So Pasadena next year?
January 8th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
I think M will unfortunately have to play Ohio twice next season. Obviously I would rather win the second one.
January 7th, 2013 at 11:59 PM ^
Has Taylor Lewan officially declared for the draft yet?
January 8th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^
No, he has not officially declared. I think the deadline is coming up soon too, if I remember correctly.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:06 AM ^
is going to awfully good next year.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:18 AM ^
Ohio State and Nebraska should be good, but the other teams all have huge question marks - Michigan (OL), Wisconsin (new coach), Penn State (possible shortage of talent). OSU very well could have been in the national championship game this year, and it's kind of ridiculous to think that it probably would have been Notre Dame vs. Ohio State (if OSU won the Big Ten championship). Nick Saban can thank Jim Tressel for this national championship.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 8:39 AM ^
They replace them with Noah Spence, Michael Bennett, Tommy Schutt, Adolphus Washington, Curtis Grant, etc. I don't think they'll be hurt that much.
January 8th, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 9:06 AM ^
Three of those guys - Washington, Bennett, Schutt - have played pretty well when I've seen them.
Our new offensive linemen will essentially have zero playing experience.
January 8th, 2013 at 9:07 AM ^
dude, spence and washington have shown plenty they killed us this year. they will do so for two more years unless kalis and co. grow up quick.
January 8th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
Wonder how much of that was due to the attention Hankins demanded. He was an absolute beast. Thanks for letting him leave the state, RR.
Amazing on how different our line-play was this year losing two NFL players. :(
January 8th, 2013 at 12:10 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
Isn't Lacey a freshman? I don't really think age matters as far as running backs go.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
who is probably the best Bama back on the roster
January 8th, 2013 at 12:16 AM ^
No he was from the 2009 class.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:17 AM ^
I believe TJ Yeldon is the freshman, Lacey is a redshirt junior.
In other words, it doesn't matter, they have the same running back coming up every year to replace the one that left.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:33 AM ^
Yeldon is the freshman, Lacy is a junior
January 8th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
Lacy is a junior and should declare for the draft. The dude is awesome.
EDIT: My bad, didn't see the post above mine until I posted it. I would mark myself as "redundant" if I could.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:14 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:17 AM ^
I agree with you that they won't be back. I think 'Bama is usually invincible, but next year they'll lose 2 or 3 games. Yes they reload, but I definitely see them losing a few games. I do still think they'll be one of the best 3-5 teams in the country though.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:28 AM ^
They have 3 tough games...at TAMU and LSU at home (along with the SEC championship). They could easily win again next year.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:11 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
Meh. We're replacing a lot of a parts still. We haven't demonstrated that we can run the ball without Denard and our secondary will be a question mark going into next season (How do we replace Kovacs, can Countess come back, will the other). The best case scenario is definitely a Big Ten championship, but a 9-3 season similiar to this one (replacing Alabama with UConn being the difference) seems more likely. That will set up the 2014 season where we will finally be back to the old Michigan standard of elite talent.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^
I keep hearing this about the secondary, and I just don't get it. Kovacs had a lot of heart, but he was actually a pretty mediocre safety. Wilson, Gordon, Taylor, most likely Countess, and a lot of solid depth should make this a good unit.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:38 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 6:27 AM ^
Kovacs was a good tackler, descent on the blitz but a major liability in coverage. If you dont believe me watch the SC game again and check how many times he got burned or was just late getting over to help. I'm kind of excited about the defense next year. Will athletic upgrades to the D line, LB corp and secondary make up for the lack of experience? Will the freshman and sophmores bust ass this offseason to get to where they need to be?
January 8th, 2013 at 8:46 AM ^
I guess we can agree to disagree. How many busted safety coverages before the SC game can you remember? Or how many long runs? Kovacs played a huge part in our defense usually being pretty good at avoiding giving up the big play. And while I'm optimistic the guys behind them can replace them, it seems a tad premature to say that they will.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:52 AM ^
He did a good job for what he was asked to do, but you have to realize that Greg Mattison did a masterful job of covering up his weaknesses. He - unlike Rodriguez's staff - put Kovacs in the box and didn't mess with putting him in deep coverage, because he knew that Kovacs couldn't hack it back there. It handicaps your defense quite a bit when one of your safeties is too slow and stiff to play the deep middle or a deep half. We've heard numerous times that Mattison wants his safeties to be interchangeable (play both FS and SS), but they couldn't do that with Kovacs.
January 8th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
I mean, the guy wasn't 6'4" with a 4.3 40 but the guy was always in his spot. He's probably the best safety we've had in 10 years. It'd be great if someone could make a Kovacs highlight tape (ala Denard) and we would really remember how money he is.
I'll take a 6 foot slow guy who is almost never out of position over someone athletic getting torched over the top. I cannot remember a single time where Kovacs got smoked over the top (I didn't actually get to see the bowl game but when both starting corners are out of the game, I'll give Kovacs the benefit of the doubt)
Kovacs is the freakin man and we will miss him when someone gets smoked next year or they miss an easy tackle
January 8th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
will be the O-Line, losing Mealer, Omameh and especially Lewan and the only depth is freshmen (both R/S and true). We'll be counting on Kalis, Bryant, Braden/Magnusson, and whoever wins the battle for center. Could be rough sledding.
January 8th, 2013 at 6:31 AM ^
There is no way our interior line could play worse than it did most of this season. Even Lewan for all his hype and accomplishments didn't play very well. If he comes back for his senior season our O line would be a lot better overall with Kalis, Bryant and Miller?
January 8th, 2013 at 12:17 AM ^
as long as we don't have to play bama.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:19 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:22 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:23 AM ^
screen-capped.
January 8th, 2013 at 12:32 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:36 AM ^
I call middle!
January 8th, 2013 at 12:50 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:55 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^
Since you already had your max of 5, I still logged in just to say....Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm In N Out.
January 8th, 2013 at 2:05 AM ^
I got dibs on top bunk!
January 8th, 2013 at 12:47 AM ^
Don't think tsiO will post another perfect season next year and hopefully UM puts the first blemish on their record although if they come in AA with a loss or two, I won't be totally upset.
January 8th, 2013 at 1:01 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 12:47 AM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 1:00 AM ^
I would definitely take that
January 8th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
I'll say the same thing I say to the fans of any team that loses a game and misses out on a title chance: you should have won your games. We didn't beat OSU, so we didn't get to go.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:27 AM ^
And yet, alabama lost to LSU last season and got a rematch.