I think this was Ellis Johnson. And I still am not sure who he meant when said Bama lost guys other than Rashad Johnson. Who was replaced by Mark Barron, who is not exactly an Alpo helping, Auburn’s 3Q TD last week aside.

Florida has protection issues. Alabama has QB decisionmaking issues. Just like last year, this one probably will come down to who DOESN’T make the critical mistake. Stupid facemask penalty. Yes, I am still hacked—even more so now since it would not have have been a penalty this season.

Some real gems in there. Making Terrance Cody tired. Riley Cooper the tall white guy. Best one though:

Our coaches felt if they had the athletes that they could attack [the secondary] because they tell you what they’re going to do by how they line up. I guess they don’t care. Haha!

Also, this must explain why Ryan Mallet was able to drill the ball in there against Florida before the safety could get over. (Greg McElroy: not Ryan Mallet.) You do get the feeling though that Florida plays pretty loose on defense and just runs down whoever has the ball.

They’ve gotta be talking about Bama’s loss of Rashad Johnson.

#3, it does explain it.
The m.o. for the defense this year, and last, was to play loose and take chances between the 20’s, try to create turnovers, third and longs, etc., which why efficient offenses and qbs have been able to move the ball between the 20’s. In the red zone (or anywhere else if the game is coming to a crucial point), they lock down, and suddenly the field goal unit is running on, or there’s been a loss of yardage and a punt.

I think the analysis is pretty spot on, including the Tebow regression, but it doesn’t on the surface appear that the O-line has played as well as indicated on a consistent basis. Hard to tell, though, due to the aforementioned Tebow factor (locking in on two receivers, tentative on quick throws, etc.), and the running stats don’t lie, so I guess there’s something to it.

I’ve always thought Bama’s Achilles’ heel is their secondary. Tebow and Utah torched them last year, and they struggled with Auburn and made Crompton look good at times for Tennessee. The problem is their D-line is really good and they have a good pass rush – the strength of their pass defense is the pressure they put on the QB, not the coverage in the secondary. Bottom line is, if Florida protects Tebow he can pick apart Bama’s secondary.

And if Bama gets by Florida, McCoy will have a field day in the MNC game…

Yeah, makes sense about Florida.

Agree on all points, especially Tebow’s godawful throwing motion. Hello H-back.

That assistant talking about Alabama is Arkansas’ d.c. I don’t even know his name (he’s a loser and not worth remembering). He whined about Alabama holding last year although there is no evidence to support it.

“Julio is aggressive, but he can’t take a 2-yard play and turn it into an 80-yard play.”

Yeah, didn’t he pretty much do that against LSU? Sure, it was only 73 yards, but close enough for me. Granted, none of the receivers should really intimidate Florida’s secondary, but they do have some talent.

I also thought that Tebow’s throwing motion looked the best it had all season against FSU. The ‘Noles obviously aren’t a great defensive team, but I think it had more to do with the increase in pass protection that seemed to come with Xavier Nixon making an appearance as a starter.

“I think [Emmanuel] Moody is just kind of a guy; I don’t think he’s a great player.”

How would this guy know? It seems like we’ve only seen Moody run the ball 10 times the entire season.

Poor Moody. He looked good against LSU in the first half, but of course later in the game it was all Tebow.

PSUfanNYC, and whoever the idiot assistant coach involved (I think it’s Ellis Johnson, and I thought he was an idiot when he coached here, too, so I’m not just saying it because of his cluelessness in this article) obviously haven’t watched Bama play much. The Bama secondary has blown 4 plays all year.

4… one against VTech, the one where Arenas was pushed-off on against Kentucky, the Woodall whiff to give up the TD to Tennessee, and Barron’s miss in the Auburn game.

Otherwise, I would point you to countless times that Barron has knocked down and picked off passes (leads the SEC), all the times Marquis Johnson has been picked on and knocked all of them down (see the USCe and MSU games in particular), and the fact pretty much nobody will throw at Arenas.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the Florida secondary is any weaker. The secondary isn’t the weakness on either side of the field. For Bama, it’s which McElroy shows up, and for Florida, it’s whether or not the OLine protects.

Oh, and as to why I think it’s Johnson, the quote below… McElroy only threw multiple interceptions in the USCe game.

“You have to make [Greg] McElroy beat you. I don’t think he’s a very good quarterback. He gave us plenty of opportunities when we played them to keep us in the game, throwing balls right to us and things like that.”

