Thank you Ricky and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

                                             UG vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory and SEC Championship.  This was a different team than we have seen this year.  We have seen signs of this team during the year, but not to this extent.

OFFFENSE:  The offense scored of 5 straight drives after two punts on the first two drives.  They put together a total of 536 yards which included 421 passing and 115 rushing.  Georgia was only giving up an average of 231 yards per game.  As for negative plays, Bama had 4 tackles for losses, ZERO sacks, and a fumble they didn’t lose. Bama only had one three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 12 pass plays and 6 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and kicked a field goal.  From outside the red zone, they scored 2 touchdowns and kicked a field goal. The final touchdown came form the defense on a 42-yard interception return by Battle.

QB:  Young had a very good game. He completed 59% of his passes and was 26 for 44.  Young threw many balls downfield that were right on the money.  He did a good job running the ball as he had to scramble a few times and ended up rushing for 40 yards on 3 carries.  On one impressive play he turned a scramble into an option play, and it led to one of the 10+ yard runs mentioned above.  He also had a block on that play.  I will say I thought he had a little bit of happy feet, as they say, in the early goings. On one of his incompletions, it looked like Williams may have misjudged the ball with a little help from the defender. A couple of other things I want to point out about Young is his ability to throw the ball before the cut by the receiver and he makes big throws when necessary.

RB: In my opinion, Robinson had a hell of a game since he was playing hurt.  He ran hard as well as picking up the blitz.  I didn’t know if he would even be able to play after I saw him reach for his hamstring in his last game.  Sanders had a couple of good runs also. I don’t know what his injury was, but I really hope he is fine as Bama needs him, but also because of all he has been through.

Rec:  Williams and Metchie were the main targets in the game.  Williams had 7 catches for 184 yards while Metchie had 97 on 6 catches.  However, Metchie was lost during the game.  Bolden had one of his best days with 5 catches for 54 yards.  After Metchie was hurt, Holden came in and had 2 catches and last weeks hero, Brooks had 1 catch. Billingsley had 2 catches, but they seem to come at big times and Latu added 1 catch.

OL:  This as I have said before had to improve for Bama to be successful the rest of the year.  They stepped up in a big way.  I don’t know what the change was during the week of practice, but they looked like a completely different group.  They picked up stunts, they got some push at time, and they gave up ZERO sacks.  I really with I knew what caused the change, but it clicked this week.  Their technique looked better as well as looking more aggressive.  I’m not saying it was perfect, but it was a completely different look.  This game couldn’t have been won without this improvement.  The question is can they keep it up?

Def: The defense played well but made a few mistakes.  One they missed some tackles especially on one touchdown.  They had too many penalties which aided touchdown drives.  They had a hard time covering the tight end.  Bama gave up a total of 449 yards which included 340 passing and 109 rushing.  For negative plays, I have the Bama defense with 3 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown.  I credit Bama with 2 three an outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Georgia with 13 passing plays and 4 running plays.  Of the 4 running plays, a couple of them were scrambles by the QB when the pass rush got to far up field.  UG got into the red zone 5 times and they scored 2 touchdowns, kicked a field goal, threw an interception, and turned the ball over on downs.  The scored one touchdown from outside the red zone. The bad part is Bama missed a few tackles that aided the touchdowns by UG.  Sometimes the first one there goes for the tackle instead of wrapping up.  Fortunately, this didn’t happen numerous times, but they were at important points in the game.

DL: They played well and the tackles by this group were divided up.  Their main job is to allow the LB’s and safeties to make tackles and this is what happened if you look at the leading tacklers.  They didn’t get many sacks, but they put enough pressure on the QB to affect him.

LB: The only knock I have here, and it may be unwarranted since I don’t know the defensive scheme, is the numerous receptions by an uncontested tight end.  I know the safety had coverage on them most of the time, but they seem to run thru the zones uncontested.  I know To’oTo’o was in coverage on one tight end touchdown.  It was 6’7” vs a 6’ LB.  The receiver highpoints the ball, so the defender has to go for the arms to rip them away from the catch.

DB: This was a hit or miss area.  First, they came up with two interception and one was a pick 6.  There could have easily been another pick 6 but just missed.  They didn’t cover the tight end very well.  On one big pass play the ball was underthrown and the defended overran the route and the receiver made the catch.  The PI calls were instrumental in helping keep touchdown drives alive. 

