Crimson Red Sports

First, I want to send congrats to the Bama coaches and players for winning the SEC Championship.  Also, UG played a hell of a game and took it to the wire.  This game could have been won by either team.   

Offense:  The O depended on running the football.  Bama put together 512 yards of total offense.  Three hundred and fifty of that offense was on the ground.  Both teams were hurt by clock management.  Bama should have used a timeout right before the half and maybe put one in the end zone instead of taking the field goal.  Bama did leave points on the field, but it is hard to tell how many.  First, they threw the int in the end zone.  Before this int, AJ missed the open rec in the end zone as he was about to get hit.  Second, they had a field goal blocked.   I had Bama with only 3 three and outs during the game.  This biggest one was where they didn’t covert on the last drive and gave UG the ball back.  As far as negative plays, I have the O with 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 fumbles, and 1 int.  Also, you can add the blocked field goal here. 

QB:  AJ, in my opinion, did not have a great game.  I know he made the big pass to AC, who also kept AJ from throwing an int, but he was pressured and did not see the field well.  It looked like he was watching the pass rush more than the rec’s and couldn’t/didn’t pull the trigger.  There were a couple of drops that hurt him and he did scramble well.  He also missed some of his throws to open recs.

RB:   Both of these guys put on a great performance.  I know my stats are unofficial, but I had EL for about 95 yards after contact.  I didn’t track TJY’s but yards after contact were also up there.  Many times they delivered the blow to the defensive players and some of those defensive plays actually looked like they were ready to turn a few hits down.  About the only bad thing I can say about these guys is TJY dropped a pass.

REC:  AC had another great game he had 7 of AJ 13 completions.  I know some people aren’t going to like this, but I think he is better than Julio Jones.  The main reason is his quickness and he doesn’t drop the ball like JJ did.  CJ could have made a big play, but dropped the ball when the UG safety hit him, the UG player made that play.  I will say they had to block well for the RB’s to be getting so many yards.  I will put this here, instead of the OL, on the 41 yard run by EL, the TE’s made good block and got more than one block on the play.

OL:  I really don’t know if the pass blocking was as bad as we think, or did AJ not pull the trigger.  They had a great game run blocking.  There were times they had their guy 3 yards or more down field.  There were times the RB wasn’t touched until he passed the LOS.  They also got to the second level and got a body on a body.  Something that goes unnoticed is the job DJF did on the 2 point play.  He got inside and used his huge body to shield off backside pursuit. 

Defense:  The defense was either very good, or at time not very good.  On the very first offensive play for UG, Bama got pressure with 4.  I stated this earlier and I didn’t plan on seeing VS in coverage and I guess the coaches saw the same thing.  The D gave up 406 yards of total offense.  They had 5 or 6 three and outs, I question my stats here.   I have them for 6 negative plays.  They had 2 TFL, 3 sacks, and one int.  The int led to 3 points and could have been more with better clock management.   I also have them with 4 pressures.  UG ran the ball well enough to use play action, but didn’t use a lot in my opinion.  The D did lose the edge a couple of times and allowed UG to make good runs.  I am glad UG did not spike the ball after getting close to the end zone they would have had a couple of chances for TD’s.  After Bama, scored to make the game 21-18, the D came up with a big 3 and out.  I do have Bama for about 7 missed tackle

DL:  They did a pretty good job.  I thought AH played well as did JW.  They stopped a lot of the runs for short gains. 

LB:  They did a pretty good job have to defend both the pass and the run. I will say TD got trucked by the UG running back.  On the first screen UG ran CJM was fooled or didn’t read his key very well, fortunately, there was a block in the back that brought the ball back.  The second time they ran the screen, CJM stopped it for a loss. 

DB:  There were a few issues here.  On the first TD, if one safety rotates up then I would think the other should move to the middle of the field or to the 2 rec side.  The TE was wide open.  It could have been someone missed the assignment that was supposed to be covering the TE.  The UG QB made some big throw and the rec’s made some big catches.  I did notice the DB’s were getting cut some, which adds to the yardage UG made.  I will say on the last drive, did anyone notice on the second throw, the outside rec was blocking and the ball was thrown to the TE on the out route? 
 
Penalties: The biggest penalty of the game for Bama was the delay of game on the fake punt.  This would have kept the drive alive and maybe gotten some needed points there.  This was not a penalty, but I will put it here.  On the int, many people were screaming for a penalty on the hit put on the QB.  It could have been called, but all QB’s know the D is taught to look him up on any int.