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Dienhart just made all this crap up.

Wow! After the Rivals dissected the Tide and the Gators I know ……… nothing more than I did before. I think Tim Brando would do better.

15 – At least Brando would do it with puffed-up gusto. Moderately more entertaining.

I’ve got a feeling the assistant coaches sizing up UF and UA where it actually matters will be a lot better than the anonymous assistants Dienhart got to talk.

For instance, the statement: “Julio is aggressive, but he can’t take a 2-yard play and turn it into an 80-yard play” is suspect. Assuming they’ve studied film from last year’s SECCG, UF assistants are likely to have a different opinion on this issue.

Hopefully GMac will remember that he’s got not only Jones but Maze, Hanks and Peek, and if Bama’s two headed runningback, Ingramson gets an average 4 ypc, the D will be able to do enough. UF’s O has dropped a little and Bama’s D has improved a little over the last year.

That said, the difference in score in this game could easily be 2 TDs in either direction. I just hope Bama wins by one point.

As for McCoy picking Bama’s secondary apart, I think he’ll be looking at the skies above Pasadena a lot more than his receivers catching balls.

this article makes you wonder how these two teams are a combined 24-0. I mean one has a crap quarterback, the other has a quarterback who is regressing. One has a ‘weak secondary’ that lost a big time player who is a backup in the NFL right now for a guy who is statistically out-performing him and the other has a gambling bunch of athletes in the secondary.

1. you are correct

This piece is written in such a matter of fact. If your assessment is so true, why don’t the gators or Bama have any losses? Whomever penned the breakdowns probably has a certain amount of red-ass they are trying to clear up.

@18 & 19 – That’s the disadvantage of the whole “talk to previous opponents” genre. Especially when they all lost, there can be a definite sour grapes vibe.

That piece was the sports writer version of the McRib

Complete horseshit

This “analysis” by the SEC assistant might be why said assistant’s squad went 0-2 this year vs UF and Bama.

I couldn’t agree with you guys more…

From the sounds of this article, you would think both Florida and Bama were 7 – 5 going into this game. Whoever assistants contributed to this article come off pretty pathetic and sore loser-ish (I just made that word up)

FWIW, I think it’s Lance Thompson from UT. Sour grapes indeed.

I’ve been pretty dead on in reading Bama’s games this year, but I can’t for the life of me figure this one out. The only thing I’ve got is that every single player, coach, admin, janitor and trustee has been thinking about UF since the clocked ticked 0:00 last year. The intensity is going to be so great on that Bama sideline that McClain may literally rip someone’s head off. I’m hesitant to say it, but I feel Bama wins by 10. (which now means we’ll lose by 20 / hatesjinxes).

#24, I hear where you’re coming from, on the other side.

For the reasons you mention, I wonder if Florida comes out wide-open, trickery, etc., like Utah last year and Auburn this year (knowing the defense won’t slowly wilt over the remainder of the game like Auburn’s).

I also wonder how Dunlap’s lapse (sorry) may have affected the game plan (Florida is deep on the line, but not with unblockable pass rushers)? Before the DUI, I didn’t see Bama testing the edges very often, but does that change?

Do the Strong to Louisville rumors play a role in the defensive focus?

I feel UF wins going away. Largely this is because one of the writers on CFN compared this team to the UF basketball team during the second NC run, where they didn’t really turn it on or play impressively until “go time” at the end of the year. I choose to find the logic of that analogy unassailable, infallible, and generally impossible to refute…([throws up on self out of nervousness and collapses])….

@24…that Sugar Bowl debacle made it pretty clear that “every single player, coach, admin, janitor and trustee has been thinking about UF since the clocked ticked 0:00 last year.”

IMHO revenge is a poor motivator and dissipates quickly.

@ 24

I really think this game is going to be very similar to last year, going all the way down to the last 5 minutes.

The way I look at it, by comparing the teams today versus last year, I would argue that Florida is probably not much, if at all, better than they were last year, while Alabama is improved at most positions.

Anyone remember what the line was on last year’s game? If I remember correctly, it was around 10 and most people thought the Gators were going to run us over.

Oops, I meant to reply to #25

zzgator is right, if Bama wins, it’s because they were focused and prepared the way Saban wanted them to, and the coaching staff had a good plan… not because they were out for revenge… not that getting it would be a bad thing ;-)