Special teams: The special teams were solid.  I will point out here that Williams, who was ejected last game for targeting, had 2 solo tackles and 1 help on a tackle. 

Penalties:  I have Bama with 7 penalties for 85 yards during the game.  The is less than last week.  The problem is there were several penalties that aided the touchdown drives of Georgia. On one drive Bama had a defensive holding, and 2 pass interference calls.  On another touchdown drive they had another pass interference. The 7 penalties are broken down into 5 defensive penalties and 2 offensive penalties.

Finally, this was a completely different offensive line than we have seen in the past and this change led to the victory in my opinion.   Hopefully they won’t be satisfied and will continue to improve.  On defense, they have to clean up the tackling again and the DB’s have to start making plays.
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18 and Counting

What has been the biggest surprise of the football season for you this year?

Congrats to Bryce.  Well done young man.  The more I see this kid the more I like him.

In my opinion they will have to play their best game of the year.

I don't know the answer for sure, but this did bring some things to mind.
Also, am not saying this is the reasoning.

First, being in Tx for so long it reminded me of when Mack Brown was the head coach at UT.  UT got many 4/5* athletes.  It was suggested that the coaches at UT didn't develop these athletes to a higher level.  Maybe that is what is happening at Bama with the current OL coach.

Second, the OL coach is an ex-head professional coach.  The questions I have; Is he putting his all in it or is he looking for his next pro coaching opportunity?  Also, in the pros, as stated by some ex-Bama players, the practices are not as tough in the pros as they were at Bama.  Is the OL coach bringing that mentality to the college practices. 

I agree they don't have the, as you say piss and vinegar, they need.  But I have noticed some poor technique that seems to be there each week.

Bama has a tough couple of weeks:  Dec 4th  Gonzaga #3;  Dec  11th  Houston  #15;  Dec 14th Memphis #18.

It did seem most of the problems were on the right early.  However, there were a few on the left, and if I remember correctly, the TE was involved. But I also remember the LT stepping or looked like the stepped with the wrong foot, a cross over step instead of a jab with the right foot and allowed the defender to get inside.  What worries me is the length of time it takes to correct the problems.  Also, the OL as I said seem to be too nonchalant about the job.  They need more or a mean streak in my opinion.

Yes I  worded that wrong.  What I was trying to point out was thst AU had only 30 more total yards than Bama did penalty yards.

Bama beats Miami 96-64 in Orlando.  If my stats are correct, they were 1 for 11 from the arc in the first half and 15 for 19 in the second half.  They were down by at least 9 in the first half.

One thing I left off; AU only had 30 more yards than Bama did in penalties.  AU had 159 total yards and Bama had 129 yards in penalties.

                                             AU vs Bama

It’s not how you start; it is how you finish.

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  This was a game that could have gone either way.  Bama, especially defensively, made some huge plays and then the offense decided to join the party in the 4th quarter.  I don’t say this often but the coaching on the offensive side of the ball leaves me frustrated.  How can you go into a game, after being hurt by the blitz in early games, not be prepared for the same type of game plan?   The play calling has left something to be desired.  Knowing the blitzes are coming don’t you work your shorter passing game and allow your athletes to make plays after the catch?  Also, hot routes should be worked into the game plan.

OFFFENSE:  The offense trailed in the game until the last 24 seconds of the game.  The huge drive was a gift since Bigbsy went out of bounds to stop the clock and save Bama a timeout and put extra time on the clock for them on that last drive.  The offense put together 388 total yards of offense which included 317 passing yards and 71 rushing yards.  I have Bama with 5 three and outs and 4 of those were in the first half.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 8 sacks, and an interception.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 10 passing plays and 2 running plays.  Eight of the passing plays were in the 2nd half and 1 10+ yard run was negated by a penalty.  Bama got into the red zone twice and kicked one field goal and muffed another field goal attempt.  They scored their big game tying touchdown from outside the red zone. 

QB:  Young completed 25 for 51 passes during the game for 317 yards.  This is a 49 % completion rate, but I will give more information on this later as he was under pressure most of the day.  There were also some drops that added to these stats.  I’m not saying he had a great day, but under the circumstances he did a decent job.

RB:  Robinson was hit most of the day on or behind the LOS most of the day.  He did have a big run and some big catches. 

