All of you have a happy Friday. Today’s pickings are a tad thin. The women’s basketball team lost to Ole Miss at home by 10 points to begin SEC play. For the season, the women are 11-3. Tomorrow afternoon, the men will play their first game at Vanderbilt; as usual, we will have coverage of it.
During his visit on The Pat McAfee Show yesterday, Nick Saban discussed how Michigan’s huddles presented a challenge for a defence that is not used to seeing them in the modern game.
“Throughout the entire season, they were the only team we faced that convened. You know, every team used to huddle together. You have to call the plays since you don’t have the advantage of seeing the formations until the other team leaves the huddle when we play our first team of the season.
To put it another way, the defence can call the play if it knows the opponent’s formation, unless your no-huddle has a tempo. There was not enough time in the Rose Bowl for Alabama’s defensive coaches to see the Wolverines’ formation before calling assignments.
In actuality, this makes perfect sense. It should be mentioned that Michigan’s offensive struggles over the season, both in this particular game and overall, make it unlikely that this will lead to any new trends. Seeing the defense’s alignment versus the offensive formation gives the offensive staff a significant no-huddle edge. Nevertheless, part of the confusion we witnessed on the three touchdown drives may have resulted from the players’ lack of time to determine what was wrong.
Saban points out that they need to have called two plays on the game’s final play, just in case Milroe wasn’t able to get a decent look.
Well, anything. Now that it’s over, hopefully valuable lessons were acquired that will come in handy later.
Once more, Saban was questioned about retirement. These are his words.
It’s no secret that the coach of Alabama has concerns about how college football is changing, whether it’s NIL or the transfer site. Nevertheless, Saban guided his team to a second SEC title, a spot in the CFP, and the end of Georgia’s 29-game winning streak, the two-time defending national champion.
“Look, I ask ‘Are you going to be here for four years?’ to everybody who asks me that question,” he declared. “A few athletes inquire about my planned retirement date. “Can you promise me that you’re going to be here for four years?” I ask them as I glance at them. “Hell, no,” is how they look at me.
“It seems like the current state of the world to me.”
