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BillyVance

College Football 2016 season is almost here!

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In what is shaping up to be one of the biggest season opening slate of competitive games that can directly impact the playoffs, the bookstore at Southern Cal started selling these shirts...

It's clear those guys don't know how to troll. LAME... Game hasn't even kicked off, Trojans. :|

However, somebody at Alabama wouldn't let it go, and created this... Trolling at its finest. :o :D

Let the games begin! They can't get here fast enough! B|
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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monkycndo

GLSTA/OC..

ra!



:D:D:D I've come to expect that from you. :P

So Bama enters the season ranked #1 in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, which some people say is the Kiss of Death. The last team to go wire to wire preseason #1 to the national championship was Southern Cal in 2004, which they ended up vacating due to the Reggie Bush scandal.

Honestly, from what I'm seeing so far in fall camp, Bama will be lucky to even win the SEC. They've got the talent and depth. What remains to be seen is whether they have the leadership, the moxie, the "it" factor like they did in each of their championship runs. I haven't seen it yet. Maybe they'll show it when the going gets tough. We'll see.

Defense is going to be nasty. More speed than last year. Expect more QB sacks and hurries out of the pass rushers, and Bama even led the nation last year in sacks.

Offense, plenty of weapons as the WR/TE corps are the deepest and most talented I have ever seen at Alabama. What Saban wants is for one of his QB's to win the team over and have the team back him up, and don't commit game-changing turnovers.

Third toughest schedule in the country with road games at LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss (all ranked in the top 11). I would expect Bama to lean on their defense to win games, as they did in 2009 and 2011.

Yeah, I'm not getting my hopes up but we'll see. 2017 is when they should be serious contenders.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Outstanding opening weekend if I do say so...

Alabama eviscerated Southern Cal 52-6 after a lousy first quarter.

Tennessee stunk it up in a home OT win over Appalachian State.

LSU lost to Wisconsin.

Ole Miss lost to FSU.

And Auburn lost to Clemson.

Couldn't ask for a better weekend.

B|

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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This comedian puts out a video every week about "How Bama fans watched week # SEC games"

This is probably his best work, and a nice touch at the end...

https://twitter.com/FunnyMaine/status/787641508014936064
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Michigan had a good run this year. That was a tough loss to Ohio though. It was great last year when they played in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl. Looks like a road trip to Miami this year if I can get some tickets.
You can't be drunk all day if you don't start early!

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Rick

Michigan had a good run this year. That was a tough loss to Ohio though. It was great last year when they played in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl. Looks like a road trip to Miami this year if I can get some tickets.



Michigan vs Florida State is gonna be a great game! Already, we've got shots fired, by an FSU assistant.

The Sugar Bowl could be a good game, but only if Auburn gets all their injured players healthy, especially on offense. They need RB Kamryn Pettway and QB Sean White back to 100%, otherwise forget it.

As for Michigan missing the playoffs.... well.... shouldn't have lost to freaking Iowa in the first place. And Harbaugh is a big crybaby, just like Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State in 2011 after narrowly missing out on the BCS title game. He had that bad loss to Iowa freaking State hanging over him. :P

Another great game should be Penn State vs Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. As well as the Ohio State vs Clemson game in the semi-final in Arizona.

As for Washington, they're not getting much respect from sports writers and bookies. Most seem to think it won't be close, that Bama will run roughshod over them. It would be a mistake to think that. I just don't know what to expect in 3 weeks. But, if Alabama comes in with their A-game mindset and play hateful defense and a road-grading run game, then the game should be over halfway through the third quarter.

But I'll tell you this much, I did NOT expect to see Alabama completely destroying Michigan State 38-0 in last season's semi-final. Who knows what's going to happen. UW had a horribly weak OOC schedule, and got whipped at home by a Southern Cal team on a hot streak. The same Trojan team Bama destroyed 52-6 in the season opener when all their wheels fell off for whatever reason. The rest of the PAC 12 isn't really that good, outside of Colorado and maybe Utah. Betting line is what? 14? I say Bama by 28, but that's just me. :P
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Well here we are. Just days away from the national championship game, this time at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Alabama vs Clemson for all the marbles, again.

If anybody had told me before the season this would happen, I would have been delighted but guarded. Mainly due to Bama's road schedule looking particularly brutal. Just too many things to account for. But man, have I been pleasantly surprised at what Alabama and Saban has been able to do, even with the SEC conference a bit down. I still can't believe they made it undefeated with a true freshman at QB even with a defense as deep, nasty, hateful and fast as this team's got.

They got it right again. The two best teams going head to head, for the second straight year. I do not have any idea of what to expect. But... some differences from last year to this year....

Last year Clemson was missing their top two WRs to injuries. They are back now. DeShaun has thrown more, but run less than last year.

Alabama's defense had a load of trouble stopping that offense last year due to an inexperienced and young secondary, and the ineffectiveness of the inside linebackers to contain Deshaun when he ran for it, until Alabama put their "rabbit" package in late, which worked. I.E. faster LBers who were the normal backups.

This year, those backup LBers are starters. Across the board, the whole front seven of Bama's defense lost 10-15 lbs each to add speed. Seems to have worked well. They've handled all the spread offenses to date, although Chad Kelly gave them fits early and late in a September game that Bama won 48-43. The defensive line is just as nasty, though not quite as deep as last year's monumental defensive line was. The linebacker corps is arguably the best in the country, led by Butkus Award winner Reuben Foster, Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson, all of whom have been named in several NFL 2017 first round mock drafts. Watching these guys terrorize opposing QBs have been a marvel to see, and who could forget DE Jonathan Allen's superman sack on Texas A&M's QB Trevor Knight?

