The Blue Board

I believe if both teams play well. 24-6 bama. But if bama turns the ball over like they have been doing lately and Notre Dame plays a clean ball game,,, things could be interesting.

Yes. Mett played much better down the stretch and was one of the only reasons LSU was close to beating Bama.

For the title game I'd take Mett anyday over Golson. You wouldn't?

The talk about Jones struggling mostly goes back to the Tamu game where he got abused a few times. That said, it's like when they say Tom Brady had a bad game because he threw for 350 and 4 TD's but had 3 picks. If they were talking about Sanchez, that would be a helluva game. Not saying he hasn't been beaten a few times by big 0's, but he is exceptionally good.

Stats lie? You would think Bama didn't have the number 2 defense against scoring by reading this. Yep, AJ was real tight in that last drive in Death Valley, wasn't he? We played bad against A&M yet AJ got us inside the 10 at the end with a chance to win that crazy game. Most observers know that we let that get away from us by not running the ball. (A scramble by AJ doesn't count the same as handing the ball to Lacy.) It should be fun to see how ND and Bama match up. But if anyone takes this wager advice, please do not bet your light bill money! It's cold this time of the year.

You should watch more football.

I see people questioning my comment about AJ in big games. Lets look at his stats from his three biggest games each year as a starter (Ark, LSU, LSU in 2011 and LSU, TAMU, and UGA in 2012).

2011
Ark - 15-20, 200, 2 TD, 0 INT
LSU - 16-28, 199, 0 TD, 1 INT
LSU - 23-34, 234, 0 TD, 0 INT

2012
LSU - 14-27, 165, 1 TD, 0 INT
TAMU - 21-34, 309, 1 TD, 2 INT
UGA - 13-21, 162, 1 TD, 1 INT

So in total (math in head since on phone so feel free to double check), he's 103-164, 1,269 yards, 5 TD, 4 INT.

That's an average of 62.8%, 211 yards, .83 TDs, .67 INT per game.

Not exactly seeing in either the stat lines or averages how he performs well in those big games.

I think it's unfair to lay all of that at the feet of AJ. Some of it is him, yes, some of it is playcalling and obvious passing formations, and a lot of it also has to do with injuries to him, as well as guys like Fowler, White, and Bell. Fowler would have been a threat at H-back that we currently don't have. This offense is at its best when it has a guy like Smelley or Peek who can be a receiving threat. Teams had to respect Bell's speed, and it was missed in the SECCG vs UGA. White was a pretty good all around threat as well.

I think you should look to the stats from Stanford - ND game for a clue as to how this will go.

Stefan Taylor ran for 102 yards against the stout ND run Defense and managed to muster up 13 points.

Notre dame rushed for 150 yards combined from their RBs.

I think Eddie Lacy and Yeldon combo is a much better combo than Taylor and Whoever else was running for Stanford with a much better Offensive Line for Bama. Alabama has a much better QB and WRs to keep the defense honest with. I think Alabama runs the ball at will, much like against Georgia. However I dont think ND will be able to move the ball anywhere near the likes of Georgia. I know that Bama's defense is not as good as PREVIOUS Bama defenses, but they are still a good defense with a very good and balanced offense behind a top notch o-line. Alabama controls the ball and clock, punches the ball in the end zone 4-5 times with ND getting lucky once or twice. Alabama 34-14.

I know it sounds like i am not giving ND much credit. That is because I am not. They rave about their SOS and joke about ours Yet they have not played a team like LSU in an enviroment like LSU and won. They havent played a team as good as Georgia and won. Notre Dame had to get help from the refs to beat the best team they played all year with Stanford in South Bend. The one team UA and ND both played was Michigan. That speaks pretty loudly. Bama won on a neutral field 41-14. Notre Dame won at home 13-6. Notre Dame is nothing special and they will find that out Jan 7. From a tradition stand point it is an epic game. But thats it. The Tide rolls just like 90 percent of the time since Sabans second year at Bama. 55-6 since his second year. Pretty impressive.

Also, Alabama since 1992 is 4-0 is national title games. We dont lose these games. This is the only thing Alabama fans care about. It is what we are ridiculed to no end for. This is way more important to Bama fans and Saban and the players know this. We dont lose these games. It wont happen, we dont accept defeat if given the chance to play for it all. We are college football. Never forget that domers.

Downvote away.

Would seem logical, but Golson was pulled early in that game. The Everett Golson that played in that game and the one I saw the last 4/5 games are completely different players. He wasn't running much, that has changed. Decision making and overall command of getting the plays off in a timely fashion are much improved..

you'd lose. Mett is a statue back there and had trouble recognizing the blitz all year. Not even going to get into how many open receivers he overthrew.

Most likely to least likely outcome.

1) Bama wins close game
2) ND wins close game
3) Bama blows out ND
4) ND blows out Bama