College Football 2012 GDG

[RookieTrainer]

Don't know if I would go quite that far, at least with respect to Bama.

I think if Bama and ND both play as good as they can then Bama wins in a squeaker. But that is a huge if.

If memory serves, against LSU, A&M, and UGA Bama is -6 in turnovers. Not good. Also a blocked FG against UGA. Not good. We have to get those things shored up if we want to beat ND.

Of course, the counterpoint is that we won two of those, one a true road game and one that may as well have been, in spite of the above. And we were on the goal line with a chance to win the other one. After watching us gash UGA I got mad all over again that we did not line up and punch that one in to win that game. Oh well, we are still where we want to be.

I think it turns out to be a very good game on the 7th.

One thing we will know by Jan 7th is that Bama, Florida, Georgia and LSU have all won their bowl games

[Jacob Hawkes]

They still have to line up and play... Stranger things have happened. .. Remember Texas A&M and Alabama AT Alabama?

Called that one. It's all about matchups & momentum in CFB.

[Jacob Hawkes]

Don't know if I would go quite that far, at least with respect to Bama.

I think if Bama and ND both play as good as they can then Bama wins in a squeaker. But that is a huge if.

If memory serves, against LSU, A&M, and UGA Bama is -6 in turnovers. Not good. Also a blocked FG against UGA. Not good. We have to get those things shored up if we want to beat ND.

Of course, the counterpoint is that we won two of those, one a true road game and one that may as well have been, in spite of the above. And we were on the goal line with a chance to win the other one. After watching us gash UGA I got mad all over again that we did not line up and punch that one in to win that game. Oh well, we are still where we want to be.

I think it turns out to be a very good game on the 7th.

You can't run it all the time. It doesn't work. Good luck running against ND's Front 7.

[RookieTrainer]

Last Saturday's 350-yard rushing performance notwithstanding. Against a defense where all 11 players have draftable grades. I would note that it took until about the middle of the 2d quarter before it really started working on Georgia. Running like that takes a commitment to bring about a cumulative effect. I saw somewhere that 22 of our last 25 plays were runs, including a straight handoff on a 3rd and 5. You saw what happened on the play-action pass.

You may be right about ND, but I bet we require them to prove it on the field before we give up and just throw it 40 times. Per their fans, ND prefers to sit in a two-high safety look and control the running game with 6 or 7 people. As good as they are, I just don't see that working long-term against our offense.

The other thing about running the way we like to is that there is no adjustment or scheme to cover the situation where the OL is knocking the DL's peckers in their watchpockets, except for bringing more folks down into the box. If we are getting a hat on a hat I like our chances.

Of course, anything is possible, and we are all one injury in the right spot away from being really mediocre. If Jesse Williams had not made it back onto the field Saturday, I am not at all sure that we would have beaten Georgia.

You can't run it all the time. It doesn't work. Good luck running against ND's Front 7.

[Jacob Hawkes]

I didn't say throw it 40 times. If y'all pass 40 times, y'all lose. Stanford was more predicated to running the football @ the time they played ND with the size & strength to do it, yet they didn't. Best chance is to throw on 1st down & run plenty of play action.

[RookieTrainer]

You may be right. That plan worked pretty good against LSU last year in the BCS game.

I understand the theory of throwing on first down. The problem is that an incompletion leaves you at 2d and 10, and a sack leaves you in worse shape. We are also bad to throw a WR screen that makes 2 yards. I never thought I would say this, but we are really missing Brad Smelley and the matchup problems he was able to create.

I still say we need to commit to the run until they absolutely prove that we can't, with of course some play-action passing mixed in to take some shots down the field. We will see if Saban & Co. agree with me.

I didn't say throw it 40 times. If y'all pass 40 times, y'all lose. Stanford was more predicated to running the football @ the time they played ND with the size & strength to do it, yet they didn't. Best chance is to throw on 1st down & run plenty of play action.

[BonMallari]

basic football : the run sets up the pass, play action means absolutely nothing if you haven't established some sort of running game...National Championships are built around great defensive teams,that could also eat up the clock and punish you with a sound running game...also helps to have a QB that doesn't turn the ball over

[Jacob Hawkes]

The pass sets up the run.

[Dustin D]

Notre Dame's Manti Te'o wins Lombardi Award
http://www.yardbarker.com/college_fo...award/12373132

[RookieTrainer]

I think I am starting to understand why LSU underachieved for so much of its history.

This is definitely not how either Alabama or ND are typically set up.

For historical reference, we weren't supposed to be able to score against LSU in January (in Louisiana!) and we did. Texas had some kind of otherworldly run defense in 2009, and we had 2 100-yard rushers. Miami was supposed to shut us down in 1992, and we ran pretty good on them. All the way back to Penn State in 1979 (1978 season) with Matt Millen and Bruce Clark on the DL and allowing less than 60 yards rushing per game, and that came out OK too.

It may turn out differently in January. ND is obviously doing something right. We will
see. ND has a great coaching staff and they will be ready to play, but I would not bet against our staff with this much prep time.

Should be a heck of a game.

The pass sets up the run.