Give me two minutes

Do you really think that giving Saban a bye without taking a bye for ourselves gives us an advantage?

Saban would only need two minutes to scheme that offense.

Since it has been both teams toughest game recently, its not odd at all.

Keep in mind that the schools doesn't decide the schedule. The SEC sets the conference schedule. The schools then decide when to fill the other dates with OOC teams and a bye week. Both teams were set to not have a conference game the week prior to this game. So they could either schedule an OOC game or use it as a bye. All schools must schedule their bye and OOC games around the conference schedule. So a school can't set a bye for when they want per se. There is some flexibility, but they still have to work around the conference schedule.

Most of the teams that made any headway against the Bama D have two things in common that LSU does NOT have:

1. A modern offensive scheme with a QB and a coach that can run that scheme.

2. A much lower "attention profile" from Nick Saban.

For #1: Ole Miss, Western Kentucky, and Arkansas all have (a) QB's that are mobile and can throw accurately and deep, (b) gameplans that took advantage of their offensive strengths and Bama's defensive weaknesses (few as they may be), and (c) most of their OL's are staffed by players playing the right position for their skillset.

And for USC - they tossed Max Browne in favor of Sam Darnold, who's more of a dual-threat RPO guy and now has USC playing very good ball. If Darnold had been the starter against Bama, USC might have actually been a threat to the Gumps in the first game of the year.

Now, do ANY of those teams sound like LSU? Etling's good for what he is, but in NO way is he at or near the same level as Austin Allen, Machine-gun Kelly, or whatever QB Coach Brohm decides to plug in to his system at WKU.

And as far as Tennessee goes, Josh Dobbs may be the best example of a stud QB being completely screwed up by his coach, so no surprises there (and no real comparison to Etling, either).

So if your QB is just fair-to-middlin', and you have THE stud RB squad in the nation and some really talented WR's, what's the ONE thing that can either make that offense successful or completely tank them despite their talent?

Buhler? Buhler? Anyone?

Yep, the sleepy stoner in the back of the class is right: it's the OFFENSIVE LINE.

We now have a mid-tier pro-style QB that replaced a dual-threat QB early in the season. The current team practiced with that DTQB in the spring and fall camps, and had to adjust to Etling after the season started. Even if they kept the same playbook (with a few more plays now being used), the ones affected most by a change in QB style are the OL.

The end result is what you saw on the field Saturday night: an OL that was nowhere near prepared for Bama's 5-star front 7. Even with all the weapons elsewhere on the field, the OL couldn't keep Bama from completely disrupting any play before it had a chance to get started.

That doesn't mean our OL players are "bad". Far from it. The problem is that our offensive scheme was built for The Ghost of Schembechler's Three-Yards-And-A-Cloud-Of-Dust philosophy. That's why Les recruited and played big, road-grading guards that he thought could move any defensive line at least 2-4 yards per play.

The fast, athletic tackles needed in modern football were pretty much an afterthought, as was making ANY use of the TE's as anything other than an extra blocking OL on the end.

To put it another way (the TL/DR version): Our OL is staffed with excellent players being asked to play outside their natural positions in a scheme that rose up from the grave of the 70's. Throw in a coaching change, a change in QB and QB style, a shift in offensive philosophy and a BUNCH of injuries.

Is it any wonder the OL couldn't hold up to Bama? Or is it that hard to believe that they were the weak link in our goose egg loss (and will the biggest weakness for the rest of the season)?

for #2: Little Nicky has repeatedly said that the LSU game is always the one they plan for most. Other SECW teams may rise and fall (re: Arky, Ole Piss, the Barn, etc...). But the one team that consistently poses a threat to Bama is LSU. There's extra juice for their game with us, and the entire Bama team does nothing for two weeks but gameplan for us.

Considering they've beaten us 6 times in a row, it may seem silly to say that they view LSU as their biggest threat every year. I'd suggest, however, that the added attention we get from them BECAUSE of that perceived threat is the very reason they always seem to have the magic snake-oil to pull off a win.

I'd also be willing to bet that beating them in their house in 2011, and then (rightfully) complaining to the world that we shouldn't have to play them again in the NCG gave them the only bulletin board fodder they'd need for the next decade: disrespect.

It's fair to say that most of the CFB world (rightfully) didn't think Bama should be in the NC game. Not only had we already beaten them once, there were other CFB teams that believed they had a better resume than Bama to meet us in the NCG.

I'm no Bama fan, but I can easily imagine their perception of national disrespect affected Saban and his team. They came out determined to make a statement, and they did (21-0 is a pretty good statement). They wanted to poke their thumb in the eyes of all the critics and teams that thought they didn't belong in that game. Mission accomplished.

I also think Bama continues to believe they have a special mission to beat LSU down every year because of that situation. As a Bama fan once told me - if it had been ANY other team than LSU, they're certain that there wouldn't have been any question of Bama's "worthiness" to be in the NCG.

Accurate or not, I personally believe that it's something Little Nicky and the Red Horde have never forgotten, and use as extra motivation for our game with them every year since.

So, yes, IMO it very definitely WAS the OL play that cost us the game on Saturday. There was no way to overcome the recruiting, coaching and game-planning gaffes of Les' tenure and persevere against Bama's 5-star defense and their desire to punish.

Long, long response, but it's something I've needed to get off my chest.

We suck on O-------LM started it & it will take a minimum of 3 years to right that ship.........Get used to it---& changing to another 'hobby' does relieve some of the frustration-----not all---but some....