Crimson Red Sports

                                             NMS vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  This game, as I have called others before, was nothing more than a glorified scrimmage.  This is a game they should and did dominate on both sides of the ball.  It was also an opportunity to get in a lot of technique work.  However, there were still mistakes.

OFFFENSE:  The offense was dominant as well as they should have been.  They put together 587 total yards of offense which included 340 passing and 247 rushing.  This was also with backups getting extended playing time in the second half as Bama called off the dogs as they say.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 7 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, and they lost a fumble.  The fumble was caused by the tackle missing their block and a quick direct route to the QB.  Bama had no 3 and outs in the game.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 11 passing plays and 9 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 6 times scoring 5 touchdown and kicking a field goal.  They also scored 3 touchdowns from outside the red zone.  This score could have been a lot worse if Bama coaches had wanted it to be.

QB:  Young completed 21 of 23 passes for 270 yards which equates to 91%.  The 2 misses were caused by a drop and a tipped ball.  He averaged 12.8 yards per completion.  He scrambled effectively; he just needs to learn how to slide.  If that means bringing in a baseball coach, so be it.   Tyson was 6 for 8 for 43 yards.  By this time in the game, Bama had complete control and had many backups in.  Milroe was 2 for 5 and did show great scrambling ability.  He looks to have a good arm, but not sure if he keeps his eyes downfield well enough.  Maybe, since the RB position is short, he could step in there. Finally, Barker got a little playing time.  He completed the only pass he threw and by this time, NMS knew Bama was running the ball to run out the clock so they were keyed on the run.

RB:  The running game was completely different than a week ago, but so was the competition.  Robinson ran well and averaged 11 yards per carry mainly because of his 63-yard run.  Williams only had one carry for 11 yards where he got hurt.  Sanders came in and ran well especially behind the backups.  Leary and Kennedy got a combined 10 carries for 38 yards.  Never thought Bama would be moving a linebacker, Kennedy, to RB because they were short of RBs.  Robinson did a better job pass blocking this game, but considering the competition he should have.

Rec:  The receivers were again led by Williams(158yds) and Metchie(48yds), each with 6 catches.    Eleven other players, including backs, had catches.  Williams led with 3 touchdowns, Latu had 1 as well as Billingsley.  What really caught my eye was the lack of blocking especially by Williams.

OL:  This was a chance to get technique work done and get better.  They did make a few mistakes, in my notes I put 75 and 78, but just know they didn’t make the blocks needed.  I know 75 got beat on a goal line play and Robinson was tackled for no gain.  The sack/fumble was when 78 was beat on the edge and the QB had no chance.  I really don’t know how to access their performance since the should have dominated all day.  It was good to hear the OL coach, according to the announcers, was getting on their butts on the sideline.  I know there was some shuffling around, but they have to be better for Bama to be successful.

Def:  Except for a couple of plays, I thought the defense had a good game.  That being said, they should have dominated this team because of the gap in talent.  NMS had a total of 138 yards which included 129 passing and 9 rushing yards.  I have Bama’s defense with 5 tackles for losses, 7 sacks, and a fumble recovery.  I credit them with 4 three and outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have them with 5 passing plays and 2 running plays.  The 2 running plays were scrambles against a 3-man rush where a gap opened up and the QB took off.  They never got into the red zone.  They did kick a field goal from outside the red zone, which was aided by a phantom face mask call. 

DL: They dominated the LOS, which they should have, and contained the offense.  You can see this by the total number of yards they had.  They were able to pressure the QB most of the day.

LB:  They made the plays when the got the opportunity.  The problem was the DL or the safeties in coverage made them.  I will say, Sanders may have lost his starting job to Turner.

DB:  They didn’t have any real big plays during the game.  The two longest plays were a 23- and 19-yard reception on a busted coverage.  On the 19-yard reception, I think there were two safeties and a LB over there so how does one not take the short guy and the other goes with the deeper guy.  I don’t understand why they can’t communicate on who has what when they are lined up near each other. On the 23-yard reception, I didn’t see the safety threatened by another receiver, so why didn’t he respond sooner? They should have had at least 2 picks in the game, but I guess that is why they play on the defensive side of the ball and not the offensive side of the ball.  Again, they were aided by a good pass rush which makes playing coverage easier.

Special teams: The big play on special teams was the punt block that led to a touchdown.  Also, Bolden had a couple of good punt returns when he came in and replaced Earle.   

Penalties:  Bama is credited with 4 penalties, but the phantom facemask is the reason for it.  It also gave them 15 yards on the scoring drive where they kicked a 50-yard field goal.  May not have scored if not for that.  The other penalties were and offsides penalty on the defense, a holding on the offense, and holding on special teams.  This is better than the past.

Finally, it is really hard to tell if Bama really got better.  The competition just wasn’t up to par.  Hopefully, they will continue to improve at practice as it should be tougher than this game.
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

Thanks hscoach for a good display. I too, hope the O-line finds better people to jell at the positions. The injuries really have me worried with Arky and auburn coming up. RTR!

Thanks again, Coach. Hopefully between this scrimmage and practice this week, we can dispose of Arky. We very much need to be ready for the barn. That golden horseshoe rears it's ugly head against us way too often when we go to Jordan Hare.

Thanks again for your insight. I think the defense is playing very well, despite the competition. The offense all depends on the O line, as it always does. If Bama were to start getting consistent play there, it would help tremendously.

Good assessment, coach.  We should know more about the "new" O-line this week against Arky.  If we can run on them, then we've improved.

Thanks again.

hscoach, who in your thoughts will be our starting O-line this week? RTR!

Thanks for the assessment coach.  Always enjoy reading your thoughts.  Hate that we had all those injuries.  I know it is part of the game but we are getting awfully thin at some spots.

ROLL TIDE!!!  Beat Arkansas!

I really don't know.  What concerns me more about who starts are a couple of questions:  1.  Why could they not make adjustments against LSU?  2.  Are the players not smart enough to make the adjustments? 
At times they look outstanding, then other times they look like they couldn't start for someone like NMS.

The defense is playing better, but still have a couple of lapses and they seem to come at a very important time.  However, look how they have cut down on missed tackles as well as getting pressure from someone besides Anderson.

You are correct everything depends on the OL, no protection no passing game, no blocking or beat at the point of attack, no running game.