of course its a possibility, but i say less probable than several other lsu games. you gumps are giving saban too much credit. he's a great coach, but far from perfect. during his tenure (note: not just the first year) lsu had their share of losses to worse teams and numerous close calls. im sure you realize that. however, you may be under the impression that saban's teams are always prepared and always play hard--not true. not true for his teams and not true for any coaches' teams. your good old boys will be feeling real good come nov. 3 facing the 9-0 top-ranked tigers that just handled your rival (all the kinks are out by then). bama will be 4-4 (assuming they win @ vandy and vs houston--neither gimmes) after losing to vols and, gasp, ole miss. still, bama will put on a good show coming out of the locker room---doing jumping jacks and slapping each others helmets, but after 3 consecutive 3-and-outs the crowd will be limp, wilson will be limp and the O will be limp. now, saban wont be limp. he be putting on his best satan impersonation, but it wont matter. he's just doing it to keep you from losing @ msu. its gonna be a rough year for you. really, no way bama scores more than 14 on the tigers--and thats with help. this late in the season and coming off a bye the tiger O will be rolling. you better pray that the flu has gotten ahold of the tiger OL (the avian kind, not the wimpy human one, either).
The problem I have with your thought process is comparing Bama with the first year at LSU. You just came off a what, 3 win season? With better coaching on the sidelines we wouldn't have lost to Arkansas, Miss. St. for starters. Every stop Saban has made, including Miami, he's improved the winning numbers by at least 3 wins. I don't see a reason why he won't this upcoming year. Again, the games have to be played...and we'll all see.
The problem with your thought process is that you forget that DiNardo left quite a bit of NFL talent behind. You wanna talk about coaching driving a team into the ground, '98 and '99 at LSU are the examples most textbooks use.
You just said that Saban will have Bama in a better position than 2 yeras ago when LSU won there in overtime. Bama was undefeated at that time. What can possibly be a better position than undefeated?
Point taken, and it's a good point. Along the same lines, Shula didn't do a great job recruiting, but did a decent job. There is some talent on campus, but talent that hasn't been developed as well as it could be. Case in point is the OL. The only question mark on offense right now is in the backfield, QB excluded. But, as highly rated as the RB's have been I don't expect a drop off there. The FB job has me curious, but not worried. I think we can agree, it's about development. With Dinardo's recruits, I think it's a proven point that Saban can develop players. Would you agree?
So let me get this straight. If Bama is 6-2 when LSU comes into town, then the team will be in a better position than when Bama was undefeated 2 years ago? Simply because of the coach on the sideline? gumps r funnay!
Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. We very well could have won that game if we had a decent scheme on the OL. Again, it's something I've already posted in this thread which you seemingly haven't read or either ignored.
Yeah, but it's not overnight like Bama fans are imagining. Saban's strong point is Defense. And his defenses at LSU failed to rank higher than Lou Freaking Tepper's '99 D until Saban's 3rd year here. And that was with, as was said before, guys that ended up in the NFL. The attrocious D that everyone hated was ranked 42nd in total Defense. Saban's first year was 46th, followed by 75th. So to think Saban is gonna show up, shoot lightning bolts outta his @$$ and turn BAMA into an SEC contender year one is a dream.
I keep seeing people say that Bama fans think Saban is going to turn the program around overnight. I've yet to see that posted anywhere, nor have I talked to anyone who has said that. Improved over last year? Yes. Competing for the SEC, even most sports writers are saying it's going to be in '08. Hell, that year most of the offense is going to be SR's, and the D will have a year under his system. I don't think 9-3 is a stretch, at all.
