First things first: When Russell made that monumental error at the close of the first half, he should have been benched. He did not produce anything tonight. The offense was all Joseph Addai. The scoring was Addai and the defense. Russell looked terrible. He is lost. But, let's not put it all on him. The coaching was terrible. No leadership on the sidelines.
Tonight featured no game management, no clock management, terrible play calling, no adjustments at half time except a concerted effort on the coaches' part to figure out a way to lose a game they should have had in the bag.
The defense was a retread of the DiNardo/Tepper days. Bo can say we fans don't know anything, but if that's so, we're in the same wagon with him, because it was apparent tonight what he knows doesn't amount to too damned much. Yeah, I know he doesn't go on the field, but that scheme of his is designed to let some rag armed kid from California eat his team's lunch and walk out of our house with a win. His defense played so soft in the second half some 1-AAA team from a podunk bible college could've beat them. Watching the second half reminded me of the old Saints teams that always figured out a way to lose games they should have won.
And, yes, I know the db's played poorly, but he had two guys in the defensive backfield who played well, Landry and Francis. Francis was on the bench for the entire second half except for special teams play. What's up with that? I sure can't understand it, but then again, I'm just a fan and don't know anything. But, I do know one thing: we lost a game we should have won.
All that talk about being aggressive and simplifying the defensive scheme is BS and just talk to cover up poor preparation and bad teaching. The players handled Saban's complicated defense and it worked because they were well taught. This new, simple scheme works, too, if you're playing against it.
Will Muschamp, where are you? Please come home.
The team came out in the second half looking prepared to lose, and Russell promptly contributed to the effort, capping that sterling effort he had on the last play of the first half. I'd sure like to see Flynn. He can't do any worse than Russell. At least he can run.
This is not a good football team. It is not well coached. As I wrote after the ASU game, get ready for a long season. Florida and Bama are licking their chops, and I can't blame them at all. Hell, Mississippi State is even smiling tonight. We'd have trouble with Vandy. Losing really sucks, but it seems to me that we'd better get used to it, unless some real changes are made.
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