Bama Dude Has Sketchy Take On 2009 BCS

RainH2burntO

RainH2burntO

2,500+ Posts
https://bamahammer.com/2018/02/20/alabama-football-lucky-beat-texas-2009-championship/

Anyone care to debate the merits of this genius's argument??

Asserts UT fans are wrong in viewing Alabama as lucky (not a word I would personally use, but...) in 2009/10 BCS Championship.
Not surprising, but what is fascinating is his take on events of that night.
Absurdly skewed.
Too much here for me to cover right this minute.
Was hesitant to even justify this (or bring it up) with a thread, but, hey, its the off-season and we're bored.
 
Colt's injury definitely changed the game. Gilbert came in and was doing well, in spite of his lack of playing time all season.
 
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but in 2009, shutting down the Texas run game was pretty much a fait accompli as there was no strong run game to begin with. Also is this guy suggesting Colt bailed on playing b/c he was afraid of hurting his draft status? Sorry but I don’t remember this being an issue.
 
Hideo Gump Jr. said:
but in 2009, shutting down the Texas run game was pretty much a fait accompli as there was no strong run game to begin with.
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Yep, that was the foregone conclusion. Bama had the bigs and they would control the line of scrimmage and beat us up (like Suh and Nebraska did in the Big12CG, except that they would also score on us).

So when we came out running the ball really well, it was very promising. I think Bama was selling out to stop the pass but once Colt went down, they got to play more honestly and it it was tougher sledding for us. Up to that point, I think they were getting a schooled that Big 12 Offenses were more balanced than they appeared.

Still it was 21-24 in the 4th, and I hate "What-Ifing" but even with Colt getting hurt there were several plays in that game that it would be great to have back. What if Gilbert takes the sack instead of throwing the shovel pass into traffic? What if Malcolm Johnson catches that bomb?

Clearly Bama dude feels defensive about that win, and perhaps he should.
 
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Read the article - to me, really nothing new or extraordinary said by the writer, Bama fans or players about that game.

I don't care what Bama fans say. I have said many times on this board that I'm convinced the Horns win that game if Colt plays the entire game. IMO the Horns were laser focused and had the game plan / blueprint to beat Bama that night despite a poor running game reputation. Bama was on their heels early and the Horns had serious momentum. They were energized and highly motivated by the early success they had.

Colt goes down and it took something out of the team - you could see / sense when it happened and as the game wore on. Over the course of the game, I think the Defense wore down, Gilbert's inexperience showed and his shovel pass fumble that gave Bama 7 was just a killer. Williams dropped pass that was a sure TD still haunts me.

I don't like the word luck or lucky and I rarely use it about football. Bama was a very good team - give 'em credit. They were not lucky, they just executed on the opportunities they had to win.
 
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WorsterMan said:
They were not lucky, they just executed on the opportunities they had to win.
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Clearly.
And although I don’t post much I have thoroughly browsed this website and its predecessor on a daily basis. With that I don’t recall there ever being a “they were lucky” group opinion.
Colt got hurt.
They won.
If we knew we would have to suffer through nearly a decade of mediocrity (at best) that followed I guess I would have been far more depressed at the time but I use all my clairvoyant talents on lottery numbers (no luck so far).
So I guess my question is why does this guy waste writing about a slight that doesn’t exist?

Is this where we start discussing what we had for lunch?
 
Gilbert came in and was doing well
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Gilbert threw four interceptions and had a 37.5% completion percentage. Colt McCoy does not throw four interceptions and completes far more passes (colt left the game 2 for 2 passing).

Gilbert only did as well as he did because Bama at the time in no way, shape or form could stop the spread with an elite QB. See Auburn the next year and A&M with Manziel in 2012. Texas does not just win with Colt, but wins by two scores or more. Saban has gotten much better stopping the spread led by an elite QB, but it is still his achilles heel today.

It can be called an act of God, the devil, luck, fate or randomness... but for whatever the reason Colt suffered a freak injury allowing Bama to win.
 
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The guy’s take is revisionist history. Colt doesn’t go down we probably win.

All throughout that season I told my buddy that we were asking for trouble, not having a prepared backup. I put that on Brown, and it was umfathomable to me.

Did Gilbert play relatively well? Yes. And how effective would he have been if he had been prepared? Much more. We probably win the game in that case as well.

