LSU vs Bama game notes:

[hscoach]

First let me say this was a hard fought game that Bama let get away.  They had opportunities and did not take advantage of them.  The players played hard on both sides of the ball.  If my count is correct each D came up with 7 negative plays included in these plays were 2 ints by both teams.   I will say #7 should have been ejected for the hit on DK.  It was a flagrant foul.  I would not be surprised to see the SEC review the play. 

Offense:  Yardage was tough all night.  Bama did out gain LSU 307 to 235, but they didn’t put points on the board when they needed to.  Also, the 3 points that tied the game came from the int. 

1.    The miss throw in OT to TR was huge.  As was the penalty for too many men in the huddle. 
2.   I thought play action on first down would have been effective with the safeties playing so tight and filling so quickly. 
3.   Bama use the unbalanced look with BJ and DJF and ran the ball effectively. 
4.   It was obvious that LSU game plan was to tackle TR low and they did a good job of it. 
5.   The OL did give AJ time to throw the ball, but I am not sure he saw the field well.
6.   Bama’s O had long fields most of the night.  The int’s and the first kickoff return gave them short fields.
7.   Didn’t get any points off of the first TO and started on their own 47.
8.   Maybe should have tried more play action of runs to the edge with a boot action.
9.   MM throw out of the wildcat was high and to the inside.  If the throw is downfield and outside it is a TD.
10.   At the end of the first, I think AJ went to the wrong rec.  The inside rec had room to make a catch and possibly score. 
11.   The rec’s didn’t work back for the ball when AJ was scrambling late in the game. 
12.   I didn’t see any medium routes on the 3rd down play in overtime.  Basically put the field goal out of range.   

QB:   In my opinion AJ did not have a good game.  He missed the deep throw to TR in overtime.   I will not blame him for his choice to throw the fade, if it had been on target it would have been a TD.  I don’t think he thought he would have time for the other routes  to develop with the blitz coming.  On the ball he threw to MM, where there should have been a pass interference call he had a long throwing motion.  What I mean here is it looked like the dropped the ball below his waist on a kind of a wind up throw.   He floated a couple of balls.  I also thought he was late on a couple of reads.   He tried to force a ball into double coverage after the int.  There had to be a check down rec. In overtime AJ cant’t take that sack, he must throw it away for a chance for the FG. 

RB:  TR played a good game against a tough LSU D.  The rushed for 89 yards and also had 80 yards rec.  You can add 23 yards on the kickoff return for a total of 192 total yards.   I also thought EL ran hard when he was in there.  They did a good job running after the catch.

REC:  The rec’s did a good job with the opportunities given to them.  DH again makes a diving catch.  I think they could have done a better job on working back to the football when AJ was scrambling.

OL:  The OL played fairly well.  For the most part they gave the QB time to throw the ball.  LSU did a good job filling the holes with safeties and LB’s.   I do think there were a few busted assignments by the TE’s.  I am not sure, but I thought DJF played well.

Defense:  The D played a solid game, with a couple of bust.  The O put them in bad position with the TO and they held them to a FG.  Also, they busted a coverage, which was huge, but again the D made a stand, even after the holding penalty on DK.

1.   I did notice NJ getting the calls along with DH and relaying them to the team. 
2.   Angles and assignments on the option hurt Bama.
3.   Bama lost contain a couple of times with JJ in the game.  Also, on one stunt, one D lineman did not complete his and allowed a  hole for JJ to scramble thru. 
4.   JH played a very good game in my opinion.
5.   JC made a very good play when LSU ran the QB lead.  He pressed the blocker into the hole and forced JJ to run to him and then made the tackle.
6.   On the bad side the penalty by JC on the int cost Bama 35 yard in field position and took the ball from the 3 going in. 

DL:  They played well and made it tough for LSU all night.

LB:   Again they filled the holes and played sideline to sideline. 
 
DB:  They came up with 2 big picks.  They didn’t really allow the rec to get loose except on the busted coverage.  This was huge and cost Bama  3 points.  I don’t know if LSU could have gotten close enough to score in the little time left on the clock.

