First,   I want to send congrats to Tx A&M, they did a great job and came into Bama’s house and beat the number one team.  The QB was the difference maker in the game. 
It will be interesting to see if Bama can regroup.

Offense:   The offense did not make plays.   AJ missed too many open recs.  They wasted good field position in the second half and had to settle for a field goal on one.  They could not covert a 3rd and 2 that would have allowed them to continue the drive and take the lead with a TD.  They were in the red zone 4 times and scored 2 TD’s and 1 FG and threw a pick to end the chance of taking the lead with under 2:00 to play.  I have AJ getting pressured/scrambling 9 times and a lot of these were because of coverage.  They had 7 negative plays, but here is the big difference, three of the negative plays were turnovers.  There were 2 ints and a fumble.   Two of these led to point, the fumble led to the TD that put the game away.  I also have Bama for 4 three and outs.  It seems to me that Bama has a hard time getting a first down in their opening positions of each half.  I would also like to know what happened to that little toss play which allowed the back to get outside quick.  Also, I don’t understand the philosophy of going quick when the D needs a break.  I also think Bama got lucky on the call that overturned an int by A&M.

QB:  AJ had a chance to keep Bama in the game, but missed some throws.   If he hadn’t underthrow the ball at the end, the rec walks into the end zone.    I will say he made some good throws, but I wonder if the first int may have hurt his confidence and was not willing to let it go.

RB:  They ran hard.  TJ is going to have to hold on to the ball.  I noticed a couple of times him carrying the ball away from his body.   EL did pick up a couple of blocks and did a good job getting yardage after getting the check down throw.

REC:  Most of the time, if the ball was near they caught it.  Not being able to see on TV, I don’t know if they were that well covered at times or if AJ just didn’t pull the trigger.  Cooper, made a good adjustment on the corner blitz for the TD and AJ hit him in stride.

OL:   At times, they didn’t look good.  BJ had trouble with the nose.  If you are the best OL in the country can’t you pick up a 3rd and 2, at least make it back to the LOS.  AJ had time to throw, but like I stated above, most scrambles were because of coverage.

Defense:  The D played better in the second half.  In the first half Bama was not really pressing their rec and allowed quick short throws.  I can’t understand why the coaching staff didn’t learn from the UF/LSU film and pressure from the beginning.   If my stats are correct, in the first half, Johnny M had 67 yards on scrambles where Bama lost contain.  I also have them for only 2 three and outs.  It would have been more if Bama hadn’t jumped off sides on what was going to be a punt.  I also have Bama for at least 7 missed tackles.   In all of this Bama did have 4 sacks and 5 tackles for a loss.   Also, I saw some players stop and not play to the whistle when they thought a play was dead.  When given time JM found rec and put it in a tight window a few times.
   
DL:   They shut down the running game except for JM scrambles.  They made some plays in the second half.  No dominant person could take over.   

LB:   They had to play a lot of different formations and get everyone lined up.  They had a better 2nd half than first.  About the only play where the LB stood out was when CJM kept JM from getting a first down of their 4th down try.

DB:  They did better when they started pressing the second half.  I thought Fulton did and decent job on the big rec.  He was in position a lot of the time and both he and the rec made plays.  JM did hit a couple of holes that took excellent throws and the DB”s just couldn’t get there. 
 
Penalties:  Too many penalties. I think the 2 biggest were the facemask early in the first series and off course the off sides on the punt.

Special teams: Bama covered kicks well.   Also, CM punted the ball well.   One question I do have is how do you run into your own player on the kickoff return?

Finally:  Bama made too many mistakes to win the game.  They made them on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball.  Turnovers, led to 13 points, they went for 2 and didn’t make it.  On offense, they fumble when approaching the red zone and AJ missed too many open rec’s.  Even with all this they still had a chance to win the game at the end.   Also, I was surprised by the inability to get the proper packages in on D which led to timeouts being used.  National Champions take advantage of these situations.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

Bama played Stillman tonight in an exhibition and they sure didn't look like they are ready for the season to begin. Stillman is a small school located in Tuscaloosa and they gave Bama all that they wanted but I feel that this was Stillman's big game of the season and they played a very hard game.

The thing that dissapointed me most was their inability to shoot the basketball, nothing has improved there from last year. The intensity is there but that will only take them so far, they've got to learn to shoot the basketball because they will see a lot of zone defense as they did last year. The big men looked much better around the basket, Gueye is a much better player than he was last year, Jacobs looked season fit, and Engstrom has a hurt foot.

There was a bit of bad news, Lacy pulled up lame chasing a loose ball, it seemed to be his right knee. He limped off the court so hopefully it's nothing serious. Bama will host South Dakota State Friday night in their season opener at 7pm.

