Bama Fan Comes in Peace with A Bama Preview

(A reprint from our board at www.rollcrimsontide.com)

This is the game I’ve looked forward to all year so far. It may not only be the first real measuring stick of our progress, but a preview of the SEC Championship Game. Last night both LSU and The Barn showed great defense and bad offenses and appeared to be very beatable. With Florida not on the schedule this year, only Georgia looks to have both the combination of good defense and solid offense to beat us at this point. That said; let’s look at our match ups first.

QB - The key to this game, like so many could fall on the shoulders of the QB and Georgia has one of the better ones. Like JPW he’s a veteran, but unlike JPW, he’s a consistent winner and has few bad games. He can hit the long ones and pick you to death with the short ones. He throws very few interceptions and is smart enough to know when it’s best to tuck it and get what you can. This man is the reason I fear this team so badly and why I think they could win this game. Edge to QB - Georgia.

Running backs - If it were Moreno vs any one of ours, I’d give the edge to Moreno, but when it comes to running backs vs running backs, the edge has to go to Bama. Our running back by committee has proven to be virtually unstoppable. There’s little argument that fresh legs beat tired ones. Alabama’s run by committee philosophy has an average of about 237 yards a game compared to Georgia’s 189 yards a game. You also have to figure in the defenses that they’ll be running against. And Alabama has allowed an average of 55 yards net rushing in four games, allowing ZERO net yards to the best tandem in America! Meanwhile, Georgia has given up an average of about 46 yards of rushing so far, but to be honest, they haven’t played a team that was either dedicated to running the ball or able to do so against ANY worthy opponent, so their defense has not yet been tested against a running team as Alabama’s has and because of that, I say Alabama will in fact out rush Georgia and that this could be a deciding factor in the game. Edge to rushing – Alabama

Offensive Line – Is there a question here? Alabama may have one of the best offensive lines in the nation. They’ve allowed their running backs to average about 38 yards a carry more than Georgia while playing much better competition than the Dogs have faced so far this year. Plus, Georgia has allowed 5 sacks this year compared to Alabama’s 4 and again, Georgia hasn’t played a team like Clemson yet. That and given the fact that Georgia hasn’t played against a team that features Mt. Cody, it could be a long night for Georgia’s line. I really don’t need to go more on this… Edge to Offensive Line – Alabama

Defensive Line – Ok, I just said that Bama’s offensive line is superior, so does that mean that Georgia’s defensive line has no chance? Bama has 5 sacks so far this year and Georgia has 6. Bama’s defensive line gives up (as said earlier) an average of 55 yards a game to Georgia’s 46, but also as said, Georgia has not played a team that features the run or emphasizes it first, so like statistics can tend to be, this is a false one. We know that the Tide can stop both a 3rd and short and maintain their own in a goal line stand. But they haven’t played a team quite like the Dogs yet. In Georgia, the Tide will finally play a team that can match up to them muscle to muscle. For much of the game I expect Georgia to give as good as it gets in this area. In the end, I expect our defensive line to wear them down so I give an edge here to – Alabama

Receivers – It doesn’t matter how many or how good your receiver’s are if your QB can’t get the ball to them and Stafford can and will get the ball to them. Georgia averages a whopping 261 yards a game passing and could have done more against the weak opponents they’ve played, but Richt was trying to be nice and just run the ball late in many of those games. Richt and Stafford are smart enough to exploit us with underneath routes because our linebackers tend to be over agressive. Alabama averages 151 or 110 yards a game more! You have to give them the BIG edge here just like in QB. To do otherwise mean you’ve drank just too much Kool Aid… Edge to – Georgia

Secondary – Alabama certainly stood up and got noticed last weekend. This not only boosted confidence coming into this game, but should also give Georgia more to worry about as well. So far Alabama has faced two really decent Sr. QB’s and has pretty much stifled them. Georgia has yet to play a team with a dangerous well establish signal caller. Bama has given up about 188 yards a game passing while the Dogs have held mediocre teams to 229. Bama has picked 6 so far this year (including 4 against the Hogs) and Georgia has picked 3. Another BIG difference is that Alabama has shown it is dangerous when its men pick them off as they can and have returned them for TD’s. Unfortunately, John Parker Wilson can make a secondary look better than it actually is in many games, but if he has a steady approach and the running game is helping him he may not give them a good game. Edge to secondary – Alabama

Special Teams – Boy, don’t bring this up to Nick Saban in a press conference… On one hand the Tide is steady and sure kicking FG’s, the punter, while not stellar is doing a fine job and the team is returning punts and K.O.’s well enough and sure handed enough, but Alabama has a VERY infuriating habit of giving up big kick returns. One in the last game lead to a score. I’d hate to be Special team’s Coach Bobby Williams in the closed coaches meetings lately… Georgia on the other hand is solid and steady in pretty much all aspects of special teams. Blair Walsh is a freshman and hasn’t lived a nightmare like Lee Tiffin has. The fact that Tiffin has been through the dark valleys and returned to the mountain may help him in a crunch kick. Walsh is ¾ in FG’s with a long of 52 and Tiffin this year is 6/8 with a long of 54. Statistically both are at 75%. Both teams sport dangerous return men and though it’s probably toss up here, my heart says Bama still hasn’t learned to control kick returns and it could cost them in this game. Edge to Special Teams – Georgia

