Stoops Jabs at Saban's 'Consolation Game' Sugar Bowl Comments

[primal defense]

I find Stoops vs Saban very enjoyable.

Stoops jabs at Saban's 'consolation game' Sugar Bowl comments

In May of last year, Bob Stoops called the SEC's 500-pound gorilla reputation "propaganda." In October, he had a pointed jab for the league's supposedly impregnable defenses. And though his comments predictably didn't go over well in SEC circles, it was Stoops that had the last laugh, his Oklahoma offense shredding the alleged best SEC defense of them all to the tune of a 45-31 Sugar Bowl victory vs. Alabama .

So in retrospect, it's not surprising at all that after Nick Saban said this week that his players had struggled to motivate themselves for their "consolation game" vs. the Sooners, Stoops had a little something to say about that, too

Brett McMurphy        âœ” @McMurphyESPN Follow

Stoops on Saban’s consolation game quote: “So if I’m not in a national championship game, that means I’ve got a built in excuse"

7:40 AM - 23 Jul 2014



You might think that just-this-side-directly accusing Nick Saban of making excuses would be enough verbal jabbing for one day with the media, but Stoops wasn't even close to done:

1. Expanding on his skepticism for the "consolation game" comment, Stoops said it "didn't look like [Alabama wasn't motivated] first series. They looked ready to play. Everyone thought they would rout us."

2. In response to coaches -- like, say, Saban again -- complaining that up-tempo, no-huddle offenses restrict the impact of defensive coaches, Stoops said "All those geniuses can adapt to faster pace."

3. Stoops rattled off Texas A&M's 2014 nonconference schedule -- Lamar, Rice, SMU and ULM -- from (surprisingly accurate) memory and said "Those are all of bunch of toughies."

Ouch, ouch, and: ouch. Clearly, after his headline-grabbing talk last summer, Stoops feels that Sugar Bowl win has given him the right to chirp a little more.

And you know what? Given that his Sooners beat the Tide in a manner no SEC team has in years -- in Saban's seven seasons at Alabama, he's lost a conference game by two full touchdowns only once, 35-21 at South Carolina in 2010 -- he sort of has.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24634298/bob-stoops-jabs-at-nick-sabans-consolation-game-sugar-bowl-comments

 

[streettopeschel]

i'll resume hating stoops shortly, but for this one moment, he's all right.

 

[java]

Texags is taking predictable shots at the Sooners and their strength of schedule.

I just skimmed a few comments, and I was multi-tasking so may not have read it correctly, but it appeared that they thought their SOS, at 67 or 68, was superior to the Sooners at 46. Like I said, wasn't looking closely, feel free to correct me.

'The Zoo' is priceless.

 

[primal defense]

i'll resume hating stoops shortly, but for this one moment, he's all right.

Yep, he's right about the hurry up offense and the SEC is overrated.

 

[Stringer Bell]

As much as I dislike the Sooners I'll root for Stoops over Saban all day

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Yeah, because aggies' "strength of schedule" is sooo much better!  Last year, Sagarin Ratings had OU's at #32 nationally, aggie was 26, UT was 11th. #IStandWithStoops

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

 

[java]

Yeah, because aggies' "strength of schedule" is sooo much better! Last year, Sagarin Ratings had OU's at #32 nationally, aggie was 26, UT was 11th. #IStandWithStoops

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

I do too.

I also thought Saban's whining to the NCAA was silly.

 

[Bear19]

The enemy of my enemy is sometimes my friend.

 

[MikeV73]

Stoops always comes off as a tough guy jackass in post game interviews, but I always thought Mack could have used a little bit of that edginess. Looks like Strong is no nonsense, not going to BS and make excuses for his team to the media, but seems like he will remain civil/respectful of the media as well. Now let's release our Morrer warriors and destroy Stoops and OU in October.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Stoops always comes off as a tough guy jackass in post game interviews, but I always thought Mack could have used a little bit of that edginess. Looks like Strong is no nonsense, not going to BS and make excuses for his team to the media, but seems like he will remain civil/respectful of the media as well. Now let's release our Morrer warriors and destroy Stoops and OU in October.

