Fighton247 Board

I'm a fan of Alabama defense, but I feel strongly that USC's offense would blow the roof off it. If they got pressure, we'd stack the line with a fullback and TE, both upwards of 260, to block and act as a dump off while woods and lee blaze the field. If they don't get that much pressure, then Alabama is in big trouble. On the flip side, USC's defense is capable of stopping Alabama's offense. I think USC has too much firepower. Good luck on your season though.

Would love to see that game as a fan of both schools, but I just don't see it happening this year.

USC probably has to beat Oregon twice, which will be extremely tough to do.

Alabama has to get past Michigan, @Arkansas, and @LSU and I would imagine will have a tough time getting through all of those unscaved.

Plus, I think there is a decent chance that either OU or WVU can run the table in the Big12. When you add that to the weak schedule that FSU plays, I think that both Bama and USC would have to go undefeated and I just don't see that happening this year.

I think it will more likely be Alabama, USC, or LSU vs OU, WVU, or FSU, more so than one of those top 3 teams (Bama/LSU/USC) matching up, IMO.

If the matchup did happen, it would depend on what is perceived to be each team's really only weakness at the moment. You would have to say that USC's strength is the passing game and Bama's weakness enterring the season is a lack of experience at the DB position. There are definitely great athletes in the secondary and highly recruited players, but until they show it on the field, that's all they are is highly recruited players. For Bama, the strength comes with probably the best OL in the country and probably the best OL the school has had since the days of John Hannah and the Neighbors brothers, along with the running game. That would matchup with what is preceived at the moment as USC's weakness which is right up the middle in run defense.

There is a long way to go in the season and who knows if those will be weaknesses by then if they matchup was to occur.

Good luck to you guys!

I am a Alabama fan/grad/season ticket holder. I know plenty about the team.

The defense is very talented, but very inexperienced. DL is great. No worries there. As good as any outside of LSU and maybe Florida. LB is deep, but with some new faces. Johnson is the only returning starter, although Mosley has played wonderfully and has started in certain packages. The rest, DePriest, Hubbard, and Dickson that are battling for the other starting jobs have shown great promise, but haven't had to be relied on yet. At CB, there is one person that has played a meaningful snap, in Dee Milliner. Fulton, Beleu, and Dixon have not. At S, Lester is solid and a 3rd year starter, but Sunseri and Clinton-Dix are still young, although Sunseri is a very smart player that played wonderfully on ST, but he wasn't relied on much in coverage outside of the Auburn game honestly.

Long way to go before this defense can say they're great. As talented as any, but too early to be sure.

Also, if we have to rely on this freshman kicker, we are in trouble. We need Jeremy Shelley to be the guy. Minus one game, he had a great year.

If this team is hungry, they can beat anyone. If they're not, it could be a 2 loss team, IMO.

That is exactly what the defense is supposed to do. It's a 3-4 defense that uses 3 linemen, to let the LBs run free. Plus, we rotate the DL basically every series, so they saw about half the snaps as the LBs.

Upshaw and Hightower were the pass rush ends in passing situations last year as well, much like Hubbard and Dickson may do this year.

My two cents--Bama is a long shot over LSU. USC/LSU would be a more likely and intriguing matchup. Bama graduated too many greats on defense, and although they have elite talent filling in the holes--it's unproven talent.

LSU...we know what that defense is capable of. I saw it firsthand in Dallas last year.

die yankees die..........Vegas has LSU as a 2 point favorite...........that is not too far apart.

^^^^^This

LSU was favoried in the NC game.....ended Bama 21 LSU 0.

Couldn't sleep so I tried to watch the game for the first time last night.... it was better than nyquil. Made it to the second quarter I think.

Honestly, the only reason I started to watch in the first place is because I realized LSU's DB was Dallas' first round pick. As a Boy's fan I wanted to see how he looked so I had reason to watch longer than I really wanted.

Boring to you or not. That is the way NC football is played today. Until your team learns good good D, you probably will not get to the dance. If you do, you will be unprepared for it.

Better look at that NC game again & learn to appreciate the D play and just not look for 60 yard passes being thrown the field since the QB has all day to do it.

Why is it that the SEC, who you say "plays good D", usually doesn't play good D when playing Pac12 teams? Is it just so confusing for them to play a team that is balanced and can score in so many ways, that they forget to play that good D?