Crimson Red Sports

                                                                    OU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great victory.  I really thought the offensive game plan was spot on.

OFFFENSE:   Bama’s offense played well except for a couple of drives where they killed themselves.  The offense put together a total of 528 yards which included 200 rushing yards and 328 passing yards.  As far as negative plays, Bama had 2 tackles for losses and 1 sack.  One of the tackles for losses was when there was some confusion in the backfield between the QB and running back.  Bama is credited with only one three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 15 passing plays and 7 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone7 times which resulted in 5 touchdowns and 1 field goal.  The other trip was at the end of the game and Bama decided to kneel down instead of scoring.  I think I would have really like to see Bama score there.  However, by kneeling down you probably prevent your defense from having to go back on the field and this a lot less possibility of an injury on some play that really means nothing.  Bama did score 1 touchdown from out side the red zone.  Bama did leave points on the field as they self-destructed with penalties. 

QB:   Tua had an outstanding game missing only three passes.  He had 2 incompletions in the first half and 1 in the second.  The one in the second half would have been a catch if the receiver had given himself a little more room to work.  He did a great job checking into the correct plays.  The only knock was the mix-up in the backfield after a check which led to a negative play.  Hurts completed his only pass and ran well when he was given the opportunity.

RB:   The running backs combined for 191 yards rushing on 24 carries.  This breaks down to 7.9 yards per carry.  Jacobs led the way in carries and yardage while N Harris had the best overall average at 7.5 yards per carry.  They ran well and the protected well.  Both D Harris and Jacobs had big catches.

Rec:  Not counting running backs 7 different players had catches, which includes Hurts when he was in at the slot.  Three of the touchdown passes were to wide receivers while the other was to Jacobs who destroyed the OU safety on his run after the catch.  D Smith led the way with 6 catches followed by Juedy with 4.  Ruggs had 3 while Waddle and I Smith both had 2.   The did a good job blocking downfield on runs as well as helping receivers after the catch.

OL:  The OL played pretty well which should be expected with the defense from OU.  The key point to me was there were only 3 negative plays for the complete game.  I thought they got to the second level more often in this game than they did in the past game.  There were mistakes that I will discuss in the penalty area.

Def:  The defense played well especially early on.  I know they gave up yardage however, I think this was due to Bama building up a huge lead and not wanting OU to have many quick scoring opportunities.  They wanted them to have to drive the field.  Early in the game Bama’s rush contained Murry and coverage made him hold the ball.  This led to the early sack.  I think later the D was wanting to make more play and became a little undisciplined in their rush and lost their lanes.  As you saw Murry only needs a small crease to get off and running.  The defense gave up a total of 471 yards which included 163 rushing and 308 passing.   Most of the rushing yards were on scrambles by Murry.  He had 109 rushing yards which most were scrambles.  For negative plays, I have them credited with 3 tackles for losses and 3 sacks.  OU had only 1 three and out.  For plays covering 10+ yards, they had 13 passing plays and 7 running plays.  They got into the red zone 5 times and scored 3 touchdowns and kicked 2 field goals.  They did score once from outside the red zone.  The defense was also hurt by some missed tackles especially in the second half.

DL:  I thought they played well and put pressure on the QB without a lot of blitz help.  Williams is a beast who ate up two blocks on most of the plays.  In my opinion, I thought there were a couple of times where the OU OL grabbed the Bama players which may have allowed Murry to escape and there was no call.

LB:  They played well considering the offense they were facing.  They were put in a position where they had to play the run, cover the receivers, but they also had to watch the scrambles by Murry. 

DB:  They missed some opportunities to one two balls that could have been intercepted and stopped drives.  McKinney is credited with 4 passes defended which led the teams.  There were a couple of balls that were thrown up that the receivers made the play on.  I don’t understand why these receivers are given a free release by the DB’s but I guess they are doing the way they are taught.  It looked like Bama played 2 safeties most of the game, especially after the large lead to keep OU from scoring quickly.  I do want to say maybe a reason the receiver got behind the safety was he saw Murry scrambling and may have stepped up or froze for a second which allowed this to happen.

Special Teams:  The special teams had a good day.  They hit on all their extra points as well as their field goal.  Punting was ok, not outstanding.  I guess you can say they did their job and kept it away from the dangerous return man.  The one big return OU had was because of a block in the back which brought it back.  The big mistake was the fair catch on the return when OU was having to kick off after being assessed 2 15-yard penalties. This was the time Bama went three and out where they should have returned the kick and had the ball further up the field.

Penalties:  Bama had untimely and harmful penalties.  They had 4 penalties on one drive, one which negated a touchdown.   I will say I think this may have been a bad call and I think the announcers agree.  They called and illegal formation because Willis was not on the LOS.  Three of the 4 penalties were on Willis.  The other was on D Harris.  Other penalties help keep drives alive where OU scored touchdowns.

Finally, Bama came out hot and played well.  I don’t know if they lost a little focus or what.  The penalties that cost Bama a touchdown occurred after the were third and a short 1 in the red zone.  The are important points left on the field.  Also, I will be surprised if Miller will be back from his injury for the Championship game.

Feel free to comment:

 17 and Counting

I agree Coach, I do think that the Bama defense was starting to get tired though.

I agree the humidity pointed out by the announcers had and effect on the team.  I think they played about 69 defensive snaps.

Another great assessment, Coach. Can't wait to read your post, breaking down our win over Clemson.

I knew we couldn't contain Murray all night. He was the fastest player on the field, and was going to make his plays. He also had a lot of help from the multiple push offs Lamb had on Surtain.

You are absolutely correct about the crap call on Wills that cost us a TD.

The OU receivers are very good at pushing off and not getting a flag.

Well said hscoach. Look forward to next weeks game. RTR!

Great break-down Coach.  Thanks for your efforts through the season...

True.  Lamb pushed off more as the game progressed.  He's a talent, but he benefitted at critical times (4th downs) from pushes.

Good job again, coach.   :worship:

I was so busy yesterday with getting ready for church. Now my question is "How do you prepare for a QB that runs so much and so well? Do you have a spy or what?" Just wondering cause we seem to lose contain so much. RTR!

The QB for Clemson is an outstanding passing threat but not so much of a run threat.  They have a really good RB that can torch us if we aren't careful...

Excellent analysis, as usual, coach.

Murray seemed to be picking on Surtain all evening. I think his job was defending Lamb. I was wondering why we didn't use a more experienced corner such as Smith against such a good WR?

Yeah, Etienne is the real deal. Give him a step and he's gone. We will have to pressure T Lawrence all day and somehow cripple 12th year senior Hunter Renfrow.

Then, on the offensive side of the ball, we have to keep their D line out of our backfield.

Easy peasy, right?  :unsure:

I hope...

Excellent recap coach.  Thanks!  On to California and a victory over Clemson!  ROLL TIDE!!!

When you have a guy like Murry you have to keep your rushing lane and not go to far up the field.  It is good to have a spy, but he is so difficult to contain he can beat a guy one on one. 

I think Surtain has played as well this year as Smith.  You remember Smith was benched for a little while after getting burned in the OM game.  My biggest question is why is there no jam off the LOS?  I guess they think they are too talented to jam and are afraid of getting beat.

I

I too have wondered this is especially on the taller WR's so to break their rhythm some what? RTR!