First:   Congrats to Bama for the win.  Bama won the game despite giving up 21 points because of turnovers. 

Offense:   The offense put up 645 yards of offense against UF.  Again, I thought CLK called a very good game.   The best example was the first play of the game.  They put up this much offense and had 12 negative plays during the game.  They had 7 tackles for losses, 1 sack, 3 lost fumble, and an interception.  They only had 1 three and out.  They did have 3 one and outs.  Two were long touchdown passes and the other was a fumble.  They got into the red zone 5 times and scored 4 touchdowns, while the other was a turning over the ball on downs while not running up the score.  In the first half Bama had 1 run for 10+ yards while in the 2nd half they had six for 10+ yards.  In the first half they had 7 pass plays for 10+ yards and 4 in the second half.  There were 2 touchdowns that came from outside the red zone.   The touchdown drives were 87, 79, 64, 58, 80 and 69 yards.  They did miss one field goal which I will address later.  They also committed too many penalties which I will address later.  I also thought the plays getting to the offense went more smoothly this game.  The way the safeties were filling I expected a little more play action.  This game could/should have been 24-0 at the half.   Ball security is/was an issue that Bama was able to overcome this game.  CLK also called the proper time to run the screens in the 2nd half.  Probably one of the best statistics of the game was Bama gong 12 for 16 on 3rd down.  A couple of these were tough because of penalties. 

QB:  Sims completed 70 percent of his passes and with the long ball averaged almost 14 yards per throw.  He threw the deep ball well yesterday.  I thought one of his best throws was the fade to AC that was disallowed because of the illegal formation.  There was one play that Sims should have checked down instead of trying to force the ball to AC.  However, AC almost made a heck of a catch.  The simple throw would have gotten a first down.  Sims also held on to the ball too long once which led to a sack.  Coker came in and finished off a drive for a TD without warming up, but Bama had the running game working by then.  I do think this late in the season Coker shouldn’t have to run to the sideline to get the play. 

RB:   The running back ran hard and were hit hard by the filling LB’s and safeties from UF.  There is rarely a time when one player alone brings down a Bama back.  There were a couple of times TJY did a great job pass blocking.  First, he helped when it looked like CR was losing his player.  The second was on a blitz where he actually blocks two players with one block.  He actually knocked one player into another stopping their rush.  I know KD fumbled, but did you notice his breakaway speed on the first pass play.  He was leaving the UF player who probably thought he had the angle on him.  One of the knocks I have with the Bama running backs is where they have the ball on the inside instead of moving it to the outside arm.

REC:  Again, AC was the main target.  I am not sure any player can jam him on the LOS.  I really like the way the Bama rec catch the ball in front with their hands.  They don’t let the ball get into their body very often.  Big day as OJH got his first 2 catches.  I also hope you noticed the hustle by Howard when he tried to run down the UF player on the fumble return for a TD.  The knock here was there were a couple of missed block by BV which led to tackles for losses.

OL:   The OL had a pretty good game even with the 8 tackle for losses.  There were a couple of missed assignment, one which help lead to a fumble.  That being said they still help account for 645 yards.  The only sack was not the OL fault, you can only pass block for so long and the defender came from the backside with Sims rolling right.  I think it would help keep the DL hands down if the OL would attack the player who stops his rush.  This would have to be done in a controlled manner.  One sack when you try to throw the ball 35+ times is pretty good.  At this point I think,, and I could be wrong, that all sacks could have been avoided by the QB.  Another reason I think Bama had a good game on the OL was because of how physical they were.  How many DL/LB went out of the game for a period of time? 

Defense:  The defense only gave up 200 total yards.  Many times they put pressure on the QB rushing 4.  It is amazing how much better your coverage becomes when you get pressure on the QB.  The UF offense only averaged 3.6 yards per play.  Also, the defense came up with 2 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery.   With the two TD drives, they started on Bama’s 31 and 16 yard line.  They also had to defend short field because of a short punt and a fumble to begin the 2nd half.  If my count is correct, they only brought more than four 15 times.  When doing this they really didn’t get hurt by the offense.   They did get hurt because of a busted coverage in this situation.   I also think Bama did a better job tackling this game. 

DL:    Again they did a better job putting pressure on the QB with only 4 rushing.   I thought Reed had a good game along with Devall.  I also think the outside rushers are doing a better job pushing up field before coming inside and not losing contain.  They did lose contain once on a running play when, I think it was Allen, got hooked. 
 
LB:  I thought both DePriest and Ragland had good games.  They had to play both run and pass with the mobile QB.  Both were involved with big hits and made plays outside the box.

DB:   As I stated earlier it is amazing how a good pass rush helps your coverage.  Bama came up with 2 picks.  The first was because of pressure causing the ball to be overthrown.  The 2nd was a good job of Collins playing a robber technique in the secondary.  They came up and supported the run well.  There were 2 things I think need mentioning.  First, the players who played for Perry did well and Brown’s first start was a success.   

