The University of Alabama Football and Crimson Tide Sports Source
April 18, 2024
July 28, 2015
Too Fat and Sassy?
Much has been written about excuses pouring forth from the mouths of SEC coaches during or after Media Days. Much has been made of excuses for losing and it has correctly been pointed out that the SEC has failed to win a major bowl game in the last two years.
Many of the Tide faithful myself included have used the excuse that Alabama didn’t care about that game in recent the Sugar Bowl losses. The first example was the thumping the Tide took at the hands of Utah after Tebo and company dispatched them in the SEC championship game. The same excuse was trotted out for the loss to Oklahoma in 2013 after the horrors of the “kick Six” affair in Auburn. While there may be some element of truth to these reasons – it still a fairly lame excuse.
Last year the SEC was riding as high as it ever has – at one point multiple teams were in the top ten and the SEC West was deemed the most powerful division in college football. Then in January the bottom fell out. Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LSU all lost bowl games. Except for the whipping TCU administered to Ole Miss these games weren’t blowouts, but they were all losses. Overall the SEC finished 7-5 in bowl games, those five losses were all by SEC West teams.
It strikes me that what’s happening here is that the kids that are playing for those SEC West schools believed what they heard in the media and figured they would just beat anybody outside of the SEC. Sadly, it just doesn’t work that way and if the teams in the western half of the conference don’t get their heads in the game similar results could be headed their way again.
Last year Lane Kiffin did a masterful job of exploiting opponent’s weaknesses. However, as the season wore on many of the Tide’s opponents exploited the glaring weakness of the Alabama team – the secondary. Auburn, Missouri and finally Ohio State lit the Tide’s secondary up like a Christmas tree. For all of the records that the offense set the defense set their own. Never has a Saban coached defense surrendered so many yards or points. It wasn’t any secret anybody watching Auburn throw the ball deep at will kind, sorta figured it out. Against Ohio State, it got sad as the Tide, desperately trying to protect their secondary, finally couldn’t stop the run either.
No doubt, Lane Kiffin will find a way to give whoever plays quarterback this year more opportunities to exploit opponents weaknesses. Also the vibe that came out of Tuscaloosa following the A-Day game was hopeful. The defensive players want to get their swagger back. They haven’t actually beaten teams down since 2012. That used to be the norm, lately it was the exception.
For Alabama and the SEC to get their mojo back is going to take more than a press release by the league. The teams are going to have to start making statements on the field.
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