Click here for link

All of these guys.

Eli's call of the last 3 minutes. Great call.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXxWPSnbLA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXxWPSnbLA</a>

First, let me send congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  I would also like to acknowledge the LSU team had a very good game plan and played an excellent game.  If Miles wasn’t your coach you probably win this game.

Offense:   This was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde football game for the offense.  When it was good it was great, when it was bad it was real bad.  I think the coaches gave up on running the ball too quickly.  The running backs averaged over 7 yards per carry.  It is hard to believe, watching the game, but Bama out rushed LSU.  One of the best examples I can give is the first drive of the game.  On 2nd and 3 and Bama throws the ball twice and goes three and out.  Bama had 6 three and outs in the game and 4 of them were in the 2nd half.  What was surprising was Bama had less negative plays than LSU did.  They had one sack, 2 tackles for losses.  They also had a huge fumble when driving and a fumble on a punt, which I will address later.  There were missed opportunities like the over throw early that would have been a touchdown.     The O put together a 92 yard drive against a very good defense.  In the red zone they scored on 2 trips while a big fumble cost Bama points, points left on the field.  The different screen passes Bama ran were very effective in the game.

QB:  AJ missed some big passes in the game.  He missed one for a TD and one that would have been a huge first down in the 4th quarter.  He did complete over 50% of his passes, but missed because of bad throws.  The rec’s helped him out with some big catches.  With all that being said, he came up huge when things mattered.  No time outs and he went 4/5 on what became the game winning drive. 

RB:  They ran hard all night in a hard hitting game.  During the game, the running backs had positive yards almost every time they carried the ball.  This is obvious since they averaged about 7+ yards per carry.  They only ran the ball 22 times.  One of the main reason for this is LSU had the ball for so long.  They also picked up the blitz pretty well.

REC:  This game featured different rec’s.  Kevin Norwood and Christian Jones led the Bama rec’s with 9 of AJ’s 14 completions.  Also, KN came up huge on the game winning drive and had all the catches except for the screen.

OL:   They had a pretty good game.  They came up big on the last drive and allowed AJ plenty of time to throw the ball.  In the game, most of the night the running backs were to or past the LOS before they got contact.  I think I heard this on ESPN, but someone said Barret Jones suggested the screen that went for the TD.

Defense:   The D had a tough night.  They only had 2 three and outs all night.  At my count I have them for at least 6 missed tackles.  The other major concerns I have is the bad angles the D was taking and the yard after contact by LSU.  LSU had a good game plan and attacked the flat area with quick throws which exposed the LB and Safeties in coverage.  They ran outs and then came back with what we called a shake route and got a big first down.  One of the surprising stats I have is Bama’s D had 9 negative play last night.  There were 6 tackles for losses and 3 sacks. They also had no take aways during the game.  In the beginning I thought they were attacking 3/13 most of the night, but it seems LSU went after everyone.  ZM had a good game and threw for 298 yard on 22 completions.  The Bama blitz did not get there many times.  I think, this game showed Bama does not have a dominant pass rusher on the DL.    The LSU team was ready for the corner/safety blitz and hit the voided area a couple of times.  The Bama D was also aided by the penalties and drops by the LSU players.  Also, Miles help keep Bama in the game with some of his decisions. There were times the Bama players lost contain on the running plays.  If you look most of the completions were in the 5 to 10 yard range and the yards were made after the catch.
   
DL:   What I noticed here was the inability to get off blocks at times.  Also, it looked like the DL were playing high and getting pushed back.  I did think JW had a pretty good game because the rerouted the play numerous times.  I don’t think they did a very good job getting their hands up to alter the ball.
 
LB:   They got blocked many times.  The LSU fullback did a good job taking the legs from the LBS.  They were also ask to cover and just didn’t get there.  Don’t get me wrong they made plays, but not like they have in the past. 

DB: These are the guys that missed most of the tackles.  They also lost contain a couple of times.  There may have to be a change and put someone else in coverage beside VS.  Too me, he is a pretty good run stopper, but pass coverage against a wide rec or back is not his strongest asset.
 
Penalties:  There were big penalties on both teams.  The offensive pass int was bs in my opinion.  Both were fighting for position and I am not even sure the ball was catchable.   This put Bama in a first and 25 when they were driving. 

Special teams:  Cade kicked the ball well all night.  I think they gave up height and took distance.  CM punted the ball well most of the night and he had plenty of opportunities to punt.  The big mistake was the fumble on the punt.  What should be done in that situation is catch the ball and save yardage.  If you are lucky enough to gain some yards then that is a plus. 

