LSU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  It was what one would call an ugly win.  The OL/offense had problems all night.  The sad part it started at the beginning of the game and the offense coaches did seem to have a solution.  Too me, this game was won on the defensive side of the ball.  They came up with an interception that led to a touchdown and they got a fumble that led to a drive for a touchdown.

OFFFENSE:  The offense didn’t have answers for what LSU was doing defensively.  The didn’t make adjustments that allowed for success.  The offense had a total of 308 yards which included 302 passing and 6 rushing.  Understand, in college, sack yards come off of rushing yards.  This is still something that leads to concern, the inability of running the ball.  At times, it looked like LSU was slanting into the running plays of Bama.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, and 3 fumbles.  Only one of the fumbles was lost.  Fortunately, the defense came up strong and made the stop.  For three and out, I have Bama with 5 and 4 of them came in the 2nd half.  On plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 11 passing plays and 2 running plays.  Out of the 11 passing plays, 8 came in the first half and with the running plays one was a scramble by the QB.  Bama got into the red zone 2 times and scored touchdowns both times.  The scored 1 touchdown from outside the red zone and missed a field goal from outside the red zone. 

QB:  Young completed 24 of 37 passes for a 65% completion rate.  I thought at least 3 other balls were catchable or were dropped.  If my calculations are correct, I have Young getting pressured on 20 of the 37 passes or attempted passes.  He was sacked 4 times and scrambled out at least twice.  I do know he was pressured on the touchdown throw to Metchie.  I do think the constant pressure by the defense got the QB looking at the rush at times.

RB:  The running game was non-existent. Robinson had 18 yards on 13 carries and was hit numerous times right at the point of attack.  Williams had 2 carries for 9 yards and had the longest run by a running back which was a 7-yard run. I don’t know if it was the running back fault or the protection call, but I saw numerous times where the blitz came one way, and the back went the other.  Robinson also missed some blocks on the blitz.

Rec:  The receivers were the offense for Bama.  They accounted for most of the offense.  Williams and Metchie were the two main targets and acoun2ted for 19 of the 24 receptions for 233 of the 302 passing yards. 

OL:  This was a huge disappointment in the game.  They had a week off to correct mistakes and work on technique.  They missed blocks and I am counting TE’s here because they missed more than one.  On the wildcat play on short yardage, it looked like the OL didn’t come off on a combo block.  That defensive player made the tackle for no gain.  The was very little to no push which is evident by the production of the running game.  I have said it before, it looks like the play to high and don’t keep their feet moving.  They didn’t pick up blitzes.  This has to do with the protection calls and communication between the OL.   I know the center got hurt, but the replacement played center last year in key games.

Def:  I thought the defense won this game. They made a few mistakes, but the came up big on plays in the red zone.  When LSU had the 37-yard run on 4th and 1, the tackle by Battles may have been a game saver.  The defense gave up a total of 295 yards which included 186 passing and 109 rushing.  Most of the yards came in the 2nd half because at half time the defense held LSU to 77 total yards.  For negative plays, I have 3 tackles for losses, 5 sacks, 1 fumble which was lost, and an interception which led to a touchdown.  As for three and outs, I have the defense with a total of 5, 3 in the first half and 2 in the second half.  One of the three and outs was the result of an interception.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have LSU with 9 passing plays and 1 running play.  Seven of the passing plays came in the 2nd half.   LSU got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and turned the ball over on downs the other time. There were plays that were made that really didn’t seem that big but were.  One for instance was the 4th down incompletion in the red zone.  I don’t know if you noticed on that throw To’oto’o jump and looked to force a high throw.  There was a bust on the first touchdown as no one picked up the back out of the backfield.

DL: I thought they played a good game.  The were active and put pressure on the QB.  The played the running game well as LSU only have 1 run for over 10 yards. All of them were involved with tackles.  I thought this was Turner’s best game since he became a starter. 

LB:  I thought they played well.  They played sideline to sideline and made plays.  They caused a fumble that led to the third and final Bama touchdown.

DB: What really made this group have a good game was the pass rush.  They really didn’t allow big plays down field except once.  There was a busted coverage on 34-yard reception.  Two defenders went with the same player.  They were again pretty solid with their tackles.  I know on the first touchdown there was a bunch set of 3 receiver and the released the back out to that side for and uncontested touchdown.  I don’t know if the outside LB was supposed to come off or if there was to be a switch with the safety.  If it was supposed to be someone inside, the were basically shielded off by the 3 receivers.

Special teams: There were some big plays on special teams.  First, LSU ran the fake punt successfully which kept the drive alive and led to a touchdown.  The other two plays were on Bama.  On both the field goal and the extra point the snap threw off the timing which led to missed kicks.

Penalties:  I have Bama for 9 penalties.  Again, as in the past, some of them came on scoring drives.  The first was defensive holding on Hellams, which was on a scoring drive.  The next two were a delay of game and an illegal substitution on a punt.  These are two that, in my opinion, should never happen.  This was in the first quarter.  In the 2nd quarter, there was a false start on #70 and a holding by #81 on what would have been one of the most successful running plays of the day.  In the 3rd quarter, there was a delay of game on the defense as they said Bama player clapped his hands.  The other two penalties on this drive came on a touchdown drive by LSU.  They had a hand to the face which gave them 15 yards and there was a personal foul horse collar which gave them 15 more yards.  I will say the horse collar was questionable.  The final penalty came in the 4th quarter and was an intentional grounding on the QB.  So for penalties, there were 4 on the defense, 4 on the offense and 1 on special teams. 

