Just because a Tennessee beat writer’s interview with Kevin “That High School Coach Who Never Punts” Kelley ($$) was inevitable after Jeremy Pruitt’s joking presser about “they always onside kick, they never punt” doesn’t make it any less awesome.
“He knows that playing regular football, lining up and running the ball and playing good defense, unless Alabama makes a lot of mistakes, they really don’t have a good chance to win. The Vegas line (which favors Alabama by 35.5 points), which is made by some of the smartest people in the world, shows that,” Kelley said. “So if that’s the case, and you’re trying to give your team the best chance to win, it’s not by lining up and playing regular football. So I would for sure do it. But of course, I believe in this system. I do it. But I’d be doing a lot of those things and a lot of different things than I’ve done in the past just to give us a better chance to win.”
I’d love to see Pruitt do it, if for no other reason than it would be guaranteed to make Fulmer shit a brick.
Get The Picture 
That quote definitely says: “when facing a 2-3 team, change everything because what you usually do might not work.”
I hope Alabama has a “plan b!”
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Won’t need a plan b.
Plan A is 62-10. Plan B is 47-20.
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Come on! You gotta have a plan b, just in case!
Saban should spend a substantial portion of the 20 hours this week repping the plays they won’t need unless the team doesn’t show up and then they’ll do those plan b plays like a BOSS!!
It’s called coachin’!
(If it’s absurd prospectively it’s no less absurd in hindsight.)
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If Plan B means a competent passing attack, then yes, it should be dealt with in practice.
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So it’s not really a plan b at all is it?
It’s execute the plays you have isn’t it?
Our qb was the highest rated passer in America 6 days ago.
Did he overcome the coaching/practice shortcomings in doing so?
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I’m pretty sure Fulmer shits eclairs or crullers.
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or bear claws and apple fritters…
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Donut holes. Definitely donut holes.
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If he’s actually willing to just go balls to the wall and throw haymakers all night long, I’d frankly be impressed. I hope he does it. I have lots of respect for the little guy who smacks the bully in the nose even though it only makes the beating worse.
It’s Alabama. Is it any harder for them to drive the length of the field versus half of it on UT? No. So onside it and don’t punt. Every time.
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“When you ain’t got nothin, you got nothin to lose…”
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Some of the smartest people in the world had Georgia winning by 24 last week. 😦
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Actually no, their job is to get even money on both sides….then they win big time. A betting line is nothing but Vegas reading the perception of the betters. There is a reason lines move, and it is not because they changed their mind on the game score.
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I agree with that, but bettors aren’t dumb.
The reason you can’t make money betting football is because that line is pretty damn close to reality most of the time.
Every once in while you’ll see a line that’s not reflecting reality:
UGA +7.5 vs Hawaii
Alabama +8 vs. Notre Dame
come to mind, but it’s very rare.
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And if people are being honest with themselves, you’re really just betting the refs.
Because officiating determines every 50/50 game, and the line just moves lopsided projections into 50/50 territory.
No clue how people manage to stay sane putting their money at stake with those kinds of variables so significant to the outcomes.
I am seriously wondering if legal college gambling doesn’t end up being the pressure that professionalizes conference officiating offices.
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Tennessee’s receivers match up well vs. Alabama’s secondary if they can get their passes off.
With the Vols’ best linebacker missing the first half, take the ball and let ‘er rip.
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Eh. Maybe. But I’d say Bama’s secondary is their strongest area on defense right now, but some of that could be lack of competition.
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the only problem with the HS approach (well, not ONLY), is that onside kick rules in HS are a little more lenient to favor the kicking team.
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Why?
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I would love to see tha analytics the guy is talking about. Seems interesting as hell. It is also hard to argue with 7 state titles in 17 years with such a different approach. I don’t care the level of competition. Where do we find the numbers?
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In 2014 when UGA played Arky in Little Rock, my buddy and our 4 year old sons went to see Pulaski play that Friday night. He had read about them in SI or ESPN and we just had to see it in person. Coach Kelly did what he said he does, which was fun to watch. Once they started killing the other team, he kicked away. Pulaski is normally really good and has superior talent, so they have an advantage over most teams without the scheme. In 2014, the Arky QB was from Pulaski and they regularly send players to Arky. Before the game a lady stopped us in the parking lot due to all our UGA gear. They were excited to have visitors and announced our boys in the stadium. She actually got us on the field after game and met Coach Kelly. Super nice dude and fun talking football for a few minutes. I really hate the Vomiteers, but would be great to see them do this on Saturday just for Saban’s reaction. If it worked, I can already hear him now calling for a rules change!
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He’s adopted some of the practices already. Part of that is a poor kicking game, which alters the percentages even more towards going for it. But his main path to game pressure now is more possessions than the other team and more points per possession.
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