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Legend [17759]
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ESPN shaking things up with new take on Bama
Nov 11, 2019, 6:31 PM
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ESPN certainly controls the spin in college football news and ratings. And a case can be made that all season Clemson-Bama V is not the direction the media giant has been seeking. Hence the over-critiquing of1-point win over UNC Tarheels largely by ESPN, CBS and local homer news outfits.
Well something big changed this weekend. Bama lost at home. And the ESPN spin is shifting. See Ivan Maisel article on ESPN website today (attached below). Clemson’s advancement to CFP is looking more and more likely, and to maintain fresh programming, ESPN seems to be willing to throw Bama under the ROY Bus. Almost unthinkable. Cowherd is also jumping on bandwagon. Media machine wants Ohio St, LSU, Clemson, and Pac 12 IMHO.
Reference attached excerpt from Maisel’s article:
Alabama's loss to LSU could mark the end of a college football dynasty The end is usually seen only in hindsight, but the Tigers' win is a reminder that nothing lasts forever. TUSCALOOSA, ALA. -- Watching No. 3 Alabama do its best imitation of Arkansas in the first half Saturday against No. 2 LSU, the thought occurred that nothing lasts forever. Watching Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa give away the ball twice, watching punter Ty Perine go stonehanded on a snap at midfield, watching Trevon Diggs' interception negated because the little something extra that the Tide defense deployed was a 12th man, Alabama looked as if it had contracted a sudden case of Razorback flu. You couldn't be sure which torch was being passed: the SEC West, the entire SEC, or all of the FBS, but that torch felt like one more thing that Alabama decided to give away in front of 101,821 fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Overreaction? Don't forget: The last time the Alabama program played a top-five team, last January, the Tide was humiliated 44-16 by Clemson. In eight games this season, Alabama played only one ranked opponent, a Texas A&M team with a No. 24 ranking that proved to be, at best, optimistic. Often, the end of a dynasty is seen only in hindsight. But when Alabama allowed LSU to score two touchdowns in the final 26 seconds of the first half and take a 33-13 lead into the half, there was nothing subtle to discern. The stately Saban manor on Playoff Boulevard looked like a fixer-upper purchased by those Gen X Orgerons. That must have been what the LSU head coach meant when he gathered his players at midfield after the 46-41 victory that snapped Alabama's 31-game home winning streak. "This is our house from now on!" Ed Orgeron shouted. Tame, of course, compared to what we saw via livestream from the locker room. If the College Football Playoff Committee decides to match LSU and Alabama in a semifinal, Orgeron might wish his exuberance had not outkicked his reason, but, hey, the Tigers couldn't act like they'd been there before: they beat the Tide for the first time in eight years. So cut Orgeron a big serving of slack. As it turned out, Alabama deserves a more equitable assessment as well. The Tide settled down at halftime, returned to the field and played the quality of football that we've grown accustomed to seeing in Bryant-Denny for the past 12 seasons. That showed that the Crimson Tide hadn't chucked its playoff dreams for a spot in the Liberty Bowl just yet. Nick Saban made a pass at trying to explain how his team self-destructed. "We seemed to be a little out of sorts in the first half," Saban said after the game, "which, I'm responsible for the mindset of our team, so obviously I didn't get that done with them." It is certainly true that LSU faced an Alabama team with one ankle tied behind its back. All credit to Tagovailoa for playing somewhere south of 100 percent physically. But the mistakes Tagovailoa made in the first half had nothing to do with any lack of agility he developed over the last three weeks. In his first game back after throwing an interception into the Tennessee end zone, on the opening possession, Tagovailoa dropped the ball and lost it inside the LSU 5. He dropped it because he carried it like a loaf of bread in his left hand, far from the snug spot between arm and body recommended by Pop Warner coaches. "Once we turned the ball over in the red zone, inside the 5, that kind of killed the spirit," wide receiver Henry Ruggs III said. And in the final seconds of the first half, deep in his own territory, Tagovailoa threw an interception that LSU quickly converted into a touchdown. "We came out really strong, and then had those couple of turnovers," right tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. said. "It just kind of like, killed the vibe. We started putting our heads down. You can't do that in a game like this." There are two points to make: One, LSU is very good. Unless Joe Burrow gets hit by a bus, he likely won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. The Tigers' last three opponents -- Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Texas A&M -- have a combined SEC record of 5-12. Burrow completed 31 of 39 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns, slicing up an Alabama defense that played an uncharacteristic amount of zone pass defense. In an era when traditional powers have chosen the most untraditional path of starting freshman quarterbacks, Burrow has spent the season reminding everyone of the value of a talented fifth-year quarterback. Burrow is making LSU look old-school, a team on which veteran players use their experience to dominate the big moments. Remember that? Experience has gone out of style in an era when the best players leave after their third season (one-and-done, meet three-and-flee), no matter how Kedon Slovis or Bo Nix change the national attitude about freshmen quarterbacks. An Alabama defense beset by injuries early in the season turned to youth, and Burrow had his way with them. Alabama gave up its most points in 13 seasons under Saban, the most points it has given up in 90 years in Bryant-Denny Stadium. "They really fought hard to get back in the game," Saban said of his players, "and actually got themselves back in the game, but we couldn't get a stop on defense when we needed to." Two, generations of successful coaches who retire, from Ara Parseghian and Darrell