What happened with GG the next year is not relevant IMO. Mack illogically changed the offense and the “Decade of Decline” began.
 
Htown77 said:
Gilbert threw four interceptions and had a 37.5% completion percentage. Colt McCoy does not throw four interceptions and completes far more passes (colt left the game 2 for 2 passing).

Gilbert only did as well as he did because Bama at the time in no way, shape or form could stop the spread with an elite QB. See Auburn the next year and A&M with Manziel in 2012. Texas does not just win with Colt, but wins by two scores or more. Saban has gotten much better stopping the spread led by an elite QB, but it is still his achilles heel today.

It can be called an act of God, the devil, luck, fate or randomness... but for whatever the reason Colt suffered a freak injury allowing Bama to win.
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Exactly.
 
Well that’s football....games are played to see who’s better, refs make/don’t make crucial calls, players get hurt....it’s all about who wants it more and delivering in the clutch when it counts....there’s always a debate about playing two qbs but I’ve always felt the quest to get colt a heisman trophy cost Texas a championship.....
 
...and then can add that Mack bailed on us in 2010, scrapped the zone read that Gilbert had run his whole life, tried to emulate Alabama, oline was not ready for/trained for power eye, the rest is history.....
 
I hate the off-season.

That guy can say anything he wants I guess. He was like 7 years old when the game was played so I doubt he remembers...Either way, I honestly doubt he wanted Colt behind the center the whole game.

Alabama didn't have a sack until 3 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. I think Colt would have performed 'pretty well' under those conditions. :rolleyes1:

Personally, I don't think Alabama was lucky, they just won a football game. More than anything, I think it was unfortunate for Texas to lose a Heisman caliber QB in the NC game.
 
This. It was a good game that was close in the 4th and Alabama won it. Credit to them for hitting Colt. I am sure they practiced that when Colt keeps the ball you hit him hard, and they executed that.

It could have been a GREAT game if Texas had not lost Colt though.
Texas lost its fearless leader and record setting QB and was not itself. That is what the fans, not just of Texas but all college football, wanted to see and if bama fans feel they don’t get the credit they deserve it’s because thr game did not satisfy fans as the GREAT game that it should have been.
For the record I am not 100% convinced we win with Colt as Bama seemed to take their foot off the gas for portions of the game. Would have been s better game regardless of who won with Colt.
 
Detective Shilala said:
This. It was a good game that was close in the 4th and Alabama won it. Credit to them for hitting Colt. I am sure they practiced that when Colt keeps the ball you hit him hard, and they executed that.

It could have been a GREAT game if Texas had not lost Colt though.
Texas lost its fearless leader and record setting QB and was not itself. That is what the fans, not just of Texas but all college football, wanted to see and if bama fans feel they don’t get the credit they deserve it’s because thr game did not satisfy fans as the GREAT game that it should have been.
For the record I am not 100% convinced we win with Colt as Bama seemed to take their foot off the gas for portions of the game. Would have been s better game regardless of who won with Colt.
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When Colt was hit Texas was on their way to a double digit lead and was keeping Alabama's offense off the field. Alabama's defense would have been completely gassed by the 4th quarter.
 
Oh I agree. Texas was not following the script and it clearly had Bama looking stunned.
I like to think they would have been on their heels the entire game too. I think we probably win, but I also think its possible Alabama could have regrouped and played at the same intensity as us, because Bama. (and as evidenced by the 2010 collapse, they clearly had more depth than us)
 
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Htown77 said:
Gilbert threw four interceptions and had a 37.5% completion percentage.
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His percentage was certainly bad (although it started off horribly and got better), but to be fair, one of those picks was a heave in the final minute, and I think the third was also pretty late. I feel like his last two were in the final couple of minutes after they had scored on the fumble. I may be misremembering.

Part of that was that he was throwing pretty conservatively for the most part - which is part of the reason his completion ratio was low.

What I remember was Sergio Kindle living in the Bama backfield whenever they tried to pass. They threw for about 60 yards, and some argue that's because Alabama tucked it in and played conservative. But the main reason they were playing conservatively was because they couldn't protect McElroy and their passing game was going nowhere. In the third quarter Bama was definitely trying to pull away and make some plays in the air, and we weren't letting them do it.
 
