Well, it happened. We lost. It was bound to happen to a first year head coach who inherited a team with depth issues. I'm not upset about losing. I'm upset with the way we lost.
Auburn...
- Got blown out. Bad. Period. Destroyed. Every facet of the game was dominated by Arkansas.
- The players weren't prepared to play. No matter how many times you say it, you have to MODEL FOR, TEACH, and INSPIRE college kids to play great football at 11am. That's all on the coaches. I don't buy into superstitions, so everyone claiming the "we're cursed in early games" bullshit needs to shut up.
- Why did Malzahn get cute? Why do all of these good offensive coordinators get cute? After our first drive, I was reminded of Navy trying a 2 pt conversation against Ohio St. They had the Buckeyes by the balls and could have sent the game into overtime where I had full confidence Navy would win. Instead of running the option - the same option that had killed Ohio St all day - they get in a pass formation and throw an interception.
- Instead of running Ben Tate and McCalleb up the middle and killing the defense with a few easy throws from Todd, we have Kodi Burns, the inspirational wide receiver, lead the offense. One wildcat play is fine. Leaving Kodi in on 3rd down? That's trying to be too cute. The defense might have been caught off guard, but they didn't have to worry as Kodi is not a 3rd and long converter.
- We didn't force the ball down Arkansas's throats until the 3rd quarter. It's inexcusible. You run the ball against that defense. They've been terrible all year. Their vaunting offense is nearly unstoppable. You keep the ball out of their hands. Malzahn stopped the clock with incompletions and gave the ball back to them time and time again. We should have smashed the football into their chests and forced them to stop us.
- Although, all of the blame goes to the defensive side of the football. The campaign has begun. Fire Ted Roof. No blitzes? Really? You give Mallett, a slow quarterback, all day to throw against our secondary who is as raw as a head of lettuce on a farm. He picked us apart. Also, leaving only four guys to guard the line of scrimmage with the back 7 desperately trying to get into position opened up enormous holes for their running backs. AND THEN, once they got the ball passed the line of scrimmage, our defense has such poor tackling techniques that they racked up YACs like crazy.
- No excuses. There is a glaring reason why our defense is tremendously worse than last year. It's our coaching. I don't know what goes on inside closed doors, but either Chizik needs to take over the defense or he needs to get away. Ted Roof is the coordinator, therefore I expect him to receive the brunt of the criticism. We can't win against LSU or Bama with that defense. We might outscore Ole Miss and Georgia. We might.
Arkansas...
- Not impressed. Mallett is a good quarterback who makes nice throws, but I saw the same Arkansas team that I saw against Bama. I just didn't see Bama's defense out there.
- Petrino gets cute with his playcalling as well. I think that's a recipe for disaster especially in this league. Good defenses will stop Arkansas (see Alabama-Arkansas 2009). LSU will stop it. Florida will stop it. Ole Miss will stop it.
- The defense still doesn't look that impressive. Auburn gave you the spotlight, but I saw a lot of players out of position; I saw Ben Tate on the worst day of the year gain 185 yards; and I saw Arkansas give up 20 points in 3 minutes.
- I think Florida takes Arkansas to the woodshed as does LSU. Next year, when the defense STILL hasn't improved, Petrino will be running for cover.
Alabama...
- The undisputed, unanimous #1 team in the country. Florida lacks receivers. Texas is overrated. Boise St is a cinderella story. There is not a more complete team than Alabama right now. They control the clock on offense and dominate on defense.
- I know Kaos disagrees, but this is one of the better defenses I've ever seen. The line of scrimmage is dominated. They have a 1st rounder in McClain with other productive linebackers around him. The secondary is always in perfect position and they can also deliver the big hit. They haven't missed a beat since Hightower was injured. Although it seems like they benefit from lucky plays, when it happens every week multiple times a game, it's no longer luck.
- The only weakness I see is with the quarterback. He's a game manager. McElwain has put McElroy in a position to not screw up. He's done well so far. He might get tested against LSU or South Carolina, but he's been decent. With that said, I don't think Bama fans can expect him to win a game for them if Ingram or Richardson go down/get stopped.
Ole Miss...
- Give up. Snead looked more like a 2nd string quarterback than a Heisman candidate. 1st round draft pick? More like free agency.
- The defense is sound. I thought they did a great job against Bama's offense considering how bad the Rebel offense was. If Ole Miss had any kind of offense, I think we would have seen McElroy get his first real test. Eventually, Ingram out muscled the defense and controlled the game.
Florida...
- As I've said before, until some receivers truly step up, Florida will not win the SEC or NC.
- The defense is stout. They've given up double digits once. Here's a big time stat - they've given up only 2 touchdowns all year. I'd vault them over Bama's defense, but I don't think Florida has faced the same caliber of competition. It's really close, though.
LSU...
- Tiger fans need to start the campaign - Fire Crowton. There's no reason why a team with the best talent in the country can't score points. They struggle with execution and consistency. That's on the coach. Get a new coordinator...actually, don't. It's a lot easier for Auburn to win when your coaching sucks.
- The defense looked a lot better. I think Florida being one dimensional helped.
Texas...
- Same quote each week. "It took a while for Texas to wake up...." That sentence is usually finished with Texas blowing out the other team in the end. I've heard that before. I've watched that game every week. Eventually, it bites you in the ass. One day, you're down 27-3 at halftime and you realize that it's too late to wake up. You realize it's time to wake up at 11am. It's time to wake up at the beginning of the game and play a COMPLETE game.
- Oklahoma will more than likely beat Texas next week. Lock of the week. If Texas doesn't play good football until late in the 2nd quarter against the Sooners, they'll be down 28-3. The comeback will look nice in the 2nd half, but Oklahoma isn't Colorado or Wyoming. They're more like Arkansas - just good enough to kick your ass back down to the dirt.
Final thought...
- It's not as bad as it seems. Here are some interesting stats:
Tommy Tuberville's first year at AU - Was blown out by Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas.
Urban Meyer's first year at Florida - Was blown out by Alabama.
Nick Saban's first year at LSU - Was blown out by Auburn, Florida, and lost to UAB.
Nick Saban's first year at Alabama - Lost to LA Monroe.
Mack Brown's first year at Texas - Blown out by Kansas St.
- It happens. Old fashion butt kickings happen and they often happen to first year head coaches. A new system is being implemented, and while the players may see vast improvement, they aren't ready to be the big boys yet.
- I'm still impressed with what Chizik is doing, and I think we beat Kentucky, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Furman. 9-3 is an amazing year for a first year head coach.
- Of course, the wheels could fall off at some point. After Saturday, I definitely can't rule out that possibility.
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