Finally, Bama has got to improve in the OL with their protection and technique.  This game gave other teams a game plan on how to attack the Bama offense.  You would think by this time in the season many of these problems would be worked out.  Also, I wonder why Bama offense didn’t got to a 4 wide out formation to take players out of the box or use the 4 wide set with the TE in the H back set while using the back for max protection with a release built in if there wasn’t a blitz.  This set would still give you a 3 man passing game and with LSU’s shortage of DB, I would take that chance.
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18 and Counting

                                             UT vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  It wasn’t pretty the complete time, but they played outstanding at times.  Consistency will be what they need to strive for.

OFFFENSE:  The offense looked unstoppable at times, but there were a few times when they looked like they were not fully concentrating on the task at hand.  I wondered if the low hit on Young was going to have an affect on him and I think it did for a short time.  The offense put together 574 yards of total offense which included 371 passing and 203 rushing.  If I hadn’t seen the total stats, I wouldn’t have guessed they rushed for 203 yards.  Of those total yards 272 came in the second half, but they were also given two short fields because of an interception and a stop on 4th down deep in their own territory.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 6 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, and 2 fumbles.  Concerning the fumbles, one was lost in the red zone and the other was recovered by Young on the touchdown.  Bama had 2 three and outs and they both came in the 2nd half on their first 2 drives. For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 15 passing plays and 7 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 8 times and scored 7 touchdowns.  The other trip was a fumble by Williams after a completion.   The kicked one field goal from outside the red zone and missed one from outside the red zone.   

QB:  Young completed 31 of 43 passes for a 72% competition rate.  There were at least 2 drops on balls that should have been caught.  As I said above, I think the low hit affected him for a short time but came back well afterwards.  It is extremely difficult to see what he did outstanding versus what he didn’t do since the angle on TV doesn’t give me the best look.  He did a better job running the ball when the chance was given to him.  When he does take off, you can see his eyes are still downfield looking to throw first.  Tyson was just given the opportunity to run the clock out.

RB:  The running game was solid.  As I stated above, just watching the game, I really didn’t realize they rushed for 203.  Robinson again had a solid game.  His vision and change of direction becomes more evident each game. Williams also shows the same ability and there is very little drop off when there is a change at running back. I also saw a very good blitz pick up by Williams.  Sanders again, with few reps, shows he could be a back that could get more time down the road.

Rec:  Metchie again was the main target according to the number of catches as he had 11 for 121 yards.  Williams had more yards with 123 on 6 catches.  I am going to say this, Young overthrew Williams on one pass, however, I don’t put that all on Young.  It looked to me that Williams reached for the ball, which slows him down, instead of running thru the ball.  The tight ends got back involved with 4 catches, but Billingsley had a drop that would have been a big gainer.  Bolden added 3 catches and Holden, who they seem to be getting more confidence in as he had 2 catches.  He was also involved with an interference call that led to a touchdown. 

OL:  They had a decent game, but as I said last week, they need to sustain their blocks longer.  I also noticed there were times when they weren’t driving their legs and it looked like they may have been playing to high at times.  They still missed picking up a couple of stunts on the LOS.  There are a couple of ways to do this with a turnback style of blocking where you step play side and turn back to the inside where you basically pick up the gap inside.  This requires you to block the back on the play side as he would have the end man on the LOS.  Also, you have big on big blocking, but you have to be able to switch on the stunts. 

Def:  Except for 3 or four plays, the defense played well.   The bad part is those 3 or four plays accounted for 3 touchdowns.  UT put together a total of 346 yards of total offense which included 282 passing and 64 rushing.  Out of these yards 166 came on three plays which leaves 180 yards for the other 51 plays.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 2 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, and an interception.  Bama had 5 three and outs and this could have been better.  Bama would have had another 3 and out but they roughed the punter and gave UT a first down on a 3rd and 28.  UT then went on and scored a touchdown.  The defense also had a 4 and out as they stopped UT on a 4th down try.  Something that is important, on 3 of these three and outs the yardage to get a first down was less that 3 yards and the defense stopped them.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have them with 6 passing plays and 1 running play and the run came on a scramble by the QB.  UT got into the red zone twice and kicked a field goal and scored a touchdown.  The scored 2 touchdowns from outside the red zone.  A huge stop in the red zone by the defense came on a 3 and out where they kicked a field goal after a blocked punt.  If the touchdown is scored there, the game tightens up drastically.  I know the crowd noise had and effect on the UT offense, but I wonder did it hurt the communication of the defensive backs? 

DL: I thought they played well.  As I talked about the 3 and outs above especially when the down and distance was in the offense favor.  It was difficult to get much of a pass rush as the QB drop was short.  Mathis stood out basically because of his sack.  He needs to become a force where the defense has to assign 2 blockers on him to free up others for 1 v 1 blocking.  I would like to see  a big push on QB’s that take a short drop.

LB:  I really thought this was one of their best games.  After seeing the stats, it was confirmed.  I thought Harris played his best game and seemed to move better than in the past games.  They also were not missing tackles like the past games.

DB: I really don’t know how to judge this group.  Other than the 3 busted coverages they played well.  I know on one touchdown the alignment was horrible or one safety was misaligned.  If you are playing man you have to take the inside away unless you know you have help on the inside in combo look.  I also know it is easier to make a throw to the inside than outside when the defender has outside leverage.  On the 2nd touchdown, and this is one reason I wonder if the crowd noise hurt the defense, Battle was not in the middle of the field.  He could have had the coverage wrong but it looked like he was trying to communicate with players on the other side of the ball. The other possibility was the other defender had the coverage wrong and thought the had help on the inside when he didn’t.  I do know that a couple of times the defenders stayed in their backpedal too long and allowed the receiver, as we use to say, get on their feet, before turning their hips to get into a proper cover technique.  The third touchdown, the corner, Jobe, was looking inside for the call when the ball was snapped, and the receiver ran right by him.  This should be a great learning tool for when you play teams with tempo.  I need to look again, but I wonder if they use wristbands on defense.  On a good note, they again tackled well in this game.