Penalties:  One gave LSU a first down without having to run a play.  This was on the drive before half time.  Another big penalty was breaking the huddle with 12 in OT.  Finally, the worst penalty was the block in the back that took the ball off the 3 going in.
 
Special teams: Bama has got to have a kicker that can make 45-50 yarders.   This cost Bama the game.  I know 50 yards is a long field goal, but in this day of specialty kickers you need one who can do it.  The block was all on JS.  His trajectory was too low and the D linemen hardly had to jump to block it.   

I truly feel Bama has the better team.  They lost the game and allowed LSU to win.  I am not taking anything away from LSU, but Bama had and blew opportunities which could have won the game.
 
Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll

[McBaman]

Coach, thanks for posting and FWIW, I agree with every point you make. This was a coulda shoulda game for Bama.

There will be lots of focus on the missed FGs but penalties played a big part in hurting Bama and helping LSU.  If we score a TD after MB's int, it's a different game.

And those fab SEC refs:  If the ref's rule the int at the LSU goal a catch and we score a TD, it's a different game.  (I'm still not sure the refs got that one right.  I've seen video today that sure looks like the Bama guy was down on his back controlling the ball.)

But my biggest concern going forward is the QB play.  Last year vs. LSU we needed GMc to make some throws in 4qtr to win the game.  He didn't.  This year we needed AJ to make some throws in 4qtr to win the game.  He didn't.  We need a QB who can be a plamaker and not merely a game manager.  Maybe that's a matter of coaching philosophy, which affects the kind of QBs we recruit.  I dunno and CNS knows a lot more about any of this than I do.

OK... I'll say Roll Tide anyway and I'll shut up now!

[KoKoPuf]

Gotta disagree with you about AJ's play, Coach. I thought AJ had a good game playing against one of the top 2 defenses in the nation and, according to the announcers, the best secondary in the nation. Sure he threw one pick but he also moved the team into field goal range 6 times! The sack in overtime shouldn't have happened but LSU got to him real quick and he was probably looking for a 20 yards or so on the play. Not a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady performance but it should have been good enough for a victory.

[SUPERCOACH]

Good notes as always coach. 

[hscoach]

Gotta disagree with you about AJ's play, Coach. I thought AJ had a good game playing against one of the top 2 defenses in the nation and, according to the announcers, the best secondary in the nation. Sure he threw one pick but he also moved the team into field goal range 6 times! The sack in overtime shouldn't have happened but LSU got to him real quick and he was probably looking for a 20 yards or so on the play. Not a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady performance but it should have been good enough for a victory.

I can see your side.  However, he was lucky another ball wasn't picked.  What I really base it on was what he missed on the field, not all his fault.   However, forcing the ball  into double coverage and late on check downs.  That is why I give him the grade I do.

[SUPERCOACH]

One thing that really disappointed me is that the coaching staff played for overtime at the end.  They should have called a timeout after the LSU 3rd down play so we would have time to run our 2 minute offense.  I know they were thinking back to that game a few years ago when we were in a similar situation and they sacked our QB, got a fumble, scooped it up, and scored the winning TD.  But they should have tried to score any way.  You can't play or coach with fear in a slugfest like that.  I would much rather LSU make a big play on D to win the game and go down fighting instead of laying down and deciding to take our chances in OT with such a huge disadvantage with the FG kickers.  We moved the ball on them all night, and moved it on every drive in the 4th quarter.  I know we could have moved the ball on them again, and maybe even won the game.  From a strategy standpoint what they did was pretty conservative and not really a horrible idea.  But from a psychological stand point that killed our players confidence going into the OT.  I know I felt the life draining out of me standing in front of the TV when I realized we were not going to use our timeouts and try to win the game.  I can only imagine how the players felt after working their tails off for 58 minutes.  I think this had a huge impact on the momentum going into OT.

