Bama: The 2005 Auburn...

[DKW 86 7,441]

Link

Alabama just might be this year's Auburn

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Give Brodie Croyle credit. The Alabama idol mentioned the idea out loud.

Some Crimson Tide fans didn't like the notion of a rival as a role model, but Croyle's observation, like most of his passes, was right on target.

Alabama could be this year's Auburn.

It's not probable, but it's possible. It's not likely, but how likely was it not long ago that coordinators Joe Kines and Dave Rader would get contract extensions and raises?

You can question Mike Shula's coaching ability if you choose. You can't question his loyalty.

It's a long way to 13-0, especially with a backfield of surgical patients, but similarities are striking between Auburn then and Alabama now.

For starters, there's a head coach with something to prove.

Shula didn't lose his job and live to joke about it during the offseason, as Tommy Tuberville did. But, like Tuberville last summer, the Alabama coach still faces a legion of doubters who don't think he's capable of taking his program to the next level.

Lucky for Shula, one of those doubters is not the school president.

Shula's ability to win games and influence people will depend largely on the health and well-being of a senior quarterback who has yet to live up to great expectations.

If Croyle hasn't lived up to the hype, it's because his body hasn't been able to hold up. If a rebuilding offensive line can rise up, and he can resist the urge to follow in the scrambling footsteps of Tyler Watts, Croyle could assert himself as the next Jason Campbell.

As the SEC's best quarterback and MVP.

Can Croyle and tailback Ken Darby both stay healthy from now until a New Year's bowl? Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams didn't go wire-to-wire together at Auburn until their senior years.

Can Shula get his first signature win? The schedule, until the Iron Bowl, brings the biggest names to Tuscaloosa.

Can a team with a proven defense and a promising offense put it all together when, as the team in question knows too well, a season can quickly and easily come apart?

Look at the trend. If you're looking for a team to make a run from out of the pack, go west, young man. Go with the SEC West.

Two years ago, LSU surprised a lot of people by reaching the BCS championship game, let alone winning it. As voodoo would have it, that game was played in New Orleans.

Last year, Auburn provided the shock, first by running the table, then by getting denied a seat at the table in the Orange Bowl. Considering Tuberville's roots in Miami, the table was set for a perfect ending to a perfect season.

Where is the BCS national championship going to be decided this year? The Rose Bowl. Which team in the SEC West just happens to have a reference to that game in its fight song?

Alabama. This year's Auburn.

If, at just the right time, the Tide can seize the day and, say, make the most of an extra chance at an extra point.

[aucanucktiger 1,798]

"Alabama just might be this year's Auburn"

Yeah, yeah, yeah, like we heard when Bama got on probation they'd go undefeated like AU did in '93 when we were on probation. Bama folded like a cheap suit and sucked when times got rough. Whether we're talking talented players or adversity, given the same set of circumstances Auburn ALWAYS does better than Bama.

[AURainman 6]

Bama's got a good chance to take it to the house, but I don't see them going all the way.

OMK

[woods1110 0]

[Rockthecasbah6 0]

Imagine if this was flipped, and Bama had gone undefeated and Brandon Cox was saying Auburn might be this year's Alabama. We'd never hear the end of it and Finebaum would have a field day.

[AUdaREALsecTigers 2]

"Alabama just might be this year's Auburn"

Alabama couldn't hold this year's Auburn's jocks!

[jaydubb121 22]

Yeah I can see this happening.

If you discount for coaching, having a much younger team with very little depth, and coming into the season on a losing streak, it sounds just like Auburn last year.

Oh brother, hurry season hurry!!!

[Raven_tiger 5]

A slow news week, I guess...

Shula is like Tubby??? Tubby at least has a resume that points to a successful stint at Miami. What does Shula's resume include??? Let me take stab at it: Fired from Tampa Bay 1 year prior to the Bucs winning the Super Bowl, never advanced in the coaching ranks, obtained NFL asst. coaching jobs due to father's connections, ZERO signature wins (not counting moral victories)... I could populate the list for the next several days.

In short the article is really only an attempt to create controversy with NOTHING to substantiate Scar-Finebuams delusional assertions. It serves as semi-good comedy. I can only think that Kevin wrote the article as one big punch line... Bammer Football.