Special teams: The two major plays on the special teams were the blocked punt by UT and the unsuccessful block attempt by Bama.  On the blocked punt the blocking by the personal protector was poor and didn’t get to where he needed to be.  Fortunately, the defense held them to a field goal.  The unsuccessful attempt to bock the punt was poor techniques by the rushers.  The other play of consequence was the missed field goal by Bama, which was a 54 yard attempt.

Penalties: I have Bama for 6 penalties, but only 4 were enforced.  The worst was the roughing the kicker on the punt.  The others were 2 false starts and a delay of game.  The delay of game was ridiculous since it was on the 1st play after a kickoff.  That should never happen.   

Finally, Bama showed signs of being a very good team. However to be a great team you have to be consistent and stop making critical errors.  Tackling was better and so was the reduction in penalties.  Right now, in my opinion, the secondary has to, as they say, up their game.  Simple things like proper technique has to improve. 
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18 and Counting

                                             MSU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches for coming back in a big way.  They still can improve and hopefully this will be the steppingstone to do it.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together a total of 543 yards, most in the 2nd half.  They had 348 passing yards as well as 195 rushing yards.  At the half, they only had 205 total yards which means they put 338 yards together in the 2nd half.  Now, they did lose an offensive possession when Battle returned the interception for the touchdown, so there are some lost yards.  I will say they wasted a couple of positive field positions during the game where they ended up punting.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses and 2 sacks.  There was a fumble, but it was on special teams which they retained.  I have Bama with 1 three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 9 passing plays and 8 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone twice and scored touchdowns both times.  They scored 4 touchdowns from outside the red zone and the defense added the other touchdown.  I have mentioned before I would like to see the motion game utilized more like in the past, using the pop pass that has been so successful.  However, I realized in this game it is harder to do when you have more TE’s in the game.  They seem to be using more spread formations last year and when the TE, Billinsley, was in the game he could line up wide or tight.  I just think the motion gives more of the defense to think about and causes them to get out of position more often.  Also, I think it slows the pursuit of the DL on running plays.

QB:  Young had a good day completing 71% of his passes which includes 1 drop and what I thought was a catch by Bolden.  Where he really excelled was when MSU brought pressure.  I didn’t keep a total of how many completions he had, but some were big and went for touchdowns.  He used his legs a little more this game, but you can see he is still looking downfield when he is scrambling.  I will say, I thought he missed a couple that should have been completed.  Tyson, basically just finished the game and nothing to really report on.

RB:  The running game was solid and got stronger in the 2nd half.  They only had 58 yards rushing in the first half and came back with 137 in the second half.  Robinson did his usual hard running and picked up a couple of blitzes.  Williams also ran hard and delivered a blow to the defensive back that showed he will work to get that extra yard.  I thought the limited carries Sanders had showed his vision.  I would like to see Bama become a 3-headed monster in the running back position.

Rec:  Basically, the main man was Metchie this game with 7 catches for 117 yards. However, the biggest yards per catch average was Williams with 2 catches for 77 yards which is an average of 38.5 yards per catch.  Bolden had a couple of catches, but Holden seems to be a guy who could be a bigger part of the offense. Again, this week, no TE had a catch. One thing the receivers did well was made some key blocks that allowed the receiver to score on long passes.

OL:  They had a solid game but need to sustain their blocks a little longer.  Also, the communication on a couple of blitzes one which led to the sack.  On one of the tackles for losses, it looked as if the TE came in motion and may have block the wrong guy by bypassing the most dangerous. Also one thing I noticed was a couple of times the center got knocked back after snapping the ball.

Def:  The defense played well.  They held MSU to the lowest total yards they have produced this year.  The defense gave up a total of 299 yards of total offense.  MSU had 300 rushing yards and -1 rushing yards.  The rushing total is because sacks are taken off or rushing totals in college.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 3 tackles for losses, 7 sacks, and 3 interceptions.  One was returned for a touchdown as I stated above.  I have the defense with 3 three and outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have MSU with 9 passing plays and 2 running plays.  MSU got into the red zone twice and had to settle for field goals both times.  The other field goal came from outside the red zone.  The MSU QB completed 64% of his passes.  Now the threw 55 times.  Out of those 55 throws 38 were less than 10 yards from the LOS.  Many of them were thrown behind or withing 5 yards of the LOS.  Of these passes, he completed 28 of 38.  This was putting LB’s and safeties in coverage.  I didn’t keep up with the yardage actually gained on these completions, but it was probably most of their passing yards.  It asl means, on passes over 20 yards he was 7 for 17.  This was a combination of good coverage and pressure.

DL: Even though they didn’t make a lot of tackles, they freed up the LB, to make plays and get into coverage.  I would like to see a least one of the DL become a rushing force that could put constant pressure on the QB.  Hopefully, and I know he is considered a LB, Anderson’s performance will ignite others to a higher level.  There should be enough competition on the DL for someone to want to step up and be that guy.  Earlier I thought Mathis was going to be that guy.

LB:  A lot better job here.  They were put in coverage especially with all the underneath throws.  They took better angles and tackled better.  They can still do better in my opinion.

DB: I think they had one of their better games.  They did have another PI call, and the bad part is he was in position.  If you remember above, I mention on balls thrown over 10 yards the MSU QB was only 7 for 17.  A couple of these were underthrown balls that are hard to defend.  Probably the biggest improvement was the tackling.  There were few missed tackles by the secondary.  It also seemed that the defensive back, as a whole, were in better position to make plays.  Maybe that accounts for the 3 interceptions.