Rec:  Metchie was the man as he had over half the completions with 13 catches for 150 yards.  Metchie was also the go to guy in overtime.  Brooks came in and had 2 catches and the only touchdown catch, in regular time, in the game.  Bolden had 3 catches while Williams had 2 before his exit.  Both tight ends, had a catch and if I remember correctly they were catches that were for 1st downs.   

OL:  This, in my opinion is the main concern for the offense.  I see too many times where the defense gets under the pads of the offense.  When this is done the offense cannot get a push.  There were at least 3 times where it was 3rd or 4th and 1 and the offensive line couldn’t get the push to pick up that yard.  Too me they play a little too nonchalant and don’t have enough meanness.  It doesn’t seem to bother them when they get beat.  I don’t know for sure if this is coaching or talent.  I also saw at least once where it looked like the OL-man took a cross over step which allow the DL-man to cross his face and make the play.  I don’t like saying this, but how does it take so long to make adjustments?  Why are they not prepared coming into the game?  It seems the OL-men that were recruited were some of the best in the nation.  Something has to change here whether it’s coaching or personnel.

Def:  The defense, in my opinion, won this game by keeping it close as AU had good field position early in the game.   The came up big in the second half again when AU had good field position.  The defense gave up a total of 159 yards which included 137 passing yards and 22 rushing yards.  For negative plays, I have the defense with 10 tackles for losses and 6 sacks.  I have the defense with 4 three and outs and one 1 and outs since they intercepted the first down pass.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have AU with 5 passing plays and 2 running plays.  Only 1 passing play in the 2nd half went for 10+ yards.  They got into the red zone 3 times, aided by penalties a couple of times, and scored one touchdown and kicked a field goal.  The other time they were sacked and taken out of field goal position. 

DL: The DL played very well.  They made the plays at or behind the LOS many times.  They pressured the QB numerous times.  The tackles along the DL were pretty much divided up equally among the starters and backups.

LB: The played extremely well.  They were all over the field making plays. 

DB: They played one of their better games.  They did give up a couple of completions, but they were usually outstanding catches.  There was one where Jobe missed making the play as he actually overran the play.  There were a couple of one-handed catches where the offensive player just made the play as the coverage was there.  They came up and make many tackles with sure tackling technique.  It didn’t look as if they busted any coverage during the game.  On the touchdown, the defender overran the play and slipped and the LB missed one of the few tackles during the game.  Battle’s tackle on Bigsby short of a first down probably saved the game and helped him out of bounds on the tackle which saved Bama a timeout.

Special teams: There were a couple of plays that were crucial.  First the missed field goal because of a fumbled hold probably cost Bama 3 points.  The partially blocked punt set AU up in good field position and the defense made a huge stop.   They did give up a 19-yard return that also put AU in good field positon.

Penalties:  Bama was credited with 11 penalties but really had 12 as one was declined.  They were divided up with 5 on offense, 4 on defense, and 2 on special teams.  Now this is a huge concern but what is also a huge concern is that almost all of these were major penalties which mean 10 to 15 yard penalties.  Only 2 of them were of the 5-yard variety.  I will say there were a couple of questionable calls like the roughing the passes.  I don’t say this often, but there were a few missed that could have been called against AU.  They could have been huge like the missed PI early in the game.  Also, the hands to the face that knocked the offensive players helmet off and cost Bama a good gain.  Finally, there was a missed facemask.

Finally, if Bama going to continue to play after the next game, they, in my opinion will have to defeat UG.  They have to clean up the offensive line play.  I have said this more than once and the same problems seem to continue.

Extra:  Bama dropped back to pass, not counting overtime 58 times.  Out of all these attempts, the QB was sacked 8 times.  He completed 31 passes, on many of the attempt he was under pressure and got the ball off or scrambled.  On about 16 of these passes there was no pressure, and they were completed.  There were at least 3 drops possibly 5 if you asked the receivers if they should have had the ball.  Also, there were 5 passes where he had to tuck and run.  These pressured can be divided up among different players, TE’s, RG, RT and probably more that I missed.
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18 and Counting

They used To'oTo'o as a spy the last night and I could see the same in the next game.  At least there seemed to be a better game plan for the blitz.

I agree mental errors are a killer.  Just like your pass rush getting to far up field, or losing your gap.

                                             ARK vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  The was a hard-fought game where Ark never gave up or backed down.  Bama’s defense only had a few 3 and outs but a couple were huge.  The offense actually made some adjustments against the blitz, and it looked like it took Ark out of blitzing as much as they wanted. 

