http://hintonssportshighlights.com/?p=5347

Jones projected as third overall pick and FIRST linebacker. Manti fifth overall, second linebacker.

 

You really see a difference in how Bama handles Manti?

 

Lol. You'll see the difference! Jarvis Jones is built like a fitness model. Manti Teo and Calabrese are built like Zach Thomas except theyre 6'1" and 240-255 pounds! Their people will get you! This is why I think this game will be close bc Bama doesn't respect Notre Dame. Notre Dame are like rats back into the corner. They'll do anything to win. Anything! Good luck to Jarvis in his modeling er I mean nfl career!

Case in point, Jarvis was left one on with with Lacy on a power right. Lacy gained like 25-30 yards bc he was afraid to man up and drill Lacy. Every one, even the damn safeties with go face to face and smack Lacy in da mouf! Lol wait until #41 Farley comes up and explodes on one of your back or receivers. I guarantee, he always has one big explosion per game where you're like. That? Little safety did that?

Case in point, Jarvis was left one on with with Lacy on a power right. Lacy gained like 25-30 yards bc he was afraid to man up and drill Lacy. Every one, even the damn safeties with go face to face and smack Lacy in da mouf! Lol wait until #41 Farley comes up and explodes on one of your back or receivers. I guarantee, he always has one big explosion per game where you're like. That? Little safety did that?

 

lol. Got about halfway through your post and was thinking "damn even Farley would lay out Lacy" Great minds eh?

The guy in ND's defense that corresponds to Jones is Price Shembo. Jone is crazy athletic and an excellent speed rusher, but had been vulnerable to the run. Bama ran at him over and over which is text book what you do to a speed rusher. Shembo is also an excellent speed rusher, but he has also been excellent all year at setting the edge on our run defense. That is one of the major reasons why our run D has been so good. There is no one in our front you can target and just run at.

If Alabama's offensive line is too concerned about getting to the 2nd level to put a hat on Manti, they may very well be doing themselves a disservice if it means doubling Louis Nix less to accomplish it. Tuitt is getting All American consideration from some outlets and is a bear in his own right (300 lbs), and Kap Moore is also in the 4-3 defensive tackle weight class while having more experience than anyone on that D with the exception of Te'o. Point being, if you don't do enough to handle the guys with their hands on the ground, what the backers are doing really won't matter if Yeldon is getting roped in 2 yards behind the line, or Lacy has a guy on his ankles while the cavalry comes in to clean up.

 

Asking a banged up Barrett Jones to go 1-on-1 for much of the game with Nix, or asking the tackles to go 1-on-1 with ends that large could be a problem. Doesn't matter about 2nd level blocks if the LOS gets jeopardized. I wouldn't blame Alabama if they tried a couple run plays that emphasized getting to the 2nd level quickly, but from watching 12 games this year, generally speaking one of our front 3 down lineman (or Shembo if his hand is on the ground) disrupts the play. As far as strategy goes, I think it's a much sounder 4 quarter investment to double up our down lineman and knock them around than it would be to take them lightly just to focus on one linebacker.

 

And as for the Georgia game comparisons, apples and oranges. Jarvis was lined up as a down linebacker for most of the snaps I saw (admittedly, not the whole game), but even at that, it's a lot easier to account for an OLB with TEs. The fullback in the modern game is pretty dead, so getting secondary guys to take on Te'o will be a taller order if Alabama tries. Couple that with ND's multiple fronts, and whether or not Te'o is asked to drop away from the LOS, and it makes sense why he gets as many tackles as he does, as well as in the fashion he does. Jarvis's whole job was to attack the line, as evidenced by his TFL totals - Te'o is the one tied for 2nd in the nation in interceptions, thanks in large part to his lineman shouldering more responsibility in the run game, thus allowing him to drop back more frequently - or making it that much easier to diagnose the play before going in to sniff out the run when he does drop.

 

This has nothing to do with chest puffing, toughness, or bravado from EITHER team, and everything to do with strategy. Both teams are tough; this game will be one by whoever employs the best strategy for four quarters. Apples and oranges compared to the SEC title game.