OM vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the win.  Bama played well in areas but seem to take a step back in other areas such as penalties, tackling, and defending the edge.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 573 yards of total offense which includes 418 passing and 155 rushing.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 2 tackles for losses, 2 sacks and a fumble which they didn’t lose.  They only had one 3 and out.   For plays that covered 10+ yards, there were 16 passing plays and 6 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored 2 touchdowns, 1 field goal, and missed a field goal.  Five of the touchdowns were scored from outside the red zone and one touchdown was scored on a block punt. 

QB:   Tua completed 72% of his passes.   There was a drop, but he also missed on a couple of wide-open receivers that would have gone for touchdowns.  He did make some defenders miss when he got pressure to make big plays.  I also thought there was opportunities for him to step up in the pocket or pull up on his scramble to make a more accurate throw.  It did seem that a few of his balls were thrown behind the receivers however they made the catch.  Jones came in and threw 1 pass which I consider to be a drop.  The catch would have kept the drive alive because it was on 4th down and had the yardage to gain the first down. 

RB:   Three running backs combined for 151 yards rushing on 24 carries with equates to 6.3 yards per carry.  I thought all of them ran hard and well.  They each made yards after contact and found the hole better.  It seems they have become more patient when running the ball.  I do think they could do a better job pass blocking as they got blown up a couple of times.

Rec:  It is no secret that Smith had a hell of a day.  He had 11 catches for 274 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Jeudy was the next leading receiver with 8.  What they did do a good job of was blocking downfield for receivers after the catch was made.  They also made some blocks on the running plays.  Where they missed a block was on the wide receiver screens which didn’t make a lot of yardage.

OL:  The OL did better job in the running game.  They did open some holes for the backs, but also got to the 2nd level especially coming off some combo blocks.  There were a few missed opportunities in the passing game.  On one sack, the OL is looking in the backfield and a player runs right by him.  Tua had had to step up because of pressure from and outside rushers but then had no time to get rid of the ball.  I can’t think of a reason the OL would be on the LOS and be looking back in the backfield.  They also missed and outside rusher which caused the QB to flush.  One of the pressures was because the tackle went for a cut block and missed giving the rusher a free track to the QB.  There is also the question to why can’t they get a 3rd and one, but are able to get the 4th and 1 with the wildcat QB in.  With all, I still think they made some positive strides here.


Def:  I thought the defense took a bit of a step backwards in this game.  I am very picky here, and could be wrong, but I have Bama a combination of 28 missed tackles with allowing the runner to get to the outside of the defense.  I didn’t breakdown which were missed tackles, and which were getting outside the edge. I also have the defense playing 87 (42 in the first half and 45 in the 2nd half) plays which doesn’t count the plays they had to play again because of penalties.  Part of this is because Bama scores so quickly.  Bama had 12 drives, not counting the last kneel down, and only 4 of them were over 3 minutes.  I put this in the defensive notes because the offense puts the defense back on the field quickly.   However, you can’t tell the offense don’t take the open receiver when you have them.  The defense also had to play back to back series twice because of the fumble on the 1st punt and the blocked punt for the touchdown, which was the first non-offensive touchdown this year.   OM had 476 yards of total offense which included 179 passing and 279 rushing.  For negative plays, I have Bama credited with 6 tackles for losses, 1 sack, and an interception.  They also had 4 three and outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, OM had 7 passing plays and 9 running plays that covered that distance.  OM got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and kicked one field goal.  They scored 2 touchdowns from outside the red zone.  I will say Bama fumble of the punt help set up one touchdown and one touchdown was scored late on the backups.  The defense also helps extend some of the scoring drives because of penalties.  On a side not, I’m not sure they defense had seen this QB before so they may have underestimated his speed.  However, after a while you should be able to make the adjustment.

DL:  I thought the DL could have done a better job.  Too me it looked like they weren’t always covering their gaps and allowing the running plays to take place.  They also, lost contain as I stated above.  I think they can do a better job using their hands to get off the block as they didn’t get off blocks at times when the runner was going by them.

LB:  Again, they had a tough assignment with a running QB as well as an offense that can spread the field.  They made plays, but also missed some makeable plays.  There were a couple of times when it looked like there may have been some confusions on the defensive call.  This team again took the middle backer out into coverage on an outside receiver. 

DB:  They played a team that ran the ball more than they threw it.  They did give up some plays, but I will say they catches were made on some 50/50 balls.  There were opportunities to make plays, but the offensive player made the play.  They had a couple of penalties, one of which help keep a drive alive that led to ta touchdown. 

Special Teams:  The special teams had one bad play which set OM up on the 30-yard line going in.  The fumbled punt put OM in a good scoring opportunity which they took advantage of.  The only other hitch was the missed field goal.  To be quite honest this may have been the best kicked ball by the kicker.  The kickoff return team and cover team did well.  The punt return team gave Bama good field position which led to short drives. 

Penalties:  Bama didn’t help themselves here.  They had 10 penalties for 76 yards.  Offensively they were able to overcome many of these penalties but made it more difficult to convert.  I do know on one TD drive, the defense had penalties which helped the offensive and made the yardage easier to make or kept the drive alive. 