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 671 yards of total offense which included 559 passing and 112 rushing.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, and a loss fumble.  For three and outs, I have Bama with 1. They did have another fumble, but it was on special teams and did not lose it.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, Bama had 21 passing plays and 5 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 5 times.  They scored 2 touchdowns, kicked a field goal, fumbled at the 2, and a sack took them out of the red zone and led to a missed field goal.  From outside the red zone, Bama scored 3 touchdowns and kicked a field goal.  They did score a two point conversion which was huge at the time.

QB:  Young completed 31 of 40 for 559 yards and a 78% completion rate.  There were also a few drops in the game that would have made these stats even better.  He did make a huge mistake when he took a sack on third down and put the kicker in a situation where he had to make a 47-yard field goal.  Granted he can make it, but if he had thrown the ball away it would have been 31-yarder.  What I still see is his ability to keep his eyes downfield and get completions, like the touchdown to Leary.

RB:  Robinson had a good game rushing for 122 yards on 27 carries.  However, he did a very good job picking up the blitzes.  He also added 3 catches for 18 yards.  Basically, he played the whole game as he was only subbed for a few times. 

Rec:  The receivers were again led by Metchie (10 for 173) and Williams (8 for 190). As far as receivers Latu and Bolden both had 3 catches, Brooks and Billingsley both had 1.  The remainder of the completions went to backs.  Latu’s made a good catch and run but fumbled in the red zone at the 2-yard line.  It was huge because Ark had pulled within one score of Bama.  I do think the receivers blocked better in this game than they have in the past.  Brooks made a huge block on a reception by Metchie.

OL:  The did better in my opinion, but part of that was the formations that help take Ark out of their blitz packages.  They were beat at the point of attack on the 4th down play, but they were also outnumbered in the box. I really don’t know if George played better than Owens, but at least there is some completion there and everyone knows their job is on the line. 

Def:  The defense started out playing well. Then they seem to get pushed around some.  That being said they made the plays they needed to get the win.  Bama gave up 468 yards of total offense which included 358 passing and 110 rushing. For negative plays, I have the defense with 7 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, and 2 fumbles one of which they lost. I have Bama with 3 three and outs and a 1 and out as they recovered a fumble on the first play of a series.  The last 3 and out was huge as Ark had pulled to within one score of Bama.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Ark with 11 passing plays and 4 running plays.  I think 2 of the running plays were QB scrambles as Bama’s pass rush got too far up the field.  I will say Bama is still doing a better job making tackles.  They don’t miss as many as they did earlier in the season.

DL: They made some big plays, but they also were beat when they rushed too far up the field against a QB that could run.  This opened the running lanes and Ark made some of their biggest runs when this happened.  In the first couple of drives, they were getting a good push and separating from the OL. 

LB: They played better than the score indicates.  To’oTo’o was the leading tackler with 13.  Anderson was not far behind with 11.  They also combined for the 3 sacks.  Harris was put in a bad position with the running back on the touchdown pass.  Hard to ask a LB to cover a skill player in the open field. 

DB: There were more pass plays that were thrown short and yards were made after the catch.  They did hit a couple of bigger ball.  I will say I thought the long touchdown pass was offensive PI.  However, it wasn’t called so you have to play thru it.  There was at least one bust on coverage as the DB was late on the touchdown pass.  They have got to clean up the mistakes here for Bama to be successful.

Special teams: There were a couple of plays that could have been disastrous for Bama.  First, Bolden fumbled a punt, but he got back on it.  This would have put Ark in the red zone.  The second was the missed field goal where points were needed to help widen the lead.  There was 1 play that was disastrous when Ark converted on the fake field goal.  Usually, the DB’s are man to man on a receiver, so I can understand how the guy get free down the field. 

Penalties:  Bama had some crucial penalties.  One holding negated a TD for Bama.  A pass interference gave Ark a 1st down on 3rd and 16 and allowed them to continue on a TD drive.  While I am speaking of penalties, I was not impressed with this crew.   

Finally, Bama will have to play better if they are going to continue to win.  Too many mental mistakes as well as poor execution on both sides of the ball.  This night they left anywhere from 6 to 21 points on the field as they missed a field goal, after being in the red zone, 3 to 7 pts there.  They fumbled at the 2 which would have been a 1st an goal.  They started the first scoring drive at Ark 32 and ended up kicking a field goal.  You really need to convert at least a couple of these.

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