UT vs Bama game notes:

[hscoach]

Again, first let me say congrats to the players and coaches on the victory.  I will say they better come out harder/better against LSU or they will find themselves in a hole where they may not be able to dig out.   I think UT outplayed Bama in the first half both offensively and defensively.  The team better be more focused in the next game.  A side note, I had just written down team focus for a reminder when the announce stated it looks like the team in white is the more focused team.

Offense:  The offense was not sharp in the first half.  It was not great in the 2nd half but the D help control the game.   
1.   AJ was not seeing the field well in the 1st half.  He did make some of his best deep throws of the year, mainly because they were complete. 
2.   Bama changed up the screen and now gives teams more to prepare for.
3.   In the first half Bama ran the ball to the right most of the half.  I have only 2 rushes to the left.  It seems if one of your starters is out on the right side the left would be the strongest.  Maybe that is where UT’s orange eater was.
4.   Was TR healthy?  He didn’t get as many touches as you would think. 
5.   The OL was not getting/sustaining their blocks in the first half, some were even looking around.
6.   In the first half Bama had 157 yards of offense and 91 came on two plays, the completions to Maze and Hanks.  I know you can add, but this leaves 66 yards the rest of the half.  They ended with 442 yard which mean they had 285 in the second half.
7.   The Bama rec’s are catching the ball with their hands.  What I mean here they are not letting the ball get into their bodies where drops occur.  The only real drop I know was the first throw from PS to the tight end.
8.   Bama faced 8/9 in the box a lot with the 2 tight set.
9.   I would like to see the RB create a better outlet path for the QB on the check down for better angle to throw the ball.
10.   I really don’t understand the route combo on the boot to the left where, BS adjusted his route and AJ got a completion.  I saw two deep rec’s toward the middle of the field and no one working to the outside.  It seems you would have a deep outside rec. 
   

QB:   AJ did not have a good game in my opinion.  I don’t think he saw the field very well.  Yes he was 17/26 but his rec’s made catches that were not on target, Hanks alone made 3 diving catches.  One of the best throws he made was the out to Maze.  The deep balls were better.  I wonder if the first throw to Maze was further outside would he have scored.  The throw took him a little inside to the defender.  The defender probably had the angle anyway.  The deep throw for the TD was probably his best deep ball.  However, he did miss an intermediate throw to the TE when he was open.  AJ must also understand when he opens/looks one way the inside LB is going to shade his drop that way.  PS came, with the backup OL, and did a good job.  He got to throw the ball and should have been 2/2.  The throw to Maze was a good one.

RB:  They ran hard without a lot of opening, especially in the first half.  I don’t know if TR is banged up, but I thought he would have gotten more carries.  EL and JF ran hard.  They all did a good job catching the ball and pass blocking.  EL made a good route adjustment to help AJ on the scramble. 

REC:  The rec’s caught the ball.  As I said DH made three diving catches.  If he had been able to make the catch on the run, there is no telling how many yards he would have had.   Again, different rec’s caught the ball. 

OL:  The OL, in my opinion, did not play well in the first half.  One play I saw BJ looking back at the running back and blocking no one.  They did not get to the second level and some paths were not good.  On the holding call by WV, it looked like he went to flat and allowed the LB to come thru, then he reached back and got the holding call.  DJF got beat on a third down run, which gave Bama no chance to make the play.  They also, gave up the first sack in I don’t know how long.  This could have been AJ’s fault, because I said earlier, I don’t think he was seeing the field well.  There did a lot better job in the second half.  If you watch the game again, notice the block by WV on the TD run by TR on third down.  He did a great job crossing over and turning the guy out and getting his butt to the hole.

