I have to disagree. If you watched the entire 2006 ND game, there is no doubt at all who was the better team
that day, up until JLS **** the bed. Same goes for the 1999 UM game or any number of other Perles/Saban-coached games. Suddenly conservative offense (run the ball up the middle on 3rd and 10) plus "prevent" defense is a recipe for letting your opponent back into the game. Honestly, it never ceased to amaze me how a head coach of a BCS conference team couldn't grasp the concept that if you play a huge (10-15 yard) cushion in order to prevent a receiver from getting behind your DBs, any
halfway decent QB is going to complete ten 8-10 yard passes without any problem. Guess what, Coach -- you just gave up a TD just as surely as if you'd given up an 80-yard bomb.
That's what always infuriated me about the alleged football genius Nick Saban. He just sat there and hoped that either:
a) the opponent wouldn't be able to execute or that
b) somebody -- anybody -- would step up and make a game-saving INT or forced fumble.
That's not how you win. That is, however, how good teams will come back to beat you. That's why you keep the boot on their collective neck until the game is over. And that's why Hoosier is correct -- when your opponent is on the ground begging for mercy, kick 'em in the junk. Recruits want to play for a team that dominates, not for one that barely escapes.
Any news on Gray or Smith in the week it took me to type this?
