Nothing but gimmicks & trick plays. This high school crap will never work against a SEC defense.
Smoky Mirrors.
BTW, after a lengthy argument with a Bama fan today I decided to do some looking up. Saban rocks the world when he has better talent or faces a team in transition or is handicapped.
Let him play a team that's on the same level talent wise? He's average at best.
Let's look.
2007
Lost to EVERY ranked team they played except Arkansas. The Hogs were 16 at the time they played and ended up 8-5 (4-4) and unranked.
2008
Started with that HUGE win over Clemson to open the season. Clemson was Clemson and finished 7-6. But they shot up the rankings for beating a mediocre team. Followed that up with wins over WKU, Tulane and Arkansas to blast from 24th into the Top 10. Asinine.
Beat third-ranked Georgia. Quality win #1. Georgia finished 10-3.
Vaulted to first with wins over a bunch of shitty teams. Beat LSU in overtime. Quality win #2.
Lost to Florida, lost to Utah.
After two seasons, Saban had two decent very close wins and losses against eight teams of equal or inferior talent.
2009
Opened with a win over VA Tech. Quality win 3 as the Hokies finished 10-3.
Beat 20th ranked Ole Miss (farce)
Beat 22nd ranked South Carolina (overrated)
Beat average LSU (finished ranked 17th) so being generous, could claim that as win #4.
Beat Florida in SEC-CG. Quality win #5.
Beat Texas in CG. Speared quarterback in the back, Texas at a disadvantage. So no.
After three seasons, four quality wins, eight losses.
2010
Not a single quality win. Lost to the only three teams of substance on their schedule in LSU, So Carolina and Auburn.
After four years, four wins and eleven losses is the tally.
2011
Beat Arkansas which finished 11-2 pre blonde motorcycle crash. Quality win 5.
Lost to LSU - the only other decent team they played that year. Beat LSU in the CG which was bogus, but credit given.
So after five years, Saban has six wins and a dozen losses against teams of relatively equal talent.
2012
HUGE win over Michigan to open the season. Michigan finished 8-5. Nope.
Didn't play another ranked team until Mississippi State in October. Joke.
Beat LSU for quality win 6.
Lost to A&M
Beat Georgia in SEC-CG -- win 7.
Beat Notre Dame in CG. Seriously? Overrated horse shit. No credit there.
After six years he's now got seven quality wins against 13 losses to reasonably equal teams.
2013
Played four ranked teams all season. Lost to two of those. One of the ranked teams -- A&M finished with four losses in the SEC. No credit for that.
Final tally? The GOD of football is 8-15 against teams that are on a relatively equal footing. Even if you give him credit for all the shitty teams like Notre Dame, etc? He's not even .500 against quality competition.
Build another statue devoted to whipping up on North Texas, why don't they.
Looking back at their history and the pussified schedules they faced every year makes me want to crimson hurl. Fuck them. Fuck them all.