Special teams:  There were a couple of moments in special teams that stand out.  First, a good return was negated by a holding penalty.  Also, good field position was wasted by the offense.  Another was the fumble and bobble punts.  Losing those could be the difference in a close game.

Penalties: I have Bama for 6 penalties.  Most of them were overcome or didn’t hurt them.  The defense had 3 with an offsides, a pass interference, and a personal foul.  The offense had 2 with block in the back, not necessary, and an illegal formation.  The special teams penalty was a holding on a kickoff return which moved the ball from the 47 to the 14 yard line.

Finally, Bama did a good job bouncing back.  However, it will depend on how they proceed from here.  They can continue to improve, or they can be satisfied where they are.  They missed less tackles and had less penalties during crucial times.  They still need to shore up some pass protection and blocking assignments on running the ball. 
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18 and Counting

                                             A&M vs Bama

First, this was a woulda, coulda, shoulda game.  They would have won if they hadn’t settled for so many field goals in the red zone.  They could have won if they hadn’t dropped a touchdown pass.  They should have won, but they made too many mistakes.

OFFFENSE:  When looking at the stats you would think this was an easy victory for Bama.  However, there were too many mistakes, dropped balls, interception in the red zone, penalties on key drives, and failure to convert red zone trips into touchdowns.  Bama left too many points on the field, which I will talk about later.  For the offense, Bama put together 572 yards of total offense, which includes 369 passing and 153 rushing.  Bama only had 1 three and out in the game, but it was a key one.  With 3 minutes left on the clock with the game tied, Bama goes three and out.  The sad part is there was a pass that could have been caught for a first down that would have kept the drive alive.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 3 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 1 lost fumble, and 1 interception.  For plays that covered over 10+ yards, Bama had 19 passing plays and 6 running plays.  Here is a key part leading to the loss.  Bama got into the red zone 6 times. Out of these six times they scored 2 touchdowns, kicked 3 field goals, and threw an interception.  Converting on one of these field goals could have led to the victory for Bama.  One of the field goals was a result of a dropped pass by Latu.  In my opinion, they left anywhere from 3 to 18 points on the field with their inability to convert red zone trips to touchdown.  They scored 1 touchdown from outside the red zone and one touchdown came from special teams.  Red zone efficiency must improve. 

QB:  Young had a decent game and was not the cause of the loss as many are saying.   He only completed 58 percent of his passes and threw and interception, which was not a good throw.  He did miss a couple of throws, but there were several balls that could have been caught that were dropped.  He missed on a long ball to Willliams which probably would have gone for a touchdown.  If not, it would have been a first down in the red zone.  The biggest drop was the pass to Latu which would have put Bama up 34-13.  The reason this is so important, is Bama held A&M with a 3 and out on the next series and then went down and scored a touchdown.

RB:  I thought Robinson played a very good game.  He rushed for 147 yards on 24 carries and added 60 yards on 4 catches which means he accounted for 207 total yards.  He was put in a difficult situation in pass blocking at times as there were more than one person rushing the gap.  Bama rode him and he answered the challenge.

Rec:  At times they did well, however, there were too many drops at crucial times.  The ball may not have been perfect, but many were catchable.  Latu has no excuse for his drop which ended up being crucial.  The last drive when the game was tied.  Billingsly was held without a catch.  Williams was the star and came up big in a few situations.

OL:  I really don’t know where to start.  How can up put up 572 yards of offense and say they played bad.  One thing is they have penalties at the worst time.  One false start was on 4th and 4 with a chance to go for it which turned into a punt.  Second, there was another false start in the red zone.  My question is who is actually setting the protection.  I don’t understand the center going away from the overloaded side. Is it the QB or the QB?  This overload seemed to be to the wide side of the field a lot of the night.  An adjustment should have been made on the sidelines after the defense first showed this look.  Owens actually whiffed on a block that led to a sack.  Now it looked to be better in the 2nd half, but I also, don’t think A&M was showing that looks as much since it could be a chance for Bama to get a big play.  A sort of prevent attitude.

Def:  The defense was a tale of 3 different quarters.  The first 2 weren’t great and the last part of the 4th wasn’t great.  I think A&M had 13 yards in the 2nd half until their last 2 drives which went for 119 yards.  I believe there was a penalty or two that aided those drives.  The biggest issues on defense are busted coverages, no pass rush this game, penalties keeping drives alive, and missed tackles.  Bama defense gave up 379 yards of total offense which included 285 passing and 94 rushing.  For negative plays, I have the defense with 4 tackles for losses, ZERO sacks, and an interception.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have A&M with 13 passing plays and 5 running plays.  A&M got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and kicked a field goal.  They scored 2 touchdowns from outside the red zone and kicked one field goal from this distance.  Their other score came on the kickoff return.  There was also a time when the defense wasn’t even lined up when the play began. The other question is how does the defense lose the TE so many times.

DL: I think, against the run they played pretty well.  However, when it came to the passing game, they got little pressure and there were no sacks in the game.  As a matter of fact, not even sure they had a hurry in the game.  There was one the QB left the pocket and gained 11 yards on the last crucial drive.  Again, I saw them not getting off the blocks on the pass rush.  Also, I don’t know if it was busted stunt assignments or the OL just pushed them where they wanted them to go as they ran into each other.

