Game notes: NMS vs Bama

NMS vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the win. This is a game that was and should have been dominated by Bama. However, there still needs to be some improvements on both sides of the ball.

OFFFENSE: The offense put together 603 yards of total offense. This is broken down into 318 yards rushing and 285 passing. I do think the rushing yards are a little deceiving because 174 of those yards came on 3 rushes, a 75-yard run by Ruggs, a 25-yard scramble by Tua, and 74-yard run by Robinson. The stats show Bama averaged 9.9 yards per rush, but if you take those 3 plays out the average drops to 4.8. As far as negative play, Bama had 3 tackles for losses and that was it. I credit them with 4, where there were 2 in each half. For plays that cover 10+ yards, I credit Bama with 13 pass plays and 5 running plays that covered that distance. Bama scored 10 times which included 8 touchdowns and 2 field goals. They scored 5 touchdowns from outside the red zone and kick 2 field goals from outside the red zone. The 3 times they got into the red zone they scored touchdowns. At this point in the season, they have scored touchdowns 100% of time they have reached the red zone.

QB: Tua completed 67% of his passes, but I thought he could have played better. At times it looked as though he has his receiver decided before the play developed. In other words, I don’t think he read the coverage every time after he stated his drop. I thought he tried to force a long ball when he had the big lead. He had a better competition percentage against Duke. I also thought there were a few balls that were not right on target. They were catchable balls, but a little behind or low. Jones came in and completed 56% of his passes and did an adequate job with the backups.

RB: The running backs combined for 210 rushing yards. They did this on 29 carries which breaks down into 7.2 yards per carry. Again, as I mentioned above, if you take the one run for 74 yards away, Bama only rushed for 136 yards on 28 carries. It looks as I said last week, they tend to look to bounce the ball and not quiet trusting the blocking yet.

Rec: Five different receivers registered catches yesterday. Jeudy again led the way with 8 catches, while Smith had 5, Ruggs 4, and Waddle 2. Waddle only had 2 catches but averaged 26 yards per catch. They also combined for 4 touchdown catches. The group also had some good blocks on the long runs.

OL: The OL may have made some positive strides, but I feel they still need a lot of improving to do if Bama is to be a national contender. This was an undersized team that Bama should have dominated at the LOS. They still didn’t pick up some simple stunts by the DL that allowed the QB to be pressured. They did allow some pressure at times on passing plays. I know there are going to be some breakdown, but if they have to face a DL, say like an LSU or AU, can they hold up? Can that get enough push to sustain a running game? I hate to say it, but at this point I don’t see it.

Def: I thought the defense played well, but there were a few breakdowns and a few missed tackles. The defense gave up a total of 262 yards which included 161 passing and 101 rushing. 168 of those yards came in the second half, and 142 of those came on 2 drives. Forty-fours of those yards came on one play where the defender was picked off by the official and then the other defender missed a tackle. I have Bama credited with 5 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, 1 interception and3 fumbles, 2 which they recovered. As for 3 and outs, I credit the Bama defense with 6 of them. For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have 7 pass plays and 3 running plays that covered that distance. They scored once on a field goal from outside the red zone and got into the red zone twice. The scored one touchdown and they game ended with them in Bama’s red zone.

DL: I thought the DL played ok, however I think they need to be a better job using their hands. In the game, the NMS OL were using a cut technique and trying to get the ball off quick. They did lose their rushing lanes a couple of times which allowed the QB to scramble and pick up positive yardage. Part of this is them not getting of the blocks and pushing to far up the field.

LB: They had a tough job with the short passes to the outside. They seemed to play a lot of dime package since they only had 1 inside LB most of the day.

DB: They played well. The longest play they gave up was a short pass, where I think it was Carter, led to a gain of 44 yards. What I have noticed is the DB’s have done a good job of preventing the runs/passes to the outside to get to the outside. They have done a good job turning them back inside to where the defenders are.

Special Teams: The special teams were solid. Bama has not had a kickoff returned against them this year. The punting game was fine. Bama made an adjustment on the punt return team by putting 2 back when NMS used the rugby punt. It paid off as Waddle made a big return on one punt. All extra points were made and 2 field goals of 48 and 49 yards. It looked like they may have been good from over 50.

Penalties: Bama had 4 penalties for 35 yards. One, penalty was a block in the back that brought the punt return for a touchdown back. Fortunately, they went on and scored on an 89-yard drive. There was a 5 yard on the punt for illegal motion, a 5 yarder for illegal substitution, an offsides by a DB which was declined because the QB escaped and scrambled for a touchdown. The final penalty was a kickoff out of bounds.

Finally, Bama started faster this week against a vastly inferior team. This was a game which should have allowed Bama to get better in many areas especially the OL. They got a chance to play a lot of dime defense and work on coverages. Also, they had a chance to get the backups in and play several minutes on both sides of the ball.

Feel free to comment:

17 and Counting