Special teams:  Bama did not recognize the formation well for the fake punt run by UG.  I know when we played teams that spread like that we would make on or off calls to declare who is eligible.  Also, the blocked FG was kicked to slow and too low.  Also, when the punt return guy signals for a fair catch, why doesn’t the gunner run past him to keep the ball out of the end zone?  I guess since he was the only one there, he was there in case there was a muff.

Finally:  Bama is headed back to the NC game.  I wish them good luck. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

Thanks, hs. Good stuff but I think AJ played a bit better than you. UGA pass rushers were quicker than most thought and UGA DB's did a good job on Bama receivers.

Coach -- First, thanks for you notes during the whole season.  Always informative.

Next - What can be done between now and the NCG to tighten up pass coverage by our DBs?  Several guys were banged up and I think Fulton didn't play.  Healtheir DBs will help some.  I'm sure Kriby will come up with a great scheme.  But ultimately it's the guys on the field that make it happen.

I say JJ could be counted on to make the catch if we really needed it. He also responded to the biggest stages to make his biggest plays.

Thanks for the notes, HSC!  #+

The biggest help they can get is to get a better pass rush.  I also think they are really going to have to concentrate on their technique during these practices.

I mean when he had a lane to scramble in he did a good job.  He did step into the rush at times and it was collasping quickly.  I didn't hear that stat, but it seems a little high too me.  However, they have better stat people than me.

Great job hscoach as always. Thanks for this years assessment on each game. I want to speak to the penalties. I wonder why we seem to have them at the most critical of times? I know we teach, play through. I just know my stomach gets all so nervous I need a bottle Magnesium every time we make those.
Also, I have seen some clock management problems this I thought. I would think the staff would try to fix this one also. Rolling on to the NCG with back to back possible since 1978-1979. Feels so good. RTR!

Great work Coach. I think a lot of AJ's sacks  were caused by coverage of receivers than the O line. The fact that we committed to the run was something I have been waiting foe. That is our MO. Finally, when we sucked the safeties in, we went over the top on the deep ball. Play action really sucked them in.

Good notes coach, as always.

I thought AJ looked a little gun shy.  At first I thought the coverage down field must have been really good, but then they started showing the wide angle view and you could see guys were open.  I think he was playing very conservatively and was afraid to let the ball go, or maybe was having a hard time seeing around the rush.  I can't fault him too much for playing it safe in a big game where we could run at will and were favored to win.  When the rush started closing in on him I would like to see him pull that ball down and secure it instead of the several pump fakes were he can't decide if he wants to throw it or pull it down.  This was the cause of one fumble, but he got away with it a few more times were we were lucky the ball didn't get knocked loose.

The interception at the goal line looked like the rec and the QB were not on the same page.  It looked like the rec was expecting a fade to the corner and the QB was throwing a back shoulder stop at the goal line.  If the rec would have stopped the DB couldn't have made a play on the ball without running over him and going through him to get to it.

A lot of folks, including the announcers for this game, don't realize what a great job Jesse does clogging up the middle.  The announcers even made a comment at one point that they hadn't called his name yet for the game.  That doesn't mean he isn't doing his job.  It the middle linebackers are making plays then that means Jesse is keeping the O-line off of them.  When he went out with the injury for a series they ran the ball right up the middle and drove all the way down for a TD.  They don't do that if Jesse is in the game.

A lot of people all around the country have said what a great game it was and that it was probably the best SEC Championship ever.  Maybe, but I can't help but being disappointed in how we played at times.  We won the game, and I am certainly impressed with the heart we showed to stay with it and keep fighting for all 3600 seconds (every second counted in this game).  I am also very impressed with how the Dawgs did the same thing.  I did not expect that from them at all.  I figured they would roll over and play dead like they usually do.  There are a number of things that could have gone the other way and we would have lost.  There are also a number of things that could have gone our way and it would have been a rout.  In the end I severely underestimated how hard they would fight for it, and I am beginning to realize what a great victory it was for us to hold them off and win in spite of the things that didn't go our way.  If the Dawgs go on to a big bowl game and beat the snot out of a good team I will probably come to appreciate this victory even more than I do now.

The "Bama Hangover Effect" will probably ruin the UGA bowl game. 30 days to put it behind them may mitigate that.

If we commit to the run like that against A&M we are undefeated right now IMO.  Even if we don't go for 150 yards with 2 different backs we still keep Johnny on the sideline and give our defense a few minutes to get things straightened out.  The 3 and outs in the first quarter of that game really killed us.  Once we finally had a few minutes for the coaches and the D to get together on the sideline we shut them down, but by then we were down 21-0.  I was very pleased to see us put the game on the o-line and to see them step up and live up to their potential.  When we run the same play several times in a row and they can't stop it even though they know exactly what we are going to do, we can not be beat unless we beat ourselves.