ProdigalHorn said:
His percentage was certainly bad (although it started off horribly and got better), but to be fair, one of those picks was a heave in the final minute, and I think the third was also pretty late. I feel like his last two were in the final couple of minutes after they had scored on the fumble. I may be misremembering.

Part of that was that he was throwing pretty conservatively for the most part - which is part of the reason his completion ratio was low.

What I remember was Sergio Kindle living in the Bama backfield whenever they tried to pass. They threw for about 60 yards, and some argue that's because Alabama tucked it in and played conservative. But the main reason they were playing conservatively was because they couldn't protect McElroy and their passing game was going nowhere. In the third quarter Bama was definitely trying to pull away and make some plays in the air, and we weren't letting them do it.
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The shovel pass killed his career at Texas.
 
That shovel pass and Williams drop in the endzone was basically a 14 point swing.

And then down 3 with 3 minutes to play with a true freshman QB who only had about 5 snaps all year. Bama IS fortunate they won that game.
 
dukesteer said:
All throughout that season I told my buddy that we were asking for trouble, not having a prepared backup.
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The coaches did not have Gilbert ready to step in, especially that early in the game, and it was painfully obvious. The following weekend on the Austin channel doing the weekly Longhorn recap, in an interview with Gilbert the reporter ask if he was working hard to prepare. Gilbert answered no and said the coaches told him to relax and enjoy the week. So he wasn’t involved much practicing with the first team. It showed almost immediately too.
 
BevoJoe said:
The coaches did not have Gilbert ready to step in, especially that early in the game, and it was painfully obvious. The following weekend on the Austin channel doing the weekly Longhorn recap, in an interview with Gilbert the reporter ask if he was working hard to prepare. Gilbert answered no and said the coaches told him to relax and enjoy the week. So he wasn’t involved much practicing with the first team. It showed almost immediately too.
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Dumb! :brickwall:
 
BevoJoe said:
Gilbert answered no and said the coaches told him to relax and enjoy the week.
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I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point Mack basically gave up any worries whatsoever about the QB position once he had a guy that he liked. Minimal to no meaningful playing time for the backups, and rarely did they actually run the offense. Part of that was he was paranoid about blowing leads and didn't trust inexperienced QBs to throw it when the game was in doubt.

A well prepared Gilbert - and a coaching staff that didn't basically have to become desperate to let him run the offense - definitely could have won that game.
 
ProdigalHorn said:
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point Mack basically gave up any worries whatsoever about the QB position once he had a guy that he liked. Minimal to no meaningful playing time for the backups, and rarely did they actually run the offense. Part of that was he was paranoid about blowing leads and didn't trust inexperienced QBs to throw it when the game was in doubt.

A well prepared Gilbert - and a coaching staff that didn't basically have to become desperate to let him run the offense - definitely could have won that game.
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Having a pick 6 on a two yard shovel pass that should have never been thrown set the tone for his career at Texas. Anytime thereafter when he had to complete a pass, he didn't.
 
ProdigalHorn said:
Except for the second half of the game when he threw two TDs and almost engineered the comeback?
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almost is not did. He was unprepared (he should have been prepared even if Brown told him to take it easy); made a stupid mistake; and never did anything for Texas.
 
ViperHorn said:
almost is not did. He was unprepared (he should have been prepared even if Brown told him to take it easy); made a stupid mistake; and never did anything for Texas.
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Eh. Have to throw in again about Mack throwing in the towel in 2010, ditching the zone read to be more like Alabama without the personnel. Gilbert never had a chance at Texas. He got it at SMU and is now on Carolinas roster.
 
zuckercanyon said:
Eh. Have to throw in again about Mack throwing in the towel in 2010, ditching the zone read to be more like Alabama without the personnel. Gilbert never had a chance at Texas. He got it at SMU and is now on Carolinas roster.
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He also has a Super Bowl ring from being on the Patriots squad.
 
ViperHorn said:
He was unprepared (he should have been prepared even if Brown told him to take it easy); made a stupid mistake; and never did anything for Texas.
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DIdn't say he was prepared. I'm arguing that you singling out that one fluke play as having some long reaching effect on his career is ridiculous when it didn't even have an effect on his play in the rest of the game.
 
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