Game notes: Ark. vs Bama

[hscoach]

First:   Congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the victory.  It was a hard game to watch from an offensive stand point, but they did come out victorious.

Offense:  The Bama offense put up 396 yards of total offense, 262 passing and 134 rushing.  As far a negative plays they had 2 sacks, 6 tackles for losses and 2 interceptions.  You can also put the tipped punt as a negative play even though it didn’t really hurt Bama.  As far as big negative plays one of the interceptions led to the first touchdown for Ark.  Bama had 4 three and outs and one was the result of an interception.  They only had 3 runs of 10+ yards and 7 pass plays for 10+ yards.  Bama did do a better job converting on 3rd down as they were 7 for 16.  In the red zone they got there at least 5 times.  They had 2 touchdowns and 2 field goals but also missed a field goal.  They scored 1 touchdown outside the red zone.  There just wasn’t consistent play by the offense a lot of the day.  They had 2 good opening drives and then sputtered before getting started late in the 3rd quarter.  I know field position wasn’t great, but Bama needs to do a better job in these situations.  With the late field position they had and the 2 early drives they left too many points on the field.  One of my big questions is why can’t Bama run the ball with authority on the first drive with some consistency?  On the first drive they ran the ball 6 times with one a scramble by the QB.  On the other 5 runs Bama went:  no gain, 1 yard, no gain, 5 yards, -2 yards.

QB:   This was a game of three quarterbacks.  First he was outstanding, then horrible, then pretty good.  I don’t think he made the best decisions at times during the game.  I know in the red zone, when Bama settled for the field goal, he tried to throw the ball to Howard.  Ridley was wide open in the middle and could have walked in for the score.  There were a couple of forced balls when I am not sure he couldn’t have come off to a different rec.  He did do a good job scrambling at times.  You can look at the stats and it shows he completed 73% of his passes, but probably 6 of those were the little pop pass/jet sweep type passes.

RB:  They didn’t have a lot of room to run.  Bama only had 3 runs of 10 plus yards and one of those was a scramble by the QB.  It did look like Drake was running with more confidence. 

REC:  Six different players caught passes.  Again, Ridley was the big target.  At times the blocking was very good on the wide rec screens and the pop pass.  However there were times they threw too early to cut the defender who had time to get up and be involved in the play.  On one play there was indecision on who was supposed to get the wide rec screen and it almost led to an interception.

OL:   Too me this was where there was the biggest problem.  They didn’t get the push necessary at times.  There were I don’t know how many missed blocks.  There were bad angles taken getting to the next level.  There for a while I thought #51 Ellis may make all conference just for this game.  The QB was getting pressure with only four rushers and it looked like they didn’t do much more than twist stunts.  This also goes to the question ask earlier, why can’t Bama run early in the game.  I will say there were many people in the box with the tight formations.  I also believe some of the blocking assignments were busted.

Defense:   They played outstanding.  The defense allowed Bama to stay in the game and come back and win.  I know they busted the coverage for the first TD, but they were put in a bad position by the offense.   They only gave up 220 total yards in the game.  They held the running back, which was averaging over 130 yards a game, to 26 yards on 12 carries.  They only rushed for 44 yards with was what supposed to be one of the most dominant OL in the country.  The defense only had 6 total negative plays, 3 sacks, 2 tackles for losses and 1 interception which was turned into points.  The only other big mistake was the loss of contain when they made the QB scramble and they threw the 54 yard TD pass.  They caused 5 three and outs, 1 four and out, and 1 two and out.  Arkansas could never really get anything going as they averaged only 3.8 yards per play.   They gave up 5 pass plays for 10 plus yard and no running plays for over 10 yards.  The longest run of the day was an 8 yard scramble by the QB. 

DL:  They dominated the LOS.  The Ark line couldn’t get a push and every yard gained by them was hard.  The biggest problem was the loss of contain a couple of times. 

LB:  I thought they played outstanding.  They made some of the biggest hits all day.  Also, RR got them lined up the way they were supposed to be. 

DB:  I thought they played very well.  Bama gave up 176 yards passing.  Now you look at this and say 54 of those yards came on 1 play.  This is true, but this is where they lost contain and then you have to ask those DB’s to cover for an extended period of time which is extremely hard.  I looked at something else and I guess I should call it coverage stats.  Good coverage caused 11 plays to be altered.  These led to 2 sacks, 2 throw ways, one of which I thought should have been grounding because I don’t think he was outside the tackle box, 5 scrambles, and a PBU.  Of course on one of the scramble he did break contain and throw the TD.  The first TD was a busted coverage by the secondary, I think C Jones. 

