[ad_1]
RED BATON, La. – College football coaches are constantly saying that they do not read newspapers, they avoid publications on the Internet and never consult Twitter. But they know enough to use the negative information on these platforms to motivate their teams. Alabama coach Nick Saban presented the most recent and exemplary of these examples, exploiting to his advantage the only true criticism of the scarlet tide: they did not play anyone. "We really wanted to make a statement in this game," he said afterwards. "A lot of people have talked about our schedule."
Statement made. Successful examination. The obstacle jumped. Alabama knocked out LSU on the scoreboard and the score sheet, beating the Tigers 29-0, beating them 576-196 and wiping out all hope that the non-Bama masses think the Tide will lose its match. regular season. It was supposed to be the big challenge of the regular season, the four-quarter fight. While the Tigers (7-2), ranked third, would not win, but they could remain competitive, expose some defects in Alabama and force the most courageous quarterback in the country, Tua Tagovailoa, to take significant shots in the last minutes.
None of this has happened. In fact, what happened at the Tigre Stadium on Saturday night somehow surpassed the 50-point checkpoints that the Crimson Tide released on their first eight opponents, none of which can hope to appear in the next Top 25. The best team in the country proved that it was the best team in the country. Those of us who are not certain of Alabama because of his schedule are very sure of it now. And if that's not the case, we can discuss it with the tide catcher, Jerry Jeudy, who has won 103 yards against one of Alabama's allegedly high stakes. "[They said] we did not play anyone, "said Jeudy. "They can not say that anymore. We ended up coming to play one of the best teams in the country and do what we are supposed to do. "
The question remains: who will beat Alabama? Saban's side should not be challenged before the SEC league match, with three home games against Mississippi State, The Citadel and Auburn. In Atlanta, The Tide will meet a team, Georgia, who lost to LSU by 20 points a few weeks ago. In the playoffs, they could receive a large number of programs: Clemson, Michigan, Ohio, Notre Dame, Oklahoma. Are they ready for the challenge? Do they have a defensive front capable of putting pressure on Tagovailoa, who favored his injured knee in several places, but still stole a 44-yard touchdown on Saturday? Do they have linebackers and nose guards able to stuff Bama's back (Damien Harris, Najee Harris and Josh Jacobs, averaging 7.13 yards per race)? Do they have defensive backs capable of silencing the catchers of the elite passes (four of whom have caught at least four passes against the secondary LSU player)?
So much for the match of the night between LSU and catcher Tagovailoa. Bad knee and all, Tagovailoa threw for 295 yards on a 1-2 from 25 to 42 and, despite his first interception of the season, he got a record of 129.5 points. No matter what Saban says – he noted on Saturday that Tagovailoa was no longer "injured", his quarterback was not playing at full speed, still upset by the right knee he had injured in October. CBS cameras caught him limping sometimes, and he even made a trip under the Alabama side tent at one point.
At first, it was not so easy, as revealed by the score and statistics. In fact, the first series in Alabama ended with another touchdown for the first time this season. And during this march, Tagovailoa wore a helmet in a sensitive area, an incident that left him wringing sweat on the ground as a wave of somewhat restrained celebrations spread through the tiger stadium. "We went through trials tonight," Tagovailoa said.
It turns out that these guys are really good no matter who they play and no matter where they play them. The tiger 's stadium swung and roared, danced and swayed, at the approach of the send – off. The scene of the tail was a purple and golden sea. There were fried turkeys, whole roasted pigs and ice cream ice creams that chilled alcoholic shots. The environment was such that many of LSU's long-time track and field personnel said they had never seen such a busy campus. "It's like the Super Bowl," commented one.
Alabama has ruined everything, as it has done here on its previous three occasions – 21-17 in 2012, 20-13 in 14-, 10-0 in 2016 – and this time the score was far wider, the method was the same: the tide was dominant on both lines. That gave a 16-0 game at half-time as a four-goal lead. Alabama harassed Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow with every withdrawal, finishing with five sacks and limiting the Tigers to 12 yards. His offensive front created run tracks for an impressive 37 points for 281 yards and gave Tagavailoa all the time he needed to destroy high school. At one point, Alabama had outshot the Tigers from 439 yards to 82.
Ed Orgeron, the LSU coach, then indicated that the fear of God was now one of Crimson Tide's future opponents: "They knocked us out. We tried everything we could, go up to maximum and wide protection. We have just been fighting. During his post-game press conference, Orgeron devoted much of his time to one of his favorite topics: recruiting. "I was able to recruit better defensive linemen. We have to recruit better offensive line players. Same old thing. I have to beat Alabama in the line of scrimmage. "
Orgeron thought that LSU had "arrived", as he says. He said he was reducing the gap after following the physical pace with Alabama during a defeat at Tuscaloosa last year. Instead, his program lost an eighth consecutive game in the series, by the widest margin since the start of the skid with a 21-0 defeat in the 2011 national championship game. The wave had an incredible run victories on Saturday: it has not allowed any touchdown at Tiger Stadium in the last 11 quarters, dating back to the first quarter of the 2014 game.
Saban also continues to poke his former team with Louisiana players. Dylan Moses, a Baton Rouge native and Alabama linebacker, had six tackles and a tackle for the loss. "Our defensive line has dominated. They make me look good, "said Moses. "They pushed them back, putting the quarterback under pressure." Saban, Moses and others admitted after the match that they were surprised that Alabama's defense was so successful against LSU. "It was crazy, so we closed it … I did not expect it," Moses said.
So this team is shocking now? Woo boy. This may not be the best team in Alabama under Saban, perhaps one of the best ever. The tide has stopped this year for 70 seconds, they have a quarterback in the Heisman Trophy race and their defense is still so vile. We are moving away. It's too much rat poison for a story. Let's see the bad points and there were two: the tide missed a pair of extra points. Oh yes, it's more like that. That's what Saban wants, because motivation is as much a part of his lasting success as his staff and his projects. "I never tell them what you say when you say good things," said Saban with a smirk, "but if you say something wrong, I tell them."
Source link
