Thoughts on "The Game of the Century" (LSU-Bama)

[NAHSTE]

Bama had 5 scoring opportunities, LSU had 2. They controlled the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Trent Richardson was the only threat to either team in that entire game.

Bama never crossed the 20 yard line, so I'd hardly say they had 5 scoring opportunities. Zero snaps inside the red zone does not really indicate to me that they controlled the offensive side of the ball.




edit- apparently they had 3 snaps inside the red zone ... either way, this is what LSU's defense limited Alabama to inside the 35 yard line:

7 Series
21 plays
4 yards gained
-6 net yards gained (includes penalties)
0-6 on 3rd down conversions

Where are these scoring opportunities you speak of?

[Senser81]

Plus it was a great play by the defender as well.

"Fezzik...you did something right for once..."

[Primetime]

Bama's scoring opportunities were pretty bogus, especially when it became apparent that Bama couldn't kick a FG. In the 1st half, Alabama missed a 44 yarder to start, then missed a 50 yarder, then had a 49 yard FG blocked. While this was happening, LSU was electing to punt and pinning Bama at their 5 yard line and their 4 yard line.

Alabama didn't do all that much on offense, either, outside of two big plays by Richardson (neither of which resulted in a TD). They also were the beneficiaries of two terrible Jarrett Lee INTs, but they couldn't capitalize on either break.

I'm not saying Bama dominated the game or anything. I just feel like it was obvious that Bama lost it more than LSU won it.

LSU didn't have the same opportunities. While Bama was missing field goals, LSU was punting....yes. But it's not the same. LSU's field goals would have been from 59, 58, and 55. No excuse for Bama to miss more than 2 of their 4 field goals, despite them being mid-high 40's. It's hard to speculate what happens if Bama does makes one or two of those field goals though. LSU won fair and square, but I'd love to see a rematch, which I am usually against.

EDIT: Excuse me if the yards a little off, the drive chart I looked at is fucked up.

[KnightNoles]

Back to the future: Alabama vs. LSU

Anyway I agree with your thoughts for the most part. Crazy how evenly matched the two teams were. There were definitely 15-20 NFL players on the field that day.

This was awesome and stumbled upon a week+ ago... http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/po...alabama-vs-lsu

Just some of the noted quotes I will pull:

As the 2014 NFL draft drew to a close last Saturday, I could still hear Joe Pendry’s prophetic words in the press box on Nov. 5, 2011... “Look out there on the field, and probably 20 of the 22 defensive starters will be playing in the NFL,” said Pendry, who was an offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans before ending his career in the college ranks.

Turns out, he might have undersold just how much talent was on the field, which in my 20-plus years of covering the SEC is unquestionably the gold standard for premium defensive talent on the field together at one time.

In that game alone, which LSU won 9-6 in overtime, there were 28 defensive players who played in the game -- 14 on each side -- who would get drafted. That includes 10 first-rounders.

The grand total of future draftees who played in the game was 42, and that doesn’t even count another handful of players who made NFL rosters as undrafted free agents.

But in one game, it’s hard to imagine that we’ll ever see 42 future draft choices again on the field playing, and certainly not 28 on defense.

As a comparison, in that FSU-Miami game in 2000, there were a total of 17 defensive players who would end up being drafted.

Now, when it comes to one team, good luck in trumping Miami’s 2001 national championship team. The Hurricanes had 16 players from that team who would go on to be first-round picks.

Here’s a look at the draftees from that Alabama-LSU game in 2011:

ALABAMA

2014 draft

• Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, first round
• C.J. Mosley, LB, first round
• Kevin Norwood, WR, fourth round
• AJ McCarron, QB, fifth round
• Ed Stinson, DE, fifth round
• Vinnie Sunseri, S, fifth round

2013 draft

• Dee Milliner, CB, first round
• Chance Warmack, OG, first round
• D.J. Fluker, OT, first round
• Eddie Lacy, RB, second round
• Nico Johnson, LB, fourth round
• Barrett Jones, C, fourth round
• Quinton Dial, DE, fifth round
• Jesse Williams DT, fifth round
• Michael Williams, TE, seventh round

2012 draft

• Trent Richardson, RB, first round
• Mark Barron, S, first round
• Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, first round
• Dont’a Hightower, LB, first round
• DeQuan Menzie, CB, fifth round
• Courtney Upshaw, DE, second round
• Josh Chapman, DT, fifth round
• Brad Smelley, TE, seventh round

LSU

2014 draft

• Odell Beckham, Jr., WR, first round
• Ego Ferguson, DT, second round
• Jarvis Landry, WR, second round
• Lamin Barrow, LB, fifth round
• Alfred Blue, RB, sixth round

2013 draft

• Barkevious Mingo, DE, first round
• Eric Reid, S, first round
• Kevin Minter, LB, second round
• Bennie Logan, DT, third round
• Tyrann Mathieu, CB, third round
• Sam Montgomery, DE, third round
• Tharold Simon, CB, fifth round
• Lavar Edwards, DE, fifth round
• Spencer Ware, RB, sixth round

2012 draft

• Morris Claiborne, CB, first round
• Michael Brockers, DT, first round
• Rueben Randle, WR, second round
• Brandon Taylor, S, third round
• Ron Brooks, CB, fourth round