I enjoy coach's who are brutally honest and speak their minds.  Spurrier is the most fun at press conferences, IMHO. 

"FSU: Free Shoes University"

"You can't spell Citrus (Bowl) without UT"

 

[primal defense]

Alabama writer getting involved. Guess who he agrees with.

Sorry, Bob Stoops, but Nick Saban's contract makes the Sugar Bowl an exhibition game

Tell Bob Stoops that Nick Saban may have been mistaken. To the Alabama football program, the Sugar Bowl really wasn't, as Saban said this week, "a consolation game."

In truth, and Stoops isn't going to like this any better, it was more of an exhibition game.

Any bowl game that isn’t a semifinal playoff game or the national championship game is an exhibition game for the Crimson Tide.

It goes beyond the fact that Saban has raised the bar in Tuscaloosa to Got 13/14/15/16 or bust. It actually says so right there in section 4.03 ( B) of the coach’s contract under the subheading “Incentives.â€

There is no financial incentive for Saban to win any postseason games other than the SEC Championship Game, a playoff semifinal and the Student-Athlete Super Bowl.

Check the numbers. Saban gets $65,000 for playing in a garden variety bowl. He gets $90,000 for playing in the Chick-fil-a, Cotton, Capital One, Outback, Gator “or any equal successor bowl game associated with the Southeastern Conference.†He gets $125,000 for playing in a BCS “or its successor entity†bowl that’s not part of the playoff system.

How much of a bonus does he get for winning any of those games? Not a penny more. Simply getting there is its own reward.

There is, however, extra money on the line in the SEC Championship Game. Reach it, and Saban gets $75,000. Win it, and he gets $125,000.

There’s even more money on the line in the playoff. Reach the semifinals, and he gets $200,000. Win a semifinal game, and that bonus is $300,000. Win the semifinal and the final, and he earns $400,000, payable - as all of these bonuses are - within 30 days.

This is in addition, of course, to the $6.9 million a year Alabama now pays Saban for coaching 12 regular-season games because, as the contract says, there is "additional work that is required for postseason games."

So Stoops really shouldn’t take it personally that Saban appeared to minimize Oklahoma’s 45-31 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Truth is, as much as Saban wants to win every game he coaches, he got paid the same $125k for losing to the Sooners that he would’ve earned had he beaten them.

Do the math and don't forget to add LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 in 2003's national championship extravaganza. When it comes to games between them in the Superdome that really matter, the scoreboard still reads Saban 1, Stoops 0. 

http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2014/07/sorry_bob_stoops_but_nick_saba.html#incart_most-comments

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Any bowl game that isn’t a semifinal playoff game or the national championship game is an exhibition game for the Crimson Tide

Exhibit A as to why being a Bama fan must suck.

Do we have high expectations at Texas?  Yes.  

Do I expect the 2014 Longhorns to qualify for the CFB Playoffs?  No

 

[Matt Cotcher]

That writer's argument is so elementary, it's not even worth addressing. I can't believe that got published.

 At media days, I was wishing for someone to take the role of Spurrier. Too bad Stoops didn't play this card while on stage.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

So if Saban is pouting, Bama is screwed. What a compliment to pay your coach.

BTW, getting beat by aggy in his own house was an exhibition? 

 

[Dieselprime]

That writer's argument is so elementary, it's not even worth addressing. I can't believe that got published.

 At media days, I was wishing for someone to take the role of Spurrier. Too bad Stoops didn't play this card while on stage.

I agree. This sounds more like a bad rant on a joe-bob message board than an actual sports column written by a journalist.

 

[PeteA422]

Come on guys, leave the man alone.  He spent hours researching those numbers to support his coach!  And do you know how many shoeless bama fans he had to line up to keep count of all those numbers involved?  That was a fantastic piece of well researched writing.  With the support of the bama faithful.  Roll, row, row, oh wait, roll tide, yeah thats it.