LB:  Not outstanding in my opinion here.  Again, there were bad angles taken by the LB when going after tackles.  Also, arm tackling which leads to missed tackles was evident.  I do know they were put in a couple of situations where it wasn’t beneficial for them to be covering the player they had to cover.  It was an obvious mismatch.  Turner, who was Sanders replacement did have 5 tackles.  Honestly no one actually stood out to me,

DB: I don’t think they played that well in coverage.  I don’t know how many times I saw the DB allow the receiver to get on their feet before they gave ground.  When this happens, you are beat.  Also, there were busted coverages more than once.  On one touchdown some were in man and some were in zone, which allow the receiver to go free.  Also, on the short touchdown in the red zone, the DB has man to man coverage and he steps up on the play action.  That alone beats him. They also, for some reason hare committing to many PI penalties.   

Special teams:  This was good and bad.  The good was the blocked punt for a touchdown.  The bad was the next kickoff return for a touchdown.  You could see the runners getting on the wrong shoulder and allowed the gap to form for the touchdown return, 

Penalties: I have Bama for 8 penalties which was for 82 yards.  The first was a personal foul which led to a targeting call in the first series, so we lose More.  Second was holding on Latu which negated a decent gain.  Third was a false start on a 4th and 4, which Bama was going for, but then had to punt.  Next was a holding by Metchie which turned a positive play into a negative play, and it stared a down hill trend which included a sack and other negative plays.  It helped stall a drive.  The fifth was a holding by Jobe, which gave them a 10-yard 1st down on an incomplete pass.  I do think this one was questionable.  Sixth you have a false start, which occurred in the red zone.  These were followed by  PI by Battle and a PI by Hellams.  The one on Hellams was an example I was talking about the DB allowing the receiver to get on his feet, basically staying in his backpedal too long or being to flat footed.  Many of these came in crucial situations.

Finally, as I said this was a woulda, coulda, shoulda game.  The only thing that kept Bama from winning was Bama.  They still have work to do, but it will be difficult.
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

 

                                             UM vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches for the victory over Southern Miss.  This was a highly anticipated game because of all the expected offensive fireworks.

OFFFENSE:  First, the offense had the perfect game plan for the defense presented by Ole Miss.  The 3-2-6 is just begging you to run the ball.  The offense put together 451 yards of total offense which included 241 passing and 210 rushing.  Bama scored touchdowns on 4 out of their first 5 drives.  I will be honest here and say Lane helped them by going for first downs on 4th down and gave Bama good field position. For negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, 1 fumble, they recovered, and 1 interception.  I may be wrong, but I think all the negative plays came in the 2nd half except for 1.  Bama had no three and outs in this game.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 12 passing plays and 6 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 7 times and scored 6 touchdowns.  The other time, Young threw the interception. Bama actually had not touchdowns outside the red zone.  

QB:  Young played a good game hand still does a good job finding secondary receivers as well as stepping up in the pocket to create time and passing lanes.  He was 20 for 26 for 241 yards which equates for 77% competition rate.  I think the interception could have been prevented if the receiver had worked back towards the QB and to the sideline.  I don’t put all the blame on the receiver as it looked to me that the ball was thrown a little behind him.  One of his most impressive throws was when Bama was on the left-hash and he threw a pass that probably traveled 35 yards on a rope.  He did miss a wide-open receiver on a third down and 3. This was on the only drive Bama didn’t score on in the first half.  I think he has an open receiver on a shorter route, but if he hits the big ball it would have probably been a touchdown.

RB:  The running backs had a big day.  Combined they averaged about 4.8 yards per carry as they had 214 yards on 45 carries.  Robinson was the workhorse with 36 carries for 171 yards.  I really thought he showed his vision and footwork in this game.  We already know he is a tough/hard runner, but I noticed his agility more than once in the game.  With McClellan out for a while, it seems, Sanders should get a chance to show what he can do.

Rec:  Again, this game, there were 7 separate receivers with catches in the game, 8 if you count running backs.  The main targets were the seems to be coming to be the main 4 were Williams (5), Bolden (4), Billingsley (4), and Metchie (3).  I think 3 of Boldens 4 catches were for 1st downs.  

OL:  I thought they played well, especially in the first half.  I do know that 1 2 of the negative plays were on the TE’s.   Once they missed the block on the sack and another time, they missed the block on a running play.  What I also saw was some great combo block that were worked to perfection.  This also should have been a game they excelled in because of the defensive front they were playing.  The major problem in this game was the errant snaps throughout the game.  The other major negative, was the inability to gain 1 yard on the 4th and 1 which probably would have allowed Bama to run out the clock and maybe keep that last OM touchdown off the scoreboard.

Def:  Last year, the defense gave up 647 yards of total offense.  This year they gave up a total of 291 yards which included 213 passing yards and 78 rushing yards.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 6 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, and a caused fumble which was recovered.  I have OM with only 1 three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have 10 passing plays and 2 running plays.  Both running plays came in the 2nd half.  OM got into the red zone 4 times scoring 3 touchdowns and turning it over on downs once.  On the stop in the red zone, Battle came up big as he actually stops the running backs momentum which allowed the DL to finish the tackle pushing him back instead to falling forward for the 1s down.  I don’t know if this is true, but it looked like the defense was simplified and allowed the athletes to play and make plays, which they did.

DL: I thought this was the most active and best game they have played.  Mathis seems to be getting better every game and becoming a force.  Again, and I know this is repetitive, but they are occupying the OL and allowed the tackles to be made by the LB’s and safeties. I do think one thing they could learn is, instead of running full speed at a skilled player in front of you, break down a little and not allow them to make one move and get by you.

LB: With the complexity of this offense with regards to LB responsibilities, I thought they played well. In this offense with concern to the passing game, they have to cover RBs, TE’s, and getting in passing lanes per the RPO’s.  Along with this, they have to be aware of the running game which includes running backs and QB’s.

