Game notes A&M vs Bama

[hscoach]

                                             A&M vs Bama

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 and Counting

[Marshal Dillon]

Outstanding in your evaluation of the game. Your comments on linebacking were the most compelling. The LB's drive the defense & I can't remember the name of any LB being mentioned during the game. Dallas Turner, a true freshman, was lost. He was placed in an untenable spot. Pete Golding coaches the ILB position.




 

[Marshal Dillon]

To me, the most telling example of poor coaching is the very bad tackling. It's like watching the JV at 8th grade football. It was the same as against Florida.




 

[hscoach]

To me, the most telling example of poor coaching is the very bad tackling. It's like watching the JV at 8th grade football. It was the same as against Florida.




 

i know.  I am wondering if they targeting calls have been a part of this because they are so scared it will be called.  I know that sounds like an excuse, but I wonder if is is a part of it.

[lstephen]

Great analysis coach.  This was a team loss.  Offense was relatively anemic (hard to imagine given 38 points), defense was lacking, special teams gave up a kickoff TD, coaches didn't have the team ready to play.  No doubt having to start a third string freshman at linebacker and losing Moore so early didn't help the defense.

As has been said elsewhere, the sun did come up this morning.  Most everything is correctable.  I wouldn't want to be Mississippi State this weekend.  If we don't blow them out we really do have a serious problem.

Meanwhile, I trust Coach Saban to lead us forward.  We control our own destiny.

ROLL TIDE!!!

[hscoach]

One thing I left off was, I would like to see Bama go back to the motion game a little more.  It helps declare the coverage and helps with some mismatches. 

[2Stater]

Great assessment, Coach. Been a long time since you didn't start off with, "First, I would like to congratulate......"

 

[Chechem]

Thanks for the review, coach.  Excellent.

I agree with this article (below), which says we may actually be a better team as a result of the loss:
Click here for link

[hscoach]

Thanks for the review, coach.  Excellent.

I agree with this article (below), which says we may actually be a better team as a result of the loss:
Click here for link

Agreed. 

[McBaman]

Thanks for the review, coach.  Excellent.

I agree with this article (below), which says we may actually be a better team as a result of the loss:
Click here for link

Agreed. 

A few times CNS has said: Some people learn easy, some learn hard, some don't learn.  In the next couple of weeks we'll find out which category our team is in.

[Marshal Dillon]

I wonder why Saban didn't overrule the 3 passes when down near the goal? I wonder if he was hesitant to change the plays since O'Brien is a former NFL head coach and former head coach at Penn State?
Just a thought but it won't happen again, I bet.




 

[hscoach]

I wonder why Saban didn't overrule the 3 passes when down near the goal? I wonder if he was hesitant to change the plays since O'Brien is a former NFL head coach and former head coach at Penn State?
Just a thought but it won't happen again, I bet.

I kept expecting the heavy package to come in.



 

[carl childers]

Great job as usual.

Where do I begin? Is it the poor defensive scheme that allowed A&M to move the ball at will? Is it the messed up protection calls for the OL? BTW, Owens is absolutely killing Bama at OT. Is it having 1st and goal from the 4 yd line and throwing three passes into the flats instead of running B Rob? Is it crapping away a momentum changing blocked punt for a TD by allowing a KO return for a TD? What a horrible set of circumstances this game showcased. Right now, Bama is like a lot of fans - spoiled. They think they can show up and teams will cower because of the Crimson Tide label. When Bama went ahead with 5 minutes left, I believe they were like a lot of fans - they felt it was over. They do not have a killer instinct. This loss was highly unavoidable, but in reality not too big of a surprise. I had a feeling this would happen at some point. Didn't think it would happen to an undermanned A&M team. So disappointing and frustrating.

[hscoach]

Great job as usual.

Where do I begin? Is it the poor defensive scheme that allowed A&M to move the ball at will? Is it the messed up protection calls for the OL? BTW, Owens is absolutely killing Bama at OT. Is it having 1st and goal from the 4 yd line and throwing three passes into the flats instead of running B Rob? Is it crapping away a momentum changing blocked punt for a TD by allowing a KO return for a TD? What a horrible set of circumstances this game showcased. Right now, Bama is like a lot of fans - spoiled. They think they can show up and teams will cower because of the Crimson Tide label. When Bama went ahead with 5 minutes left, I believe they were like a lot of fans - they felt it was over. They do not have a killer instinct. This loss was highly unavoidable, but in reality not too big of a surprise. I had a feeling this would happen at some point. Didn't think it would happen to an undermanned A&M team. So disappointing and frustrating.

I don't know if it is the defensive scheme or the techniques.  Seeing DB's flatfooted, I just can't believe that is how they are taught.  Also, 2 defensive lineman running into each other in the same gap.  The pass protection should have been fixed after the first problems in my opinion.  Owens has made some critical mistakes, but what is behind him?  I agree, the killer instinct need to improve.  For running the ball inside the red zone, I kept waiting for the elephant package to come in.  On the KO return, I saw the cover guys getting their outside shoulder block and allowing the runner to get to the lane.  Too many mistakes in all phases of the game.  Maybe they have been reading the press clippings or listening to the sports announcers about how great they are.

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