The Lions' Pride

I love this fan base! "I don't really know if we can win, but I KNOW our LBs are better!" LBU baby! Haha Bama does have some beasts at LB but the bottom line is, they have to use 4 of them to do what we can with 3. Edge-PSU. Just kidding, I actually enjoy what Saban does with that D and the blitz packages. Our defenses are complete opposites as far as scheme goes.

Who do you guys expect to win the QB battle. Bama usually has more trouble with smart QBs with a quick and accurate release. Quick slant routes drive me insane.

Running QBs don't scare me at all. Our defense is pretty fast and most guys that run a lot won't last that long.

For Bama:
We have Philip Sims (rS Fresh) against AJ McCarron (rs soph). Both guys have better arms than our previous QB, but both make waaaaay more mistakes. I had initially expected AJ to win. After watching the spring game, Sims seems to have great pocket awareness. So I would prefer Sims, but i think we can win with either provided we have a successful run game.

Our series with Bama is a little reminiscent of Ohio State's home-and-home series with USC. OSU got blown out on the road, then put up a good fight at home but eventually lost the game.

I see the same thing happening with PSU/Bama, except on a little worse scale. We got blown out on the road, and I see us putting up a bit of a fight at home, but I can't see us winning the game. I'd like to say we have a chance, but we really don't. I think we've got the talent to compete and possibly pull out a win...IF our coaches would actually coach. I'm just baffled as to what our coaches are waiting for. They coach these games as if they're hoping to simply get out of it without injuries, rather than actually winning the game.

As for our QB, I don't think you can label either McGloin or Bolden "running" QB's. Neither of them are threats as runners and I doubt they'll have any running plays called for them.

I can see our defense making a game of it, maybe get an INT here and there, but I doubt the offense will do much of anything with it. And again, I doubt we'll be able to be even slightly effective against Richardson.

Having a young QB starting his first game at a whiteout terrifies me. The 12th man is a huge advantage here. If you guys slow Trent in the beginning, it could get really uncomfortable for Bama.

Stars don't really matter, but both QBs were top 100 type players. Sims was the top QB in the nation for most of the year. I think that both pretty good. You may also see Blake Sims come in, he's our wildcat QB.

If you guys are ever REALLY bored, Bama's spring game is on espn3.com.

I agree that it just seems that too many things have to go our way for us to be in this game late in the fourth and have a chance to pull it out. We need to force a few turnovers. That's hard to do with little to no pressure on the QB and almost solely run-blitzes. Too many players will have to perform at elite levels, and I don't think that enough of them will be ready to do that in game 2, some of them in their first years starting. What I remember most vividly about last year's game is the push that Bama's OL got all game long. Richardson is a tremendous talent and might very well take home some hardware this year, but good lord, most high school backs could have had a 100 yd day running behind those guys.

I can see, however, the whiteout effecting Bama's offense early on. We might even force punts on their first 2-3 possessions. The crowd will be amped if that happens, all momentum in our favor. We might even get up 7-0 or 10-0. Aaaaaaaand..... then we will be out-coached. Saban and his crew will make adjustments to our schemes and gameplan that we will have no answer for. We need only look to the OSU game last year when we were completely dominant in that first half, then had how many total yards in the second half? 35 or something? Hell, Ron Zook (gasp) and his boys thoroughly out-coached us at homecoming - HOMECOMING - last year. Ferentz does it every year. I would argue that Al Golden did it the last few years, just lacked the talent to pull out a W. Eventually we're going to show up and look prepared for a big game though... right???

Can't wait for this game. I will be up at the crack of dawn, unable to sleep, and I'll be pacing my house until kickoff. Are we sure that it will be a 3:30 kick?

No...can they do that in college stadiums?

I think they can, that's one of the good things about big OOC games. They sold alcohol when we played fsu 3 years ago. It isn't allowed in the SEC, too many crazy necks.

I'm still trying to get reasonably priced tickets. I'll hit you guys up if we (my boys and I) come up, we can grab a beer and find a few friendly women.

The women that came from fsu were unbelievable.

Although I would tend to agree with this, not really much sense in comparing LBs of PSU and Bama when it comes to a game preview. If you are debating best LBs in the nation or something of that nature, then that could be a whole different argument.

The better debate as far as the game in September is our LBs versus the Bama run attack and even pass attack... and vice versa. And that applies all positions, it would be better to look at the actual matchups we will see on the field. As far as this matchup, I'll still take the Bama run game over our linebackers. Our LBs have a chance to be great, and are clearly incredibly athletic, but this will be their second game together. Richardson is obviously a beast, and will have a great OL in front of him. We could not tackle him last year, and even though I believe our overall tackling will improve, I still take Bama in this matchup... And that is how Bama will control this game, and take the pressure off the passing game. If Bama executes and gets the crowd out of the game, Bama should win this game.

Just to look at the other side, I will also take Bama LBs over PSU running game. I have big hopes for our RBs, but I don't see any reason to believe our OL will be good enough that early in the season (per usual). Bama LBs, as we know, are fast and will target the run game. We really need our passing attack to be on to try and open this one up. And I really only think that could happen with Bolden, who had some good moments in his second ever start in Tuscaloosa. Saban with his game planning and his D would feast on McGloin.

Here's to a good game though, can't wait!

Personally think Hightower is even better than Upshaw.... which is sayin something.

I can agree with that, bills62. I just hope we are in it late in the 4th quarter and have a chance to win.