I don't know much about Clemson's defense other than they lost a lot of players from last year's team but still managed to allow 17 points per game to Alabama's 11 points (which leads the nation). Alabama leads the nation in scoring defense, rushing defense, and total defense, plus defensive efficiency, and most 3 and outs forced, PLUS most non-offensive TDs scored, by a mile.

If Alabama can overcome the distractions from OC Lane Kiffin being pushed out a week early and Steve Sarkisian taking over the duties, I believe this will be another hellacious game, but not quite as high scoring as last year's was. Say high 20s to low 30s on the scoreboard. Alabama has the playmakers on offense to make it happen, and true freshman Jalen Hurts has yet to be rattled at all. He has played with the composure and calmness of a junior or senior. It's amazing. But he still makes freshman mistakes from time to time. Hopefully Sarkisian will help keep those to a minimum.

Oh and Clemson, any of you motherfuckers go groping where hands shouldn't be, you'll just make them play that much harder. :|

Roll Tide.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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BillyVance



Michigan vs Florida State is gonna be a great game! Already, we've got shots fired, by an FSU assistant.

The Sugar Bowl could be a good game, but only if Auburn gets all their injured players healthy, especially on offense. They need RB Kamryn Pettway and QB Sean White back to 100%, otherwise forget it.

Another great game should be Penn State vs Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.



I see I got a few of my predictions nailed down. Rose Bowl and the Michigan FSU game were outstanding. And once Sean White went down with a broken arm against Oklahoma, that was it for them.

As for the Washington Huskies, I said Bama by 28. Could have been except for sloppy execution on offense that stopped three drives, but I'll take the 17 point win. That was an impressive display of defense by Bama to shut down a team averaging 44 points a game.

I expect those mistakes to get cleaned up for Clemson.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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flyhi

Quote

I expect those mistakes to get cleaned up for Clemson.



Didn't Saban just take care of that?


:D I hope so.

Fucking Lane Kiffin. He did an outstanding job for Alabama in his three years with three different first time starting QBs, but all he remembers are the ass chewings from Saban Hehehe. Only he could fuck up his exit from Alabama. Oh well. Steve Sarkisian is said to be a better offensive mind than Kiffin, as long as we can keep him on the wagon! ;)

By the way, I found these stats vs top 40 offenses interesting.

Clemson has played against 5 top 40 offenses this year and in those games have allowed an average of 417 yards and 30 points per game.

Alabama has played 6 top 40 offenses and has allowed an average of 266 yards and 15 points per game. Note, that does include the Ole Miss and Arkansas games where Ole Miss scored 43 and Arkansas 30, and both had 400+ yards passing. Bama has cleaned up their play since on the back end.

Make of that what you will. Likely won't have any bearing on this game anyway. Both teams will come in highly motivated.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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billeisele

Clemson will focus on stopping the run to force the young QB to throw. If they can do that then AL is in big trouble.



Agreed. However, Alabama's miscues in the Peach Bowl vs Washington wasn't completely on Washington shutting their passing game down. There were a lot of procedural penalties on the offensive line. They also knew Washington had a good defense against the pass and didn't really test it all that much. Why should they, when the Huskies couldn't stop the run? Play it safe and move on. Which is what they did.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Sarkisian dials up tonight. He's a better offensive mind than Kiffin anyhow, and Hurts has yet to be rattled even once this season. But this is the biggest stage of his career. One year ago he was helping Alabama in practice by emulating Deshaun Watson as the scout team QB a day after enrolling straight out of high school. Now he goes head to head against him. Will he outplay Watson? I do not think so, but I do not think Watson will enjoy as big of an advantage over Hurts, just because of Alabama's defense, which leads the nation in almost every major category, and was retooled this year to combat the type of QB Watson is.

We'll see what happens though. Should be another great game.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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They sure did. Hunter Renfrow kicked our ass. Dude is fast as fuck. I don't think Alabama took him seriously enough, then again, Clemson has the best WR corps in the country. Hard to cover them all.

Hat's off to Dabo and Clemson. They made it happen. And the onside kick at the very end was brilliant too. :D

Bama will be back. I wouldn't be surprised if Clemson makes it back too. They're both built for the long haul.

I wonder how many former Alabama players have now won national titles as coaches. The list just grew by one. Can't complain.

That was probably the best title game ever played. Ranks right up there with last year's game, the Southern Cal-Texas game and the Ohio State-Miami overtime game.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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airdvr

Great game! How big a set do you need to try for a TD with 4 seconds left when a FG will send it to IT?



Dabo Swinney told his assistant coaches he was going for it and drew up the play for it that worked. But yeah, he's a Bring Your Own Guts kind of coach.

There were stuff in the media about the play being an illegal pick play, or offensive pass interference, but I don't see it. They got it. They won. Bama's mistake was leaving 2 minutes left on the clock after the go ahead TD put them up 31-28.

And besides, the odds were in favor of Clemson if the game had gone to OT. Bama's defense was gassed by then and they'd lost their bell cow RB to a broken fibula, making their run game all but ineffective except for QB Jalen Hurts.

Oh well... On to next year! Bama isn't going away.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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