Finally, Bama only punted twice all day.  They had 12 real drives and scored on 8 of them.  They turned the ball over on downs once and missed a field goal.  This is points left on the field.  I also consider not getting in the endzone when in the red zone and having to kick a field goal leaving points on the field.  They have to do a better job with contain and not allow the defensive outside edge to be exploited.  Penalties again need to be addressed. 

Feel free to comment:

17 and Counting

                                                                        USM vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the win.  Bama seemed to make some improvements and was clearly the better team.  One thing SM had going for them, they had 10 returning players on the offensive side of the ball.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 514 yards of total offense which included 338 passing and 176 rushing.   For negative plays, I have Bama with 7 tackles for losses, 1 sack and an interception.  I also have them with only 1 three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, Bama had 12 passing plays with 8 in the first half and 6 running plays that covered that distance with 5 of these in the 2nd half.    Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored touchdowns each time.  They also scored 3 from outside the red zone.  The offense had 10 drives and scored touchdowns on 7 of them.  Six of the drives were 6 plays or under, but one of those was right before the half.  That being said, they did have good field position and tried to move the ball.  Of these 7 drives, the longest was 2:19. 

QB:   Tua completed 81% of his passes going 17 for 21 which accounted for 293 yards.  I did think on one or two of the RPO’s he should have given the ball.  Also, he did miss a deep throw that probably would have scored if he had led the rec and throw it more away from the defender.  Even the long touchdown to Ruggs was a little underthrown.  Most of the time, he was right on target and allowed the receivers to make yardage after the catch.  Jones came in and threw some nice passes, but he made a bad throw for and interception outside the red zone.  Taulia came in and mopped up the victory.  He had one competition on a scramble.  He led the last touchdown drive.

RB:   The running backs combined for 169 yards rushing led by Harris with 110 yards on 14 carries.  Robinson added 39 yards on 8 carries and the youngsters finished it up with 19 yards on 10 carries.  I thought they did a better job hitting the hole as well as pass blocking when called upon.  They continue to be someone the defense must account for in the passing game as Harris had another receiving touchdown.

Rec:  Including TE’s, seven players had receptions.  Again, the big four were the leaders and Ruggs and Jeudy were the leaders in receptions and yardage.  Both had 2 touchdowns.  Missed blocks by the TE and the receivers accounted for a couple of plays where there were tackles for losses. 

OL:  The OL did look better this game.  They still missed a stunt or two, but they seem to get more movement on the LOS.  I don’t know how good the SM DL is supposed to be, but as you can see by the rushing stats, they did do a better job.  I do know Willis missed a block and almost got Tua beheaded from behind.  On one of the sacks the OL got pushed back into the QB, however, that may have been because the coverage was very good on that play.  Again, this game, 73 missed a block on a tackle for a loss where he was just beat off the ball.  I looked like he took a bad step from the beginning.


Def:  I thought defense played better this game especially considering they didn’t miss as many tackles.  The defense gave up 226 yards of total offense which included 174 passing and 52 rushing.  They gave up less yards in the 2nd half than they did the first half, 124 to 102.  As far as negative plays, I credit Bama with 6 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, 1 interception, and a caused fumble with the recovery.  They had 2 three and outs for the day.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, they had 6 passing plays, 3 in each half, and 2 running plays.  They got into the red zone once and scored a touchdown.  This was aided by a 15- yard penalty that put them in the red zone.  The defense did lose contain a couple of times and one was when the player reversed the field and the defense didn’t take good pursuit angles. 

DL:  I thought the DL played a good game.  They stopped the inside run and even got some pressure on the QB when rushing 4 or 5.  I did check a few of the pressures and there were at least 5.  On these 5 two were incomplete, 2 sacks and one competition.  These youngsters are going to have to grow up in a hurry.  I did like what I saw from Barmore.

LB:  They played well and finished off many tackles and had some tackles for losses.  I think it was the 2nd play of the game, Lee was put in a position to have to cover a smaller rec/rb when he lined up on the outside.  He did a pretty good job running with him, but I would hate to see that match up very often.

DB:  They were playing a QB that average over 70% competitions.  They held him to 65% competition rate and most of them were short.  The announcer said they ran a pick play to help score the touchdown or pick up a first down.  The problem with this is the ball was thrown behind the LOS so the rec can block down field.  They did run some rub plays earlier, however this was more geared toward the LB’s.  Diggs had a nice interception.  The SM receivers did make a couple of good catches when they seemed to be covered.  I will say I am impressed with the freshman safety Battle. 
Special Teams:  The special teams were solid as they made all extra points.  They biggest thing that happened was Waddle got a 2nd chance at a punt and returned it 41 yards.  The biggest negative, which wasn’t bad, was a kick-off return that got to the 26 or 27-yard line.

Penalties:  Bama one penalty for 15 yards and it moved them into the red zone on their scoring drive.  I do think Bama benefitted from the calls on SM.  I thought one of the pass interference calls could have gone either way.  Also, the blind side block was a little questionable in my opinion. 

Finally, Bama only punted twice all day.  They cut down on the penalties on both sides of the ball.  The OL got a push on the DL.  I still think there is improvement that can be made on the OL.  In my opinion, the defense got better this week, mainly because they tackled better.

