A good story about redshirt sophomore Austin Shepherd who plays back up right tackle and the good work he is doing for young kids with cancer.
 

Click here for link

First, I want to send congrats to the Bama coaches and players for winning the SEC Championship.  Also, UG played a hell of a game and took it to the wire.  This game could have been won by either team.   

Offense:  The O depended on running the football.  Bama put together 512 yards of total offense.  Three hundred and fifty of that offense was on the ground.  Both teams were hurt by clock management.  Bama should have used a timeout right before the half and maybe put one in the end zone instead of taking the field goal.  Bama did leave points on the field, but it is hard to tell how many.  First, they threw the int in the end zone.  Before this int, AJ missed the open rec in the end zone as he was about to get hit.  Second, they had a field goal blocked.   I had Bama with only 3 three and outs during the game.  This biggest one was where they didn’t covert on the last drive and gave UG the ball back.  As far as negative plays, I have the O with 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 fumbles, and 1 int.  Also, you can add the blocked field goal here. 

QB:  AJ, in my opinion, did not have a great game.  I know he made the big pass to AC, who also kept AJ from throwing an int, but he was pressured and did not see the field well.  It looked like he was watching the pass rush more than the rec’s and couldn’t/didn’t pull the trigger.  There were a couple of drops that hurt him and he did scramble well.  He also missed some of his throws to open recs.

RB:   Both of these guys put on a great performance.  I know my stats are unofficial, but I had EL for about 95 yards after contact.  I didn’t track TJY’s but yards after contact were also up there.  Many times they delivered the blow to the defensive players and some of those defensive plays actually looked like they were ready to turn a few hits down.  About the only bad thing I can say about these guys is TJY dropped a pass.

REC:  AC had another great game he had 7 of AJ 13 completions.  I know some people aren’t going to like this, but I think he is better than Julio Jones.  The main reason is his quickness and he doesn’t drop the ball like JJ did.  CJ could have made a big play, but dropped the ball when the UG safety hit him, the UG player made that play.  I will say they had to block well for the RB’s to be getting so many yards.  I will put this here, instead of the OL, on the 41 yard run by EL, the TE’s made good block and got more than one block on the play.

OL:  I really don’t know if the pass blocking was as bad as we think, or did AJ not pull the trigger.  They had a great game run blocking.  There were times they had their guy 3 yards or more down field.  There were times the RB wasn’t touched until he passed the LOS.  They also got to the second level and got a body on a body.  Something that goes unnoticed is the job DJF did on the 2 point play.  He got inside and used his huge body to shield off backside pursuit. 

Defense:  The defense was either very good, or at time not very good.  On the very first offensive play for UG, Bama got pressure with 4.  I stated this earlier and I didn’t plan on seeing VS in coverage and I guess the coaches saw the same thing.  The D gave up 406 yards of total offense.  They had 5 or 6 three and outs, I question my stats here.   I have them for 6 negative plays.  They had 2 TFL, 3 sacks, and one int.  The int led to 3 points and could have been more with better clock management.   I also have them with 4 pressures.  UG ran the ball well enough to use play action, but didn’t use a lot in my opinion.  The D did lose the edge a couple of times and allowed UG to make good runs.  I am glad UG did not spike the ball after getting close to the end zone they would have had a couple of chances for TD’s.  After Bama, scored to make the game 21-18, the D came up with a big 3 and out.  I do have Bama for about 7 missed tackle

DL:  They did a pretty good job.  I thought AH played well as did JW.  They stopped a lot of the runs for short gains. 

LB:  They did a pretty good job have to defend both the pass and the run. I will say TD got trucked by the UG running back.  On the first screen UG ran CJM was fooled or didn’t read his key very well, fortunately, there was a block in the back that brought the ball back.  The second time they ran the screen, CJM stopped it for a loss. 

DB:  There were a few issues here.  On the first TD, if one safety rotates up then I would think the other should move to the middle of the field or to the 2 rec side.  The TE was wide open.  It could have been someone missed the assignment that was supposed to be covering the TE.  The UG QB made some big throw and the rec’s made some big catches.  I did notice the DB’s were getting cut some, which adds to the yardage UG made.  I will say on the last drive, did anyone notice on the second throw, the outside rec was blocking and the ball was thrown to the TE on the out route? 
 
Penalties: The biggest penalty of the game for Bama was the delay of game on the fake punt.  This would have kept the drive alive and maybe gotten some needed points there.  This was not a penalty, but I will put it here.  On the int, many people were screaming for a penalty on the hit put on the QB.  It could have been called, but all QB’s know the D is taught to look him up on any int.

Special teams:  Bama did not recognize the formation well for the fake punt run by UG.  I know when we played teams that spread like that we would make on or off calls to declare who is eligible.  Also, the blocked FG was kicked to slow and too low.  Also, when the punt return guy signals for a fair catch, why doesn’t the gunner run past him to keep the ball out of the end zone?  I guess since he was the only one there, he was there in case there was a muff.

Finally:  Bama is headed back to the NC game.  I wish them good luck. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

First, I would like to extend congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the victory over AU.  Also, congrats to Bama for winning the West division once again.  This was a complete team effort. 
 
