OT: Saban whines about an Auburn play, says it was unfair
So this is neat. On 4th and 4, with a 3 pt lead and little time remaining, Auburn put their punter out in a WR position. This caused Alabama to scramble changing players, for which they received the '12 men on the field' penalty - thus giving Auburn a first down and the win.
Saban claims this is unfair because he didn't get a chance to substitute his players. Poor guy...
So question - should this be the infamous 'intent to deceive' penalty against Auburn, or was it a good play by Malzahn to catch an opponent unprepared?
Link? Link
My take - great play design by Malzahn!
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:13 AM ^
Well Nick, it is unfair to the rest of college football that you pay your players so man up and deal with it.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:44 AM ^
I get his frustration...the SEC and Bama paid good $ to the refs to call the game in their favor.
Unfortunately, Nick, Auburn has a big football budget too, and probably just outbid you this year.
Don't go cheap next year....you get what you pay for.
December 2nd, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
Poor Nicky. Only 6 Championships in 10 years, and he still manages to keep breathing. He's got guts!
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:13 AM ^
If Saban is unhappy, it is a good play. Man, it is funny to see someone fume over a 2-loss season. How far away that seems...
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
2016 and 2018? They haven't won their Bowl game yet.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:16 AM ^
You want to know what's unfair, Nick? Your university has a top-ranked engineering program that perennially attracts blue chip football recruits without you having to do the dirty recruiting work. So unfair.
Sidenote: I find it difficult to believe that a punter split wide would cause such a ruckus. As a Bama coach, I would be extremely comfortable with my 5* third string CB playing man cover.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
Haa! But the goal of the play was to keep Saban's 5* punt returner off the field. They were going to motion the punter into the backfield and kick it to some humdrum 5* safeties, instead.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:31 AM ^
Didn't Deshaun Hand claim that Bama engineering > UM Engineering? (lol...there are lies and then there are jokes)
Screw you Saban.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
I don't think he said that. He wanted an engineering discipline that Bama offers, but Michigan doesn't. Petroleum Engineering, or something like that. Basically, Michigan doesn't offer a class in how to pump gas at your local Sheetz, where Alabama does.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
nice, and we wonder why people laugh at us or say we are a bunch of arrogant delusional fans. My brother has a Petroleum Engineering Degree From Texas A&M which is #15 in the current rankings. Petroleum Engineering is far from learning how to pump gas at your local or a cake walk. Do better
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:49 AM ^
You're right to call him out for being a dick. Petroleum Engineering is important to our quality of life. Also, It's possible for a recruit to be serious about wanting a degree and be concerned whether he could handle the competition in a UM class.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
True, and for the record Da'Shawn graduated with a degree in sports marketing.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
My mother was a petroleum engineer, take that back! I'm shocked and dismayed at your arrogance.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
Just so that we're clear, Bama has a very good engineering program. Michigan's is better, but acting like everyone at Bama is stupid is disingenuous.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
Moreover, petroleum engineering is a very high in demand degree these days and does not involve pumping gas (in the traditional sense).
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
I agree. Bama's engineering programs produce excellent graduates who do great things. Just like Brian's recent front page post, though, I feel no shame in throwing virtual darts at Nick Saban since their football academic infrastructure is largely a sham.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
Not as good as Michigan. End of story.
Just say Bama football team is better and choose Bama. Don't bring saying engineering was the reason for Bama. That is disingenuous.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:20 PM ^
But the reporting at the time was that Michigan explicitly wouldn't let Hand major in Engineering. So if you want to be an engineer, a really good program that you are allowed to major in verses a great one you're not allowed to major in is a very good reason to go to Bama. There are other valid reasons to choose Bama, but engineering is a perfectly good one that apparently Michigan fans can't let go.
December 2nd, 2019 at 6:19 PM ^
People aren't mad that he chose Bama engineering over Michigan. He didn't major in engineering and that was just the bullshit excuse he gave because saying 'they paid me' is a no-no.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
And not that it matters, but he ended up getting a Sports Marketing major.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
So why not lie to the kid and tell him he can major in Civil Engineering. It seemed to work for Saban...
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
but, but...petroleum engineering!
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
Michigan tried to push Hand away from engineering and into sports management, which he was also interested in.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Could this be a trend?