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 17 and Counting

                                                                                  SC vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the win.  To me this was a game where Bama led the whole way, but I didn’t feel comfortable.  South Carolina had a great offensive game plan and the freshman QB did a good job executing it.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 571 yards of total offense, which breaks down into 495 passing and 76 rushing.  This is the lowest rushing total I can remember.  It broke a long string of games where Bama has rushed for over 100 yards.  I have Bama credited with only one 3 and out, however, they did have a 3-play drive after a turnover of the ball on downs in the SC territory which ended with a missed field goal.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses and 2 sacks.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, Bama had 19 passing plays and 4 running plays.  On drives, Bama reached the red zone 5 times and they missed one field goal, made 2 field goals, and scored 2 touchdowns.  They did score 4 touchdowns from outside the red zone. 

QB:   Tua completed 78% of his passes and found the open receiver most of the time.  He did have a couple of off throws and it looked like that might have had something to do with footwork, especially if he was pressured.  I also looked at when Tua was pressured.  If I am correct, he was pressured 5 times.  On these 5 plays, 4 of the pressures were from the OL and RB missed blocks or overpowered while one looked like it could have been because of the coverage.  Also, he completed 2 of the passes, with one for a touchdown.  Jones came in and got some good playing time and led the Tide on a scoring drive. 

RB:   The running backs combined for 21 total rushing carries.  However, they were very involved with the passing game.  Harris had a total of 7 rushes for 36 yards and 5 catches for 87 yards while B. Robinson had 8 carries for 33 yards and 2 catches for 37 yards.  For a total they had 22 touches for 193 yards.  K Robinson came in and ran hard.  I really like this young man, he sort of reminds me of Drake fro some reason.  I will say they missed a couple of blocks on passing plays.

Rec:  Including TE’s, 7 different receivers has catches and this doesn’t count the RB’s.  Smith, Ruggs, and Jeudy all had over 5 catches.  The main 4, when you add Waddle, averaged over 15 yards per reception.  The TE’s made a couple of mistakes when the missed blocks and were called for penalties.  Where I really want to give the receivers credit is the way they catch the ball with their hands.

OL:  The OL did look a little better at times.  They did open some holes in the running game a few times.  However, I still see some areas that need correcting.  For instance, on one play the protection was sliding to the left and the RG either didn’t take the proper step and allow the DL to come inside.  It looked to me that the center had no one on him so he could have punched the backside and then slid to the left.  Also, it looked on one running play there was a missed opportunity for a combo block which was not made.  The RG was run over on a sack, however, the RB also missed the block so the play was doomed.  I also want to mention there were a few low snaps which throws off the timing of the plays.  There were also two tackles for losses inside the red zone 5-yard line.   

Def:  I thought the defense had tough assignment.  SC officially threw the ball 57 times.  However, I went back to see where the throws were attempted and my stats are off because I was looking to where the ball was being thrown.  Forty-one passes were thrown less than 10 yards from the LOS and 30 0f them were completed.  Twenty were thrown for over 10 yards and 6 were completed and one was intercepted.  There was also another short throw that was intercepted, but it was negated by a penalty.  For total yards, I have SC for 459 yards which included 324 passing and 135 rushing.  I have them credited with three 3 and outs, but a couple were 4 and outs as the ball was turned over on downs. I credit the D with 5 tackles for losses, 3 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception.   For plays that covered 10+ yards. SC had 17 passing plays and 4 running plays.  Most of these passes were completed less than 10 yards, but the run after the catch made for the yardage.  They got into the red zone 3 times and turned it over on down once, kicked a field goal, and scored a touchdown.  From outside the red zone they kicked two field goals and scored one touchdown.  They had a great game plan and executed it well.  The glaring part of the defense was the yards that were allowed after the catches were made.  There were several missed tackles.

DL:  I thought the DL played a good game.  They didn’t have a lot of time to get pressure on the QB because of the short throws.  SC also worked the outside, so it made the DL run to the ball.  There were a couple of times contain was lost on the jet sweep.

LB:  They had a tough job with the short passes to the outside and even had to go outside the DB to get into their coverage at times. 

DB:  They had a difficult job, but if they had made the initial tackle then the stats would have been a lot better.  The DB were most of the leading tacklers because of the game plan from SC.  I will say, on the touchdown pass, Carter actually got a part of the ball, but not enough to get the ball away from the receiver. 

Special Teams:  The special teams were a mixture of mistakes and missed opportunities.  On extra points, there was a miss. There was a missed field goal.  A punt that covered only 14 yards.  I will say, I don’t think SC got part of the ball.  Kick off coverage was great since when they attempted the return, they never got to the 25-yard line.  Kick off return, they never attempted one.  The one punt return really help flip the field.  After the first special team fake, Bama was ready for the rest.

Penalties:  Bama hurt themselves with penalties yesterday.  They had 11 penalties for 92 yards.  One penalty took away an interception when they had too many on the field.  They had an offside on a 3rd and 10 which now made it a 3 and 5.  A false start turns a 2nd and four to a 2nd and 9.  You get the idea.  Fortunately, they were able to overcome some of them.  However, they did help SC keep a couple of drives alive.