Royal in the '70s to Lou Holtz in more modern times, say that the more you win, the more that winning isn't enough. It becomes mere relief that you didn't lose. The pressure within the Alabama football facility to continue the historic level of success under Saban is enormous. If Alabama finishes 11-1, the Tide can make the case that they lost only to No. 2 LSU and that they lost with their best player at less than full speed. The problem for the Tide is that the loss to LSU will be Alabama's worthiest credential. Unless Alabama gets a lot of help, it will miss the playoff for the first time in five years. That is no crime, at least outside of Tuscaloosa County. But it also will mark the first time in five years that Alabama will go consecutive seasons without winning the national championship. No one is crying tears for the Crimson Tide. It's more likely that the loss to LSU brought smiles in 49-and-a-half states. Alabama took a step backward against Clemson last January. The Tide took another step backward against LSU on Saturday. It may be no more than the natural order of college football, an order that Saban has defied for this entire decade. Just remember that nothing lasts forever. EDITOR'S PICKS What LSU-Alabama and Baylor-TCU showed us in Week 11, and more Two SEC offenses and two Big 12 defenses were on display Saturday, Illinois somehow rallied and P.J. Fleck proved his value. Alabama and the College Football Playoff -- Are the Tide done already? Could this really be the first College Football Playoff without the Crimson Tide? And how high can No. 17 Minnesota climb after beating Penn State? College football Week 11 shows us LSU's offense is for real, and Minnesota is a playoff contender The Tigers scored 46 points against Alabama's defense, P.J. Fleck and Minnesota upset Penn State, and a wild Saturday of college football turned normal realities upside down.
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CU Medallion [57843]
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Go Tigers.
Nov 11, 2019, 6:43 PM
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People should know when they are conquered.
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Head Coach [797]
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Re: Go Tigers.
Nov 11, 2019, 6:48 PM
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His article is a joke. The premise that a 5 pt loss to another great team ends anything is laughable. We lose a game and we go back to being in the shadows Of the ACC... yea no.
This stuff makes me laugh.
Ps anyone who thinks Minnesota would stay within 14 of Bama is kidding themselves.
Go tigers. But be realistic people.
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CU Medallion [57843]
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Re: Go Tigers.
Nov 11, 2019, 6:52 PM
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but you have to admit, Bama looks off. They looked bad against us in January, and haven't looked all that unbeatable so far this year. They used to be downright scary. Today, not so much. Things HAVE changed.
If Saban can't get all the 5*s, I don't think he can coach them up to win. He really, REALLY, needs a huge recruiting advantage (which he's had for a long time), but we have been eating into that supply of 5*s and we have better coaches. And our players are having fun.
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Legend [15926]
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So wouldn't it make more sense to say the dynasty ended with Clemson slapping the tide
Nov 11, 2019, 7:04 PM
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around in January? A 5 pt road loss seems like the unlikely place to identify as the turning point. The beatdown in Santa Clara makes way more sense. Time will tell.
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Legend [16888]
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^^Yes, Soy...but your narrative
Nov 11, 2019, 7:09 PM
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Conflicts with the SEC eating its' own.
Let's set the bigger sights and win another Natty and if, perchance, there's a SEC victim, so be it. Of course, if the SEC has no representative, that's fine by moi!
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Orange Blooded [2663]
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CU Medallion [55695]
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Re: Go Tigers.
Nov 11, 2019, 8:05 PM
[ in reply to Re: Go Tigers. ] |
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All good teams go through a not so good a season every now and then, and I think it's Bama's then season, this season!!!
Message was edited by: allorangeallthetime52®
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Legend [16342]
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yeah but losses should matter***
Nov 11, 2019, 7:16 PM
[ in reply to Re: Go Tigers. ] |
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Legend [16186]
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The Bama Mystique remains strong.
Nov 11, 2019, 7:31 PM
[ in reply to Re: Go Tigers. ] |
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The Tide has played two strong teams in the past 11 months. They turned the ball over willy nilly in both games and trailed at halftime in the two games by 15 and 20 points. This might mean something.
Of course, there are many teams that Bama can beat readily. Bama has great athletes and a great coach. But in the two most important games Bama has played last season and this season, they came up short.
If the Tide is shut out of the playoff, perhaps they will come back with vigor next year. Perhaps not.
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Legend [16207]
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110%er [6223]
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Re: ESPN shaking things up with new take on Bama
Nov 11, 2019, 9:19 PM
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+1 thanks for posting. Just one minor correction, Cowherd has been on the Clemson band wagon ever since he had to eat his "Clemson is a fraud". He went on air and ate his crow like a man. He even had Dabo on his show to eat some more crow. When Klatt is a guest, he is quick to call him out for not giving Clemson props. So he has been a believer in Dabo and Clemson for sometime.
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