Penalties: Bama had 6 penalties and 3 of those were by C Robinson.  Probably the biggest was his unsportsman like conduct which put the ball on the 12 yard line for the first TD after the interception.  As far as Ridley’s penalty, I didn’t see anything he did that others haven’t done.  I don’t know if something happened that I didn’t see.

Special teams:  Pretty solid most of the night.  The missed field goals I still say looks like an alignment problem.  He is hitting the ball well.  Coverages were good as well as the returns.  The biggest mistake, but didn’t hurt Bama was the onside kick that wasn’t really attacked, but waited on.  I also notice Nvsewander always seems to be in the mix on the special teams.

Finally:  More than anything the offensive line play has to be cleaned up.  They showed at times they could get the job done.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

[lstephen]

Thanks for mentioning the Ridley unsportsmanlike.  The only thing I saw was him dropping the ball as he exited the end zone instead of tossing it to a ref.  If that wasn't it, I don't know what he did.  If there was anything else, ESPN missed it because they would have shown it to us.  Can't be anything he said because no one was close enough to hear him!

Thanks for the great notes, coach!

[Catch Prothro]

REC:  On one play there was indecision on who was supposed to get the wide rec screen and it almost led to an interception.

This play was almost a disaster.  Coker pumped the ball due to the indecision, and then threw it.  By then the DBs had reacted, and it could have led to a pick 6.  On those WR screens, the QB should never double pump, unless it is a pump and go play. 

Penalties: As far as Ridley’s penalty, I didn’t see anything he did that others haven’t done.  I don’t know if something happened that I didn’t see.

I didn't see anything on the field either.  It looked like the refs thought Ridley spiked the ball, but it was minor, something usually not flagged. 

Good analysis, thanks.   

[ricky023]

Thanks again hscoach. Better job than the AL dot com people. RTR!

[carl childers]

Great analysis. Do you see a problem with Coker's mechanics in some of his deep balls? The ball to Ridley for the TD was beautiful, but a lot of time when he throws deep, it is wobbly and short.

[Catch Prothro]

Great analysis. Do you see a problem with Coker's mechanics in some of his deep balls? The ball to Ridley for the TD was beautiful, but a lot of time when he throws deep, it is wobbly and short.

What I see is Coker trying to force the ball downfield in the face of a rush, where he can't step into the pass.   Coker throwing the deep ball with time in the pocket is completely different from Coker throwing off his back foot.  Not sure this is a mechanics issue so much as a decision making issue; he hasn't demonstrated the arm strength to get away with a long pass unless he can step into the throw.  I'm surprised it hasn't been corrected by now.

[hscoach]

Great analysis. Do you see a problem with Coker's mechanics in some of his deep balls? The ball to Ridley for the TD was beautiful, but a lot of time when he throws deep, it is wobbly and short.

What I see is Coker trying to force the ball downfield in the face of a rush, where he can't step into the pass.   Coker throwing the deep ball with time in the pocket is completely different from Coker throwing off his back foot.  Not sure this is a mechanics issue so much as a decision making issue; he hasn't demonstrated the arm strength to get away with a long pass unless he can step into the throw.  I'm surprised it hasn't been corrected by now.

I agree:
I do think at times he elongates his throwing motion on deep balls.  Also at times he just doesn't let the ball go on the deep ball.

[Catch Prothro]

Special teams:  Pretty solid most of the night.  The missed field goals I still say looks like an alignment problem.  He is hitting the ball well.  Coverages were good as well as the returns.  The biggest mistake, but didn’t hurt Bama was the onside kick that wasn’t really attacked, but waited on.  I also notice Nvsewander always seems to be in the mix on the special teams.

On the onsides kick, it looked like the players up front were blocking, and Cyrus Jones was supposed to field the football.  As you say, Bama didn't attack the football.  Jones was letting the ball come to him, and Arkansas almost recovered.  I'm not sure I support that approach -- it seems like the front line players should also go for the football first if they have the opportunity.  Maybe the ball bounced funny, which is why Jones didn't get to it quickly, but that seems like a risky approach.

[McBaman]

As always coach thanks for your great insight.