Finally, Bama only punted once which was a good thing.  They left points on the field since they missed a field goal and an extra point.  However, they also left points on the field as they had to go for field goals twice in the red zone instead of putting the ball in the end zone.  I hate to say Bama scores too quick, but they put the defense back on the field in a hurry.  It will be extremely important for Bama to develop depth because of this.  The OL must improve and some of it seems to be communication as well as technique.   Penalties must be cleaned up because you can’t keep giving teams extra opportunities.  Finally, tackling has to improve and eliminate so many yards after contact.

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 17 and Counting

                                                                        NMS vs Bama

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 17 and Counting

                                                                        Duke vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on the win.  This was a game where you can see there are some improvements needed.  However, there were many positives for Bama to build upon.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 512 yards of total offense, which included 367 passing and 145 rushing.  I also want to add here, Bama lost 80+ yards on penalties.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a fumble.  Bama is credited with 2 three and outs and one 2 and out because of a fumble.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 15 passes and 3 runs.  Bama got into the red zone 3 times and scored touchdowns each time.  They also scored 3 touchdowns from outside the red zone. 

QB:   I thought Tua had a very good game.  Tua was 26 for 31 for 336 yards which equates to 84 percent.  He threw 4 touchdown passes and had no interceptions.  When Tua reads the coverage and takes what he is given he is a very effective quarterback.  This is a huge positive for Bama because they have receivers who can make plays after the catch.  Three of his misses were on deep balls, however he was basically on target on the short to intermediate throws.  Jones came in and did a good job.  It is good that he got to work with the first teamers. 

RB:   The played pretty well.  I may be wrong, but it looked like Ford was trying to change the ball from one hand to the other when he fumbled.  This really doesn’t make sense and I am probably wrong because he would have been moving the ball to the side of the defensive pursuit.  The RB had a hard time between the tackles and a lot of that had to do with the OL.  I’m not sure, but it looked to me that Harris wanted to bounce the run and not trust the hole a couple of times.  The running backs had 130 yards on 33 carries which equates to 3.9 yards per carry.

Rec:  Not counting backs, there were 8 different receivers who had catches.  Juedy had the big day with 10 catches for 137 yards.  Also, 4 different receivers had touchdown catches.  Most of the balls that were catchable were caught.  There is the one that was a little behind Waddle that could have been caught, but it was a little behind and basically a jump ball with good coverage.

OL:  The OL has a lot of improving to do if Bama is going to be successful this year.  I have them giving up at least 4 pressures on the QB.  There were opportunities on 2nd or 3rd and 1 and they didn’t get the push to get a first down.  There were some bad steps or miscommunications on the blocking schemes.  It looked like Bama used, what I call, a slide protection at times.  They were hurt a couple of times when they did this.  It is good when you have one guy outside the last man on the line of scrimmage because the back takes the outside guy.  However, there seemed to be a guy on the end man on the LOS (tackle) and a guy stacked over him.  When the end man on the defensive LOS goes inside you would expect someone to come outside and the blocker has to be able to work back out or the back has to take the first man and the outside rusher is free.


Def:  I thought the defense played well, especially since they probably didn’t expect the offense Duke came out in.  Bama gave up a total of 204 total yard which included 97 passing and 107 rushing.  As for negative plays, I have Bama credited with 1 tackle for loss, 2 sacks(one was a bad snap), 2 interceptions, and a fumble recovery.  The fumble recovery led to a touchdown.  I have the defense credited with five 3 and outs and one 2 and out because of the fumble recovery.  As for plays that covered 10+ yards, I have 2 pass plays and 2 running plays.   Duke got into the red zone twice and came away with a field goal and they turned the ball over on downs on the other. 

DL:  I thought the DL played well in the running game.  I didn’t see a lot of pressure in the passing game without a blitz.   All of the D linemen made plays as did the backups when they were in.

LB:  I thought Lee and Harris played very well for 2 starting freshmen.  They were both making tackles from sideline to sideline. 

DB:  They only gave up 12 completions and most of those were on short passes where Duke put the linebackers in coverage.  They did complete one for 37 yards where the defender was in good position but just missed knocking the ball down.  Surtain had a pass break up in the endzone to stop a touchdown.   Diggs played the interception perfectly and Battle got and interception when he was in good position when Duke tried to go deep at the end of the game.

Special Teams:  The special teams were solid.  I know the kicker missed two field goal, however he hit them well and they could have been from further away if necessary.  Duke had no kick off returns because every kickoff went into the endzone.   Bama had no real mistakes on their special teams except for a penalty which didn’t end up hurting them.

Penalties:  Bama hurt themselves here.  They lost at least 80+ yards on 2 plays because of holding penalties.  They did have a couple of pass interference calls that against a better team could have really  hurt.  The only thing I can say about Saban’s penalty is, what if it had been a tighter game? 

Finally, Bama started slow.  With all the new faces on defense, I thought they played well. I also think it helped that they seem to play a very base defense.  On offense, they have to do a better job in the OL, especially on short yardage situations.  Tua’s job can be simple, if he reads the coverage, takes what the defense is giving him and allow the receivers to make plays. By doing this, it will open up the deep ball.  I thought Sark had a pretty solid game plan.

