Alabama
2012 Record: 13-1
(7-1 in the SEC) def
Notre Dame 42-14 in National Title Game
2012 Recap:
What can you say about Bama’s 2012 season other than
wow. Nick Saban managed to lose a game
at home in the SEC for the second consecutive year and still win the National
Championship. The Tide’s lone loss came
at home to Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M.
Bama had the nation’s top defense in points allowed to go
along with two running backs that went for over 1000 yards last season.
After the loss to A&M, Alabama got back in the title
picture when Oregon lost to Stanford.
Bama had their own scare in the SEC title game, but survived late
against Georgia to clinch their spot in the title game.
In Miami, the Tide rolled against Notre Dame in a blowout
42-14. The sad part of the score is that
the game was never really that close.
Notre Dame was simply outclassed in every area of the game.
For the third time in 4 seasons, Alabama was at the top of
the college football world.
The Schedule:
What do you give the team that has everything? Well if you
are the two time defending national champions, apparently the SEC gives you
what can only be described as an amazingly easy schedule.
When you look at Bama’s schedule in 2013, it starts and
begins with a trip to College Station, Texas on September 14. After opening against Virginia Tech in the
Georgia Dome on August 31st, and then a bye week, the Tide roll into
College Station for the rematch of last season’s upset against Texas
A&M.
The Aggies believe that this game will put them on track for
the National Title, but the Tide have revenge on their minds.
After the A&M game, there’s seemingly not much trouble
on Bama’s schedule. They play Ole Miss
at home in late September, and draw Kentucky from the East. They also play Tennessee, Arkansas, and LSU
at home, but as we have seen the last few years, Bama can lose at home. Their most difficult road game outside of the
trip to College Station will be against Mississippi State on November 16th.
Not only does Bama catch a break by drawing Kentucky out of
the East as opposed to one of the big boys, they get bye weeks before both
Texas A&M and LSU.
Key Returner:
So many good players return for Alabama. You could go with AJ McCarron who has two
national titles to his name and could go down as one of the greatest
quarterbacks in college football history with another title this season. You could go with TJ Yeldon who rushed for
1100 yards last season and 12 touchdowns.
You could even say Cyrus Kouandjio who might be the best offensive
linemen in college football. You could
go with any of those guys and a few others, but you would be lying to yourself.
The key returner for Alabama is Nick Saban. Never, in the history of college football has
one coach meant so much to winning. Saban wins the SEC in his second season at LSU
in 2001 beating Tennessee in the title game, which knocked them out of the
National Championship game. In 2003,
Saban wins the National Title with LSU, their first since 1958. In 2007, he goes to Alabama and just one year
later he has the Tide playing Florida in the SEC title game for a chance to
play for the National Title. Saban and
the Tide beat Florida a year later to win the SEC, and then beat Texas to win
the National title. In 2011 and 2012,
Saban was able to overcome home losses in conference to win National
Titles. Saban has 4 National Titles in
10 years of coaching in America’s best conference.
As long as Saban is at Alabama, the Tide will be in the mix
for the National Title, but be honest, don’t you want to see him go to
Vanderbilt and try to win there?
Key Loss:
I’ll go with Eddy Lacy and here’s why. Despite the fact that AJ McCarron is a very good
quarterback and Amare Cooper is a very good wide receiver, the Tide have won
their national titles with the running game.
Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and then Eddy Lacy. Now Lacy is gone and TJ Yeldon is the number
one guy. Alabama has stockpiled running
backs through the past few recruiting cycles, but their hit rate on running
backs is pretty much unsustainable. At
some point, they are going to miss with one of these big recruits, and with an
offense that is centered on the running game, they might not have the luxury of
having a drop off at running back and still winning. Just look at the SEC title game last season,
if Lacy doesn't go absolutely crazy in the third quarter of that game, just
when Georgia had returned a blocked kick for a touchdown, then Bama might not
win that game.
As good as McCarron is, it has always taken two backs for
Bama to win. You know you have Yeldon,
but you don’t know what you have behind him, and that is a big question mark.
Success will be:
The bar could not be set any higher than it is at
Alabama. Not only are the Tide expected to win the National Title again
in 2013, a loss, any loss, even a loss to a Top 10 team on the road (See Texas
A&M on September 14th) will be seen as a huge upset. Alabama is the preseason number one and it
was pretty close to being unanimous, but being number one at the end of the
season is the only thing that will satisfy the new most annoying fan base in
sports. Move over Yankee fans, make
room, and a lot of room, for Tide Nation.
2013 Prediction:
Predicting a team to go undefeated in the SEC, win the SEC
title game, and then win the National Title is hard to do. I wouldn't be shocked if Bama lost a game
this season, maybe even to Ole Miss in September, but I can make one guarantee
that I will stand by from now until the day of the game: there is no way
Alabama is going to lose to Texas A&M.
I don’t know what the line will be, but I’ll lay the points and take the
Tide straight up. In fact, I don’t think
it is going to be close, at least 2 touchdowns.
The problem Alabama has in 2013 is that history is against
them. Never, in the modern history of
college football (since 1950) has a team won three straight National
Titles. Alabama is really good and Saban
is the best coach in America, but it takes more than talent to win a title, it
takes a bit of luck. Luck like getting a rematch with LSU in 2011. Luck like having just enough teams lose in
front of them to get back in the title picture last season. Luck like having the starting quarterback of the
opposing team get knocked out of the National Title game. The talent is still there, but you would have
to think that the luck has to be running out.
The boldest prediction I can make is that Alabama will NOT win a third
consecutive National Title.
No comments:
Post a Comment