I was hoping for three things in this game:

1.  Another good night + some improvement from Coker.  I didn't see that.  At this point he is what he will be.  We have to live with that for the rest of this year.

2.  Improving play from the DBs.  Did see that!  This group seems to get better each week.  I hope we are finally seeing the benefit of having a dedicated DB coach.

3.  Scott snapping out of his punting funk.  This seems to be happening and will be a big point in future game.  Another 10yds per punt is another first down the opposing O has to make vs. our D.

OL has looked poorly coached all season.  I hope there will be a coaching change there.  IMHO, Christobal is not getting it done.

[hscoach]

I noticed a couple of things I left off:
LB's:  On the sack by Evans, did you notice the closing speed he had to get to the QB?  Also, Dillon Lee blew up Alex Collins on a pass rush.

Rec:  The touchdown on the short pass to #16 is a play everyone is beginning to run.  The two outside recs were blocking not even making it look like a pass route. 

[SUPERCOACH]

I noticed a couple of things I left off:
LB's:  On the sack by Evans, did you notice the closing speed he had to get to the QB?  Also, Dillon Lee blew up Alex Collins on a pass rush.

Rec:  The touchdown on the short pass to #16 is a play everyone is beginning to run.  The two outside recs were blocking not even making it look like a pass route. 

I think it is also illegal unless #16 catches the ball behind the LOS.  What about on the LOS?  Does he have the same benefit that the QB has in that as long as he has a shoe string on the LOS he is OK?

[SUPERCOACH]

Great analysis. Do you see a problem with Coker's mechanics in some of his deep balls? The ball to Ridley for the TD was beautiful, but a lot of time when he throws deep, it is wobbly and short.

What I see is Coker trying to force the ball downfield in the face of a rush, where he can't step into the pass.   Coker throwing the deep ball with time in the pocket is completely different from Coker throwing off his back foot.  Not sure this is a mechanics issue so much as a decision making issue; he hasn't demonstrated the arm strength to get away with a long pass unless he can step into the throw.  I'm surprised it hasn't been corrected by now.

Nailed it. 

Coker can't do anything about the blocking of the O-line, but I would like to see him make better decisions when he is under pressure.  I actually thought the sack he took inside the 10 yard line was a huge improvement over what he had been doing earlier in the game.  Especially now that our punter is getting back on track.  You never want to take a sack if you can get outside and throw the ball away, but if you can't do that for goodness sakes just pull the ball down, hold on to it, and live to fight another down instead of throwing a floater off your back foot that will be easy pickings for the secondary.  At least then you can still punt the ball out of there if you can't pick up the first down on subsequent plays.

As for the O-line, I don't understand what their problem is.  They have the ability to control the LOS and impose their will.  I have seen them do it at times.  But there just isn't any consistency.  I wonder if it is conditioning?  Maybe when they play tired, they get sloppy.

You know this really could have something to do with it considering that our defense keeps the other team's offense off the field.  This means most of the game is played with us on offense and them on defense.  This is a good formula of course since it will grind down the other team's defense and eventually we will start to dominate late in the game.  But I wonder if the wear it puts on our O-line might be part of the reason for the inconsistency.

If this is indeed the issue then we are in a good position because our guys will get stronger and stronger as the season goes along since we have our defense doing this every week.  Our opponents on the other hand only face our defense once per year.

[SUPERCOACH]

I also want to chime in and give a clap for Nysewander. 

He did a great job sealing the edge on their fake punt, which forced the punter to the middle where all of the good guys were waiting.

[hscoach]

I noticed a couple of things I left off:
LB's:  On the sack by Evans, did you notice the closing speed he had to get to the QB?  Also, Dillon Lee blew up Alex Collins on a pass rush.

Rec:  The touchdown on the short pass to #16 is a play everyone is beginning to run.  The two outside recs were blocking not even making it look like a pass route. 

I think it is also illegal unless #16 catches the ball behind the LOS.  What about on the LOS?  Does he have the same benefit that the QB has in that as long as he has a shoe string on the LOS he is OK?

Unless the rules have changed, the ball must be caught behind the  LOS for players to be blocking the defenders.  I can't find if this includes what is considered the neutral zone,  This is done more and more on out routes by the inside rec where the outside rec is blocking the corner.

[hscoach]

I also want to chime in and give a clap for Nysewander. 

He did a great job sealing the edge on their fake punt, which forced the punter to the middle where all of the good guys were waiting.

He is also one of the first down on the kick off team.

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