Bama will have a young but very talented defense. The offensive line will arguably be the best in the country.

Yes, we are coming off two championships in three years. A letdown is possible.

However, I say to all those who think they may have their way with us, be carefull. Bama might have the best team they have ever had.

I see linebacker as our weak positions. What are yours?

Roll Tide and Gig'em

What about your team? What are your strength's and weaknesses.

bamaoldtimer

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I say to all those who think they may have their way with us

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I don't think that I've seen anybody say this. Ever.

Our biggest weaknesses are going to be DL and ILB. We're returning one starter at DT, but he's coming off of major knee surgery so we'll have no idea what we're getting with him until he takes the field. We've got some talent at DE, but our best ones played rush LB last year in DeRuyter's 3-4. Can't automatically assume that those guys will thrive with a hand on the ground.

We've been thin at ILB for years. There's a chance we'll finally be alright there because SEC offenses generally play more conservatively and run the ball a lot (and our biggest problems there were in pass coverage).

Our offense has the potential to be stellar. We've got oodles of talent on the OL. Oodles of talent at RB (though again, our best guy is coming off of major knee surgery. Positive here is that he supposedly looked fairly good during spring ball).

We're a bit shallow at WR, but we've got a fair number of guys who are supposed to be talented. If 1-2 of them can step up, we'll be A-okay there.

QB is our biggest question mark, which is usually a bad sign. However, our likely starter has already spent 5 semesters in the program (he was an early high school grad), so it's not like we're handing the reins over to somebody who has never experienced the speed of college athletes. That said, Sumlin's offense requires the QB to sling it all over the field and to consistently make good decisions. It puts a lot of pressure on the qb. So if he isn't capable of stepping up, we're gonna have issues.

[This message has been edited by atfarmer (edited 7/6/2012 7:16p).]

What's a down year for Bama? Two losses before the SEC championship game.

Bama will be as formidable as ever.

The Shula days are not that far in the past. I know saban is a different animal but it's hard to have a dynasty these days. A lot of people play up for y'all so I predict two losses minimum.
Redshirt qb and dline is what I am worried about. Skill positions and OL are strong.

I <3 you. That is all.

Bama will pound inside and setup the pass. Having watched A&M and familar with Sumlin, I expect an up tempo Aggie offense. The Aggie defense is my biggest unknown. Last year fatigue set in to the defense. Playing Bama, you must have fresh reserves going into the 4 th qtr. Bama wears other teams down. This is the essence of SEC football.

t.u. Likes to think they would have beat us in 09. In reality, our defense took a breather the 3rd qtr.

You Aggies will learn this year what it will take to beat the best. I do not take you lightly. I think actually you will play us tight for 3 qtrs. We will win due to our superior depth.

If I look out 3 years, the roles may be reversed.

Conditioning won't be near the issue this year that it was last year. Sherman made waaaay too much use of the indoor facilities, and the guys just weren't conditioned like they should have been. Y'all definitely still have us on depth, but I seriously doubt it will be the collapses we saw last year.

I also think our DBs may surprise some people this year. Sumlin said they were one of the high points of the spring, but you have to take that with a grain of salt given they were going against young QBs.

Our RBs behind our OL is something other teams should be worried about.

I fully expect a rough year, but I think we might have a few surprises here and there.

[This message has been edited by scriffer (edited 7/6/2012 7:48p).]

@bamaoldtimer, yeap Bama started playing conservative, just wanted to make Texas one dimensional and work the clock. Saban didn't want to run up the score, out of respect for Mack Brown and they played played Penn State the same way. But when Texas scored they turned the heat back up! I think Saban would have been just fine with the final score being 24-6!

Bama...our top issue is depth on Def...esp DT and LB. DT biggest area of need of 'quality' depth for rotation (esp. for late in the game as you point out) and will make it hard to close out games (esp. if offense is high-tempo and unsuccessful, then Def will struggle late in the games). Team will be better conditioned, but still need the depth to compete effectively in the SEC.

Last year showed how good VON was...and how much we really missed him!

