So, SEC media days are over. I'm not sure what any of it means. Nothing. It means a bunch of nothing. They rarely get it right. They picked Bama last year and that team went 5-3 in the conference. They picked Florida in the East and that team went, what 4-4 in the conference. I could care less about predictions. Though I'll say this. IF Murray is, indeed, the All-SEC QB in December and Blair and Butler likewise, it's hard to imagine we didn't have a great season. I also don't make much of quotes. I'm not sure it all means that much. I heard from insiders prior to '07 Florida that we'd had a terrible week of practice. In contrast, I loved Richt's attitude prior to '08 Bama. What do I know. But there's something that keeps coming back to me...Bama.
I can't help but think about '07 Bama and '10 UGA. That 'Bama team went 7-6 and won a crappy Independence Bowl vs. Colorado. It was Saban's first season with a new defense in place. That team lost to UGA, FSU, LSU, Miss. St., Auburn and...LA-Monroe. They averaged giving up 22 pts/game. 23.75 pts/game in SEC play. They had a couple of memorable wins against Arkansas and UT. They survived against Ole Miss and Houston by 3 and 6 points, respectively, and they seemed to get worse as the season went along. I was not sold on Saban after '07.
They scheduled the very first Chick-fil-a Kickoff vs. Clemson, who was highly ranked in the preseason and looking for a big year w/ Spiller and Davis at RBs. Then in February, they made a huge haul on signing day, bringing in Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and a guy name Terrance Cody. They stoned Clemson on their first possession, kicked a FG and went on to run them out of the building 34-10. They went on to go 12-0, losing the SEC championship game and the Sugar Bowl, then winning it all at 14-0 in 2010.
The scripts are too similar. We got Crowell, Mitchell, Rome, Drew, Marshall and Jenkins...guys that CAN make an immediate impact. And how the first quarter goes on Peachtree St. could change a lot about the psyche of this team. That game could, COULD, springboard us to greatness. And we could, COULD, improve on D like Bama did in '08. That was a wretched team to close out '07. Something happened in 8 months. John Jenkins and Kwame might just be that something. If those two big son of a guns dominate the line, Senor Ogletree will do just fine at LB.
A dawg can dream, can't he?
The first quarter at the Dome on September 3 is, indeed, critical, and not only to us.
ReplyDeleteBoise State jumped out to big leads over Virginia Tech and Nevada last year, 17 points in both cases, and then settled in for a field goal determining the game's winner.
Jumping out to a big lead is Boise State's modus operandi in big games. They will be doing all in their power to put a bunch of points on the board early in Atlanta.
We need to avoid early turnovers and make them earn every point.
Boise State seeks to demoralize through early leads. If we take the early lead, it'll be them who are demoralized.