| FTBL CFN: Alabama vs Notre Dame: Rose Bowl Game Prediction, Game Preview

[252BAMA]

What’s Going To Happen In The Rose Bowl Game
Notre Dame won’t get knocked out right away.

The lines really are good, there really is enough talent on both sides of the ball to hang around, and Alabama’s defense is just questionable enough to get his for a few first half scoring drives and even a big play or three.

There’s no panic in this Crimson Tide team, though.

Things won’t go quite right. Mac Jones will be pressured, Najee Harris will get bounced around, and the deep ball won’t be there for DeVonta Smith. However, Notre Dame won’t be able to take advantage of the opportunities, it’ll have to settle for a few field goals, and then Jones will find his groove.

He’ll hit the midrange throws, Harris will be used more as a receiver, and then … boom.

John Metchie – who rocked in the wins over Texas A&M and Auburn with two touchdowns in each – will break out. He’ll have a big end of the first half, the Irish defense will struggle early in the second as Bama goes on a quick scoring drive, and then the machine will work with ruthless efficiency.

Alabama will pull away – Notre Dame just doesn’t have that level of talent – but it’ll be more of a grind than expected until late.

Rose Bowl Game: Alabama vs Notre Dame Prediction

Alabama 44, Notre Dame 23

Alabama vs Notre Dame: Rose Bowl Game Prediction, Game Preview

Alabama vs Notre Dame: Rose Bowl Game Bowl presented by Capital One prediction and game preview. Alabama vs Notre Dame: Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One Broadcast Date: Friday, January 1 Gam…

collegefootballnews.com

 

[mando]

Pretty close to my pick of 42-24. I think ND will play hard for awhile. If we do not help them we will eventually find success and start to pull away. Just not as easy early as a lot will think. Just do not turn the ball over.

 

[RollllTide!]

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Saw this on the rant....

quote:
The Truth… NO covid cases for any players. One coach is expected to miss game but not a coordinator as stated on Monday. Saban covered all the injuries.

As for Waddle update he is running but still not practicing. He has a shot an NC game but will see next week.

Coaches and players are taking this game extremely serious. They are all business. As I told you Monday, they leave tomorrow afternoon for Dallas. They will get final covid test results tomorrow. And yes they are staying at same hotel as ND.

A concern is their run game and short passes to TEs and RBs. Their best defense will be keeping the ball away from us. If we get up early it’s over.

Offense has some new stuff but you will see Friday! Too important for clues. The offense wants to go down in history as best of all time...motivate themselves.

Biggest concern is missing Dickerson. When you lose a team captain that is a big deal. Chris Owens has a chance to impress NFL so he is all in as expected. If we can run, it’s over.

 

[RollllTide!]

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

The King 37
Golden Domers 31

 

[BamaJay73]

The King 37
Golden Domers 31

I hope it is nowhere near that close.

 

[bamascw]

I have played this game in my head about 4 times and with the exception of us having a disastrous day turning the ball over, I just don't see ND keeping this close. I have seen them play a couple of times this year and I don't see their secondary being able to handle Davante without a double team which opens up for Metchie and Bolden. Hell even Forristal (if he's healthy) can run a 15 yarder to be open. I do think ND has some good linebackers so the run may be iffy in the first half but I expect to wear them down and pull away mid third or so. But then again, we have the ability to blow it out early if we hit some big plays.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

I have played this game in my head about 4 times and with the exception of us having a disastrous day turning the ball over, I just don't see ND keeping this close. I have seen them play a couple of times this year and I don't see their secondary being able to handle Davante without a double team which opens up for Metchie and Bolden. Hell even Forristal (if he's healthy) can run a 15 yarder to be open. I do think ND has some good linebackers so the run may be iffy in the first half but I expect to wear them down and pull away mid third or so. But then again, we have the ability to blow it out early if we hit some big plays.

You're playing very well over at your house

 

[mando]

Are we going to get the ND that played against Clemson in the first game or the 2nd game? Need to get them out of their game and make them play our game. Need to start fast...

 

[Justneedme81]

i will say this.. .ND will keep the game close, but it's not enough to win game for ND. Alabama will come out with new looks as stated in this thread, but I'm curious about our defense and our ability to stop TEs and RBs.

 

[Justneedme81]

I have played this game in my head about 4 times and with the exception of us having a disastrous day turning the ball over, I just don't see ND keeping this close. I have seen them play a couple of times this year and I don't see their secondary being able to handle Davante without a double team which opens up for Metchie and Bolden. Hell even Forristal (if he's healthy) can run a 15 yarder to be open. I do think ND has some good linebackers so the run may be iffy in the first half but I expect to wear them down and pull away mid third or so. But then again, we have the ability to blow it out early if we hit some big plays.

I suspect we'll hit 3 big plays before 3rd quarter.

 

[XXL TideFan]

I think it will look worse for them than the most recent Clemson game.

