Crimson Red Sports

The game Bama played was little more than a glorified scrimmage.  Bama’s second unit would have been a better test.  However, with that being said, I don’t think Bama looked like the number 2 team in the nation, especially on offense.   What will happen to Bama if they turn the ball over that many times to an SEC opponent?

Offense:  On offense Bama did rack up 482 yards of total offense.  However, the rushed for only 183 yards against an undersized Kent State DL.  Also, they had many short fields which limited the amount of yards they could gain.  I do think the Bama O was kept simple for this game.  

QB:  From the first impressions AJM was the better QB today.  I will also say that 1 int was his fault and the other was the rec’s fault.  The ball should have been caught.  Also, in my opinion AJ seems to have a shorter throwing motion than does PS.  I do understand and take into consideration this was PS first real college game under the watchful eyes of 100,000 fans.   I think AJM is a little more comfortable with the O.  It seemed to me that PS was staring his rec’s down many times.  I haven’t given up on PS  being a very good QB in the future it just seems that AJM is ahead at this time.  As far as PS int’s one was when he was hit from behind on a blitz and the other was on him with a bad/late throw.  On the deep balls if they missed they missed in the right place, where no one else could get the ball.  Also, I know PS held onto the ball a couple of times, but the rec’s do have to get open, or he better go to the check down.

RB:  They ran well at times.  I thought EL looked very good.  Many times TR was hit almost as soon as he got the ball.  I did notice TR did not do a very good job picking up the defender on a stunt which in turn rushed the QB.  

REC:  MM had a very good game.   Other rec contributed especially, DW.  DW also need to keep the ball tighter to his body when he is running with the football.I would have like to see more rec get a chance to catch the ball.  MM also did block pretty well on the short rec screens.    

OL:  He is where I see the problem.  I didn’t see what was supposed to be a dominate power on the field yesterday.  There were blocking assignments missed.  I don’t care what Andre Ware said #65CW did not have a good game.  He did well on a couple of plays, but in my opinion not a very good game.  He was not moving his feet and allowing defenders to cross his face. I saw the OL standing around and not staying on their blocks.  If the Golden Flashes can give the Bama OL this much trouble, what will happen when they play an SEC opponent.  I really expected Bama to run at will against the Flashes.  
 
Defense:  There is little to say about the D except they played well.  They played good solid technique against and under manned team.  Early the Flashes helped them out by dropping passes.  I really didn’t expect much from Kent State.  The only negative was the lack of turnovers.  There were many opportunities for int’s that didn’t happen.   I do think there may have been an emphasis on tackling this offseason and fall practice.  I noticed the defenders wrapped up more instead of just trying to knock someone down.  The D was very vanilla.  They really

DL:    Did well keep the OL off the LB’s and allowed them to make plays.

LB:  All played well.

DB:   Did pretty well.  I thought there was a little too much separation with some of the rec.   I think, but not sure, MB got caught looking in the backfield on the TD pass.  He lined up over the TE and I think he was supposed to have him man to man.  That use to be our Red coverage where the CB’s would take the displaced rec and the safeties would take the tight rec or backs.  
  
Special teams:  A few things stood out to me here.  First, MM did a good job with his returns.  Second, there are a couple of head hunters on the kickoff team, #3 and #33 come to mind.  Also, #3 laid a guy out on a block on one of the punt returns.  

Penalties:  Very few penalties which is good for the first game.  

Finally, if I were voting I may move, at this point, LSU up ahead of Bama.  I know some people are not going to like that statement, but the OL has to pick it up if Bama wants to contend the rest of the year.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll

Thanks hscoach for the great insight.

  #+  to you HS Coach. It is so good to have you back. RTR!

Very good post hscoach. Excellant information and observations. I always enjoy reading your posts. In SC's absence this morning I posted this on the home page blog.

Great analysis. I think that the OL will work itself out. There was a lot of shifting around, and to be frank I don't think they took KSU seriously (which is not acceptable). I believe CK will be starting at LT very quickly, which will allow BJ back to his normal slot. My main concern is with Vlachos - I think he has digressed and will continue to get beat in the middle.

Thanks pmull.

Good analysis hscoach.  I think you are right on the money with your observations.  I agree that we did not look like a #2 team at all this week.  Hopefully the O-line just wasn't motivated today.  Of course that is a problem, but it is a much better problem than if they just aren't all that good.

I think the motivation issue will be taken care of in practice this week.  Dont'a tried to address it on the sidelines during the game.  Maybe seeing themselves on film will hurt their pride a little and stir them up some.

Great stuff, Coach. This should be forwarded to the team.

Maybe Kuiyam will send a link to Jesse.  :D

Thanks, but they have a lot more coaches more qualified than me.

Excellent analysis, coach. I always look forward to seeing what you have to say after the game, especially since you are much more in tune to the technical aspects of the game than I am. I though you were spot on with the O-Line, which was my greatest concern as well. It seemed like they were in our backfield way to much.

Thank you H.S. coach. I don't see our "O" line as much of a problem as many others do. I think that 1 K.S. who had the of the top 10 defenses in the nation last year, may have as good of a defense this year. especially with Roosevelt Nix. The man is a flat out baller! He gave our O, fits and was living in our backfield for a while. We may or may not see another D lineman with his talent, this year. SEC or otherwise.

Enjoyed your review/report hscoach and thanks for your input.  Great read.

Yes, K.S. did have a top 10 D last year, but look at the competition they play.  I will agree that RN can play, but he was aided by the fact the the OL missed blocks on him, especially #65.  He got lazy and did not move his feet at times.  It concerns me that Bama could not run at will when they are playing a team who would not win a game in the SEC.