Finally:  LSU played a hell of a game and could have easily won the game.  I t reminds me of last year’s game at Bama.  I think Bama is in for a big test this next week with A&M.   They can’t continue to miss tackles.  Also, someone has to become a beast on the pass rush.  I hope this huge emotional game will not affect their preparation for next week.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

In boxing history, one of the most famous and remembered fights ever was between two of the greatest fighters ever in boxing history. Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier put on a show that will never be forgotten as each of them fought with all of their might until the final bell that ended the fight. Ali, being the favored, hit Frazier with all he had but Frazier wouldn't go down and then Frazier did some hitting of his own. Ali won the fight but both fighters were beaten to a pulp but the champion Ali prevailed.

This was somewhat what happened in Baton Rouge last night. Bama being the favorite to win the game, came into a crowd of angry Tigers that were still fuming over their loss to the Crimson Tide in the BCSNCG last Jaunary and the Tigers wanted revenge.

LSU, a team that was being ranked very high in preseason forecasts, had really struggled most of the year except for a big win at Texas A&M. Bama on the other hand had pretty much waltzed through their schedule with ease. This set up the rematch between the two heavyweights with a lot of folks(including myself) believing that Bama would go down there and do what they usually do, get a win with maybe a good struggle by LSU.

Wrong. LSU was anything but a tame group of Tigers and they hit Bama with all they had ,as Ali and Frazier did in their fight, until the horn sounded to end the game. Bama got off to a decent start and had a 14-3 lead going into halftime and looked to have the game in hand, but LSU had other thoughts. They came out the second half and whipped Bama in every aspect of the game and had a 17-14 lead with the ball in Bama territory with less than two minutes left in the game. On a fourth down play, LSU decided to try a field goal that barely missed to the left and Bama took over with 1:24 left in the game and Bama needing 65 yards for a score.

There have been many people ask the question as to how good is A.J McCarron. The question had been asked many times if McCarron could bring Bama back from the jaws of defeat if he ever had to. Well, that time had arrived. McCarron brought his team out and began to march the team toward the end zone with an ease that Bama had not seen the second half of the game. With Bama in field goal range to tie the game with a kick, McCarron brought the team to the line of scrimmage with a screen pass called to go to T.J Yeldon and what happened next will go down in Bama football history. Yeldon took the pass and with great blocking in front of him, raced to the end zone giving Bama the lead with about 50 seconds left in the game.

Bama's defense had been treated all night like they had not been treated in a couple of years, very bad, and now they were faced with their biggest challenge of the year. Bama attacked LSU this time with results, the LSU QB couldn't do the magic that he had done for most of the night and the Tide held on for the win.

Both of these teams left everything on the field last night as Ali and Frazier did in their historical fight many years ago, and this game will go down in Bama's historical records as one that Bama folks will always remember. As ESPN said last night, McCarron has now proven that he can bring his team back from the jaws of defeat and his name will now always be remembered for the what he accomplished in the final minute and a half of the game last night.

Kudos to all of the players and coaches for the win and I think Bama now knows that there are tougher times ahead for them to win another national championship. I'm sure the practices for the upcoming game with Texas A&M will have a new meaning this week after the big scare last night. Roll Tide!!!

 

An Auburn Alumnus was bringing in 20 business associates and they all wanted to go to the Auburn-NMSU game. It's the day before the game and he calls the ticket office. "I know this is short notice, but do you have 21 tickets available for tomorrow's game?"

"Sure do, no problem." She says.

"Whew, thank heavens!" the guy replies and asks "What time does the game start?"

She says "What time can you be here?"

At our monthly REC meeetings, our guest speakers are usually an assistant coach, sports writer, or someone within the University. This month Kirk McNair did something special and brought in Jack Arute, Sirius radio, and it was a blast.

Jack has a lot of past history in sports brodcasting that includes being part of the Nascar radio team which included the hiring of Eli Gold into the Nascar network many years ago. He likes to talk about the man that gave him his big boost into the collge football arena and that was Keith Jackson. He had some really great stories about the two of them during their broadcasting years together.

It was very interresting to listen to him describe Nick Saban and all of the things the two of them have shared over the years. He wasted no time in telling us that CNS is the best college football coach in America today.He then explained why he is just that and that is why Alabama has the best football program in America today. Jack was also quick to say that Bear Bryant and CNS were so similar in their terminalogy of what it takes to have a great football program and how to coach the players up to this greatness. As we have all grown to know, he couldn't leave out Coach Stallings and Johnny either. he had a great story about the NCG against Miami and how Johnny stole the show after the game with the sports writers.

The question and answer session finally brought out who he thought would win the game Saturday. He thought that LSU might score first being they are the home team, but he thought that this would not bother the Bama team as they have been taught so well about dealing with adversity. His pick of the game was that Bama would win by 10 points.

On his radio show today, he made it known that he has slowly become one of the Bama Faithful. Roll Tide!!