 

[bamascw]

You're playing very well over at your house

I have homefield advantage at my place

 

[TerryP]

Offense has some new stuff but you will see Friday! Too important for clues.

Alabama will come out with new looks as stated in this thread

Why?

I've thought everything in this thread to be pretty spot on until this.

 

[Justneedme81]

To

Why?

I've thought everything in this thread to be pretty spot on until this.

To be fair, we did come out with a new look: Vanilla and conservative playcalling. That is a new look for Bama offense this season

 

[TerryP]

To be fair, we did come out with a new look: Vanilla and conservative playcalling. That is a new look for Bama offense this season

It's another one of those "news bits" we've seen that left me thinking, "where the hell is this comin' from?" It was a "double-whammy" kind of post; it didn't make sense for one and two, it contradicted what I'd heard for days on end." (See here as example.)

Indulge me for a second here as I fall back on my laurels with my "logic test" requirements.

Here's an offense that hasn't been stopped all season that was preparing for a defense that wasn't unique. This defense Bama was about to play didn't provide a threat that Bama hadn't seen this season. This defense wasn't as good as some of the other defenses Bama had seen this season.

But, the offense is going to add some wrinkles to their game plan for that Notre Dame offense?

That's the reason I asked, "Why?" It just didn't make sense, ya know?

 

[mando]

It's another one of those "news bits" we've seen that left me thinking, "where the hell is this comin' from?" It was a "double-whammy" kind of post; it didn't make sense for one and two, it contradicted what I'd heard for days on end." (See here as example.)

Indulge me for a second here as I fall back on my laurels with my "logic test" requirements.

Here's an offense that hasn't been stopped all season that was preparing for a defense that wasn't unique. This defense Bama was about to play didn't provide a threat that Bama hadn't seen this season. This defense wasn't as good as some of the other defenses Bama had seen this season.

But, the offense is going to add some wrinkles to their game plan for that Notre Dame offense?

That's the reason I asked, "Why?" It just didn't make sense, ya know?

Agree with this. Another one of those doesn't add up unless there is something we do not know. I do not know how to connect these dots but compensating for Dickerson going out? Unlikely but the pass protection needs to be much better to take the deep shots. Could Owens hold up?

Another thought was we wanted to show future opponents a different look? BTW in the middle ND was stacking things up so was going to be hard to consistently go up the middle.

Were we really preparing for the next game when we would expect to get all kinds of exotic blitzes so no way to have as much time to go down the field?

Seems like as you said there is a why other than concerns about ND.

 

[TerryP]

@mando a few things that throw me a bit this morning. I'm feeling particularly lazy so it may just be me.

You mention Landon, Owens, and pass pro here. Is that in reference to the Notre Dame game? If so, why? The team went with the game plan they had and it worked the way they expected. They weren't going to be attacking over the top repeatedly like we've seen in this season.

I've never been a big believer in "show them something to prepare for" in a game like this one. Why show something during Notre Dame that a team like Ohio State hasn't seen before? So they'll prepare for defending something that haven't seen before...wait, why would you want them to prepare for a wrinkle? Then it's no longer a wrinkle.

Exotic blitzes. Before we go any farther, what's a non-exotic blitz? I just want to be on the same page here. Is an "exotic blitz" a play that brings pressure from a position that's not expected to be pressuring? And if so, isn't that just a ... blitz?

Just give me the two-point conversion chart guidelines sheet and I'll go sit in the corner. < s >

 

[mando]

@mando a few things that throw me a bit this morning. I'm feeling particularly lazy so it may just be me.

You mention Landon, Owens, and pass pro here. Is that in reference to the Notre Dame game? If so, why? The team went with the game plan they had and it worked the way they expected. They weren't going to be attacking over the top repeatedly like we've seen in this season.

I've never been a big believer in "show them something to prepare for" in a game like this one. Why show something during Notre Dame that a team like Ohio State hasn't seen before? So they'll prepare for defending something that haven't seen before...wait, why would you want them to prepare for a wrinkle? Then it's no longer a wrinkle.

Exotic blitzes. Before we go any farther, what's a non-exotic blitz? I just want to be on the same page here. Is an "exotic blitz" a play that brings pressure from a position that's not expected to be pressuring? And if so, isn't that just a ... blitz?

Just give me the two-point conversion chart guidelines sheet and I'll go sit in the corner. < s >

From pass protection stand point going down field just takes longer so the OL has to protect longer. We are not in practice to see but just assuming Dickerson was the starter for a reason. I have seen times in the past where Owens has had some struggles. Honestly just trying to explore possibilities none of which may be the "why".

As far as exotic blitzes what I was thinking is that not much pressure has been put on Jones this year because the OL has just been that good. One other point is that Venables was going to bring blitzes from different looks and locations. Is that exotic? Maybe not. The point is he was not going to just sit back and let Jones pick his D apart. Although it looked like that is exactly what tOSU did.

So that is the context from my standpoint.