Penalties:  Bama had too many penalties this game.  They had to overcome some to score touchdowns.  They also were in the red zone which needs to be fixed.  Too many times Bama started out 1st and 15.    Most of the penalties were on the offense, while 1 was on special teams and another on the defense for pass interference. 

Special teams:   The kick off cover team did a great job.  UF started on their 25, 23, 36 (penalty aided), 14, 35 (kick out of bounds), 16 and 20.  The coverage was good even when the kick wasn’t into the end zone.  On the missed field goal it looked like he just misaligned.  There was plenty of height and distance. 

Finally:  Bama has got to eliminate the turnovers especially when they account for 21 points.  It is very rare that a team gives up 21 points on turnovers and still wins the game.  Not only did they win they dominated.  If they can play this well and overcome the adversity they did in this game, how good can they be if the eliminate those mistakes. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

First:   Congrats to Bama for opening up with a win.  I think there are far more positives than negatives.

Offense:   I want to first say I thought CLK called a pretty good game.  I thought he gave BS some early quick throws to get his confidence going.  The only question I would have would be the fade call in the red zone with it 2nd and 2.  Bama had been running effectively go ahead and finish it off.   Bama had a pretty balanced attack with 288 rushing and 250 passing.  They got into the red zone 4 times and scored 3 TD’s and 1 FG.   They only had 4 negative plays all night 3 tackle for losses and the interception.   I really thought the ball would have been distributed to the rec’s more evenly.  Bama was also 9 for 16 on 3rd down plays, plus they only had 2 three and outs the whole game.

QB:  BS played a pretty good game.  He had the one pick and didn’t check into a very good play near Bama’s own goal line.   He did miss a couple of passes; however the rec’s dropped a couple that should have been caught.   Fortunately, the offensive line gave him plenty of time to make decisions.   I thought he was a little slow getting the play called and getting Bama lined up.  The OL needs that time to make their calls.  I will say I was pleasantly surprised with Sims.  I thought his decision making was quicker and it looked, too me, that his release was quicker.  He looks nothing, in my opinion, like he did in the spring game.  The other negatives was there were no real balls completed over 15 yards, he needs to square his shoulders better when going to his left and he threw into coverage a couple of time.   

RB:   Both TJY and DH had over 100 yards.  They ran hard, but they also, as did KD, when he was in there blocked well.   I can’t think but maybe once where any back was brought down by 1 player.

REC:  Of course Cooper was the focus of many throws.  I was surprised that OJH was not targeted more, especially with all the talk of what a weapon he is.  CJ dropped a couple of passes that should have been completed.   One thing I noticed was how the rec’s were hunting players to block after their teammate made the catch.   

OL:   I thought this was one of the best opening game performances by the OL in an opening game in a while.   They gave up no sacks and very few tackles for a loss.  I thought they communicated well and got to the second level.  On running plays they were downfield look to players to block.  They combo blocked well and picked up what few stunts that were thrown at them. 

Defense:  The defense looked indecisive a couple of times.  They allowed WV to get to the edge by the QB and by the rec’s.  A couple of times they looked confused and probably should have been lined up a little quicker.  They gave up 393 yards most of them were passing.   I will say the rec’s for WV made some big athletic catches, but they also dropped many that would help Bama.  They only had 2 three and outs.  For negative plays, the D had 4 tackles for losses, and 3 sacks.  The bright spot here is that all but 1 happened in the second half.  One of the other biggest concerns was the missed tackles.

DL:    I thought they played ok. The WV QB got rid of the ball pretty quickly.  After a few opening good runs they seem to settle down and do a better job.  They did loose contain a couple of times.  I thought XD and JA stood out here.

LB:  In the first half they looked tentative.  I think they will have to do a better job with their pass drops.  It looked like the 2nd half they did a better job communicating with the other defensive players.  They got caught inside and didn’t take good angles and lost the pursuit angle a couple of times.  Their outside shoulder got pinned. 

DB: Bama has to improve here.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see some take BS place.  It wan’t all bad, but when they were in position, they didn’t always make plays.  WV seemed to attack the middle of the field and the outside where BS was playing.   I don’t think CJ was targeted as much.  Here is where they were a lot of missed tackles.  There were too many yards after the catch.  I also think the corners will have to do a better job jamming the rec’s coming of the LOS.

Penalties:  There were some penalties that could have been avoided.  AC could do a better job and not get the block in the back call.  Focus on false starts.   I do think the one holding call on LB was wrong.  In my opinion I thought Bama was helped by a couple of calls.  The pass interference was questionable and the late hit out of bounds.  Not sure if they guy really tried to take a shot or protect himself.

Special teams:   AG had a very good night kicking FG’s.  Most of the kickoffs were good, the coverage was the breakdown.  On the TD, again Bama lost contain.  I noticed WV liked to return the ball to their right.  Bama only punted twice and the first was a bomb.  If he can do that consistently then you have someone who can change the field position.

Finally:  Defensively, Bama will have to play better against spread teams.  Offensively, they can still improve and spread the ball around to talented rec.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting