A few ppl like the Tide

i'm not trying to say it will be easy... simply because i feel strongly about it, doesn't mean i think it is a lock, or that it will be easy... Alabama is one of the best teams in the country, without a doubt! 

i just think it is hard to measure how much of a liability Alabama's kicking game is in this type of a matchup... if they were playing a team without a top tier defense, this wouldn't be such an issue... i just think it is a little too easy for LSU's defense to contain Alabama's offense, given their inability to convert FG opportunities consistently... and if they are going to give away 6 points or more... or if they are forced out of their comfort zone to try to compensate, it plays into LSU's hands...

on top of that... the fact that every fucking member of the media out there keeps saying "Alabama out-played them the first game"... is only going to fuel LSU's fire...

again, i bet on Alabama the first go-around... and many times, i will make a bet, lose it, and if i had it to do over, i would still make the bet... but after watching that game, i think i was a sucker for laying points with Alabama... because despite what all the media outlets keep saying, i do not agree that Alabama out-played them... i think LSU played the more disciplined, more fundamentally sound, more intelligent football game, and they won for a reason...

throw everything else out the window, and recall the OT in that game... do you think Alabama out-played LSU in OT?  cuz i think if they played that OT 10 times... LSU would have won about 8 of them, or more... they just seemed to have such an ENORMOUS advantage once it got into OT... and given the fact that this game will be played largely from 30-yard line to 30-yard line... it means those possessions from 25 yards in (a la overtime) become that much more critical...

and in those situations, i believe LSU has a decided advantage...

Tappy-

It's all good man- I guess we all tend to get a little pissy with each other and let out emotions get the best of us when we don't agree on things- Just human nature i guess- Again, look foward to this game and the discussions leading up to it!-

You make a valid point about Alabama only punting twice.  Yes there are some positives and some negatives about that stat.  For example, one time Alabama didn't punt because Claiborne intercepted the ball and returned it to the Alabama 15-yard line.  Obvioulsy Alabama would have preferred a punt instead of giving up the interception.

I kind of look at the stat this way.  For the sake of this post I will call everything from the opposition's 33-yard line and in the "scoring zone."  I picked the 33-yard line because it would be a 50 yard field goal from there.

During the coarse of the game Alabama entered the scoring zone 7 times.  Five times their offense drove the ball into the scoring zone, one time they took possession of the ball in the scoring zone follow a Mark Barron interception, and one time in overtime.  Of those seven opportunities, Alabama coverted two of them into field goals, they missed on four others and threw an interception.

LSU entered the scoring zone 3 times.  One time their offense drove the ball down there (largely due to Alabama missing an assignment in coverage), one time they took possession of the ball in the scoring zone following Claiborne's interception, and the third was in overtime.  LSU was able to covert all three of those scoring zone opportunities into field goals.

I think when a defense can hold the opposing offense to one scoring zone drive for the game, I would have to say that's pretty dominant.  Not only that, Alabama's defense was able to take LSU's passing game away almost entirely.

In the second half LSU QBs dropped back to pass 8 times.  They completed a 7-yard pass to Clement, a negative 2-yard pass to Peterson, a 4-yard pass to Randall that he turned into a 13-yard gain and a 6-yard pass to Clement that he turned into a 13-yard gain.  The other 4 attempts resulted in a JJ scramble, a JJ throw-away, a sack and a Lee interception.  That's a total of 4 of 6 for 31 yards.  Take away the 34-yard broken coverage pass and the first half stats were just as ugly.

Not sure about Trent's rushing stats in the 2nd half, but I don't think they were very good.  When I'm not so tired I'll go back and look at that a little closer.  My feeling is that McElwain just got away from running Trent quite as much in the 2nd half, but I could be wrong.

Both defenses have big advantages over both offenses.  I've seen a lot of people advocating a play on the OVER, but I honestly cannot see where the points are going to come from.

1.  Saban is tide coach

2. difficult to beat a team twice in 1 season on most levels of football 

3.  Refer to point # 1.

Let's see  . . . where to begin?

I just got back from the ball park playing coed softball where my team just clinched another championship.  I have one of the best coed teams in the southeast.  Out of the roughly 90 games we've played, we've lost 5 games the entire season.  I also of a men's league team and a men's tournament team.  On average I play about 8-10 softball games a week.

In addition to winning a lot, my teams usually lead the league in drinking.  The coed team went out to celebrate tonight, but I had work I had to do before tomorrow morning so I came straight home.

Before I came to Alabama I also had a flag football team the was ranked nationally 3 consecutive years with our best ranking being #9.  If not for my divorce I'm pretty confident would could have won a national championship.

Aside from softball I run the stairs almost every morning, and I make it to the gym about 4 times a week.

I do not watch movies (or tv in general) for reasons I won't go into on a message board.

I derive a huge chunk of my annual income from wagering on college football so I take it very seriously.  I view it a s a job.  My fandom is secondary to wagering.

I do not re-watch games on tv.  I watch them on my computer, and because I take my wagering very seriously, I watch and re-watch college football games as necessary.  It's called handicapping.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.