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Call me a LSU "homer," but there is a time when you have to give credit where credit is due.
In 2007, LSU won the national championship, and when the 2008 rankings were released LSU was ranked No. 7 in the AP and No. 6 in the Coaches polls. On the other hand, Alabama was ranked No. 24 in the AP and was not ranked in the Coaches.
After Week Five, LSU is ranked third in the AP with no No. 1 votes, while Alabama is second with 21 votes for No. 1, and in the Coaches, LSU is ranked No. 2 with one vote for No. 1, while Alabama is ranked fourth with two votes for No. 1.
This comes down to one thing—the coaches. For some reason, the media loves Nick Saban and portrays him to be some type of football god, while Les Miles rarely gets the respect he deserves.
Do not get me wrong, I am thankful for Nick Saban because the guy made LSU relevant, but I am also thankful he left. At first, I was unsure about Les Miles, but after three years and a national title, coach Miles has proven to be an icon of college football.
Many LSU fans preferred Saban's military style of coaching, but coach Miles has proven that being a players' coach can be just as effective. Also, coach Miles understands that one of the keys of success is to surround yourself with quality assistant coaches.
Since coach Miles came to LSU, many fans thought he was winning with Saban's talent, but it takes a good coach to win with anyone's players. After all, no matter what, it takes a good coach to get any player to play to his potential.
In 2005, Miles finished 11-2, won the SEC West and beat Miami in the Peach Bowl, 40-3. In 2006, his team finished 11-2, came out second in the West, and beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, 41-14. Then, in 2007, he finished 12-2 with a SEC championship and a national championship in which his team beat OSU, 38-24. So far in 2008, his team is 4-0. With a total record of 38-6, Les Miles has won 82 percent of his games as head coach of LSU.
Don't forget that in Miles' first season, Louisiana was hit by two tragic hurricanes. His team had a lot to overcome, and it did. Also, last year everyone was certain Michigan would offer Miles the head coaching job and he would accept. Being the loyal person he is, Miles did not accept the coaching position at Michigan.
All of a sudden, Saban is getting all the coverage and is becoming more of a media darling than he ever was, yet Miles got more coverage than ever when he was supposed to go to Michigan but didn't. I guess Saban is a drama queen and gives the the media stories, whereas Miles really does not buy into the hype.
After all, when Saban left LSU, he held a press conference on Christmas Day. The guy strives for attention.
The point here is that Miles represents what college football should be about, and it needs to be pointed out more so the nation will give him credit for more than what he does on the field.
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The University of Alabama football team held a two-hour practice in full pads Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility, as the Crimson Tide continue preparations for Saturday's SEC showdown with Kentucky.Related posts
Wilson completed 13-of-16 throws for 205 yards and a touchdown at Georgia. If it wasn't before, the nation has now tuned in to what Nick Saban has going at Alabama.
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The season didn't end after week 4. If it did end after Week Five, however, these would be your BCS bowl eligible teams and possible bowl match-ups. This is based on the AP Top 25 since the BCS poll isn't available yet.
BCS Eligible Teams
| 1. | Oklahoma |
| 2. | Alabama |
| 3. | LSU |
| 4. | Missouri |
| 5. | Texas |
| 6. | Penn State |
| 7. | Texas Tech |
| 8. | Brigham Young |
| 9. | USC |
| 10. | South Florida |
| 11. | Georgia |
| 12. | Florida |
| 13. | Auburn |
| 14. | Ohio State |
| 15. | Utah |
| 16. | Kansas |
| 17. | Boise State |
| 18. | Wisconsin |
| 19. | Vanderbilt |
| 20. | Virginia Tech |
BCS Bowl Picture
| 1. | BCS National Championship selects No.1 Oklahoma and No.2 Alabama. | |
| 2. | Orange Bowl selects ACC conference champion Virginia Tech as tie-in. | |
| 3. | Rose Bowl selects Pac-10 conference champion USC as tie-in. | |
| 4. | Rose Bowl selects Big Ten conference champion Penn State as tie-in. | |
| 5. | Fiesta Bowl selects Missouri to keep Big 12 conference tie-in after losing | |
| conference champion Oklahoma to national championship game. | ||
| 6. | Sugar Bowl selects LSU to keep SEC conference tie-in after losing conference | |
| champion Alabama to national championship game. | ||
| 7. | Fiesta Bowl selects Big East conference champion South Florida with first pick | |
| in bowl rotation. Only other available teams left are Ohio State and Brigham | ||
| Young. | ||
| 8. | Sugar Bowl selects at-large Ohio State with second pick in bowl rotation. Only | |
| other available team left is Brigham Young. | ||
| 9. | Orange Bowl selects auto-bid Brigham Young with third and final pick in bowl | |
| rotation. Obligation to choose team because they were an auto-bid by being | ||
| ranked ahead of a conference champion (Virginia Tech). |
Bowl Match-Ups
BCS National Championship
Oklahoma vs. Alabama
Fiesta Bowl
Missouri vs. South Florida
Sugar Bowl
LSU vs. Ohio State
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. Brigham Young
Rose Bowl
USC vs. Penn State
BCS Teams By Conference
ACC: 1
Virginia Tech (Conference Champion)
Big East: 1
South Florida (Conference Champion)
Big Ten: 2
Penn State (Conference Champion)
Ohio State (At-Large)
Big 12: 2
Oklahoma (Conference Champion)
Missouri (At-Large)
Pac-10: 1
USC (Conference Champion)
SEC: 2
Alabama (Conference Champion)
LSU (At-Large)
Non-BCS: 1
Brigham Young (Auto-Bid)
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Nick Saban doesn't want to talk about rankings in September. He even insists he doesn't even know where Alabama stands in the polls.
