Game notes: Utah State vs Bama

[hscoach]

                                             Utah State vs Bama
First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  Clearly, Bama was the better team.  Hopefully, they will continue to improve.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 559 yards of total offense which included 281 rushing yards and 278 passing yards.   
Negative plays:  2 tackles for losses, 1 sack, and 1 interception
3 and out:  1
10+ plays:  19 passing and 8 running one each was negated by penalties
Red zone:  8 trips in and 7 touchdowns with 1 field goal only one score from outside the redzone which was a field goal.

QB:  Young played well as he was harassed early in the passing game.  He did miss a couple of long balls, one short and one overthrow.  He completed 18 of 28 passes for 195 yards.  His athletic abilities allowed him to make a few plays. He also threw 1 hospital ball.  Milroe played pretty well in mop up duty.  He did throw 2 hospital balls.  His tendency seems to be the ball behind the receiver, and he did throw short and behind on the interception.  I don’t know if you noticed, but after Milroe lowered his shoulder on his run and ran over the defender, the defender signaled to come out of the game.  Simpson looks like a QB.  According to the scouting reports and announcers he has all the tools.  I will be interesting to see him later on.

RB: I thought all played pretty well and five played.  Gibbs show the ability to break long runs and make the tough run.  There doesn’t seem to be much of a drop off when any back is in.

Rec:  A pleasant surprise here.  There were 7 different receivers that had catches in the game, and this doesn’t count the catches by running backs. There didn’t seem to be a drop-off when receivers were substituted in.  It  also appeared the receivers were looking to block when they didn’t get the ball or there was a running play called.

OL:  The OL seem to get better as the game went on.  I really thought they would be dominate early.  They did miss some stunts and a few times they didn’t seem to sustain their blocks.  The thing that worries me is, in the red zone, the only rushing touchdown Bama got was the scramble by Young.  That was the only rushing touchdown for Bama.

Def: The defense played well and was out of position only a few times in my opinion.  My stats are a little bit different than what the official stats are because I look at where the ball start and where it ends.  The official stats seem to not count a tackle for loss if it is within one half a yard from where the ball started. The defense gave up a total of 136 yard which included 57 passing and 79 rushing.  Most of their yards came in the 2nd half.

Negative plays:  8 tackles for losses, no sacks, 2 fumbles (none recovered) Hard to get sacks when the QB is getting rid of the ball so quickly.
3 and outs:  6 three and out with a 3 and out when they went for it on 4th down
10+ plays:  1 passing and 1 rushing, the passing was the 1st play of the game.
Red zone:  They got in the red zone once in the 2nd half and turned the ball over on down.

DL: I thought they played well.  Especially the first group.  Didn’t see them out of position very often and they used their hands well to get off blocks.  Basically, I couldn’t tell the difference when they substituted one unit for the other.

LB: I can say the same here like I did from the D line.  Later in the game, there could have been a little drop off.  Some of this happens when the backup gets in and is so desperate to make a play and get themselves out of position.

DB: I thought they played well.  The one big play was the first of the game and the player was in position.   One of the biggest plays made on defense was when the DB Jackson blew up the blocker on a wide receiver screen and the blocker actually made the tackle.  The technique was great as he went thru the out side which if not made would have turned the play back inside for help.

Special teams: Special teams were good except for the blocked punt.  It looked to me like To’oTo’o went out to block instead of the treat up the middle.  I could be wrong, but if he had gone the other way, they still may have blocked it.  I thought McKinstry looked very effective in the return game.

Penalties:  I have Bama for 6 penalties.  Five of them were in the 2nd half and 3 of them were on the offense.  Two of the penalties took away big plays, one run and one pass.  Fortunately, they were not a determining factor in the game.

Finally, Bama has the chance to be an outstanding team this year in my opinion.  They seem to have all the tools required. 
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

[Red Elephant]

Thanks for game notes Coach.

I really look forward to these and they never disappoint.

The only thing I can think to add is the Bama players looked like they were having fun.  I like seeing this.

RTR

[hscoach]

Thanks for game notes Coach.

I really look forward to these and they never disappoint.

The only think I can think to add is the Bama players looked like they were having fun.  I like seeing this.

RTR

I agree they did look like they were having fun. 

[Chechem]

Excellent, as always, coach.

Glad to see McClellan (RB) play so well after knee surgery.  He's a talent catching passes or running.  Nice group of RBs now.

At least twice I saw WRs slow their routes after looking back for the ball.  One was on the Bryce overthrow on a long pass, and another in the endzone.  Did you see that?

[Chechem]

Coach, did you see this.  Cool.

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[2Stater]

GDreat stuff Coach. The team indeed, looked like they were having fun.

[lstephen]

Great stuff coach!  Thanks.

[hscoach]

Excellent, as always, coach.

Glad to see McClellan (RB) play so well after knee surgery.  He's a talent catching passes or running.  Nice group of RBs now.

At least twice I saw WRs slow their routes after looking back for the ball.  One was on the Bryce overthrow on a long pass, and another in the endzone.  Did you see that?

There did seem to be a little indecision on a couple of plays by the rec.  Part of it may be because they could be expected to do certain things according to the coverage, and they may have been confused.

[hscoach]

Chechem, I didn't see it until you posted it.   It makes perfect sense.  However, a lot of the success of the LB's are depending on the defensive back not allowing the receiver getting basically a free inside release.  I noticed on the 4th down pass play US ran we allowed a free release on the slant inside and fortunately they went to the other side.

[hscoach]

Somethings I left off.
1.  It looked to be a very vanilla game plan both offensively and defensively.  I didn't see a lot of motion on offense and not many stunts on defense.
2.  There were a couple times on 3rd and long the defensive players got too far up the field and allowed a running lane which enabled them to convert on 3rd and long.
3.  I don't know if I mentioned this or not.  The 2nd pass by Young was outstanding as he was pressured and stepped up in the pocket, basically pressured again and he still made a great throw for a completion.   

[Chechem]

Somethings I left off.
1.  It looked to be a very vanilla game plan both offensively and defensively.  I didn't see a lot of motion on offense and not many stunts on defense.
2.  There were a couple times on 3rd and long the defensive players got too far up the field and allowed a running lane which enabled them to convert on 3rd and long.
3.  I don't know if I mentioned this or not.  The 2nd pass by Young was outstanding as he was pressured and stepped up in the pocket, basically pressured again and he still made a great throw for a completion.  

Yeah, that was highlight-film stuff.   

The pass to the endzone, where the receiver slowed and the pass was too far in front as a result, was intended for Ja'Corey Brooks.

[hscoach]

I would love to see the 4 wide package, since the TE didn't block well at times.  The defense has to take another guy out of the box and could possibly match up one of those quick inside receivers on a linebacker or strong safety.

[bamaphil]

Thanks for the analysis, as always. I thought the team looked great. And as dominant as the stats and score were, it still feels like there’s plenty for the coaching staff to work with the players on improving. I don’t think a Bama player ever went down with even a minor injury unless it happened in the fourth quarter - we left after the third to get the child home and in bed.

We knew coming into the year this team had the opportunity to be special. Game one did not disappoint.

[hscoach]

After watching the punt block again, #40 whiffed on his block putting two people on To'oTo'o.  I still think he should have taken the inside threat, but the other guy seem to catch his eye first.

[ricky023]

Great read thank you so much. RTR!

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