talk about a WTF year for you guys. that much talent for that to happen? crazy talk.
anyways - not why i'm here. slimm - what did i tell you about that kid dix? #7 recruit in the ENTIRE country now? and you got the back too? saban shows up for one damn practice and hart switches his mind (from UF by the way - he had changed his mind about michigan). typical. those two kids took that team to a state championship - which they would've won had fog not dropped in at halftime and freak out our entire team. remember the names dix and hart - they will be HUGE for you guys in the next few years.
so ... what happened to you guys this year? would love some knowledgeable bama fans' takes.
What happened was we lost 9 starters, 3 All-Americans, and 6 NFL draft picks off the defense... we only returned 2 starters on the defensive side of the ball (Mark Barron and Marcell Dareus).
It was a season of blown coverages in the secondary due to inexperience and kids getting their feet wet in the SEC.
Bama's season really boiled down to 3 halves of football where the defense imploded... other than that they played extremely well.
1st half vs. South Carolina - allowed 160 yards, 21 points, and 3 TD's on South Carolina's first 3 offensive possessions.
2nd half vs. LSU - allowed 334 yards, 21 points, and 7 plays of 15+ yards.
2nd half vs. Auburn - allowed 242 yards, 21 points, and TD drives of 69, 75, and 67 yards.
Bama's defense allowed opponents to convert 3rd and LONG at an alarming rate due to blown coverages... it was just inexperience and kids not being familiar with Saban's complex system yet.
The talent is there, and several of the new starters played EXTREMELY well, like Robert Lester, who finished 2nd in the entire country with 8 interceptions... Courtney Upshaw played like a 1st round pick. C.J. Mosely and Nico Johnson both played extremely well (just ask John Brantley)...
The pass rush just wasn't there this year like it had been for the previous 2 years, due to having all new starters up front.
The talent is there, and even more is being loaded up.... it's just a matter of getting all the bugs worked out and getting some experience in critical spots, so we can avoid the breakdowns that plagued the defense in 3 halves of football in key games.
When you lose that much talent, and that much experience off of one of the best defenses that college football has seen in many years, you're going experience a setback, and go through periods of inconsistency like Bama did in 2010.
A lot of the kids were just injured and worn down by the end of the season too from playing such a brutal schedule... but you saw what happened to Michigan St. after they had a chance to rest up.