Defense:  Like the offense, the defense was not focused in the first half.  UT had 115 yards in the first half and ended up with 163 for the game.  This equates to 48 yards in the 2nd half.  Plus the two turn over came in the second half.  They cannot afford, like the offense, to play this way against LSU. 
1.   The opponents again scored first in the game.
2.   The D made a big stop on the first drive after the int and UT having good field position.
3.   There were 2 negative plays in the first half and four negative plays in the 2nd half.  Two of the negative plays were the interception and the fumble recovery. 
4.   The interception led to 7 points. 
5.   The defense had one 3 and out in the first half and a 4 and out.  In the second half they had two 3 and outs one 4 and out and 2 one and outs.  I think you can see the difference in play in the second half. 
6.   Again the TE slammed release and caught a ball between the line backers. 
7.   UT had a first and  20 and ended up getting a first down.  They also had another 5 yard penalty on the same series, so they really had to go about 25 yards. 
8.   When Upshaw caused the fumble if the Bama player had fallen on it instead of thinking about picking it up and returning it, Bama would have had another turnover.
9.   One of the biggest plays of the game was the 4th down stop that led to Bama’s second TD.  In essence you could say the D was responsible for 14 points.
10.   I thought I saw a couple of open rec’s that the UT QB did not see, maybe because of pressure. 


DL:  They were not flashy, just did their job.  Only one player really stood out here.  One of the plays that stand out was when Upshaw caused the fumble.  His other play was when they flared the back out and he turns the RB inside where the help is.  Finally, they got outside on him, but I think he was held and it looks like he was complaining to the official about it.

LB:   Some of the biggest hits came from DH.  I am surprised Simms got up after the one hit.  NJ again had a solid game.  I really don’t remember JH doing much as others.  DH interception set up a TD for Bama and it looked like he was going to score.  I love to see the D turn into blockers when they intercept the ball.

DB:  Where was MB?  He is usually making plays all night.  He did drop a potential interception which would have kept UT off the board.  Maybe it was the game plan.  Again, I will complain about no jam on rec and allowing them to get inside.  However, it looked like they may have been disguising a zone and the other DB did not get underneath the throw. 

Penalties: The holding call I spoke of earlier help stop a potential big drive. 
 
Special teams:   First, the fake punt should not have been successful as it looks as if Bama was in punt safe.   The kick off cover team looked like its old self once in the game.  The punt cover team did not do a great job at times especially since it looked like the ball hung long enough to get coverage. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll

[crtuneman]

Good thoughts as always coach. I will say regarding AJ that I thought he did a fantastic job making something out of nothing. There were several plays where he escaped the rush and made throws downfield. I agree that his accuracy was off, and DH saved his tail on all 3 of his catches, but I was impressed with his escapability and his improvisation.

[lstephen]

Thanks coach!  Always a Sunday highlight.  And, you are right.  We will have to play 60 minutes against LSU.

[hscoach]

Good thoughts as always coach. I will say regarding AJ that I thought he did a fantastic job making something out of nothing. There were several plays where he escaped the rush and made throws downfield. I agree that his accuracy was off, and DH saved his tail on all 3 of his catches, but I was impressed with his escapability and his improvisation.

You may be right about making something out of nothing, but  thought he had rec open a couple of time and held the ball.  BS and EL saved him by adjusting his route.  Remember the throw to DH when it was knocked down.  I thought MM was open to the outside. 

[Jamos]

Good job coach. What I have been the most impressed with this year is the second half play of the team, that's where Bama lost all of their games last year.

[bama87]

Good play calling Coach. I think we were just flat. CNS reportedly was not happy with Thursday practice. I think he was harping all week to stay focused on UT game.

We are really good when we want to be. That said the second half was more like we play. Kick coverage was vastly improved. CF actually reached the endzone.

The offense would have been better in the first half had they opened it up like they did in the second. The deep crossing routes were open all night.

The D is just good. What more can be said. All that mess in the first half and they held UT to six points and no first downs in the second.

[hscoach]

Good play calling Coach. I think we were just flat. CNS reportedly was not happy with Thursday practice. I think he was harping all week to stay focused on UT game.

We are really good when we want to be. That said the second half was more like we play. Kick coverage was vastly improved. CF actually reached the endzone.

The offense would have been better in the first half had they opened it up like they did in the second. The deep crossing routes were open all night.

The D is just good. What more can be said. All that mess in the first half and they held UT to six points and no first downs in the second.

I also like the deep crossing routes, especially off of playaction.  I really don't think the D played much more than base most of the night.   Thank for the CF reference, I forgot to include he did kick the ball better.  Even his field goal was better than his last attempt.