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 17 and Counting

Yes it was a very, very hot day and the players seemed to handle it pretty good. It took Tua 3 plays to get the ball into the end zone from 60 yards out to start the scrimmage. Tua is Tua and not much more too say about him, he's a ballplayer. The kicking game seems better with the addition of Reichard, he has a very strong leg, punting and place kicking.

it was hard to judge how good the team is at this point in time as CNS was practicing everyone that was healthy. Mac Jones seems settled in in the reserve role but he didn't look as sharp to day as he did in the ADay game. Harris and Robinson both looked good running the ball, Robinson can be a beast when he has to, hard to bring down. Waddle dropped a few jocks with his quick cuts when he had a chance to run with the ball, he is something else to watch.

I though both the offensive and defensive lines had their moments but again it was practice with a lot of new faces. Same with the Dbacks and the receivers, there were some good catches and some good pass defense.

CNS stated that there are some injuries that need to heal and he's looking for leaders on the team. He felt that the lack of leadership was the main ingredient that was missing last year and is now working hard with the players to establish that leadership mentality in them.

Greg Byrne and CNS both talked about the Bama scheduling issue that seems to bother so many Bama critics for not being tough enough. Both stated that they are searching country wide for the better games but very few of those opponents want the Bama game. Byrne stated that most schools are booked through the 2020's already.

It was a fun day and I think this team can be as good as they want to be but we need Mother Luck to become more visible in the locker room for a change and be a blessing for the team. Injuries have really taken it's toll the past few years.
 

A much needed win for the team. I think Coach Bo is getting about as much out of this team as he can.

A look back at how we got from an elite program to where are are now.

Coach Jim Wells took over a good but not elite program in 1995 from Shollenberger. Wells coached for 15 years with a record of 625-322 (.659 %). He won 5 SEC Championships. We made 12 Regionals, 5 Super Regionals and 3 World Series appearances. The program was beginning to slip in 2008 when he announced his retirement. Mal Moore talked him in to staying and that only lasted one year. Wells retired in 2009 as the winningest coach in Alabama Baseball history.

Coach Wells lobbied for and helped get his former top assistant Mitch Gaspard the job. Gaspard was a good man that was liked by everyone. He started out good winning the Georgia Tech Regional and Advancing to the Super Regional where we were 1 out away from the World Series. Gaspard coached 7 season with a record of 234-193. He earned 4 Regional berths and one Super Regional. The program was consistently middle of the pack SEC and had become stagnant. we did not make a Regional his last two years. Gaspard resigned at the end of the 2016 season.

Greg Goff was hired by Bill Battle and it turned out to be one of the worst hires for any sport in the school's history. He went 19-34-1 and lost the team in the process. Players were quitting the team and transferring just trying to get out. New AD Greg Byrne fired him after one season. In one season the team went from Mid- SEC to dead last. The RPI fell to 175 and 19 wins. Both worst in modern school history.

Coach Bo was hired to re-built and start the 2018 season. He inherited a mess. He was hired after the recruiting season and was only able to add a few players, mostly JUCO transfers. The team went 27-29 (8-22 SEC) and finished with a RPI of 82. This was his first season to recruit. He has a reputation of being a top recruiter. He brought in 22 new players being freshmen and JUCO transfers. He recruited nation wide bringing kids in from as far away as California. The team is currently 27-20 (6-17 SEC) with an RPI of 43. They are much improved from last year. It also needs to be pointed out that the SEC is the strongest top to bottom I have ever seen. Nine SEC teams are in the Top 25.

We need to give Coach Bo time. He has a Top 20 recruiting class committed for next year. The team is playing hard. This is not a quick fix project. 

                                                                        Clemson vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great season.  This was a game where the Bama team didn’t help themselves and gave some help to the Clemson team.   Clemson was well prepared and executed a game plan by making big plays when necessary.  I don’t think Locksley called his best games.  Before the 2nd interception, Bama was running the ball, helping the defense rest and then he calls a pass play.  Because of a bad read by Tua the pass was intercepted.  Also, the red zone production was horrible.  I also didn’t like the double tight formations as it allowed Clemson a variety of ways to blitz.  I didn’t like the fake field goal call with the personal that runs it.  If I am going for it I am leaving my offense on the field.

OFFFENSE:   Bama offense was only stopped by themselves most of the night.  That had 443 yards of total offense which included 295 passing and 148 rushing.  Bama totaled 255 yards in the first half after having about 220 in the first quarter.  As far as negative plays, Bama had 7 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions which led to 14 points, and 3 fumbles which they recovered.  Bama had 2 three and outs and one of them was when they put Hurts in in a no-win situation.  The other was when Tua threw the interception that was returned for a touchdown.  For positive plays that covered 10+ yard, Bama had 11 pass plays and 7 running plays.  He comes the killer, along with the interceptions.  Bama got into the red zone 5 times and to the 22 once.  Out of these drives, they got a touchdown and a field goal.  They turned the ball over on downs on the other 3 drives.  They did score once from outside the red zone.  As I stated I think the play calling/execution here was horrible.   I also want to mention the snap by the clap. It looks to me that after the clap the ball is snapped almost right after, so it is easily time by the defense.  I would like him to clap telling the center he is ready and then the center go I, 2, or 3 counts and snap the ball.  I think the center could call go where the other OL would know when the ball was snapped. 

