship game. That’s hypothetically what might have happened to Alabama that year. I suppose making it all the way to the BCS CG makes the loss all that more acute, but not necessarily bigger.
As far as excuses go, there’s no need for excuses. It is what it is. Injuries are part of the game, just as much as other seemingly random occurrences outside the direct control of players and coaches. A ball bounces funny, causing a team to lose. That’s football. That’s life.
P.S.
For what it’s worth, I was just reading something over at RBR. Apparently Gmac was playing with cracked ribs and craploads of pain all game.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
and if that's true
it would explain his lack of numbers and mobility (not to take anything away for Texas of course).
"There's a lot of blood, sweat and guts between dreams and success." PBB
by Pachyderm Pride on Jan 8, 2010 3:51 AM CST up reply actions
Another Observation...
Texas was also hampered by never having an established running threat to balance their attack. The loss of McCoy would not have been so tough if Texas had an established running threat.
Would love to hear what texas fans think….
Roll Tide!
We dont have a running threat
And haven’t for the past two years really.
Its backwards, but our offense is more the pass sets up the run then the other way around, and the only reason that works, is because we have a QB in McCoy who completes over 70% of his passes.
Id be all for having a Cedric, or a Ricky in the back field, but the reality is, for the past two years that hasnt been our game. We werent going to establish a run against Bama with or without Colt, our offense lives or dies on the QB play, spreading the field, and allowing that to open up running lanes.
We werent any more likely to establish a running attack with Colt then without him. At this point, Texas fans accept that the running game is bascially what you saw last night.
by BoddickerIsClutch on Jan 8, 2010 10:29 AM CST up reply actions
No Rushing Defense either
They were ranked number one in rushing defense, wonder why? Just so everyone knows McElroy was playing with fractured ribs. That’s why Bama wasn’t balanced last night.
I like that you feel the need to justify your win on our site.
Our defense held Bama to their lowest yards per play of the year, while Bama held us to our 3rd lowest (sorry, those terrible Big 12 defenses of OU and NU outperformed you).
Or more to the point, you had a total of 263 yards, despite having the ball for 33:39. Thats your worst performance of the season yardage-wise, considering the 256 yards against the other UT was done in 27:42
You guys have a hell of a rushing attack and it showed, but as a defense, I like ours just fine, and they played well. Even for not being an SEC caliber defense.
by BoddickerIsClutch on Jan 8, 2010 1:05 PM CST up reply actions
I agree completely.
I’m a diehard Longhorn. For the most part, I have appreciated the civilized discourse Alabama fans have brought to the board, though there have been far too many idiots in the aftermath of last night’s game. Thank you for making an intelligent comment without any backhanded compliments. Respect.
As for your point, Texas hasn’t had a legitimate running attack since Jaamal Charles left after 2008. Had we had one, Gilbert would not have had to try to win it all by himself. That kid has skills to burn, but he was a deer in the headlights for two quarters. With a more balanced attack, I believe Texas wins last night. But as I said, I’m a diehard Longhorn. And I’ll never apologize for that.
TEXAS FIGHT!
Hook’em Horns!
Here's the post I mentioned about having the greatest season ever.
http://www.rollbamaroll.com/2010/1/8/1240577/greatest-season-ever
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
McCoy
To hypothesize what the outcome would have been is futile IMO because so many things would have changed. Our offense surely wouldn’t have been as predictable in the second half, and there’s a million other things that could have changed. Butterfly effect, etc.
I agree that your offense wouldn’t have been as predictable, but it also wouldn’t have been on the field nearly as much. Texas under McCoy would be able to put together some decent drives based on what I saw out of Alabama’s defense, meaning less time on the field for your offense. Also, if Texas was able to get out to a 10-0 or 14-0 lead, McElroy would have to throw the ball more, and of course we found out that wouldn’t exactly be a good thing.
I was very surprised at the poor coverages of Shipley in the 2nd half. No doubt Colt would’ve taken advantage of that.
Yes, so many things would’ve changed if McCoy didn’t get hurt. I do think it’s really safe to assume though that the game would’ve been much more of a tossup, and the halftime score wouldn’t have been nearly as lopsided.
by goingforthecorner on Jan 8, 2010 11:37 PM CST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Burnt Orange Nation
Related FanShots on Burnt Orange Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