DB: There was one competition for 42 yards where the TE got lost on a short QB scramble. Most of the passing plays were thrown underneath and yards were made after the catch.  I will give OM some credit they made a couple of outstanding catches and 1 counted.   Many times, they CB’s are in position and just need to make the play.  I have noticed a couple of time, and I think it is more safety, if they get beat they are looking back at the qb instead of the receiver.  You can’t run as fast looking back as you can looking at the target you need to cover.  

Special teams:  The only glitches in the special teams was when the return man didn’t get back and catch the ball when signaling fair catch and the kick off out of bounds.  Everything else was pretty solid.

Penalties: I have Bama with 7 penalties, but one was declined.  So, for the 6 penalties, I have on special teams a kick out of bounds and a targeting call.  On offense I have a false start.  On defense, there were 2 very questionable pass interference calls.  I call them questionable because I don’t think any of the balls were catchable.  There was also 12 men on the field call.  I think this is the lowest total penalties of any game this year.

Finally, I thought this may have been Bama’s best 1st half.  But I still see defenders not running all the way to the ball carrier and reaching too soon.  Saying that, I don’t think there were as many missed tackles as there were in prior games.
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18 and Counting

                                             USM vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches for the victory over Southern Miss.  This was a game where the opponent was clearly out matched and a chance to correct some mistakes.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 606 yards of total offense which included 395 passing and 211 rushing.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 2 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, 1 fumble which they kept, and an interception.  I also credit Bama with 2 three and outs, where there was 1 in each half.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have them with 13 passing plays and 8 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored touchdowns each time.  Three touchdowns came from outside the red zone while the other 2 came on kickoff returns.

QB:  Young had a great night with 20 completions out of 22 passes for 313 yards.  This equates to a 91% completion rate.  He did throw one interception.  This ball was a little behind the receiver, however many times that ball is caught.  Two of his best throws came on the first drive.  The first throw had to be thrown over the outside LB or Safety and he put it on target for a first down on 3rd and 13.  The second throw was the touchdown to Billingsley where the coverage was tight and a safety overlapping over the top.  Young also did another good job finding the second and third receiver in his progression.  In mop up duty with Tyson and Milroe they both made a couple of good throws and played pretty well with the backups. 

RB:  The running backs made some big runs.  Combined they ran for 219 yards on 28 carries.  Williams had 110 on 11 carries, McClellan had 97 on 12 carries, and Sanders had 12 on 5 carries. To be fair Sanders was playing more with the back OL.  Together they averaged 7.8 yards per carry.  I will say, and this isn’t a complaint, I thought we might see more Sanders without Robinson in the game.

Rec:  Seven different receivers had catches not counting running backs.  Numbers, according to catches the leaders were Metchie, Billingsley, and Latu.  One of the best catches of the night was by Latu but it was negated by a penalty.  Also, I thought they missed a couple of blocks on the wide receiver screens as they should have blocked the most dangerous defender in my opinion. On the fumble recovery Latu had for the touchdown, Latu had 2 blocks on the play prior to the recovery.  One thing I think this game did was tell other team, if you plan on taking wide receivers out of the game by defensive formations, Bama has no problem going to the TE.

OL:  Overall they played a good game. They should have against a smaller defensive unit.  I did see a few missed blocks.  There was a combo block where the player didn’t come off early enough.  However, it may not had made much of a difference on the play as a safety was filling in a hurry.  Also, on a sack a defender split a double team, this may have been a communication problem in the protection. They didn’t always sustain their block as log as I thought they could have.  When the backups came in there were a couple of bust when the OL was not reacting to outside pressure and basically tried to block the guy that was being blocked.  The great thing is I didn’t see anything that could not be corrected, and they weren’t overpowered.

Def:  The defense played better as far as assignment football than they did in the past games.  They still made some mistakes, but they reduced them drastically.  Overall, they were more gap sound most of the night.  They still missed a couple of tackles that allowed SM to make a couple of plays.   SM had a total of 213 total yards which included 131 passing and 82 rushing.   For negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, and 1 interception.  Bama had 3 and outs on 8 of 13 possessions by SM.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, SM had 5 passing plays and 2 running plays.  They got into the red zone twice and scored touchdowns both times.  Of their total yards, 190 came on three possessions. 

DL: They play well.  But if you look at the stats they didn’t make a lot of plays.  What they did was kept the OL occupied for the LB and safeties to come up and make plays.  They did make a few mistakes with gap responsibility which allowed for a couple of big runs.  But like I said it wasn’t as many as in the past.  On one play, I saw one DL go inside where it looked like he was in the A gap, the other DL should have been in the B gap but his path was more towards the A gap which opened up the hole. 

LB: They played well.  They were put in a couple of bad positions in a couple of situations.  For instance, the throw to the TE for a big gain, neither guy banged the TE to slow his release and the cover LB was all the way over on the other side of the center.  Pretty hard to get there without a hammer on the TE.  The thing is there were two guys there where one could have done that.  On another play, late the LB didn’t scrap over the DL to get to the hole the RB was coming thru allowing for a bigger gain.  There was once on a swing pass that Moody didn’t take a good path to the RB.  He may not have made the play, but he actually took himself out of the play with his angle.  The TD was a bit of a fluke since that ball went off the LB and took the receiver away from his coverage.

DB: They made a lot of tackles.  No real deep balls were completed.  Almost everything was thrown inside of 10 yards.  The plays that went for 10 plus yards were thrown underneath and yards were made after the catch.  There were a couple of missed tackles that would have negated 10+ yard plays and one was the play that went down to the red zone where SM scored.   The didn’t wrap up and bring their feet.  One happened this way because the safety took a bad angle.

Special teams:  The good and they bad.  The good, was the TD’s from kick off returns.  The bad was penalties which negated good punt returns.  I also think we learned if the kick is going to kick to the right, he needs to move the ball over.   