QB:   Tua would have had a good game if they had been playing such tough competition.  He completed 65% of his passes but missed a couple of open receivers, once while being flushed on the 4th and 4 where he scrambled and came up short.  On the first interception it was a bad throw.  I also think he misread the coverage.  I will also say, I didn’t like the spacing of the receivers which allowed them to be covered by 1 man.  The second interception, he just didn’t read the coverage correctly.  The underneath route was wide-open and he probably would have gained 15+ yards if the ball had been thrown to him.  The was the drive where Bama was running the ball and a short pass to control the clock and keep the defense off the field would have helped.  One reason I think he misread the coverage is I think he looked right to move the safety and came back left to throw.  The only thing I can say about Hurts is that he was put in a no-win situation.

RB:   The running backs combined 163 yards on 31 carries.  It looked like anytime they could break a long one.  The problem was when they got into the red zone.  I thought N Harris did a good job picking up the blitz as well as others.

Rec:  Not counting running backs 6 different receivers had catches.  D. Smith led with 6, Jeudy had 5, I Smith had 4, Waddle had 2, and Ruggs had 1.  They also did a good job blocking since the running backs had some big runs.  I do think there were a couple of penalties missed with a holding on Jeudy and a PI on I Smith.  Both of these would have kept drives alive in the red zone where they didn’t score. 

OL:  The OL played like Jeykell and Hyde in my opinion.  I say this because of the inability to score inside the red zone.  I also think part of the problem was the snap I mentioned above allowing the defense to get off the ball.  I wonder why Bama didn’t have a heavy offense this year like last where they use Payne.  You can’t tell me there isn’t a back-up guard or tackle or back-up defensive player that could do that.  The allowed Bama to run the ball, however at times the QB was hurried because of the rush especially when there was a blitz.  One blitz came off the motion of a rec coming in toward the LOS on the short side of the field and led to a sack.  Tua was looking away and never saw it.  This wasn’t on the OL but I wanted to mention it here.

Def:  The defense had a tough night.  I do think that missing Miller was huge because there wasn’t much of an edge rush most of the night.  As a matter of fact, there wasn’t much of any pass rush most of the night.  With the absence of an edge rush it allowed Clemson to double team Williams most of the night and single block the rest.  For negative plays, Bama had 6 tackles for losses and that is it.  No sacks, interceptions or fumbles.  They did have 3 three and outs.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, they had 10 passing plays and 4 running plays.  They had big catches on 3rd down, where they had: 3rd and 14 a 62 yard catch, 3rd and 12 a 37 yard catch, and 3rd and 9 a 17 yard catch.  Clemson got into the red zone 5 times and scored 4 touchdowns and kicked one field goal.  They scored one touchdown outside the red zone and had and interception for a TD.   Without pressure the QB was able to push the ball down the field.  I will say the Clemson receivers made some good catches to help their QB.  Also, the defense looked confused at times and busted coverage a few times.  I also think they underestimated the speed of the Clemson running back.

DL:  I thought they played a tough game.  As, I mentioned Williams was doubled teamed a lot of the night.  This means someone else needed to step up.   The lack of depth was also obvious as others didn’t step up and make plays.  To Clemson’s credit they had a pretty good offensive line. 

LB:  They had a decent games as they had to play run and pass.  As I said earlier, I think they underestimated the speed of the running back from Clemson.  It was also difficult for them to get into the passing lane.

DB:  They didn’t make the plays they needed to and busted some coverages.  One of the bust was on third down and allowed an easy throw for a first down.  On one touchdown, I think the safety was flatfooted and the ball was thrown over the top.  There was a seam route and an outside route and the safety had eyes on the inside route and didn’t get depth.  I think the linebacker should have been running with the inside receiver but was beat.  On the 5 yard touchdown the safety stood still as the receiver came inside.  He has to see that as a safety and at least hit him if he can’t get to the ball. 

Special Teams:  The special teams made some crucial mistakes.  The first was the missed extra point.  The second was when the kick off went out of bounds.  This was after Bama scored and it gives Clemson the ball on the 35 instead of the 25. 

Penalties:  Bama had untimely and harmful penalties again this game.  First, you have a false start on 2nd and 1 on the goal line which now becomes 2nd and 6 and Bama has to settle for a field goal.  The next was a kickoff out of bounds which gives Clemson the ball on the 35.  Right after the bad kickoff on the 1st play you have pass interference for 15-yards where now Clemson has the ball at the 50.  Clemson goes on to score a touchdown.  The next penalty was a 15-yard personal foul hitting out of bounds with 1:53 left in the half which helps Clemson move down and kick a field goal.  The next was an offsides by Jennings on an incomplete pass which now allows Clemson to have a free play.  The next penalty was lineman down field which negated a 12 reception.  Finally, there was a late hit by Jennings which was assessed on the kick off.  Clemson had 1 penalty for 12 yards and Bama had 6 for 60.  Two no calls could have been big if Bama could have converted in the red zone.

Finally, Bama got as we call, a country butt whooping.  Part of this was because of Bama’s inability to scored in the red zone and the mistakes that were made.  There has to be some more depth at the DL position and the secondary.  A lot of the secondary problems can be fixed with a better pass rush.  We have gotten spoiled and expect a NC every year.  That just isn’t going to happen.  Parity in college football is getting closer.  Also, I heard some people are calling for Saban to be fired.  They need their head checked.  How many other teams could do what Bama has done with the coaching turnover that Bama has had?  Also, I hope Bama goes out and gets the best OL coach there is.  I think this will really be a huge hire.