[AUesquire 1]

Ya' know, eventually Alabama is going to have a good season. Don't know if it will be this year, next year or 5 years from now. Every year going in, they will be the media favorite to be the "Dark Horse" team. Phil Steele will call them his sleeper team, AGAIN, and one he picks to be in every championship game known to man, pointing to all the predictions he got right the year before as justification.

Positives for Alabama:

Stout defense will keep them in every game.

Moldy Boil is back at QB(Certainly an upgrade from Spencer For Hire)

Kenneth Darby may or may not be back at 100%

Negatives for Alabama:

Unproven coach 10-15 in 2 years (I know, spare me the list of excuses)

O-line ravaged by graduation

KD may or may not be back at 100%

Moldy Boil is back at QB(History says he'll get hurt....again)

Tim Castille is not 100%

Did I mention Mike Shula is the head coach.

So, what is it that tells anyone this team is a dark horse to win the SEC? Even if Moldy is back, who has he beaten when he WAS healthy...Ole Miss? What is it about this offensive line that screams, "Yea, we're gonna' take Tennessee, LSU, Florida and Auburn to the woodshed."

My point is not to slam Bama, although it is fun from time to time. My problem is with the yearly hype that surrounds this program that declares that the Tide is back. Honestly, if you looked at this team, it's coach and it's personnel and took the Alabama name off the jersey and replaced it with....oh, I don't know....Kentucky. Would ANYONE be saying they're the SEC's sleeper to take it all and be this year's version of the 2004 Auburn Tigers?

They WILL have a good year at some pont. Could be this year. And everyone will shout, "SEE, WE TOLD YOU SO."

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I have decided to be 2005's Bill Gates. Now all I need is some technological knowledge, a business plan, and a monopoly on the computer software industry.

What's keeping me from doing that?

[vatz22au 142]

I have decided to be 2005's Bill Gates.  Now all I need is some technological knowledge, a business plan, and a monopoly on the computer software industry.

What's keeping me from doing that?

173592[/snapback]

Well put.

[SouthLink02 8]

Alabama is not going undefeated

[jaydubb121 22]

Following Scarbinsky's logic I have informed my wife that I could be this year's John Holmes and she has assured me that she just might be this year's Anna Nicole Smith.

[gabe_96 0]

I love the delusional perception that tuberville was a struggling coach that got lucky last year and had a big season...he has done very well everywhere he has been and he has turned the auburn program around from 3-8 to 13-0 and 3 straight bowl victories over Penn State, Wisconsin and Virginia Tech...

3 straight over Bama

3 straight over Tennessee

2 out of 3 vs Georgia

2 out of 3 vs LSU

2 straight vs Arkansas

1 out of the last 2 vs Florida....

no one else in the conference has done this well over the last 3 years...until people can start beating him, he has the best program in the conference yet the talent level on the team is clearly at a higher level than it was four years ago...

tubby had circumstances similar to shula( team on a bad probation) except he was at ole Miss and yet he was able to put together more W's than Shula has.

....bama has three freshman on their O-line who are going to be starting this year...because their depth level is very low on the o-line...doesn't matter if someone had them rated 3 or 4 stars, 3 freshman starters on O-line is not a good sign..especially when you lose that guy Britt who was supposedly the bomb, although he had problems opening up many holes on the auburn defense...how many points did they score against us last year?

now that darby kid can run...I truly do like his style...and brodie croyle will do pretty good if he doesn't get hurt...but with a green o-line...I would bet money that one of those o-linemen is going to get hurt and Croyle is going to be running for his life...

Bama has a very experienced secondary and linebacker core...I don't doubt the defense will be outstanding, but with the troubles they may have on offense I think they will be very,very lucky to beat 2 of the big four on their schedule...Auburn, LSU, Florida and Tennessee ...

Bama's program is fighting with south carolina and arkansas for the 6th best program in the conference....Those will be the tossup games in their schedule...afterall it would be a big improvement if bama could beat arkansas and USC after getting whipped by both teams last year.....USC beat bama 20-3 last year...i don';t think spurrier is goign to suck up the prgram that much so how bama should be pretty worried about how they are gonna score more than 3 points against the cocks...talk of beat auburn is funny...undefeated talk is funny...talk of beating LSU and Tennessee is funny....it will be fun as hell to see the urban myer offense against the bama defense and I might actually root for bama in that one...but if i had to talk to more bama fans I wouldn't

[TigerFreak 6]

Link

Alabama just might be this year's Auburn

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Give Brodie Croyle credit. The Alabama idol mentioned the idea out loud.

