| GAME THREAD 2018-'19 National Title game: Alabama versus Clemson
- Thread starter EasyTider
- Start date
I hate Loosing.
Agreed. I see broadcasting in his future after about 8 years in the league.
That kid is well spoken and smart as a whip.
His record this year on Gameday sucked, especially for a guy that runs all of these algorithems, throws out all of these stats and history. The main reason he is there is for his betting acumen.
Lots of fine young men on both teams and Chalk sure seems to be one of them. Heavily influenced by Coach Stallings, so how could he not be a good kid? Am I wrong for hoping we kick their ass but he somehow has a good game (for Gene's sake)? With all the Bama connections, it's really hard to muster hate - or anything other than respect - for the Clemson program. It's easy to root for the Tide as I have for the past 50+ years (yeah, I'm old), but I sure wish we were playing a team that was easier to root against (hate). I mean, who hates Dabo? He's a good ole' Bama boy from dirt-poor beginnings who's done good for himself. How can you not admire what he's done there? My gut tells me that Saban has cracked the Clemson code much like he did vs. LSU. I suspect we'll whip them mostly because Saban will prepare for them the "right way" whatever that is - and of course our offense is unstoppable when they're on. But if - God forbid - we were to lose to another team this year, can anyone name a team they'd rather lose to? Am I the only one who feels this way? Roll Tide and I hope Chalk makes his G'pa proud - even in a loss.
One of their colors is orange. Easy to hate em.
I don't know what his record was on GameDay. I knew it wasn't that good. Quoting stats like this one is one of the reasons he's there as well—a nice historical comparison/back story a lot of the time.
Here, it's not.
Yes, Bama is 1-4 ATS over the last five games when favored by less than seven. What he's not mentioning is Bama hasn't been favored for less than seven points this season. So, comparing this team to what happened with the other years isn't what I'd call a fair comparison.
Add to that, the last time Bama was favored by seven or fewer points it happened to be against Clemson, last year, when they were giving the Tigers 3.5—as you recall, Bama won by 18.
FWIW:
Auburn, +4.5 in 2017.
Clemson, +7, 2016.
...
Now we're back in 2013 looking for the third.
Alabama Coach Nick Saban took the radio airwaves with Eli Gold, John Parker Wilson and Rashad Johnson, though Johnson left when Saban took the mic 46 minutes into the 90-minute broadcast. The show was live from the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara, CA. Here are some snippets.
On practice at Stanford:
“We had a little misty rain and that was good for the players, because the field could be wet Monday night. Christian Miller was able to practice more. Maybe we will be able to get something out of him during the game.”
On if Dabo and Clemson have changed much:
“I think they’re a little bit similar to us in philosophy. With their freshman quarterback (Trevor) Lawrence their offense makes big plays. Our quarterback will have to make some big plays.”
On Dexter Lawrence's not playing:
“With Dexter they had three NFL prospects on the defensive line. Now they have two. They’ve got some good linebackers.
“If it rains, it’s harder to play pass defense. I don’t see it as a problem for our offense.”
On Clemson’s defensive line and avoiding penalties on offense (asked by caller Pee Wee):
“We always emphasize those things. For twenty minutes in the game we played really well and didn’t have any self-indulgent behavior. We had four penalties in one drive before the half and had to kick a field goal.
“When you’re playing a good team, you don’t want to put yourself behind the sticks. We made a special emphasis of that this week. We lost our poise and our focus (against Oklahoma). These guys (Clemson) score 50 points a game. We’ve got to keep playing (smart).”
On the look in Josh Jacobs’ eye last week:
“I always look at the runner. Sometimes the guys are hot and running well and I did see that in Josh and we got him the ball more. Najee has had that and so has Damien. We always gauge that every game.”
On RB Travis Etienne of Clemson:
“He can change direction and make you miss. He’s difficult to tackle. They spread you out, and if they break the line of scrimmage, he’s a threat.”
On focus this week:
“Our players were pretty focused this week and voted for an 11 o’clock curfew. It takes a tremendous amount of ability to focus and lock out the things outside. Our players have to be dialed in and our players have done a great job on that.”
On if the Tide offensive line could give Tua time to throw:
“Clemson is probably the best defensive team we’ve faced. We have a good plan and I trust our offense line. How we do on first and second down and staying out of third-and-long will help. Tua is good at getting the ball out of his hand quickly, so you don’t have to protect a long time.”
On the rough game Patrick Surtain had against Oklahoma:
“He is a freshman and he’s played better than I thought he might. Patrick was isolated a lot. I think the 50/50 balls are really important when you play corner. He has good ball judgment and I think he can make those plays.
“They’ve got a couple of big receivers and you like big corners to match up with them.”
On Saban’s favorite quarter and favorite play (asked by a young guest):
“If we’re winning I like the fourth quarter. My favorite play is ‘Victory’ where you take a knee and win the game.
"You’re so into the game, you really don’t think about what segment you’re in.”
On halftime adjustments (asked by Wilson):
"Sometimes you can make adjustments on the bench. Players can adjust to certain things if they’re adaptable and you have a repertoire of things they’ve done (before). Significant changes, you wait until halftime.”
Gold asked about starting the game with a script “You make the script relative to normal situations in the game. If it’s third-and-3, we go to what we do on that and not the script, but then we may go back to the script.”
