First and foremost, Manny and this team have had a solid off-season:
(a) new assistant coaches have added some much needed juice for both development and recruiting;
(b) Manny has handled off-season issues well (Covid, vaccinations, Avantae, King's return, etc.); and
(c) Restrepo, Smith, Arroyo, Flag, and 1-2 others set to make a difference early.
- Bonus: King's return has beeen handled about as good as any reasonable fan could hope.
This year, I expect to see a high powered Offense, above average Special Teams, and a Defense which will start out as a liability, but can improve to "serviceable"/average by the halfway point. King will be a top-20 QB again, our secondary will be good, and a few freshmen on both sides of the ball should blossom early.
Mac, Waddle, Smith, Najee, and a few linemen are gone now, so I expect Bama so see our Front-7 as a HUGE weakness, and HEAVILY run the ball using both spread and conventional run concepts. 67%-33% Run-Pass for Bama, and they will take their shots downfield after wearing our Defense. Manny must completely sell out on blitzing to limit Bama's run game, play press coverage, and hope the secondary can cover. Don't get butter knifed to death.
Defensively, Bama will dominate in the trenches. I love Rhett, King, and this Offense, but we will struggle to establish any run game, and King will mostly be running for his life. I think that we will really struggle in the Red Zone where opposing defenses are much more compact and windows are tighter, and we won't be able to run the ball. Our Offense won't score more than 13-16 points (1 TD and 1-3 FGS), and anything beyond that will come from either the Defense or Special Teams. Maybe we can rack up 400+ yards of Offense, but that will come more from chasing the game later in the Second Half.
I think that Special Teams play will be about even- maybe we can get a slight edge.
- I see Bama's Defense shutting our Offense down early for the 1st Quarter, and surging out to an early lead. 13-0 1st Quarter.
- I see the 2nd Quarter being a bit more balanced, with us "settling into the game". Maybe we get 1-2 FGs and Bama gets another TD. 20-6 Bama at Halftime.
- 3rd Quarter, we get an early stop and Rhett comes up with something special on Offense and we get finally get a TD to now make it a competitvely close 20-13. However, Bama then gets going again, scores a TD, holds us, and scores 1-2 FGs before the end of the 3rd Quarter. 34-13 3rd Quarter.
- 4th Quarter, Bama continues to shut us down and focus on running the clock out to kill the game. The teams exchange FGs and the game ends.
Not a 30-40 point loss, but Bama winning in convincing fashion. Bama will dominate TOP, rushing yards, and 3rd Down Conversion Defense against us. King will have average stats against Bama. We will have to accept that Bama is a MILE better than us, pick ourselves up, and get ready for App State and Michigan State before ACC play. This team is perfectly capable of going 8-4/9-3, and the Alabama game does not have ruin what can be a good season with wins over our rivals VT and FSU.
Alabama 37 - Miami 16
(a) new assistant coaches have added some much needed juice for both development and recruiting;
(b) Manny has handled off-season issues well (Covid, vaccinations, Avantae, King's return, etc.); and
(c) Restrepo, Smith, Arroyo, Flag, and 1-2 others set to make a difference early.
- Bonus: King's return has beeen handled about as good as any reasonable fan could hope.
This year, I expect to see a high powered Offense, above average Special Teams, and a Defense which will start out as a liability, but can improve to "serviceable"/average by the halfway point. King will be a top-20 QB again, our secondary will be good, and a few freshmen on both sides of the ball should blossom early.
Mac, Waddle, Smith, Najee, and a few linemen are gone now, so I expect Bama so see our Front-7 as a HUGE weakness, and HEAVILY run the ball using both spread and conventional run concepts. 67%-33% Run-Pass for Bama, and they will take their shots downfield after wearing our Defense. Manny must completely sell out on blitzing to limit Bama's run game, play press coverage, and hope the secondary can cover. Don't get butter knifed to death.
Defensively, Bama will dominate in the trenches. I love Rhett, King, and this Offense, but we will struggle to establish any run game, and King will mostly be running for his life. I think that we will really struggle in the Red Zone where opposing defenses are much more compact and windows are tighter, and we won't be able to run the ball. Our Offense won't score more than 13-16 points (1 TD and 1-3 FGS), and anything beyond that will come from either the Defense or Special Teams. Maybe we can rack up 400+ yards of Offense, but that will come more from chasing the game later in the Second Half.
I think that Special Teams play will be about even- maybe we can get a slight edge.
- I see Bama's Defense shutting our Offense down early for the 1st Quarter, and surging out to an early lead. 13-0 1st Quarter.
- I see the 2nd Quarter being a bit more balanced, with us "settling into the game". Maybe we get 1-2 FGs and Bama gets another TD. 20-6 Bama at Halftime.
- 3rd Quarter, we get an early stop and Rhett comes up with something special on Offense and we get finally get a TD to now make it a competitvely close 20-13. However, Bama then gets going again, scores a TD, holds us, and scores 1-2 FGs before the end of the 3rd Quarter. 34-13 3rd Quarter.
- 4th Quarter, Bama continues to shut us down and focus on running the clock out to kill the game. The teams exchange FGs and the game ends.
Not a 30-40 point loss, but Bama winning in convincing fashion. Bama will dominate TOP, rushing yards, and 3rd Down Conversion Defense against us. King will have average stats against Bama. We will have to accept that Bama is a MILE better than us, pick ourselves up, and get ready for App State and Michigan State before ACC play. This team is perfectly capable of going 8-4/9-3, and the Alabama game does not have ruin what can be a good season with wins over our rivals VT and FSU.
Alabama 37 - Miami 16
Last edited:
