Game notes: LSU vs Bama

[hscoach]

                                                                                               LSU vs Bama

First, this was a tough physical game where the team that made the fewest mistakes won the game.  These are two very evenly matched team, but Bama because of early mistakes played from behind the whole day.  Huge plays that really cost Bama the game were the fumble, in the red zone, by Tua on the first drive, the fumbled snap on the punt that led to a fied goal, and two touchdowns by LSU in the final 3 minutes of the first half aided by the interception and stupid penalty.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 541 yards of total offense which included 418 passing and 133 rushing.  As for negative plays, I have the Bama offense with 4 tackles for losses, 1 sack, 1 interception and the fumble.  I have the offense credited with 3 three and outs.  For the positive plays, I have Bama with 12 passes and 4 runs that covered 10+ yards.  Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored 3 touchdowns and lost 1 fumble.  They scored 2 touchdowns from outside the red zone while the touchdown was on the punt return. 

QB:   Tua was 21 for 40 and had one interception as well as the fumble in the red zone.  He missed a couple of throws and had some drops, however he made big throws when they were needed.  I will say for the way he was walking after the game he played pretty well. 

RB:  Harris played very well.  He rushed 19 times for 146 yards and had 3 catches for 44 yards.  Several times he made big yards after the initial contact.  This mean he was responsible for 190 yards of offense on 22 touches which breaks downs to over 8 yards per touch.  Robinson was used sparingly since Harris was playing so well.  I also thought Harris blocked well on blitzes.

Rec: Smith led the receiving group with 7 catches for 213 yards.  Jeudy add 5 catches while Ruggs and Waddle had 3 each.  This was some of the tightest coverage they have had all year.

OL:  Most of the day they did a good job on the running game as well as pass protection.  This shows since there was only one sack and 4 tackles for losses.  The sack was actually a coverage sack and Tua should have thrown the ball away.  No matters however because they overcame the yardage lost.  The OL opened some large holes for Harris to run thru.

Def:  The defense had a tough job against an offense that can go man for man with them especially with the receivers and running backs.  It was a game that you have to have the proper game plan and personnel package on the field.  Too many LB and you have a mismatch with receivers while not enough LB you open up the running game.  I have the defense giving up 559 yards of total offense which included 393 yards passing and 166 rushing.  For negative plays, I have 2 tackles for losses, 5 sacks, 1 interception, and a fumble which wasn’t recovered.  I credit LSU with 18 passes for 10+ yards and 8 running plays that covered that distance.  Bama only had 2 three and outs.  LSU got into the red zone 3 times and scored 3 touchdowns.  They also scored 3 touchdowns from outside the red zone and kicked one field goal.  The defense made too many mistakes with missed tackles and losing outside contain.  Also, had a chance to sack the QB numerous times only to come up empty.  I think they had a legitimate chance for 6 more sacks.  However, they missed the tackles a times, they rushed too far up the field and opened lanes for the escape.  Their rush discipline has to be better.

DL: This was basically a stalemate in my opinion.  They made plays but missed plays by taking bad angles especially on the edge.  On some of the plays they made they did a good job putting pressure on the QB but didn’t finish the play.  It seems they are looking for that kill shot instead of just making a sound play.  The player that actually looked unblockable at times was Barmore.

LB: They had an extremely tough job because the running back was so involved with the passing game.  Also, they had to account for a QB who was more mobile than I thought he was.

DB:  It looks like these guys didn’t play as well, however, they had to contend with many rub routes where the ball was thrown short and the receivers made plays after the catch.  The LSU receivers made some big catches and the DB’s just didn’t make the play even though they were in position.  The worse part here were the times where the coverages were busted and the receivers were wide open. 

Special Teams:  The special teams hurt Bama and helped Bama.  They hurt when they missed and extra point, but the big hurt was the fumble snap on the punt which led to a field goal that put LSU up 10-0.  The positive was the punt return for the touchdown that put Bama back in the game.  What could have been a negative was the fair catch that was made around the 5-yard line. 

Penalties:  Bama again hurt themselves with penalties.  The worse penalty was the personal foul after the interception.  Hopefully there will be some penalty for that.  LSU may have still scored, but there were only about 11 seconds left on the clock before the half.  Bama had 7 penalties for 53 yards while LSU had 4 for 35 yards.  The other bad one was when Bama lost an interception because they had too many players on the field.

Finally, Bama still has chance for the playoffs.  It will be tough because of the other teams.  They also have to take care of their own business.  They can’t allow 1 loss to become 2.  Bama has to play consistent assignment football which they should be doing by this point in the year.  However, you have to know the youth on the team has to be a factor. 