Feel free to comment:

                                                                    OU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great victory.  I really thought the offensive game plan was spot on.

OFFFENSE:   Bama’s offense played well except for a couple of drives where they killed themselves.  The offense put together a total of 528 yards which included 200 rushing yards and 328 passing yards.  As far as negative plays, Bama had 2 tackles for losses and 1 sack.  One of the tackles for losses was when there was some confusion in the backfield between the QB and running back.  Bama is credited with only one three and out.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 15 passing plays and 7 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone7 times which resulted in 5 touchdowns and 1 field goal.  The other trip was at the end of the game and Bama decided to kneel down instead of scoring.  I think I would have really like to see Bama score there.  However, by kneeling down you probably prevent your defense from having to go back on the field and this a lot less possibility of an injury on some play that really means nothing.  Bama did score 1 touchdown from out side the red zone.  Bama did leave points on the field as they self-destructed with penalties. 

QB:   Tua had an outstanding game missing only three passes.  He had 2 incompletions in the first half and 1 in the second.  The one in the second half would have been a catch if the receiver had given himself a little more room to work.  He did a great job checking into the correct plays.  The only knock was the mix-up in the backfield after a check which led to a negative play.  Hurts completed his only pass and ran well when he was given the opportunity.

RB:   The running backs combined for 191 yards rushing on 24 carries.  This breaks down to 7.9 yards per carry.  Jacobs led the way in carries and yardage while N Harris had the best overall average at 7.5 yards per carry.  They ran well and the protected well.  Both D Harris and Jacobs had big catches.

Rec:  Not counting running backs 7 different players had catches, which includes Hurts when he was in at the slot.  Three of the touchdown passes were to wide receivers while the other was to Jacobs who destroyed the OU safety on his run after the catch.  D Smith led the way with 6 catches followed by Juedy with 4.  Ruggs had 3 while Waddle and I Smith both had 2.   The did a good job blocking downfield on runs as well as helping receivers after the catch.

OL:  The OL played pretty well which should be expected with the defense from OU.  The key point to me was there were only 3 negative plays for the complete game.  I thought they got to the second level more often in this game than they did in the past game.  There were mistakes that I will discuss in the penalty area.

Def:  The defense played well especially early on.  I know they gave up yardage however, I think this was due to Bama building up a huge lead and not wanting OU to have many quick scoring opportunities.  They wanted them to have to drive the field.  Early in the game Bama’s rush contained Murry and coverage made him hold the ball.  This led to the early sack.  I think later the D was wanting to make more play and became a little undisciplined in their rush and lost their lanes.  As you saw Murry only needs a small crease to get off and running.  The defense gave up a total of 471 yards which included 163 rushing and 308 passing.   Most of the rushing yards were on scrambles by Murry.  He had 109 rushing yards which most were scrambles.  For negative plays, I have them credited with 3 tackles for losses and 3 sacks.  OU had only 1 three and out.  For plays covering 10+ yards, they had 13 passing plays and 7 running plays.  They got into the red zone 5 times and scored 3 touchdowns and kicked 2 field goals.  They did score once from outside the red zone.  The defense was also hurt by some missed tackles especially in the second half.

DL:  I thought they played well and put pressure on the QB without a lot of blitz help.  Williams is a beast who ate up two blocks on most of the plays.  In my opinion, I thought there were a couple of times where the OU OL grabbed the Bama players which may have allowed Murry to escape and there was no call.

LB:  They played well considering the offense they were facing.  They were put in a position where they had to play the run, cover the receivers, but they also had to watch the scrambles by Murry. 

DB:  They missed some opportunities to one two balls that could have been intercepted and stopped drives.  McKinney is credited with 4 passes defended which led the teams.  There were a couple of balls that were thrown up that the receivers made the play on.  I don’t understand why these receivers are given a free release by the DB’s but I guess they are doing the way they are taught.  It looked like Bama played 2 safeties most of the game, especially after the large lead to keep OU from scoring quickly.  I do want to say maybe a reason the receiver got behind the safety was he saw Murry scrambling and may have stepped up or froze for a second which allowed this to happen.

Special Teams:  The special teams had a good day.  They hit on all their extra points as well as their field goal.  Punting was ok, not outstanding.  I guess you can say they did their job and kept it away from the dangerous return man.  The one big return OU had was because of a block in the back which brought it back.  The big mistake was the fair catch on the return when OU was having to kick off after being assessed 2 15-yard penalties. This was the time Bama went three and out where they should have returned the kick and had the ball further up the field.

Penalties:  Bama had untimely and harmful penalties.  They had 4 penalties on one drive, one which negated a touchdown.   I will say I think this may have been a bad call and I think the announcers agree.  They called and illegal formation because Willis was not on the LOS.  Three of the 4 penalties were on Willis.  The other was on D Harris.  Other penalties help keep drives alive where OU scored touchdowns.

Finally, Bama came out hot and played well.  I don’t know if they lost a little focus or what.  The penalties that cost Bama a touchdown occurred after the were third and a short 1 in the red zone.  The are important points left on the field.  Also, I will be surprised if Miller will be back from his injury for the Championship game.