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Hey Guys,
I'm pretty sure that most of us felt like Alabama had a chance this weekend, but I would have to call anyone a liar who told me they expected that.
An absolute demolition of the No. 3 team in America on national television was quite a sight to see in person.
Anyways, it's been way past 24 hours, so it's time to move on to Kentucky, but not before one last quick look back.
Jim McElwain is Alabama's most important new addition this season.
Sure, all the new players are nice, but they wouldn't be worth crap without an offense. Enter Jim McElwain. The Tide has now put up 40-plus on consecutive SEC opponents for the first time since 1989. The average final score for Alabama this season has been 37-13 and 41-18 away from Bryant-Denny Stadium.
If you didn't believe me the first time I said it, John Parker Wilson is a different quarterback this season.
McElwain is also responsible for this, but credit is also due to JPW himself for buying in and making the necessary changes. Wilson stepped up when his team needed him for the first time this season, going 13-16 for 205 yards and a touchdown against Georgia.
He has gone from a 56 percent career passer to 63 percent this season, having three games over the 60 percent completion mark.
Who needs one running back when you can have three (or four)?
It's impressive enough that Glen Coffee is averaging seven yards a carry so far this season, but even more impressive that he isn't leading the team in touchdowns. That honor is currently on Mark Ingram with five, who isn't too shabby himself with an average carry of 5.6 yards.
Then there is Roy Upchurch who has visited the end zone in each of the past two games and is averaging 6.2 yards per carry himself. This is all before Terry Grant, last year's back of choice, has even seen the field for a significant amount of time this season.
Overall, Alabama has rushed for 1,076 yards and averages 5.2 yards per carry. That is easily enough to put Alabama at the top of the SEC.
Even if the backs are averaging five yards a carry, there is no way that happens in practice.
Sure, the stable of backs that Alabama has is quite impressive, but not as impressive as the Tide's run defense. Alabama has only allowed 270 yards rushing this season, one-third of that coming in one game alone. The Tide has only allowed one rushing touchdown all season and is only giving up 2.3 yards a carry, best in the SEC.
This isn't against some cheap competition either. The Tide has held three Heisman-caliber backs, Knowshon Moreno, James Davis, and C.J. Spiller, to a total of 17 carries for 54 yards against them, good for three yards a carry.
So now that we know this team is for real, there is no slack time available as an undefeated Kentucky team comes to town.
Sure, Alabama has done well so far this season, but there have still been times of lapse when you just ask yourself, "Are they trying to lose the game?"
So, that question brings us to this week's topic: What unit will cause the Crimson Tide to drop a game this season?
The defensive line has been great, but the defensive backs have had some rough spots.
JPW has done great to this point, but will he continue to be consistent?
Also, can someone please tackle on special teams!
Or is there somewhere else that would cause Alabama to stumble this year?
As always, you can leave your thoughts below or write an article yourself about what you think would cause a Bama loss.
That's all for this week, guys.
Thanks, and Roll Tide.
Nic
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st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Given the heroic feats of Saturday's dismantling of the Dogs, what's next?
Will Alabama fans start murmuring and wringing their hands if they only beat Kentucky 24-21? Is it not enough just to win anymore? Will the fans expect the Tide to take EVERY team out for a first half woodshed thrashing?
Will the players begin to doubt themselves if they go into the locker room at halftime tied? How will they react if another team jumps out to a fast lead?
These are among the many questions that Nick Saban and staff must prepare for.
Too many times teams get caught up in their own headlines and rankings. Bama has seen this firsthand this season when Clemson and Georgia both got brought back down to earth.
The Tide players should know all too well just how easy and quickly it can be done. But it's a harder lesson to learn when you're on the dispensing side of the beating.
Right now all the players and coaches are saying the right things, and it's not like Alabama still doesn't have serious problems to deal with. These problems may help keep the Tide grounded as they coast through a few "easier" games.
Alabama doesn't have another mountain to climb until the LSU game several weeks from now, and then there's that darn streak that's been hanging over their heads for too long. This gives the team time to iron out the kinks.
Among them are:
1. Kick and Punt coverage
This problem area is a glaring thorn in their side and one that could have let Clemson or Georgia regain momentum. Right now coverage is just plain bad, and if it's not fixed, it could cost the Tide in a close game.
2. Consistency at QB
Will the REAL John Parker Wilson please stand up, and STAY standing, please? Good game, bad game, good game, bad game, and then good game last week against Georgia, where he was all but perfect.
If he turns in another sub-stellar effort this week, then it could be only a matter of time until the stars align and Wilson is playing a top team on a bad day.
3. Second half lapses
Saban is pulling his hair out trying to figure out why the team can't maintain the same level of play for 60 minutes. The coaches are making the players watch the entire third quarter of the Georgia game so they can see what went wrong, as well as the staff. If they can fix this, they may be unstoppable.
4. Pass rushing
Though the Tide has been successful at stopping offenses more or less, they still haven't found a way to use Cody to create gaps that the linebackers can exploit on a consistent basis. Kevin Steele wants to find a way to pressure the QBs even more. So far, it just hasn't been there.
One thing is for certain: Nick Saban won't be happy unless they win the National Championship game in a 63-0 shutout. Perfection is a hard thing to achieve, so don't expect to see Nick Saban smiling for a while.