Penalties: Bama had 7 penalties for 60 yards.  Again, Bama had a PI by Jobe on a drive that led to a TD.  That is his 3rd in 2 games.  I had Bama with 4 offensive penalties, 2 special team penalties, and 1 defensive penalty.  This is actually down from the last game.

Finally, the notes are a little late because I was watching the Ryder Cup followed by the Braves game.  I think Bama did make some improvement.  However, they still need to get better in all phases of the game.
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

                                             UF vs Bama

These notes may not be completely accurate as I tried to watch the game on youtube, but there were parts left out.

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches for the victory over Florida.  This was a hard-fought battle that went to the end.  This game could have gone either way.

OFFFENSE:  The offense started strong then went into a shell for a few drives.  Then came back and scored when they needed too.  The big TD drive after Florida scored to open the second half was huge.  The offense put together 331 yards of total offense which included 240 passing and 94 rushing.  This is far below what they have done in the first 2 games.  I have them getting in the red zone 4 times scoring 3 touchdowns and kicking 1 field goal.  I do feel that they could have scored another touchdown if Young had run the ball in on the trip, they kicked the field goal.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 2 sacks, 5 tackles for losses, and a fumble they didn’t lose.  The other touchdown was scored just from outside the red zone.

QB:  Young played well considering the first real start in a very hostile territory.  He wasn’t perfect but didn’t really hurt Bama either.  He completed about 63% of his passes but had a couple of drops.  There were a lot of tight windows as well as pressure in his face on some big throws.  Another thing Young has done well is find the 2nd and 3rd receivers when the first read is covered.  There was also one RPO I thought the ball should have been given to the RB.

RB:  The one thing that stood out about the RB’s was the way they picked up the blitz and part of that goes to the communication on the pass blocking call.  They ran hard against a tough defensive front where holes were not open long.  They also have done a good job catching the ball as two of the touchdowns were catches by running backs. 

Rec: Five different receivers caught passes.  There were a few drops here, but there was also some good coverage. The longest gain on a passing play was 29 yards.

OL:  If you look at the total number of negative plays you would say they played well.  However, they didn’t seem to sustain their drive or get the big push on the initial block.  Also, they missed coming off a combo block to get the man that made the play a couple of times.  It did seem they communicated the pass blocking assignment pretty well since there were only 2 sacks.  The disappointing thing was they couldn’t push the ball into the endzone where they settled for the field goal.

Def:  I know the defense had a difficult job with the prep for 2 quarterbacks, but also because of the athleticism of the QB.  That being said I thought the defense would be more discipline and a lot better this year. Florida had a total of 446 yards of total offense which included 195 passing and 245 rushing.  For negative plays, I have the Bama defense with 1 sack, 6 tackles for losses, and 1 interception.  The biggest part of the defense is they came up big when they absolutely had too in the red zone, holding Florida to a field goal once and stopping a 2-point conversion.  Florida also used the TE and short passing game to help negate a pass rush.  I also think they need to be ready for others using the option against them.

DL: It was hard to tell how well/bad they played.  At times they didn’t seem to be able to get off their blocks.  They seem to be dominated by the OL at times and they seem to lose their lane responsibilities which allowed for plays to be made.  That being said, Mathis was one of the leading tacklers for the day.

LB: They were put in coverage against TE or RB during the game.  This usually mean quick throws.  It did look to me, a couple of times, the LB were out of position to make the play.  However, I don’t know their assignments for the defense called.  Florida does do a good job game planning against the opposing team.

DB: Again, it is hard to tell how well/bad they played.  The longest pass completion was 30 yards which was a catch and run.  They missed tackles and had some harmful penalties.  They angle of pursuit, like others was not great all the time.  On the 3rd down play when Florida was coming out of the end zone, I don’t know what Hellams was doing. I just don’t understand the path he took.  That being said, he was the leading tackler in the game.

Special teams:  Special teams were solid one both sides of the ball.

Penalties: Bama had 11 penalties for 81 yards.  Two penalties were on Florida’s first scoring drive.  Another big penalty was on a 4th and 6 the PI call on Jobe kept the drive alive and Florida scored a touchdown.

Finally, Bama had got to do a better job in certain areas.  They have to play sound assignment football on both sides of the ball.  Second, they have to tackle better and take better angles to the football.  Finally, they have to play the full 60 minutes on both sides of the ball.  Bama could have put this game away in the first half. 
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18 and Counting

                                             Mercer vs Bama

These notes are going to be a little different, because this should have been a glorified scrimmage with Bama walking away easily.

Congrats to Bama and the players on the win vs Mercer.  This game should have been over in the first quarter.  However, Bama was unfocused and undisciplined yesterday afternoon. 

Last week Bama put up 501 yards against Miami and could only muster 424 against Mighty Mercer. Bama had 76 less total yard, 88 less passing yards, and only 11 more rushing yards.  I will give some credit to Mercer because they didn’t come in intimidated by Bama.  As a matter of fact, their DL was more physical than the OL at times.  Once on the 2nd drive 2nd play the Bama center got pancaked by the Mercer defensive lineman.   Bama also had 2 three and outs in this game.   I am not going to count the 10+ passes or runs, because they should have been plentiful, but were not.  Young had a decent game, but missed on a deep throw that was dropped, but it was behind the receiver.  His two best throws in the game didn’t count.  One was a deep ball that was negated by a penalty and the other was a throw that was the throw that was just out of the endzone.  The OL just didn’t create the push they did last week.  Mercer also seemed to give Bama problems in the passing game when they only rushed 3 and dropped 8.  To me there seem to be a couple of time where Young didn’t check down and allow the receivers to try to make plays.   

