| GAME THREAD Alabama Overpowers No. 24/24 Mississippi State, 30-6

[JoshB]

I'd love to hear the excuses for while Eli Ricks wasn't playing until now...

 

[#80]

I'd love to hear the excuses for while Eli Ricks wasn't playing until now...

I believe he may have had some physical issues along with his overall mental grasp of our system compared to his old system. He certainly was a standout last night. He will be playing on Sunday's for sure.

 

[MunchyOs]

Damn dude you must be one miserable mf-er.

You ain't wrong

 

[mando]

I've been a Bama fan since the the early 80's. I saw the game pass Bryant by. I was really little when Bama was dominating in the 70's, but I knew enough to know that by the time I first started watching, Bear Bryant's last teams just weren't as dominant anymore and it was simply his time to retire. I'm seeing a lot of parallels between the early 80's and right now. Nobody thought anything was wrong in 1982....until the team dropped 4 games, one even being to Southern Miss. Will the 2022 team drop 4 games? Probably not. But another loss isn't off the table.

I just can't sit and delude myself into believing that the best is still yet to come for this dynasty. I know that some in the fan base think that Saban has a number he wants to hit before he goes. One more title, two more, who knows. Some believe that he's not retiring until he's pulled off the 3 peat. Well the latter definitely ain't happening. So, he's not a joke. I went too far there. But, he's just not what he once was and right now, I'm not seeing another national title with him, let alone multiple titles, and definitely not 3 straight.

I just don't want him to make the mistake that Paterno and Bowden both made and hang around for the sake of hanging around. He is the GOAT and even if he hit the skids now, he would still be the GOAT. But, we could realistically have a 4-5 loss season, even while Saban is still here.One Shula-esque season could tank recruiting. Last season was dangerously close to being just that and we're not out of the woods this year by any means. We could hobble to a lower tier bowl with 3 losses. LSU and Ole Miss are gonna be TOUGH to say the least and cold both end up as L's. Then the "has the game passed Saban by" rumblings will really ramp up

That helps give context. I started watching bama where I really could follow the game in the 70's. Do not recall much of the 60's, was just to young.

Bryant as you noted did start going down and quickly (2 or 3 years from his last NC). I just do not see CNS in the same poor health Bear was in. That is why I am hopeful that the down turn is not as severe or immenent as some are thinking. None of us really know. I do know last year and this year so far have not lived up to the standard but dang that is a really high standard.

To me your post above shows we are not all as far apart as your comment suggested about Saban being a joke which you fessed up that you went to far. We all fly off the handle sometimes especially when we are frustrated. Heck I got just as frustrated last year. Lets see this thing play out. We are going to find out over the next 2-3 games either way.

Roll Tide!!!

 

[mando]

I'd love to hear the excuses for while Eli Ricks wasn't playing until now...

@JoshB with things like this I always ask what would CNS or Goldin have to gain by not putting the best player on the field? There is a lot going on in the locker room that we do not see which is likely the "why" which we may never know.

Could they have been wrong, sure or maybe he figured it out or things finally got bad enough to give him a shot. Like I said we will never know but we can speculate.

 

[BamaFan334]

@JoshB with things like this I always ask what would CNS or Goldin have to gain by not putting the best player on the field? There is a lot going on in the locker room that we do not see which is likely the "why" which we may never know.

Could they have been wrong, sure or maybe he figured it out or things finally got bad enough to give him a shot. Like I said we will never know but we can speculate.

Pretty sure Saban explained multiple times it was a combination of injury he was dealing with early and also getting up to snuff with how we so things. Unless it was the company line I don't think there was anything else.

 

[JoshB]

@JoshB with things like this I always ask what would CNS or Goldin have to gain by not putting the best player on the field? There is a lot going on in the locker room that we do not see which is likely the "why" which we may never know.

Could they have been wrong, sure or maybe he figured it out or things finally got bad enough to give him a shot. Like I said we will never know but we can speculate.

I'm sure it was some legitimate concern like he was late for a meeting or missed a workout. Something unforgiveable like that.

 

[UAgrad93]

I'd love to hear the excuses for while Eli Ricks wasn't playing until now...

Believe that he had gotten dinged up in fall camp, if memory serves me correctly. Also, believe he was having issues with understanding the "pattern matching" scheme that Saban teaches. Who knows though. It may be that he came in thinking a job was his and just didn't put in the effort to actually earn it.

 

[mando]

I'm sure it was some legitimate concern like he was late for a meeting or missed a workout. Something unforgiveable like that.

CNS has had the success he has had by paying attention to details and holding people accountable to that. I would be perfectly fine having him ride the bench if he was not doing those little things like showing up to meetings on time. The team and locker room are more important than one position. Holding people accountable and making them earn it is very much needed in our current world. My 2 cents but I am old school.

With that said, I think it is what others have said, he had some physical issues and had problems understanding the scheme which resulted in him not being able to execute the defensive plays that were called. I also suspect (pure speculation) he had some room for growth because he was coming from the clown show that was the Coach O locker room.