Feel free to comment:

 17 and Counting

[ricky023]

It is sad that injuries have taken away from a great team. RTR!

[KoKoPuf]

 Great analysis, Coach. Too many mistakes in the first half killed Bama. I thought play calling was very poor in the first half and the defense struggled all day trying to get aligned properly.

[2Stater]

Thanks Coach, I was worried about you putting this together today. As much as there was to break down, I expected the volume of 'War and Peace'. 

Great job. Tough loss. All in all, I can't believe we only lost by 5 points.

[lstephen]

Thanks coach.  Kudos to LSU for outplaying us.  I hope we get a rematch in January with a healthy Tua and some additional experience for the defense.  ROLL TIDE!!!!

[Red Elephant]

Good analysis as always coach.  I was surprised to see Bama rated #4 in both polls and agree that we may still have a shot at the playoffs.  Who knows how far we might get.  In any case I’m going to enjoy the remaining games.

Roll Tide!

[hscoach]

Great analysis, Coach. Too many mistakes in the first half killed Bama. I thought play calling was very poor in the first half and the defense struggled all day trying to get aligned properly.

They did struggle during the day trying to get aligned and communicating who had who.  It is extremely hard to play man when they run so many rub routes.

[hscoach]

Thanks Coach, I was worried about you putting this together today. As much as there was to break down, I expected the volume of 'War and Peace'. 

Great job. Tough loss. All in all, I can't believe we only lost by 5 points.

Don't have to write a whole lot when it comes down to mistakes.  Don't really have to break those down. 

[hscoach]

Thanks coach.  Kudos to LSU for outplaying us.  I hope we get a rematch in January with a healthy Tua and some additional experience for the defense.  ROLL TIDE!!!!

I really don't know if you can say they outplayed Bama.  Bama gave them a lot of help especially in the first half.  The 2nd half Bama had the better of the game.  Think about this.  Bama doesn't gift them the last touchdown right before the half, that is 7 points off the board.

[Chechem]

Thanks coach.  Kudos to LSU for outplaying us.  I hope we get a rematch in January with a healthy Tua and some additional experience for the defense.  ROLL TIDE!!!!

I really don't know if you can say they outplayed Bama.  Bama gave them a lot of help especially in the first half.  The 2nd half Bama had the better of the game.  Think about this.  Bama doesn't gift them the last touchdown right before the half, that is 7 points off the board.

True.  But it sure felt like a butt whippin'.
 

[hscoach]

Thanks coach.  Kudos to LSU for outplaying us.  I hope we get a rematch in January with a healthy Tua and some additional experience for the defense.  ROLL TIDE!!!!

I really don't know if you can say they outplayed Bama.  Bama gave them a lot of help especially in the first half.  The 2nd half Bama had the better of the game.  Think about this.  Bama doesn't gift them the last touchdown right before the half, that is 7 points off the board.

True.  But it sure felt like a butt whippin'.
 

Most losses do.  I really hate watching those games again after a loss.

[ricky023]

I ain't rewatching this game but I hope that LSU coach loses his job over that big trashy mouth.
CNS said we missed 25 tackles against lsu. RTR!

[hscoach]

I ain't rewatching this game but I hope that LSU coach loses his job over that big trashy mouth.
CNS said we missed 25 tackles against lsu. RTR!

He won't lose his job.  It is classless what he said.  However, the greatest revenge would be to meet in the playoffs and take the win.  I didn't count the missed tackles, but there were a lot.  If you count the times they were out of position where they weren't even there to make a tackle it is even worse.

[carl childers]

hscoach, I really feel that Saban needs to take a long look at his defensive philosophy in the off season. I know about the multitude of injuries, but something has been amiss that last two years on that side of the ball. There seems to be a lot of confusion on personnel groupings, assignments, and tackling has taken a nosedive. I am losing the confidence I had in Golding as a DC. The one thing I could always count on as a long time Bama fan was a solid, smart, stinging defense. I'm just not seeing that.

[Chechem]

I ain't rewatching this game but I hope that LSU coach loses his job over that big trashy mouth.
CNS said we missed 25 tackles against lsu. RTR!

He won't lose his job.  It is classless what he said.  However, the greatest revenge would be to meet in the playoffs and take the win.  I didn't count the missed tackles, but there were a lot.  If you count the times they were out of position where they weren't even there to make a tackle it is even worse.

My hat's off to Coach O for the win.  He's a lunkhead, but he's built a powerful team.  Those missed tackles were also great, power running by their #22 and good footwork by their QB.  They played better than us.

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