National Championship Game Notes: Bama vs ND

[hscoach]

First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on winning the 15th National Championship at the University of Alabama.  I want to send an extra congrats to the coaches who put together a fantastic game plan for the game.  Coach Nussmeier called an outstanding game and the players executed it almost to perfection. 

Offense:  The offense did whatever they wanted.  The Bama offense had drives of 82, 61, 80, 61, 71, 97, and 86 yards.  ND defense had given up only 75 yards once all year.  The Bama offense had only 1 three and out all night.  They also only had 3 negative plays all night, all tackles for losses.  The Bama offense got into the red zone 5 times and scored all 5 of those times.  The other TD came from just outside the red zone.  I don’t know if you noticed, but the time AJ and BJ got into it, it was not the first time in the game.  Early on the offside call against ND you see them getting into it a little there.  I don’t know if you noticed, but JW got two blocks on the TD run by TJY.  He clipped MT and then went on to the next guy who wanted no part of him.

QB:  I thought this was AJ’s best game of the year.   I think the only bad throw he made was when he threw the ball too hard and hit TJY in the face mask. He was 20 for 28 and this included 2 drops.  He barely missed two throws to AC.  If you put it in perspective he could have easily been 24 for 28.  He put the ball in the right spot all night and he pulled the trigger when needed.  I will say I thought they could have called a late hit on ND when he gave himself up on the scramble. 

RB:  Both EL and TJY ran hard all night.  There were times the ND defense looked like they did not want to tackle them.  The both showed patience in their running and hit the hole running.  They both showed great balance and made yards after contact.  A lot of time that contact did not happen until they were in the secondary.

REC:  AC and KN stood out.  AC has been big all year, but it seems every big game, KN makes big catches.  MS came in and played well, except for the one drop which he was hit hard about the time the ball arrived.  I also think KN got a bad shake on the holding call.  It also looked like KN was another option on the TD throw to AC where he came across the field. 

OL: This is where the game was won.  The OL completely dominated the ND defense.  They continually mad contact on the defensive side of the ball.  They made so Bama could run the ball effectively to the right or the left.  Also, they gave up no sacks during the game.   You continually saw the OL getting to the second level and being downfield when the ball was run and the running backs broke the LOS.  In pass blocking, DJF rarely needed help.  Many times the OL handled their man one on one.

Defense:   The defense had a good game and played good assignment football.  They only had 2 three and outs, but they also had 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and an interception for a total of 6 negative plays.  Also, remember Bama had the ball for a very long time.  This helped keep the D fresh every time they came on the field.  After a while it looked like the ND players were dreading getting hit.  ND had a total of 1 first down in the first quarter.  Bama may have benefited from the incomplete call on the pass in the first quarter.  I thought he controlled the ball.   It didn’t matter if the blitzes where from the secondary or the backers, they were well timed in this game.

DL:  They did a good job staying in their rush lanes most of the night.  They also stopped what little running game that ND tried.   Did anyone else see the chop block that could have been bad.  It was after Bama went up 14 to 0.  One guy is engaged with the defender and #70 comes in low and from behind. 

LB:  NJ, TD, and CJM played well.   This is evident as CJM was named the defensive player of the game.  They played sideline to sideline.  It helps to keep them fresh by rotating them and also being able to change according to what defensive package Bama ran.

DB: I thought, overall, the DB’s played a good game.  They were in position most of the night, but ND rec’s did make some plays.  However, the DB’s made more.  I thought this was their best game tackling this year.  I do think HCD took a bad angle on the deep throw that ND completed. 
 
Penalties: I think Bama was fortunate on the punt interference call.  I thought they could have actually said the Bama player pushed him in the back which caused the problem. However it went our way and Bama was fortunate.  I will say again, I thought KN got a bad call on the holding call.  Also, the argument between AJ and BJ, if you noticed, was AJ trying to get the ball snapped before the 25 second clock ran out.  He could see the clock winding down. 

Special teams:  They did a great job corralling the return guys for ND.   LC made a big tackle on a ball ND field on about the 5.  There was a missed opportunity on the fumble as there was only one Bama player in the vicinity.

Finally:  Again, Congrats to the Bama team and coaches.  It was you night and a great finish to the year.  Next year, won’t be able to come soon enough for some of us.  I want revenge on JM and T A&M.  Also, ND players and coaches showed great class after the defeat.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

[SUPERCOACH]

Good notes as always coach.  I appreciate you doing this for us after each game.