Offense:  The offense basically did whatever they wanted to.  They did have 6 negative plays, but most of them were overcome.  They were in the red zone 6 times and scored on 4 of those. Bama took advantage of the field position when they had it.  In this game where ever they started it was good field position. They did fumble in the red zone with the second unit and also too k a knee late in the game to keep from running up the score more.  They only have 2 three and out and that was when the backups came into the game which mean they didn’t happen until the 2nd half.   Three the seven touchdowns came from outside the red zone with 2 going to AC and the other to KN.  With the fumble in the red zone they did leave 3/7 points on the field.   They quietly put together 456 yards of offense and could have been a lot worse if the starters had not come out.

QB:  I thought AJ had a very good game.  He was 15/21 for 216 yards and should have been at least 16/21 counting the drop by one rec.   I thought one of the best throws he made was when he scrambled to his right and completed the ball on the sideline.  He did a very good job checking down and not forcing the ball.  He also threw some of his best deep balls for the year.   BS came in and did a good job running the ball.  However, his throwing leaves a lot to be desired.

RB:   All of these guys ran hard.  It looked as if they were delivering the blow to the defender instead of waiting to get hit.  After a while it looked like AU wanted no more to them.  They also pass blocked well. It helped that most of the time there was no contact until the passed the LOS.  EL averaged over 7 yards per carry, KD averaged 6.7 yards per carry and TJY averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

REC:  Five different rec’s caught the ball.  It will hurt losing KB, but others seem to step in and do the job.  I have said this before and I am going to say it again.  I really like the way these rec catch the ball with their hand and don’t let the ball get into their body.  They also blocked well or the backs would not have gotten some much yardage.

OL:  I thought this was one of their best games.   I saw many times where they combo block and got to the second level.  The opened hole and got down field to get more than one block on some plays.  I guess the only bad parts was a couple of low snaps, however they were handled by AJ.  I also thought the 2nd group came in and block effectively.  This was the type of game I would have liked to have seen Bama rotate a couple of guys in with the first group.  This would be a valuable lesson in case someone goes down.

Defense:  The defense only gave up166 yards.  I think most of those yards came in the second have.  I would bet 1/3 of them came on the 3 completions.   They did come up which 5 three and outs 3 of which were in the 2nd half.  I have them for 9 negative plays: 5 tackle for loss, 2 sacks, 2 ints, and 1 fumble.  Bama also converted 2 of the turnovers into TD’s.  I also, have them for 5 pressures on the QB, a couple of these could be disputed.  There were a couple of times they took bad angles, but someone else was close to clean up.  I was really surprised AU didn’t try any trick plays.

DL:  They played well and stopped the run AU average about 3 yards per carry.  They allowed the LB’s to make plays.  What really bothers me is there is not real dominant pass rusher and that will be needed next week.

LB:   I thought all played well, but TD stood out to me because he played pass coverage and was a run stopper. 

DB:  Most of the time they were in good position to make plays.  They didn’t give up any big plays.  I think RL also had a good game especially coming up and filling on the run plays. 
 
Penalties:  Bama had 2 penalties for 10 yards.  AU had 8 and I thought they could have been called for more especially for things after the whistle. 

Special teams:  CM punted the ball well, which he should since he rested the first half.  The kickoff cover team did a good job on all kickoffs.  The only complaint here was the first kickoff there were a couple of missed tackles.

Finally: I really have concerns going into the SEC Championship game.  AM has shown lately, he is a top QB.  If Bama can’t get pressure on him it could be a problem.  They also have some backs that can run well.  It could help their passing attack with the ability to run the ball a little. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

Yesterday was a different kind of day for me as I sat in my recliner watching the game because I'm usually in my seat in Bryant Denny cheering on the Crimson Tide. It wasn't by choice but health challenges can sometimes change your mind regardless of how much you want to do something.

I was joined at home with two of my granddaughters ages 13 and 16 and I must say, they made me feel like I was sitting in my normal seat in the stadium. We had many yells and high fives and even joined in on Rammer Jammer at the end of the game and I must admit, we were much warmer than most in the stadium and I sure missed not being there, but I wouldn't have traded that afternoon for anything.

Regardless of how bad the football program is in Lee County, I think I'm like a lot of Bama fans in hoping CNS wouldn't call the dogs off if the score would get so great. I can still see Tuberville(Wingnut) holding up those fingers as he walked around the stadium as well as seeing Cam Newton running circles around Bryant Denny and leading cheers with the Barners. I wanted Bama to set a scoring record of scoring over 100 points if possible, but this didn't happen.

Bama is so blessed to have the football coach and staff that has been here for 5 years, CNS and his staff represent themselves so well on and off the field and to me that is the nucleus of the success of the "Saban Process" that we are all so familiar with. As I thought about the many highly rated high school players that were invited to the game yesterday I couldn't help but think about what their thoughts were of the classy way that Bama called off the dogs and ended the game by taking a knee at the end, when they could have easily scored again. This was a far cry different than what we would have seen had the showe been on the other foot and Bama had been on the losing end.

The "Saban Process" has changed the world of college football and the Bama fans have been the recipient of something that many thought could never happen again and that is winning multiple National Championships in a very short period of time. The battle for another championship is not over just yet as Bama needs two more wins to accomplish this yet another time, but there is a very good chance of that happening again. The young talented recruits that were guests of Bama yesterday had to have been very impressed with what they saw on the field and what CNS and staff are offering them, they will have to make their choices in the very near future.  

The "Saban Process" is a life changer not only for the young men that choose to play for Alabama but for all of us fans as well, young and old. Roll Tide!!!

 

Ok, SC,pony up the e-creds for Jamos. Click on the image of Jamos and Jaz Lunceford. The Bama softball team is at the Quad signing autographs today and Jamos was at the right place at the right time.