[BAMAWV]

I'll try and not GHEY UP your thread, but I'm not sure what a slammed release or slam release is. I let it go last week, but here we are again. Seems you are seeing something that is maybe causing the LBs to read pass, then slamming the TEs, when they maybe should have been filling gaps. Sorry.

Here is last weeks:

Click here for link

[SUPERCOACH]

Good thoughts as always coach. I will say regarding AJ that I thought he did a fantastic job making something out of nothing. There were several plays where he escaped the rush and made throws downfield. I agree that his accuracy was off, and DH saved his tail on all 3 of his catches, but I was impressed with his escapability and his improvisation.

You may be right about making something out of nothing, but  thought he had rec open a couple of time and held the ball.  BS and EL saved him by adjusting his route.  Remember the throw to DH when it was knocked down.  I thought MM was open to the outside. 

Good notes as always coach.  I made the comment during the in game thread that I thought AJ was a little gun shy after the early interception.  There were some open receivers but it seemed like he was reluctant to make the throw at times.

[rueben]

I'll try and not GHEY UP your thread, but I'm not sure what a slammed release or slam release is. I let it go last week, but here we are again. Seems you are seeing something that is maybe causing the LBs to read pass, then slamming the TEs, when they maybe should have been filling gaps. Sorry.

Here is last weeks:

Click here for link

Same here. Not sure what one is either, unless  the TE slams the DE, and then releases to get into a pass route. 

But I love the post game notes!!!

[hscoach]

I'll try and not GHEY UP your thread, but I'm not sure what a slammed release or slam release is. I let it go last week, but here we are again. Seems you are seeing something that is maybe causing the LBs to read pass, then slamming the TEs, when they maybe should have been filling gaps. Sorry.

Here is last weeks:

Click here for link

What I call a slam release is when the TE sells the block first.  He bangs the guy over him or a little inside, then he releases on the route.

[2Stater]

Great stuff as usual Coach. It looked to me like AJ got better as the passing game increased. I think stepping that up gave him a chance to eventually get into a rhythm. He did appear to not see the field well in the 1st half as you mentioned, but for most of the year, the offense has only had to rely mostly on the running game and short passes. This is the first time he's had to step up to the intermediate and long passes with any regularity.

In your opinion, why have they struggled the last few games in the first half? Overconfidence maybe?

[hscoach]

Great stuff as usual Coach. It looked to me like AJ got better as the passing game increased. I think stepping that up gave him a chance to eventually get into a rhythm. He did appear to not see the field well in the 1st half as you mentioned, but for most of the year, the offense has only had to rely mostly on the running game and short passes. This is the first time he's had to step up to the intermediate and long passes with any regularity.

In your opinion, why have they struggled the last few games in the first half? Overconfidence maybe?

As CNS and others say Bama's own worst enemy is themselves.  I do think the emotion of coming off some game, like UF, tends to be a part of the problem.  Also, it doesn't matter what the players are told, they still hear the LSU talk.

[2Stater]

Great stuff as usual Coach. It looked to me like AJ got better as the passing game increased. I think stepping that up gave him a chance to eventually get into a rhythm. He did appear to not see the field well in the 1st half as you mentioned, but for most of the year, the offense has only had to rely mostly on the running game and short passes. This is the first time he's had to step up to the intermediate and long passes with any regularity.

In your opinion, why have they struggled the last few games in the first half? Overconfidence maybe?

As CNS and others say Bama's own worst enemy is themselves.  I do think the emotion of coming off some game, like UF, tends to be a part of the problem.  Also, it doesn't matter what the players are told, they still hear the LSU talk.

One other thing I failed to mention. IMO, Dont'a had his best game last night. Every time I looked at him he was knocking somebody's jock strap in the dirt. He played like a man possessed, even in the first half. He was the only player I saw with real intensity in that first half. Kudos to him.

[Chechem]

Thanks much again, HSC.

You know what's coming, "What do you expect for the big matchup?"  I can already imagine you thinking 'flipping the field'.  What else?

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