The announcers made a pretty big deal about their #10 ranked defense last year.  I am not buying it one bit.  In my opinion that is a misleading and worthless stat.  But I decided to go and do a little research just to make sure.  Here is their schedule from last year:

Date		Opponent	Result	Record
Thu, Sept 2	vs	Murray State	W41-10	1-0 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 11	@	Boston College	L26-13	1-1 (0-0)
Sat, Sept 18	@	#22 Penn State	L24-0	1-2 (0-0)
Sat, Oct 2	@	Miami (OH)	L27-21	1-3 (0-1)
Sat, Oct 9	vs	Akron	W28-17	2-3 (1-1)
Sat, Oct 16	@	Toledo	L34-21	2-4 (1-2)
Sat, Oct 23	@	Bowling Green	W30-6	3-4 (2-2)
Sat, Oct 30	vs	Ball State	W33-14	4-4 (3-2)
Sat, Nov 6	vs	Temple	L28-10	4-5 (3-3)
Sat, Nov 13	vs	Army	L45-28	4-6 (3-3)
Sat, Nov 20	@	Western Michigan	L38-3	4-7 (3-4)
Fri, Nov 26	vs	Ohio	W28-6	5-7 (4-4)

Having the #10 defense statistically after that cupcake schedule is very misleading.  Contrast that to the schedule that Alabama played last year.  I think we had the number 1 defense or at least a top 5 defense, I can't remember for sure.  But the opposition that we collected our defensive stats against is not even in the same universe with the guys they played.  To say they had a top 10 defense makes it sound like they were just a few spots behind Alabama's defense, but there really is no comparison.  It is apples and oranges my friends.

Exactly!

I hope part of the problem is that we haven't settled on the right combination yet and they are still moving guys around and experimenting some.  Hopefully once they get the real starting line up settled with the guys at their normal spots they will be much improved... hopefully

The good thing is you have players to push players.   One is not getting it done, you have another.

One thing, I would have like to have seen, they may have done it, is playing some backups with some starters and see how they fit.  They may have done this more than was noticable on TV.

I'm a little concerned that if hscoach could see the "lazy feet" of our O-line, how come someone on the sidelines wasn't eating their butts up when they came off the field? Plus, Barrett Jones needs to be at RG, where he was All SEC.

Really appreciate the time you put into that hscoach, good stuff.   #+

Thanks HSCoach. Great analysis as usual.  #+

 #+ Thanks hsc! As to your moving LSU up in the polls, I think that controversy will be reserved for AFTER the PSU game, giving the Tide a chance to perform against real competition. My thoughts on the opener are that the Tide used it for evaluation and locating problematic issues. CNS will iron out the wrinkles this week, in preparing for PSU. Roll Tide!

How are things at Fort BAMAWV? Are you going to PSU game?

Coach, it looked to me like MM and DW both ran good routes.  The only player that seemed to not be in sync with the QB was Norwood, at times.  Did you notice anything about the route running for the game?  And why didn't our RBs get more passes, as usual last year?  Looked like we wanted to work on passing to the WR and FL (i.e., more down-field passing).

I might add that the pass interference deemed "uncatchable" to Norwood was bull.  You?

I think that is what Donta did.

Good and naw. My buddy has PSU season tix. He suffered flood damage last week (Rhode Island) and called to say he could not go, but offered to send me the tickets. I declined.

I really can't say if they ran good routes or not.  I don't know what they are taught.  Maybe the QB feels more comfortable with MM and DW.  Maybe they did want to work more with the wideouts instead of the backs.  Also, this was a basic O game plan like the D was.  There are two thoughts here for your next opponent.  One you give them very little to work see so they are not sure what is coming.  Two, you show a lot where they have to decide what to concentrate on. in their game plan.

Great read coach. I will add this one tidbit. Usually the most improvement is made between games 1 and 2. I do think CK will start at PSU allowing BJ to move inside.

That is true if you win the second game.

It did seem as TR was hit a few times as soon as he got the ball.  Interesting that it didn't seem to be the case with Lacy.  It's like the defense was gonna key on TR and tackle him whether he got the ball or not.  Probably not the case, just seemed like it though.

I believe Trent may be having issues with the leg that was wrapped all of fall camp. O line problems or not Trent was not running like "Trent."

There may still be issues with his leg, but the bigger issue to me is contact before he even makes the LOS.

^^^THIS^^^

Several times 2 or 3 guys were in his face about the time he got the ball in the backfield.

Why do you think this was happening? Was it technique, the players underestimated Kent St., poor chemistry on the O-line, poor O-line coachig, all of the above, etc? I read your article where you talk about foot placement, but would that account for all of this? Jut wondering.


 :dunno:

In CNS news conf today (Mon.) he talked about the OL problems and mentioned guys being "on their toes" and such. Overall, he was not happy!  There was also a report (unconfirmed as far as I know) that BJ was back at guard and Cyrus K was working at LT with the first team.

A true freshman in starting OL gives me some 'pause' but CNS did say he played well on Sat.

I think it could be a combination of things.  There may have been a lack of focus because of who they were playing.  Also, getting lazy, stepping with the proper foot, thinking they would just go out and beat them easily.  If you watch carefully you will see #65 look like he just lays on the ground on the backside cut off block.  What he should be doing is taking a step with his right foot forcing the guy to cross his face.  I think they may have also thought TR would be past the LOS in no time and didn't really have to sustain their blocks.  

Well I have a question. What do we do to repair this problem? RTR!