On what Clemson will try to exploit (asked by a caller from Knoxville, TN):
“I think Clemson is going to do what they do. They’re going to dance with what brought them here. They’re a team like Auburn that has a lot of tricks and gimmicks, whether it’s a reverse pass by a receiver or whatever. We’re not going to change what we do as a team because we’re in a championship game.
“Clemson has tested every team they’ve played with the deep ball. We’ve got to take them out of those plays. On defense, they like to stunt, so we’ve got to get a hat on a hat. They may try to affect Tua differently from a pressure standpoint, but we won’t know that until the game starts.”
----
For his “Final Word” Saban said, “I do get on the players and even when I ream them out, it’s because we want them go be the best version of themselves. This team has accomplished a LOT. We want more. We’re doing everything we can to get more. I want to acknowledge that this team’s won 14 games, an SEC Championship and the Orange Bowl. I’m proud of the guys.
“We’ve had great players that had tremendous years. I hope everybody appreciated the hard work they do to be successful.
“I know this is a long way from home. I know it’s difficult to go to Miami and come here (to California). I appreciate it more than you know and our players do how you’ve supported this team all year long.
“We’re ‘all in’ (a Clemson slogan) for this game. For this team I want ‘How are you going to get remembered?’"
"It’s great competition with who we’re playing against and we need all your support.”
On practice at Stanford:
“We had a little misty rain and that was good for the players, because the field could be wet Monday night. Christian Miller was able to practice more. Maybe we will be able to get something out of him during the game.”
On if Dabo and Clemson have changed much:
“I think they’re a little bit similar to us in philosophy. With their freshman quarterback (Trevor) Lawrence their offense makes big plays. Our quarterback will have to make some big plays.”
On Dexter Lawrence's not playing:
“With Dexter they had three NFL prospects on the defensive line. Now they have two. They’ve got some good linebackers.
“If it rains, it’s harder to play pass defense. I don’t see it as a problem for our offense.”
On Clemson’s defensive line and avoiding penalties on offense (asked by caller Pee Wee):
“We always emphasize those things. For twenty minutes in the game we played really well and didn’t have any self-indulgent behavior. We had four penalties in one drive before the half and had to kick a field goal.
“When you’re playing a good team, you don’t want to put yourself behind the sticks. We made a special emphasis of that this week. We lost our poise and our focus (against Oklahoma). These guys (Clemson) score 50 points a game. We’ve got to keep playing (smart).”
On the look in Josh Jacobs’ eye last week:
“I always look at the runner. Sometimes the guys are hot and running well and I did see that in Josh and we got him the ball more. Najee has had that and so has Damien. We always gauge that every game.”
On RB Travis Etienne of Clemson:
“He can change direction and make you miss. He’s difficult to tackle. They spread you out, and if they break the line of scrimmage, he’s a threat.”
On focus this week:
“Our players were pretty focused this week and voted for an 11 o’clock curfew. It takes a tremendous amount of ability to focus and lock out the things outside. Our players have to be dialed in and our players have done a great job on that.”
On if the Tide offensive line could give Tua time to throw:
“Clemson is probably the best defensive team we’ve faced. We have a good plan and I trust our offense line. How we do on first and second down and staying out of third-and-long will help. Tua is good at getting the ball out of his hand quickly, so you don’t have to protect a long time.”
On the rough game Patrick Surtain had against Oklahoma:
“He is a freshman and he’s played better than I thought he might. Patrick was isolated a lot. I think the 50/50 balls are really important when you play corner. He has good ball judgment and I think he can make those plays.
“They’ve got a couple of big receivers and you like big corners to match up with them.”
On Saban’s favorite quarter and favorite play (asked by a young guest):
“If we’re winning I like the fourth quarter. My favorite play is ‘Victory’ where you take a knee and win the game.
"You’re so into the game, you really don’t think about what segment you’re in.”
On halftime adjustments (asked by Wilson):
"Sometimes you can make adjustments on the bench. Players can adjust to certain things if they’re adaptable and you have a repertoire of things they’ve done (before). Significant changes, you wait until halftime.”
Gold asked about starting the game with a script “You make the script relative to normal situations in the game. If it’s third-and-3, we go to what we do on that and not the script, but then we may go back to the script.”
On what Clemson will try to exploit (asked by a caller from Knoxville, TN):
“I think Clemson is going to do what they do. They’re going to dance with what brought them here. They’re a team like Auburn that has a lot of tricks and gimmicks, whether it’s a reverse pass by a receiver or whatever. We’re not going to change what we do as a team because we’re in a championship game.
“Clemson has tested every team they’ve played with the deep ball. We’ve got to take them out of those plays. On defense, they like to stunt, so we’ve got to get a hat on a hat. They may try to affect Tua differently from a pressure standpoint, but we won’t know that until the game starts.”
----
For his “Final Word” Saban said, “I do get on the players and even when I ream them out, it’s because we want them go be the best version of themselves. This team has accomplished a LOT. We want more. We’re doing everything we can to get more. I want to acknowledge that this team’s won 14 games, an SEC Championship and the Orange Bowl. I’m proud of the guys.
“We’ve had great players that had tremendous years. I hope everybody appreciated the hard work they do to be successful.
“I know this is a long way from home. I know it’s difficult to go to Miami and come here (to California). I appreciate it more than you know and our players do how you’ve supported this team all year long.
“We’re ‘all in’ (a Clemson slogan) for this game. For this team I want ‘How are you going to get remembered?’"
"It’s great competition with who we’re playing against and we need all your support.”