I realize the chances of beating the likes of Bama and LSU are really small, but it'd be

Bama, I actually agree with you on our game this season - I expect it to be relatively close pretty late in the game, but then Bama wins due to home-field and depth.

Of the two games I consider most formidable on our schedule (the other, L$U), I think this is the one we are more likely to be closer in even though it is a road game and L$U is at Kyle.

I am hesitant to make any bold predictions for A&M going forward this year, given that we have yet to see Sumlin actually coach a game. But the man is recruiting lights-out. If he manages what I'd normally consider a paltry record, say, 7-5 this season, then he should be able to maintain his recruiting level and the Ags may very well become a monster in the SEC. We'll see.

Cinco,
In all honesty, it's not that Saban is a great x and o's coach. The reason Bama has succeeded is because of our recruiting the right players.

Look at t.u. They consistently have top five classes. However, we know they have only four national championships.

Sumlin is a great recruiter in the Saban class. I have no doubt that over the next five years, tamu will become the dominant program and become very tough competition on a national level.

I believe the type of five and four stars you recruit is extremely vital. If Sumlin wants to run a cougar type offense, that's fine. He must however, develop a SEC defense to go along with his offense. If he can pull it off, many championships will come his way.

I'm on vacation.

atfarmer pretty much nailed it for A&M's part this upcoming year. I think we go 7-5 and win our bowl. Hopefully that will be enough to keep the recruiting ball rolling.

bama; I appreciate your confidence in the Ag program and hopefully we'll be able to get to that level in short order. It'll simply make the SEC West that much more impressive! Our SOS's will be sick. In the end, we have to beat l$u and tu in the recruiting battles. I like what our current staff is doing by offering kids in Cali and Florida etc, but we gotta win the battles close to home. I really cannot wait to see how Sumlin & Co coach on game days to get a better idea of what to expect in the future.

bamaoldtimer: You're a Bama fan...but also a 12th Man Foundation donor????

Stone cold,

You have an Ag Tag? How perceptive of you.

Guess I just don't get it. Figured if you were a Bammer then you'd donate to whatever it is that Bammers donate to.....but, thanks for your support of Texas A&M athletics.

bamaoldtimer sounds like he might be Gene Stallngs

Does alabama have any veteran WR and RB? Serious question; I really have no idea.

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Does alabama have any veteran WR and RB? Serious question; I really have no idea.

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Eddie Lacy is the most experienced RB. He averaged 7 ypc last season. Fowler is next but he's likely going to be 3rd or even 4th on the the depth chart behind Yeldon. RB won't be an issue for the Tide. Whoever they put back there this year is going to succeed because of the the O-Line.

WR is a different story. A lot of young, talented guys but they need to step up. Figure the TE Michael Williams will play a prominent role in the passing game this year.


[This message has been edited by BamafaninTX (edited 7/17/2012 11:52a).]

bamaoldtimer, are you also a Tide Pride (or other Bama athletics related) donor? If not, I'm going to have to ask you to remove the "bama" from your name. That is, of course, unless you are actually Coach Stallings.

[This message has been edited by Bamatab (edited 7/17/2012 3:00p).]

There are questions on the defensive side that will not be answered until game 3. ILBs has now shifted to MLB, the DEs are now actually OLB sized, NG to NT etc. Most of the questions are in the front seven, but this formation is also more predictable so that takes some edge away from the blitz package and puts more pressure on the defensive backfield.

A major consideration is whether or not the new OL scheme will translate seamlessly from zone blocking. The last transition from veer to zone was a disaster.

One thing I personally am not worried about is quarterback. This particular scheme is the easiest possible throwing scheme available in that it does not require set patterns or conventional checkdowns. The ball is going wherever the most green is, and the only question I have regarding that is will our receivers look the ball in and make the catch in this offense, which will have significantly more downs devoted to the pass, and incompletions will stop the clock and stress the defense.

No, I am just a good ole bama boy who grew up with the Bear. Family went to UA. My son graduated A&M. Just a fan of two schools. No conspiracy here.

My heart is with Bama but my money goes to A&M.