There was some talk about keeping them ahead of UF in the polls.  If that happens they will go to a BCS game.  They might get fired up for that.  Or they could limp along like Bama did in '08.  We will see.

I don't know who they have coming back next year, but it sounds like they are going to have a lot of guys go on to the NFL this time.  If they had enough guys coming back, I would not be surprised to see them on a mission next year like we were in '09.

AJ appeared to  blame himself for that interception, AC clearly was expecting the fade and held his hands out after the interception as if to say, "what are you doing?"  AJ patted himself in the chest to say, "my fault."  I think AJ misread the cover there.

great job HSCoach  #+ #+ #+
really enjoyed your game breakdown all year , thank you so much !





I want to know more on this bottle of stuff  :dunno:   :lol2:
like for you . I think it might help me too  :wave:

 :pullhair: :pullhair: :pullhair: :pullhair: :pullhair:

Another great analysis, Coach. 2 great teams made for a great game.

I think on the fake punt they were trying to act so nonchalant they did it too well and let the clock run out, instead of looking different and giving away the fake.  As far as clock management, Coach Saban said they had a first down and they were changing personnel and thought they could get the play off in plenty of time.  The bad part of that was they still had 3 time outs and they could have easily have used one.

There was coverage at times, but he still looked hesitant at throwing the ball in a small window or on time.  They showed one wide view where I thought he could have gone to, I think it was KN.

Too me the OL came off the LOS better in this game than they did in the A&M game.  Also, it didn't help that AJ missed on some early passes in the A&M game.

It looked to me that AC wasn't expecting the back shoulder throw and AJ threw the ball too far inside a cardinal sin.

Forgot to add how big the tip ball by CJM on the last play was important.  Also, the UG player made a huge mistake catching the ball.  It would have been better if he had just batted it down and given them another play.  That also goes along with the UG clock management problem.  Both teams had one.

Great notes coach, as always!  Looking forward to your analysis after a victory over Notre Dame in the BCSNC Game!

ROLL TIDE!!! #+

Good stuff as always hs. Forgive me if I missed it, but I wanted to ask you about the third and longs when we were on defense. It seems that we were able (at least in the first half) to control UGA on first and second, but then self-destructed on third. Did you see anything that we maybe did differently there, or did UGA just the make the plays they needed to, no matter what we did?

Honestly, I think they made the plays.  King made some big catches and Murry threw the ball where only his guy could get it.  He made some big time throws in this game.

Also, I was watching again tonight and I should have mentioned these items.  On the block FG M Williams did not step down inside for some reason.  This allowed the easy penatration thru the gap.  Also, K Johnson did a good job blocking, not bad for a walk on.

First, AJ deserves huge kudos for that perfect throw on the TD to AC. But other than that he looked very poor for the entire game. He seems to really lack a good pocket presence. He was dancing in the pocket all night and he couldn't find his recs. And his throws were off as a result of his discomfort in the pocket. For the most part the OL did a great job protecting him, he just held the ball too long and pump-faked way too many times. He still has a long way to go IMO. Second, why is our defense so soft this year against good teams? Ga's opening drive of the second half was something I never thought I would see against an Alabama defense. Ga took the ball and drove it right down our throats for a long drive and a TD. This let them get back in the game and gave them confidence. Bama was getting whipped at the LOS and Gurley was finding all kinds of holes. Is our Dline just that bad this year? Are our LBs getting lost? Ga did to Bama what Bama usually does to other teams. Even in 2010 when we struggled so much our D didn't look that soft. And I think the same thing happened against LSU & A&M. Our D doesn't seem to be as phyical up front as they have been in the past. And of course we all know our problems in coverage. I hope Dee comes back next year because we cannot do without him. Lastly, think about this: When is the last time a Saban defense won the game when they were on the field because the clock simply ran out? Usually the Bama D stops the opposing offense by either forcing a TO or stopping them on downs. This was highly uncharacteristic of a Saban defense.

I think there are a few problems with the D.  First, they  have missed many tackles this year.  Second, they have broken down in their assignments.  How many times did UG get to the edge the other night?  Third they have played three qb's that are hot.  LSU's qb had his best game that night.  Also, I don't think the corners are as physical as last year, combine that wiht VS trying to play coverage and it isn't a good situation.