Crimson Red Sports

Beautiful day for the game.  Unfortunately I won't be there, but I will watch it on TV, ESPN2, with Todd Blackledge.  Eli Gold also will be calling the game on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

Here's the Bleacher Report on A-Day:

Alabama Spring Game 2013: Key Storylines to Watch on A-Day

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1611185-alabama-spring-game-2013-key-storylines-to-watch-on-a-day

I generally don't read BR but that was a pretty good summary of where we stand right now.

Offense looked good in 1st drive. Defense efff.

2 drives, 10 points for AJ.

2 drives, 2 INTs for Blake Sims.  

Alec Morris has a strong arm, makes some nice passes.  Then makes a poor decision on a hand off and turns it over.  Still, he appears the best alternative for No. 2 QB so far.

Ely throws an INT.

Pick 6 for AJ, but it was a free play, offsides on the D.

Our offense does not look that in charge yet. To many turnovers, but our defense seems to take the turnovers. I like Alec Morris for his arm. He needs to get more settled down when moving the ball fast. Ely really got off slow to me, as if he was a little nervous. I really liked our kicking game from Mandell and the Freshman Griffith. RTR!

We have a long way to go gentlemen.  That was a mess.

Todd and ESPN need to learn to call the game-- leave the pastries for the Baking Channel. We are sitting on edge looking for every little scrap of info on next years product.

 >:(

SEC supervisor will be the highlight reel. Sloppy, sloppy. Worse than last year-- but this game has gotten to be entertainment with forced throws trying to get everyone some plays. Defense not even playing-- not teeing off-- just sandlot ball. I'm not reading anything into it other than Yeldon is still the man. 

Yeah, coverage commentary was minimal, but hard to complain, as it beats no coverage.

Second quarter offense:  Hand it to Yeldon.  Throw it to Yeldon.  Throw it to Yeldon.  Hand it to Yeldon.  No drop off for this guy.

The way it looked if the opposition watched this they could beat us. All they have to do is put 10 men on Yeldon and 1 on AJ. RTR!

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy...too many penalties...poor execution...painful to watch  :-\

It was indeed sloppy, but it was good to see the defense make some plays. I was a little worried after reading some of the scrimmage stats that our "D" might be sub-par. I thought they looked pretty good. Kudos to Nick Perry, Landon Collins, Vinnie and others on defense.

The defensive backs did do a pretty good job and were the best looking group overall to me.  Defense should always have a big advantage in a game like this.  The offense isn't going to run anything they haven't seen before and they should be able to recognize the play and react faster.

Actually I think that the performance of the team yesterday just might be the key needed for the success of the team next fall. The coaches can preach to the young men all that they want about the things they need to do in the off season to improve but after the performance yesterday, I think the players got a first hand picture of how much work is needed if they are to win the NC next year. Sometimes actions are much better than words. ;)

 



 

I agree...as CNS said after a previous scrimmage, it's hard to look good on both sides of the ball when you're playing against yourself.

Yep. And our secondary has been criticized as being the weak link of the team. I did not see that yesterday. If anything, that was the strongest part of the team. I was very encouraged by what I saw.

:eye roll: As I said earlier, this game has turned into nothing more than entertainment, and a reward to the players for hours spent in weight room, practice field. No defense other than base coverage. Forced throws to get everyone's name on the PA, while not giving anything of use to Va. Tech or A&M. HTH

Glass half-full or half-empty?

Half full:  the secondary looked awesome.  Yeldon is getting even better.  The starting O-line held their own for the most part.

Half empty:  Poor decisions on offense, no backup QB, sloppy failure to execute.

Plenty of fodder for hard work in the off-season.

I guess Nick Perry is not satisfied with being on the #2 "D". I also noticed on his 2nd interception, CNS was more concerned with Reggie Ragland being out of position than with the success of the #2"D" or the failure of the #2"O".

Well after thinking about it, #1 or #2 it don't matter as long as we have to sets of teams to play each position on the field. The depth right now and in summer camp is more important so that everyone gets in better shape. I some who look like they was huffin and pufffin cause CNS kept hollering get in the huddle or line up on the ball and everybody seemed a little lack luster. RTR!

I thought the OL looked pretty good.  AJ looked uninspired at times.  Made some bad decisions and got lucky on first td throw.  RBs looked good. Both caught the ball. A lot of depth at rec. BS made some bad decisions also.  Never really threw the ball downfield.  LC looks like a big safety. The big concerns were penalties and turnovers.  CM had a good day punting with no rush. I like the way the ball comes off AG foot. Good height on kickoff.  

So HSC, that was luck on the first TD? I thought AJ saw the "D" not looking backand underthrew on purpose?

Since 2nd team defense held our 2nd team offense scoreless that showed incredible depth.  Lots of talent on our #2s-- to the point of probably being a Top 20 offense, nationally.

Then, 1st team defense held one of or maybe the best offense in the country to just 10.

I still say we are reading way too much into this game, meant as a reward for the players and designed not to give anything away to our competition come September.

I thought with an experienced db it could have been an int. it could have been a busted coverage.  The corner dropped and helped since no one threaten his area.  I agree it was a vanilla game plan. They did say at the beginning, I think, players were missing on d because of injuries.

I've read from other people at the game that AJ was very late with that 1st TD pass and gave the DB time to catch back up to the receiver.  The DB (Cyrus Jones) obviously didn't play the ball well (or at all).  A good DB would've broken that pass up, and depending on how well the WR fought for position, could've certainly been an INT.

Cyrus only has about 2 weeks or 6 or 8 practices on defense. They may have picked  on him on purpose.

I was there for A-Day. All of this football talk is fun and all, but nothing that happened has much to do with what will happen in September. It does, however, have everything to do with what happens in February. There were recruits lining the sidelines. They got to watch all the inspiring videos, hear Bear Bryant mumbling something unintelligible, and to see Julio, and Mark, and D.J etc. Then they got to see true freshman who enrolled in December actually get their shot. And they got to see all this unfold while surrounded by nearly 80k fans. This is a major recruiting event, and I've got to think it's pretty darned effective.

You are correct. It's a terrific event for the recruits. And I know, as well as everyone else, that this team will not resemble the finished product in September, but still is the only thing we can look at to make observations, at this point. I don't think anyone here is reading too much into it. Everyone is just simply posting what they observed.

Whenever I hear of Coach Bryant saying something unintelligible, it reminds of the Sports Illustrated reporter in Tuscaloosa to do a write up on him.  The SI reporter said much of what Coach Bryant said he couldn't understand, so he played his recorder to a Bryant assisistant in the hallway. The assistant laughed real big and said, "I hadn't heard him tell that one." Then walked off. LOL

 :lol2:  I enjoyed that anecdote.  Have one of those e-creds thinga-ma-bobs.