 

[Topstarr]

Stoops put the ICE on Saban.........Hook'em and  OU sucks

 

[MikeV73]

In Sabans mind any team that plays "too fast" must not be playing real football. Therefore, if he loses to that team it was simply not an important game. Let's hear it for every team in the SEC playing fast and marginalizing bamas season. I'm sure if he wins these games they will be commended as tremendous outcomes in the face of trickery, chicanery, and arenaesque game plans. Saban has come off as the crotchety old guy yelling to get the kids off of his lawn. Times are a changing, or have been changed, so deal with it Saban.

 

[primal defense]

From the Tennessean, surprisingly since it's a SEC city takes Stoops side.

Climer: Stoops’ SEC thoughts make a lot of sense

I’m betting Bob Stoops isn’t invited to make a guest appearance on the SEC Network any time soon.

Stoops is at it again, taking shots at the SEC and even calling out Nick Saban.

It’s the same song, second verse. Last year, Stoops pointed out – correctly – that the SEC is a top-heavy conference and suggested that the perception of the SEC’s superiority is due to “propaganda.â€

Emboldened by 45-31 victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, Stoops again has the SEC in his sights. He criticized the SEC for playing only eight conference games while the Big 12 plays nine. He reiterated his belief that the SEC is comprised of Haves and Have Nots.

“The bottom line is, all 14 aren’t doing real well,†Stoops said. “And there’s some of them you wouldn’t mind playing.â€

Are you listening, Tennessee? The Vols play at Oklahoma in Week 3. If Stoops wants to press home his point about the SEC, it could be reflected on the scoreboard.

The man’s on a crusade. Responding to Saban’s comments that he had trouble motivating the Crimson Tide for the Sugar Bowl because it was a “consolation game,†Stoops said:

“I don’t pay attention. We’ve played for quite a few national championships and when we don’t play for one it never seems to be a mantra. But anyway, you can make all the excuses you want or not. …

“And they sure looked good that first series, I’ll tell you that.â€

Indeed, Alabama drove 75 yards in just four plays on the first series of the Sugar Bowl to take a quick 7-0 lead. There was nothing in that drive to indicate the Tide lacked motivation because it was playing in a “consolation game.â€

Credit Stoops for calling out Saban, which seldom happens within the coaching fraternity. Among SEC coaches, only Steve Spurrier, who was Stoops’ boss at Florida in 1996-98, has the guts to rattle Saban’s cage. Everybody else bows respectfully and kisses the latest championship ring.

Look, I think Saban is by far the best coach in college football but his “consolation game†comment is an excuse – and a lousy excuse at that. The Crimson Tide got beat. Oklahoma, which entered the game as a 17-point underdog, was the better team that night. Saban and his staff were outcoached.

Likewise, Stoops’ stated belief that the SEC lacks top-to-bottom balance is on target. The numbers don’t lie. In the two years since the SEC expanded to 14 teams, the top six in the final standings are 55-5 against the other eight.

Last season, the top six -- Auburn, Alabama and LSU in the Western Division, Missouri, South Carolina and Georgia in the East -- went 27-3 against the bottom eight. The rich just keep getting richer.

Alabama had the easiest time of it, with the Tide fattening its record with a 6-0 run through the second tier, winning those games by an average of 28.8 points.

Look for more of the same in the upcoming season. There’s a clear division of power. It’s one of the reasons Tennessee is having so much trouble rebounding. Once you fall behind, the top teams don’t wait around for you to catch up. They pile on.

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost for some of those second-tier teams. One thing that separates the SEC from other conferences is the trend where a program can fall on hard times and recover quickly. Look at Auburn and Missouri. In 2012, those teams were a combined 2-14 in SEC games. Last season, they played for the conference championship.

As for Bob Stoops, he’s made himself the talk of the preseason. And wouldn’t it be poetic justice if Oklahoma and Alabama found themselves paired again in the postseason, this time in the national championship bracket?

David Climer’s columns appear on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. Reach him at 615-259-8020 and on Twitter @DavidClimer.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/columnist/david-climer/2014/07/24/david-climer-bob-stoops-oklahoma/13114477/