Some Crimson Tide fans didn't like the notion of a rival as a role model, but Croyle's observation, like most of his passes, was right on target.

Alabama could be this year's Auburn.

It's not probable, but it's possible. It's not likely, but how likely was it not long ago that coordinators Joe Kines and Dave Rader would get contract extensions and raises?

You can question Mike Shula's coaching ability if you choose. You can't question his loyalty.

It's a long way to 13-0, especially with a backfield of surgical patients, but similarities are striking between Auburn then and Alabama now.

For starters, there's a head coach with something to prove.

Shula didn't lose his job and live to joke about it during the offseason, as Tommy Tuberville did. But, like Tuberville last summer, the Alabama coach still faces a legion of doubters who don't think he's capable of taking his program to the next level.

Lucky for Shula, one of those doubters is not the school president.

Shula's ability to win games and influence people will depend largely on the health and well-being of a senior quarterback who has yet to live up to great expectations.

If Croyle hasn't lived up to the hype, it's because his body hasn't been able to hold up. If a rebuilding offensive line can rise up, and he can resist the urge to follow in the scrambling footsteps of Tyler Watts, Croyle could assert himself as the next Jason Campbell.

As the SEC's best quarterback and MVP.

Can Croyle and tailback Ken Darby both stay healthy from now until a New Year's bowl? Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams didn't go wire-to-wire together at Auburn until their senior years.

Can Shula get his first signature win? The schedule, until the Iron Bowl, brings the biggest names to Tuscaloosa.

Can a team with a proven defense and a promising offense put it all together when, as the team in question knows too well, a season can quickly and easily come apart?

Look at the trend. If you're looking for a team to make a run from out of the pack, go west, young man. Go with the SEC West.

Two years ago, LSU surprised a lot of people by reaching the BCS championship game, let alone winning it. As voodoo would have it, that game was played in New Orleans.

Last year, Auburn provided the shock, first by running the table, then by getting denied a seat at the table in the Orange Bowl. Considering Tuberville's roots in Miami, the table was set for a perfect ending to a perfect season.

Where is the BCS national championship going to be decided this year? The Rose Bowl. Which team in the SEC West just happens to have a reference to that game in its fight song?

Alabama. This year's Auburn.

If, at just the right time, the Tide can seize the day and, say, make the most of an extra chance at an extra point.

173495[/snapback]

[rebdawg 5]

Isn't it grand, fellow Tigers, that all we keep hearing from Bama fans is how they want to pull an Auburn?

We are going to pull an Auburn and go undefeated on probation. We are gong to pull an Auburn and go 13-0 this year. We are going to pull an Auburn and get mentioned as a national title contender every year. We are going to pull an Auburn . . .

Yet, we are the ones jealous that they had a good program a century ago. My nephew is 5 1/2 years old and in his life time he has never seen a Bama team that won a meaningful game. But he has seen three loosing seasons including last year's which I believe was against the weakest schedule of any D1 school.

[JxnTider 0]

But he has seen three loosing seasons including last year's which I believe was against the weakest schedule of any D1 school.

173680[/snapback]

:huh:

we played 4 top 25's, including a #11 UT and #2 Auburn (i think UT was higher when we played them)

but i get it... you must be talking about y'alls schedule then... NEVER has BAMA had the weakest sched of any D1 school, and never will... y'all are making a valiant effort at claiming that title this year, however.

oh yeah, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, and La Tech?!?!? those three pansy colleges are far worse than Western Carolina... at least we only played ONE pansy school...

[280TIGER 12]

But he has seen three loosing seasons including last year's which I believe was against the weakest schedule of any D1 school.

173680[/snapback]

:huh:

we played 4 top 25's, including a #11 UT and #2 Auburn (i think UT was higher when we played them)

but i get it... you must be talking about y'alls schedule then... NEVER has BAMA had the weakest sched of any D1 school, and never will... y'all are making a valiant effort at claiming that title this year, however.

oh yeah, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, and La Tech?!?!? those three pansy colleges are far worse than Western Carolina... at least we only played ONE pansy school...

173684[/snapback]

You are giving us too much credit, AU played 4 pansy teams. You left off bammer.

