I went to the game last night as I was given free tickets. I sat 10th row on the Bama side of the field. I just want to say a couple points to add to what the OP said. Some of these are going to be obvious but I feel they should be said anyways.
- Bama looks like an NFL team compared to us. Gus and our overall S&C/Nutritional program isn't even in the same universe as Bama. There needs to be a significant change in this area.
- Bama's second/third string OL are all noticeably bigger than our starters. I won't even mention their actual starters. Honestly, someone needs to check their birth certificates. No one looks below the age of 30 lol. Regardless, they just have bigger and more athletic offensive linemen.
- Bama's OL is excellent at pass blocking. Better than their run blocking at this point.
- Bama's RBs, especially #8, look like they just live in the weight room. All look big and fast in person.
- Schematically, anyone who tells you Bama is just lining up and beating people is lying or blind. They are scheming ways to get their players in open space for what seems like pitch and catch for easy 5+ yard gains. They constantly have players in motion pre-snap. Everything they do is efficient and done with a purpose.
- Bama's WRs are better than ours overall. Furthermore, they block just as well as ours, if not, better. I'm getting off the "Dugans is elite" hype train.
- Bama's defensive line is full of monsters like their offensive line. Big and athletic.
- Bama plays with more discipline than we do. They play a cleaner game overall.
- Tua is deadly accurate. He threw an out route in the first quarter that was thrown when the receiver was just breaking to the outside and hit the WR dead in the numbers. I was used to our QBs launching the ball into the stands or right into the dirt on similar routes. His accuracy was extremely impressive.
I want to acknowledge
@Dwinstitles and what he has been saying for what feels like years about recruiting. He has been on the money about our lack of recruiting monsters in the trenches. We are severely behind the elites in this regard. This is by far the biggest difference I noticed between us and Bama. Respect for him for never backing off of this point.
A few points about Oklahoma:
- Kyler Murray is quick as f-uck. Faster in person then he is on T.V. I was impressed with how shifty he was as well. He also throws a very nice ball.
- The WR Lamb looks to be the real deal. He has prototypical NFL size. Knows how to use his body to shield defenders off and make tough catches look easy.
Overall, I knew UM was way way way behind Bama but it's an even larger gap than I even realized. We are a hundred light years away at this point. I don't want to harp on this too much but the program needs to be completely cleaned out and rebuilt. I am speaking from the top all the way to the bottom. Don't let anyone tell you we are going to compete with these guys with Blake as our AD and Richt as our HC. This is nothing short of b-ull****.
