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Monday, October 15, 2007

Suddenly Saban's not Satan!

BATON ROUGE - I can't believe my own ears.

Suddenly, I'm hearing Nick Saban's name all over the place here, and the words aren't coming out of my mouth. It's amazing how one LSU loss can make people forget about their "evil" former coach and remember the defensive genius. Suddenly, Alabama coach Nick Saban's not Satan anymore.

Two radio show hosts in town, who in recent months have jokingly chided me (I think jokingly) about my admiration and respect for Saban, have miraculously regained some memory. They're remembering how effective Saban's blitz packages were when he was the coach at LSU because they were unexpected and came from every direction. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini's unit recorded no sacks in a 43-37 loss at Kentucky Saturday, and it often looked like it was reacting rather than attacking.

One host pointed out that Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton could have played Saturday without pads because he was barely touched. Suddenly, callers are talking about Saban again on radio shows and without hate and disdain. No, they're talking about how his cornerbacks played right up on receivers, whereas Pelini's plan is to give receivers five or six yards of breathing room.

"Beat me deep before I do that," caller and host agreed. That was Saban's philosophy.

My goodness, how quickly the hate evaporates when the memory finally returns! LSU will be playing Saban in just a couple of weeks. Is everyone just getting warmed up for a heartfelt reunion? Or does a loss just do crazy things to LSU fans? Does a loss make them realize reality?

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's not forget the loss to UAB. Oh what a defensive genius Saban was in that game! And, Saban did lose to Florida in '03. I would have to say this is a much better Kentucky squad than that Florida team. Saban was a great coach for LSU, but so is Miles. One loss and these idiots want to hang him out to dry? If Flynn (the guy many fans pushed to start over Russell - glad that never happened) would get his head out of his rear and start making better decisions, then things will be ok. Also, Lafell needs to go back to camp and learn how to catch the football. As for Pelini, BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ!!! That's what shuts down these offenses.

7:54 PM  

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