I hope so.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Great play design, I’m all in favor of a little trickery. But this probably should have either been a penalty, or the refs should have given bama a few seconds to match the substitution
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Why should they get to substitute? And what would the penalty be? Auburn lined up in a legal formation. Anyone can motion into the backfield to punt.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
Well, it’s not that Bama should be allowed to sub under any circumstances. But if you watched that play, you’d see that Bama was pretty quick to catch on and was in the middle of subbing - hence the 12 men penalty.
So my point is that refs will often hold the ball for a few seconds to allow an in-progress substitution to be completed.
I don’t know where it is in the rule book and I don’t even have strong feelings one way or another, just saying the refs usually give the defense a chance to finish the sub.
December 2nd, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
They got the chance to sub once. After both teams have subbed, the refs don't hold the ball to let you sub again.
December 2nd, 2019 at 5:46 PM ^
They did substitute, its just that waddle never left the field because he was walking away from the line of scrimmage when Auburn formed up with the punter at Wr
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
They did have a chance to match the substitution. Auburn put in their punter and Alabama put in their punt return team. That's all you get. Saban got outsmarted and decided to be a bitch about it. Everything was perfectly legal. It's not even a loophole in the rules, it's just perfectly good use of a perfectly good rule.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
Rick Neuheisel would have put his own tricky twist on the play. Change the punter into a WR's # jersey.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
I think Clemson "broke" Bama. Thank you Clemson! I think Bama isn't head and shoulders above the rest anymore.
However, we may have a Clemson/OSU problem now.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
Agreed. The long, slow decline has begun for them. But at least they had a helluva run.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
Bama also lost 7 (!!) assistants this year. I think Bama is experiencing at least a mild decline, but it started prior to the Clemson game. Half the coaches were checked out for the championship.
You’re right that we may (actually, we do) have an OSU problem, but OSU is about to have a Clemson/LSU problem. Looking ahead at some recruiting rankings, those two are about to land some massive hauls (though OSU is not far behind)
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
Alabama got to substitute, what Saban is complaining about is that he didn't notice the QB on the field and he wanted a chance to substitute twice. It doesn't work that way.
December 2nd, 2019 at 1:58 PM ^
I thought he did substitute twice, except the punt returner was still back deep in addition to the 11 regular defense, so a 12 men on the field penalty.
December 2nd, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
Dude I forgot all about that explanation. Intent to deceive. Only against Michigan. I don't know who someone in the University fucked over for this run of bad luck, but I'm gonna sacrifice a goat or something to change this shit.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:14 AM ^
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
I really can't believe Saban - there is nothing "illegal" about that. Auburn put their 11 men on the field, Alabama substituted, and the offense always has the right to shift around the formation prior to the snap.
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
I read about this and chuckled.
Gus is either an idiot or a magician
December 2nd, 2019 at 10:53 AM ^
should this be the infamous 'intent to deceive' penalty
No
That's a stupid rule anyway.
Play action is an intent to deceive.
Motion is an intent to deceive
A pump fake is an intent to deceive.
A hard count is an intent to deceive
The entire freaking game of football is an intent to deceive.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
+1 my thoughts exactly. It's incumbent upon Bama to recognize the QB and punter are both on the field at the same time. Also I lol'd when I saw Bama line up their best CB over the punter.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:41 AM ^
Nick Saban's 6 National Championships allows him to say anything that he wants to say. In the modern era as well.
December 2nd, 2019 at 11:47 AM ^
I thought this was going to be about the end of the first half when Auburn got the one second added back to the clock, and while they reviewed the play, they got to get their kicking team on to kick the field goal. As much as I dislike all things Saban, I felt he did have the right to be pissed off about that one.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
I thought this was about the field goal at the end of the first half, which I think was BS. How do you allow Auburn to get their field goal team in the game while the refs review whether or not time expired? They should have wound the clock with one second and made them try to spike it stop the clock and attempt the field goal. You can hate Bama all you want but if that happened to us, we'd be talking about it for the next decade.
December 2nd, 2019 at 12:43 PM ^
as strains of the old rolling stones song float through the air...
Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul to waste
sorry. no sympathy for the devil.
December 2nd, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
Double post.
December 2nd, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
Great play. I feel like this is something Harbaugh would have done a while ago, but for some reason doesn’t do anymore.
December 2nd, 2019 at 2:05 PM ^
Well, I'm just all broken up about Bama's right to substitute whenever they want.