Linebackers and Ends – What was supposed to be a question mark for the Tide has so for been replaced by an exclamation mark! But of course Georgia’s second line has been good too so far this year. Depth is something the Tide wasn’t supposed to have, but Saban and Co. have been mixing them well this year depending on situations and all have responded well. Georgia has struggled to get their linebackers into stopping the pass, either by covering the short middle of the field or applying pressure on the QB. John Parker Wilson lives with little dump off passes and dinks to the tight end that Georgia has trouble covering with their backers. Kevin Steele has done a masterful job of both teaching and inspiring our backers. He has gone deeper each week into new coverages in disguises and the boys have been learning it well. Steele says it’s great to have big, quick boys to teach, but having guys so smart is a HUGE plus. While Arizona State and South Carolina have been OK teams, Georgia’s backer and ends still have not faced a SOLID team yet and they haven’t had to face a team with so many different speedy backs that will pop up short over the middle in pass routes, so here I’m giving a small check mark to the team which has faced some tests and come out ahead and who I feel has the most depth. Slight edge to Backers and End – Alabama

Coaches – Who the heck thinks this is open to debate? Edge – Alabama

How I see the game played out – At heart, both coaches are conservative in nature, and each will start trying to feel out the other without taking early risks. Look for Bama to try and establish the run early and start trying to both intimidate and infuriate Georgia’s defensive line. Richt will have more confidence in throwing early on with Stafford and Georgia will try and keep the Tide off balance by varying the run with throws all over the field but not deep. Bama is looking for a second and one opportunity to catch Georgia off guard and take them deep one time. Though most teams CAN score quickly, it’s more in Georgia’s nature to do so. Bama is averaging over 34 points a game while Georgia is doing one point better. Both teams can and will score. But a decent South Carolina team held them to just 14 points and nobody, not even a good defensive team like Clemson, could keep the Tide from scoring less than 20. I don’t see this game being a blowout either way like the Clemson game if one team jumps to an early lead. Both teams believe in themselves and their team mates and their abilities to come back with a big drive or a big play.

Every sensible thought tells me Stafford, Moreno and those dogs are a better team, but my instincts keep telling me that whoever controls the line controls the game and I think out ability to keep control of BOTH lines will make us come out ahead. I see Bama up by 7 late in the game and the D standing up and being counted again, or a tie game where the O line has worn down the defense enough to allow one last time consuming ground out drive to win it…

Larry’s best guess – Bama 28 – Georgia 21 (end of reprint)

No flames intended, only respect for you guys. You win and lose with class and in my opinion have a great tradition and fan base. If you thought last year was a nail biter, this one could be more of the same. Thanks for letting me visit.

After reading that novel, I have come to the conclusion that it is very inaccurate.Bama's backs are not better than Georgia's. Every team Georgia played has emphasized run first, but finds out that it doesn't work and abandons it. Dan Lefevour and Rudy Carpenter are both well-established signal callers. Anyone on earth could have intercepted the passes from the Arkansas QB. If is DEFINITELY debatable who has better coaches, however it is no debate which coaches have more class. Good Coaches don't lose to ULM. Clemson is not a good defensive team, or a good overall team for that matter, they gave up more than 425 yards to the Citadel. Nobody's offense has a chance of wearing down Georgia's defense considering we have the most solid depth in the nation. Last year was a nail biter, but anyone who watched the game knows Georgia should have won by alot more. In fact,it is just like last year, Bama is back Bama is back....until they play Georgia that is.

You don't read well do you? I said YOUR QB is a consistent winner UNLIKE JPW... As far as the coaches go, yes, everything's debatable, but the majority of fans even excluding ALL of Alabama's would say Saban beats out Richt. Until he wins the Big One, most Georgia fans feel that way too... Everything else is open to debate and that's why they play them. Cody, (our NG) just pushed around the SEC leading center at will in Arkansas... I think it will be a fact that this young freshman of yours will have his hands full. I just see us winning the trench war without question, but Stafford is the slickest QB we'll face all year and if anyone can overcome lsing the trench warfare, it's him. I think it could go to the last possession just like last year. It should be one to remember and should vault the winner up the standings. I just hope it Bama...

Yes, I read that wrong about JPW and then realized it and edited my post, but not because I don't read well. It's very confusing to read something with strange characters in it like that.

Quite alot to digest in that post, Beachbama. Some good info, some I'm not so sure about. You keep referring to 'bams's stats against good teams compared to UGA's \"mediocre\" teams they've played. Ummmmm, not sure if you got the memo, but Klempsun and Arkansas aren't very good. Your running back by committee statement is pretty good, but don't forget, we also have a couple of backup RB's who are pretty good, too.

Anyhow, we could dissect every position to death, but it's still going to come down to who wants it more and plays like it Saturday night. Looking forward to a great game.

Thanks for the BAMA perspective. Wrong though it is, it is interesting to read a BAMA take on this game. I agree that the lines will determine this game, and coaching will make the difference in the lines.

I give the coaching edge to GA. The DAWGS will play smart.