I did notice AJ and Barret bickering a few times throughout the game.

I heard we paid off the refs. 

I can't wait for next year.  The schedule looks pretty favorable and we have a lot of guys coming back.  It sounds like the next guy up at center will be pretty good, so if we can plug in a couple more guys on the O-line we should be just fine on offense with AJ, TJ, and Cooper all coming back, not to mention Fowler, Hart, and the other guys that got hurt early in the year.  And who knows which new recruits will shine at A-Day this year.

[bamalum67]

HScoach:MANY thanks for your on the spot analysis for the games this year..I have enjoyed them immensely..I know it takes your time to do this, and you provide details most of us who do not have those analytical skills can't pick out.

Looking forward to next year!  Roll, Tide!

[BAMADCHAMPSHIPS]

Great notes!

[Leroy]

  Great job as always hscoach 

[2Stater]

Great job as always , Coach. You're right, the protection for AJ was great all night. The only time he was hit was by Barrett. 

[Catch Prothro]

Defense:    Bama may have benefited from the incomplete call on the pass in the first quarter.  I thought he controlled the ball. 

 
Penalties: I think Bama was fortunate on the punt interference call.  I thought they could have actually said the Bama player pushed him in the back which caused the problem. However it went our way and Bama was fortunate. 

I agree about the incomplete pass call.  That call, and the punt interference call, took the wind out of ND's sails.  In a game where they were the underdog and hadn't been to a big bowl game in years, they needed some things to go their way early to get their confidence up.  Instead, Bama rammed it down their throats and they never got going.  I do think the punt intereference call was correct -- it could have gone the other way, but usually you see it called the way it was.

[lstephen]

Great notes coach!  Thanks for another year of great reading!

One question.  Was it just me or was Notre Dame just completely overmatched?  I understand "any given day" but ND didn't look like they had a single player that would've been on our 2 deep.

[hscoach]

Great notes coach!  Thanks for another year of great reading!

One question.  Was it just me or was Notre Dame just completely overmatched?  I understand "any given day" but ND didn't look like they had a single player that would've been on our 2 deep.

I thought they were competely overmatched.  One thing that really helped was BJ not needing very much help with the nose.  This allowed the other lineman to give token help before moving on to backers.  There was one running play in particular where I saw AS get across to the linebacker on his side and the LB had a better angle.  It also helped that AJ was on target better than any game this year in my opinion.

[BAMAWV]

Thanks HSC for your notes throughout the season. For a couple of days after the game I am suffering adrenaline letdown. Your notes are something to look forward to each week.

I never saw CBK give an explanation as to why they worked on Dee Milliner so much when passing. Any ideas?

[SUPERCOACH]

Thanks HSC for your notes throughout the season. For a couple of days after the game I am suffering adrenaline letdown. Your notes are something to look forward to each week.

I never saw CBK give an explanation as to why they worked on Dee Milliner so much when passing. Any ideas?

One of the guys on College Football Live gave an explanation that made a lot of sense to me.  He said that they were going against Milliner because it was a much easier read.  Milliner is over there on an island by himself and the QB only has to worry about that one guy.  When they throw to the other side the QB has to read the corner and the safety and figure out who is going to be open.  They were trying to simplify the reads he had to make.

[Catch Prothro]

Thanks HSC for your notes throughout the season. For a couple of days after the game I am suffering adrenaline letdown. Your notes are something to look forward to each week.

I never saw CBK give an explanation as to why they worked on Dee Milliner so much when passing. Any ideas?

One of the guys on College Football Live gave an explanation that made a lot of sense to me.  He said that they were going against Milliner because it was a much easier read.  Milliner is over there on an island by himself and the QB only has to worry about that one guy.  When they throw to the other side the QB has to read the corner and the safety and figure out who is going to be open.  They were trying to simplify the reads he had to make.

Good explanation.  I saw some earlier film analysis that showed Golden unable to make anything beyond simple reads, and how ND had tried to simplify his reads all season.

[hscoach]

The explanations given above are as good as I have heard.  Even the announcers that night questioned why they kept going after him.

[ricky023]

hscoach as always well done. Your time is valuable I know but to us who needs a good game note you are our hero. I look forward if God wills to be here next year and read them again. Our Basketball teams and baseball teams need to step up. I can't wait for recruiting so if you hear anything will you keep us informed about that also. God Bless. RTR!

[Old Tider]

An Alabama game without a FG attempt by either side. I can't remember the last time that happened.

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