[BAMAWV]

One thing that really disappointed me is that the coaching staff played for overtime at the end.  They should have called a timeout after the LSU 3rd down play so we would have time to run our 2 minute offense.  I know they were thinking back to that game a few years ago when we were in a similar situation and they sacked our QB, got a fumble, scooped it up, and scored the winning TD.  But they should have tried to score any way.  You can't play or coach with fear in a slugfest like that.  I would much rather LSU make a big play on D to win the game and go down fighting instead of laying down and deciding to take our chances in OT with such a huge disadvantage with the FG kickers.  We moved the ball on them all night, and moved it on every drive in the 4th quarter.  I know we could have moved the ball on them again, and maybe even won the game.  From a strategy standpoint what they did was pretty conservative and not really a horrible idea.  But from a psychological stand point that killed our players confidence going into the OT.  I know I felt the life draining out of me standing in front of the TV when I realized we were not going to use our timeouts and try to win the game.  I can only imagine how the players felt after working their tails off for 58 minutes.  I think this had a huge impact on the momentum going into OT.

The conventional wisdom, or old saying, has been for the visitors to "go for it" and the home team to extend the playing time. Just saying... because I actually agree with you.

Thank you for your thoughts/notes, hsc. Great breakdown. I'll watch it all again with your notes in hand. These really help me sort things out. RTR and  

[SUPERCOACH]

One thing that really disappointed me is that the coaching staff played for overtime at the end.  They should have called a timeout after the LSU 3rd down play so we would have time to run our 2 minute offense.  I know they were thinking back to that game a few years ago when we were in a similar situation and they sacked our QB, got a fumble, scooped it up, and scored the winning TD.  But they should have tried to score any way.  You can't play or coach with fear in a slugfest like that.  I would much rather LSU make a big play on D to win the game and go down fighting instead of laying down and deciding to take our chances in OT with such a huge disadvantage with the FG kickers.  We moved the ball on them all night, and moved it on every drive in the 4th quarter.  I know we could have moved the ball on them again, and maybe even won the game.  From a strategy standpoint what they did was pretty conservative and not really a horrible idea.  But from a psychological stand point that killed our players confidence going into the OT.  I know I felt the life draining out of me standing in front of the TV when I realized we were not going to use our timeouts and try to win the game.  I can only imagine how the players felt after working their tails off for 58 minutes.  I think this had a huge impact on the momentum going into OT.

The conventional wisdom, or old saying, has been for the visitors to "go for it" and the home team to extend the playing time. Just saying... because I actually agree with you. 

Right.  I don't agree with that conventional wisdom.  ALWAYS go for the win if you can.  NEVER play for overtime, unless your back is against the wall (i.e. backed up so close that a safety to lose the game is a distinct possibility).  OT is such a crap shoot that anything can happen.  The most significant play in OT many times is the coin toss.

[BAMAWV]

One more comment on the "coin toss" before I quit hijacking hsc's notes (the best thread on our board). LSU going 2nd AFTER Bama failed to score took ALL the pressure off the LSU players. What a break!!

[SUPERCOACH]

I am about to watch the 4th Qtr again.

[SUPERCOACH]

I am about to watch the 4th Qtr again.

I don't recommend doing that.  I'm just sick to my stomach all over again.  We have the better team and we should have won that game.

[BAMAWV]

I am about to watch the 4th Qtr again.

I don't recommend doing that.  I'm just sick to my stomach all over again.  We have the better team and we should have won that game.

Anyone have a clue on how to get a replay on-line? I have searched CBSSPORTS.COM and NCAA Football and Rivals (yahoo).  Link?

[bamalum67]

Thanks, HScoach..how can anyone say that there are 2 better teams in ncaafb?  Lsu is still no 1, and we are still no. 2 IMHO.

All I can say is that I hope they do let Boise State in the BCS game if they win out..then I hope LSU puts a whupping on them like no one has ever seen..maybe run up 80 points on them  it would serve them right and then they and all the other meatheads would realize they have no business with the big boys.

Roll, Tide ! Forever!!

[KoKoPuf]

I agree Supercoach, we should have been aggressive and tried to move the ball at the end of the game! 1:30 to go & two timeouts in college is plenty of time to go the length of the field or at the very least get in position for another long field goal.   

[crimsonwine]

The coaches obviously felt like we had a better chance with the short field of an overtime rather than the long field with 1:40 remaining ... just think about it....

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