Defensively they seemed to be a little more focus until the 2nd half.   Out of all the Mercer drives 6 were 3 and outs.  I will say I don’t think the 2 inside LB’s were not focused as they seem to play well.  Mercer had a total of 216 yards and most of that came on 2 drives which covered 165 yards.  Of the 216 yards, 165 of that was passing and 104 came on 2 completions which accounted for their 2 touchdowns.  Both seem to happen against busted coverages.  Also, it looked like the throw back routes could have been a problem, especially with teams that have talent, like UF. 

Special teams, finally missed a field goal, but I will say on tv, it looked good.  They also scored a touchdown on special team.

They had more penalties this game than last game as well as yardage per penalty.  All phases of the game had penalties.  Many of the penalties, especially on offense, hurt the team.

I guess the biggest positives, they won as well as hearing the story of how really bad the wreck Sanders was in and he was able to come back.  I never knew the extent of the injuries and the severity of the wreck.

If they play like this vs UF the outcome may not be favorable.

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                                             Miami vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches for the victory over Miami.  Too me, the offensive game plan was pretty vanilla as well as the defensive game plan.  What I mean by this is there were fewer RPO’s on offensive as well as screens.  On defense. I didn’t see a lot of blitzes.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 501 yards of total offense which included 354 passing yards and 147 rushing yards.  Their first half yards were 291 while their 2nd half yards were 210.  Remember here, they were running the ball more and keeping the clock running.  I credit Bama with 2 three and outs.  In the first half they had a 3 and out after a turnover, but it led to a field goal.  The other 3 and out was in the 2nd half.  As for plays that covered 10+ yards, Bama had 4 running plays and 12 passing plays.   For negative plays, I have Bama with 9 tackles for losses, 1 sack and a lost fumble.  They had another fumble, but fortunately recovered it.  Bama got most of their scores from outside the red zone or right on the edge of the red zone.  Overall, it was a very balanced attack with all the different receivers and running backs used.

QB:  Young had a very good opening game against what is considered to be a pretty good team.   He completed 27 out of 38 and had at least 1 drop on a catchable ball.   This equates to a 71% competition rate.  He averaged 12.7 yards per completion and 9.05 yards per pass.  It does seem when he makes his mind up on a receiver, he has a quick release.  Tyson had 1 throw and it was a good one for a 10-yard completion.  He really didn’t get the extended playing time and was there for mop up duty/

RB:  I really thought they all ran well.  Robinson did a good job an led the way with 60 yards on 12 carries.  As a group they had 155 yards on 35 carries which is about 4.4 yards per carry.  It was good to see Sanders get in and have some quality plays.  Overall, they should help keep fresh legs in the game all year.

Rec: Not counting running back, 8 different receivers caught the ball.  The transfer Williams led the way with 126 yards on 4 catches.  Metchie had 6 catches for 76 yards.  This is another area where it looks like Bama is loaded, like the RB position.

OL:  I thought they played well.  It looked to me like there was more communication going on within the OL.  I know looking at the stats there were a lot of negative plays, but Bama was running the ball/clock and not checking out of difficult plays.  This was especially good to see with all the new faces on the OL as well as position changes.   They also got thru the game without one penalty called on the OL.  I don’t remember the last time that happened.

Def:  I thought the defense played well.  As I said above, I thought it was a vanilla game plan. Bama gave up a total of 266 yard which includes 178 passing and 88 rushing yards.  They were held to 107 in the first half most of which came on the last drive before the half.  For negative plays, I have the Bama defense with 3 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 2 interceptions.  I really thought the fumble recovery was an interception since it didn’t hit the ground.  Miami had 3 three and outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have them with 3 runs and 4 passing plays.  This is the fewest I can remember since I don’t know when.  I have Miami getting in the red zone, 3 times, kicking 2 field goals and turning the ball over on downs on a very good goal line stand.  Their other score came from outside the red zone.

DL: The D line had a good game and I thought dominated the Miami OL.  They did a great job occupying the OL to allow the LB’s and safeties to make plays.  They all contributed in making plays.  The standout would be Anderson who is officially listed as an OLB.

LB: They played well and seem to get people lined up where they were supposed to be.  I really didn’t see a lot of busted plays.  I guess, like the announcers said, it was an easy transition with To’oTo’o since he played in Pruitt’s defense at UT.   I think this also help take pressure off of Harris and allows him to play more freely.

DB: I really thought they played well.  I do think one of the PI calls on Wright should have been a no call.  Also, on the touchdown pass they allowed the offensive player to hold the defensive player off by holding his facemask. Miami only averaged 7.7 yard per completion.  I would say most of his 31 throws were between 5 and 10 yards, because either the deep receivers were covered or he didn’t have time to throw the ball deep.  I really thought they did a good job tackling as did the team as a whole in the first game from what I have seen in the past.  Another point I want to make was how well the DB’s and OLB played the wide receiver screens.  Most were for minimal gain or even a loss on the play.

Special teams:  Special teams were solid.  The only flaw was the back up kicker kicking one out of bounds and a questionable return on a kickoff that only got past the 20.   Reichard remains perfect from last year adding a 51 yarder early in the year.

Penalties: Bama had 8 penalties for 81 yards.  The first was a false start on a receiver, 2nd was the questionable PI call on Wright.  Most of the penalties were on the defensive backs, with 2 PI calls and 2 holding calls.   Also, the block in the back on the interception return was on a DB.

Finally, I thought Bama looked good for a first game and filling so many offensive holes.  I thought the defense played some of their best assignment football for a first game.  Usually, players are so excited and want to make plays they make mistakes.  This seem to be held to a minimum.  Hopefully, the injures are not serious and they can continue to improve next week.

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18 and Counting

Any possibility this happens?  For or against?