[AUloggerhead 2,253]

[we played 4 top 25's, including a #11 UT and #2 Auburn (i think UT was higher when we played them)

but i get it... you must be talking about y'alls schedule then... NEVER has BAMA had the weakest sched of any D1 school, and never will... y'all are making a valiant effort at claiming that title this year, however. 

oh yeah, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, and La Tech?!?!?  those three pansy colleges are far worse than Western Carolina... at least we only played ONE pansy school...

173684[/snapback]

According to the NCAA, had the 5th toughest Div 1A schedule in the nation last year: Toughest Schedule Listing

uat was a distant 42nd in the nation. Oh and if you're counting, that was good enough to rank 10th in the SEC -- which means you had a tougher schedule than Vandy & Miss St. Congrats. Not bad for a mid-major level program.

[vatz22au 142]

[we played 4 top 25's, including a #11 UT and #2 Auburn (i think UT was higher when we played them)

but i get it... you must be talking about y'alls schedule then... NEVER has BAMA had the weakest sched of any D1 school, and never will... y'all are making a valiant effort at claiming that title this year, however. 

oh yeah, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, and La Tech?!?!?  those three pansy colleges are far worse than Western Carolina... at least we only played ONE pansy school...

173684[/snapback]

According to the NCAA, had the 5th toughest Div 1A schedule in the nation last year: Toughest Schedule Listing

uat was a distant 42nd in the nation. Oh and if you're counting, that was good enough to rank 10th in the SEC -- which means you had a tougher schedule than Vandy & Miss St. Congrats. Not bad for a mid-major level program.

173693[/snapback]

Nice stat...I guess all the analysts forgot that one last year when talking about the fact we had such a weak schedule.

[AUslug 1]

AUwho, Bama is going after that weakest schedule in 06 with games against FIU, Hawaii, Duke and La Monroe...whoo I tell you what that right thar is a murder's row. I do know that Bama plays several tough games on the road within the SEC so don't get all huffy. How is Bama's schedule so much tougher than AU's this year?

[quietfan 233]

[we played 4 top 25's, including a #11 UT and #2 Auburn (i think UT was higher when we played them)

but i get it... you must be talking about y'alls schedule then... NEVER has BAMA had the weakest sched of any D1 school, and never will... y'all are making a valiant effort at claiming that title this year, however. 

oh yeah, The Citadel, UL-Monroe, and La Tech?!?!?  those three pansy colleges are far worse than Western Carolina... at least we only played ONE pansy school...

173684[/snapback]

According to the NCAA, had the 5th toughest Div 1A schedule in the nation last year: Toughest Schedule Listing

uat was a distant 42nd in the nation. Oh and if you're counting, that was good enough to rank 10th in the SEC -- which means you had a tougher schedule than Vandy & Miss St. Congrats. Not bad for a mid-major level program.

173693[/snapback]

There you go, confusing the argument with facts. Don'tcha just hate when people do that!

Stepping away from Bama momentarily: I couldn't help but notice Oklahoma at #11, Southern Cal at #18, and Va Tech just 0.002 percentage points behind the Trojans at #19. But we couldn't go to the Orange Bowl, and if we had USC would have creamed us? (Sorry, just had to give that dead horse another whack)

I now return you to our regularly scheduled thread of Bama bashing...

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I guess the bookies aren't jumping on the bama bandwagon yet. The early line has South Car. a 1 1/2 point favorite in their Sept. 17 game vs. bama.

[DKW 86 7,441]

Guys, not the netting guy here but from what Chuck told me about it. The line has little to nothing to really gage a ball game on. It is simply to even out the betting across the board, nothing more.

Betting lines give you a good idea where the vast majority of people think it is likely to be, but only after it has been established later on.

Chuck, help me out here.

[texaubie 0]

Guys, not the netting guy here but from what Chuck told me about it. The line has little to nothing to really gage a ball game on. It is simply to even out the betting across the board, nothing more.

Betting lines give you a good idea where the vast majority of people think it is likely to be, but only after it has been established later on.

Chuck, help me out here.

173770[/snapback]

Somebody sets the initial line for betting. The line may change as bets come in and one side gets heavier than the other. This is to minimize their exposure. I believe that is how it works. Remember the movie Casino. The character that De Niro played was the guy that set the line based upon a lot of factors such as injuries, home vs away, etc.