Feel free to comment:

 17 and Counting

                                                                         Georgia vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great victory.  This was a game of mistakes for Bama which was partly caused by Georgia’s defense. 

OFFFENSE:   Bama’s offense was the Jekyll and Hyde of the day.  Even though they one, there were numerous mistakes.  I have Bama receivers for 4 drops and maybe as many as 5.  They ran the ball effectively then couldn’t get back to the LOS on other plays.  For offense, Bama had 403 total yard which included 246 passing and 157 rushing.  As for negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles of losses, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 2 fumbles which they recovered themselves.  Bama is credited with 4 three and outs, 2 for each half.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, Bama had 10 pass plays and 7 running plays.  Nine of the passing plays came in the second half while 5 of the running plays came in the first half.  Bama got into the red zone 5 times and scored 4 touchdowns and threw one interception.  They did score once from outside the red zone. 

QB:   Tua had the worse game of his career.  He was 10-25 for 164 yards and 51 of those came on one competition.  It didn’t help that all the drops were on passes he threw.  I do think on the first interception the defender made a good play, but the ball may have been a little late.  The second interception was also a little late and behind the receiver.  I think if he ball is more outside the receiver had a chance for the catch.  It seemed that Tua’s throw were behind receiver more than once.  I also think that Tua has fallen in love with big plays and was not checking down when he had the chance a few times.  Jalen came in and had an outstanding game.  He was 7-9 for 82 yards. Jalen showed how much he has improved as he kept looking downfield for receivers even when he was scrambling.  It also looked like he checked down to different receivers.  He came up huge on 3rd down as he was 5 for 5 on third down conversions. 

RB:   The running backs combined for 150 yards on 21 carries with equates to about 7 yards a carry.  The big running play was the 59-yard run by Jacobs.  He seems to be the go-to back on short yardage.  I think the defense is concentrating on the run when N Harris is in the game.  It seems many times when you have Jacobs and N Harris in the backfield together, they are running the counter the first play.  N Harris was 2 of the 4 tackles for losses and it wasn’t all his fault.

Rec:  Four different receivers had at least 3 catches and Waddle had 4.  The biggest of the drops was by I Smith on a third down play with no one around him.  It would have been a huge gain and put Bama in Georgia territory.

OL:  I really don’t know what to say here.  You are playing a team that is last in sacks in the SEC and they are constantly pressuring the Bama QB.  I didn’t count, but it seems that they did it with 4 most of the time.  Now, I don’t think all the pressure was on the OL, I think Tua held the ball too long or the coverage was so good it allowed the defense to get to him.  Like I said earlier, I think he could have checked down a few times.  On the running game, again, it was Jekyll and Hyde.  It was good sometimes and not very good at all on others.  I really would have my staff looking at offensive tendencies before the playoff begin.  I would also have them checking of keys that may be giving the plays away.  I do think, and this is my opinion, that the defense concentrates on runs when N Harris is in the game.

Def:  The defense played ok but tightened up near the end when it was necessary.  The defense gave up 454 total yard which included 301 passing and 153 rushing.  For negative plays, Bama had 4 tackles for losses and 2 sacks.  I have Georgia with 2 three and outs which was one in each half.  For plays that covered 10+ yards I have 11 pass plays and 4 running plays.  Six of pass plays came in the first half and 5 in the second, for running there were 2 in each half.  Georgia got into the red zone 3 times and scored 3 touchdowns, while one of their touchdowns came from right outside the red zone.  I do think Georgia had a great game plan with the short to medium route passing game and taking a shot every once in a while.  They also created some good match-ups that favored the receivers.  For the most part, Fromm just made some very good throws and their receivers made the catches.

DL:  I really expected them to play better, against what was supposed to be a young line with some players that were originally backups.  They did hold the main ball carriers to around 4.5 yards per carry.  I didn’t think Buggs looked like he was healthy as he seemed to be dragging his leg a bit.  Also, when they ran their stunts, he didn’t seem to get the push necessary.  They did lose the edge a couple of times and it led to good runs.  I really expected them to get more pressure on the QB, however part of that was the quick throws they were making.

LB:  They played ok.  They were put in a position of trying to get to short passes and be in position for the running game.  I do know on a couple of short passes, they ran a bit of pick plays to get the ball out quick for the short gain and 1st downs.   

DB:  They played better than the stats show.  They were in position several times, but Fromm put the ball in the correct spot.  They were having to come up and make plays on the short passes as well as making plays in the edge running game.  I really thought S Carter had another good game.

Special Teams:  The special teams had a couple of mistakes.  The bad part was Waddle put Bama in great field position for their first drive, but Tua threw and interception to stop the drive.   Another bad play was the running into the kicker right before the half.  Bama had some time outs left and Georgia was punting from their endzone.  If they set up the return, even with a fair catch they would have had time to get into position to score.  Finally, they gave up a big return after taking the lead which gave Georgia and opportunity to score.

Penalties:  Bama only had three penalties and one hurt them.  It was the running into the kicker which gave Georgia a first down and allowed them to basically run out the clock before the half.

Finally, Bama didn’t play well, especially on offense.  The drops and interceptions cost Bama points or opportunity to get points.  Hopefully, they will get healed up and correct some of these mistakes.  I really hope they work extremely hard on the OL.

Feel free to comment:

 17 and Counting