Crimson Red Sports

                                             LSU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaches the victory.  It was what one would call an ugly win.  The OL/offense had problems all night.  The sad part it started at the beginning of the game and the offense coaches did seem to have a solution.  Too me, this game was won on the defensive side of the ball.  They came up with an interception that led to a touchdown and they got a fumble that led to a drive for a touchdown.

OFFFENSE:  The offense didn’t have answers for what LSU was doing defensively.  The didn’t make adjustments that allowed for success.  The offense had a total of 308 yards which included 302 passing and 6 rushing.  Understand, in college, sack yards come off of rushing yards.  This is still something that leads to concern, the inability of running the ball.  At times, it looked like LSU was slanting into the running plays of Bama.  For negative plays, I have Bama with 4 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, and 3 fumbles.  Only one of the fumbles was lost.  Fortunately, the defense came up strong and made the stop.  For three and out, I have Bama with 5 and 4 of them came in the 2nd half.  On plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 11 passing plays and 2 running plays.  Out of the 11 passing plays, 8 came in the first half and with the running plays one was a scramble by the QB.  Bama got into the red zone 2 times and scored touchdowns both times.  The scored 1 touchdown from outside the red zone and missed a field goal from outside the red zone. 

QB:  Young completed 24 of 37 passes for a 65% completion rate.  I thought at least 3 other balls were catchable or were dropped.  If my calculations are correct, I have Young getting pressured on 20 of the 37 passes or attempted passes.  He was sacked 4 times and scrambled out at least twice.  I do know he was pressured on the touchdown throw to Metchie.  I do think the constant pressure by the defense got the QB looking at the rush at times.

RB:  The running game was non-existent. Robinson had 18 yards on 13 carries and was hit numerous times right at the point of attack.  Williams had 2 carries for 9 yards and had the longest run by a running back which was a 7-yard run. I don’t know if it was the running back fault or the protection call, but I saw numerous times where the blitz came one way, and the back went the other.  Robinson also missed some blocks on the blitz.

Rec:  The receivers were the offense for Bama.  They accounted for most of the offense.  Williams and Metchie were the two main targets and acoun2ted for 19 of the 24 receptions for 233 of the 302 passing yards. 

OL:  This was a huge disappointment in the game.  They had a week off to correct mistakes and work on technique.  They missed blocks and I am counting TE’s here because they missed more than one.  On the wildcat play on short yardage, it looked like the OL didn’t come off on a combo block.  That defensive player made the tackle for no gain.  The was very little to no push which is evident by the production of the running game.  I have said it before, it looks like the play to high and don’t keep their feet moving.  They didn’t pick up blitzes.  This has to do with the protection calls and communication between the OL.   I know the center got hurt, but the replacement played center last year in key games.

Def:  I thought the defense won this game. They made a few mistakes, but the came up big on plays in the red zone.  When LSU had the 37-yard run on 4th and 1, the tackle by Battles may have been a game saver.  The defense gave up a total of 295 yards which included 186 passing and 109 rushing.  Most of the yards came in the 2nd half because at half time the defense held LSU to 77 total yards.  For negative plays, I have 3 tackles for losses, 5 sacks, 1 fumble which was lost, and an interception which led to a touchdown.  As for three and outs, I have the defense with a total of 5, 3 in the first half and 2 in the second half.  One of the three and outs was the result of an interception.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have LSU with 9 passing plays and 1 running play.  Seven of the passing plays came in the 2nd half.   LSU got into the red zone 3 times and scored 2 touchdowns and turned the ball over on downs the other time. There were plays that were made that really didn’t seem that big but were.  One for instance was the 4th down incompletion in the red zone.  I don’t know if you noticed on that throw To’oto’o jump and looked to force a high throw.  There was a bust on the first touchdown as no one picked up the back out of the backfield.

DL: I thought they played a good game.  The were active and put pressure on the QB.  The played the running game well as LSU only have 1 run for over 10 yards. All of them were involved with tackles.  I thought this was Turner’s best game since he became a starter. 

LB:  I thought they played well.  They played sideline to sideline and made plays.  They caused a fumble that led to the third and final Bama touchdown.

DB: What really made this group have a good game was the pass rush.  They really didn’t allow big plays down field except once.  There was a busted coverage on 34-yard reception.  Two defenders went with the same player.  They were again pretty solid with their tackles.  I know on the first touchdown there was a bunch set of 3 receiver and the released the back out to that side for and uncontested touchdown.  I don’t know if the outside LB was supposed to come off or if there was to be a switch with the safety.  If it was supposed to be someone inside, the were basically shielded off by the 3 receivers.

Special teams: There were some big plays on special teams.  First, LSU ran the fake punt successfully which kept the drive alive and led to a touchdown.  The other two plays were on Bama.  On both the field goal and the extra point the snap threw off the timing which led to missed kicks.

Penalties:  I have Bama for 9 penalties.  Again, as in the past, some of them came on scoring drives.  The first was defensive holding on Hellams, which was on a scoring drive.  The next two were a delay of game and an illegal substitution on a punt.  These are two that, in my opinion, should never happen.  This was in the first quarter.  In the 2nd quarter, there was a false start on #70 and a holding by #81 on what would have been one of the most successful running plays of the day.  In the 3rd quarter, there was a delay of game on the defense as they said Bama player clapped his hands.  The other two penalties on this drive came on a touchdown drive by LSU.  They had a hand to the face which gave them 15 yards and there was a personal foul horse collar which gave them 15 more yards.  I will say the horse collar was questionable.  The final penalty came in the 4th quarter and was an intentional grounding on the QB.  So for penalties, there were 4 on the defense, 4 on the offense and 1 on special teams. 

Finally, Bama has got to improve in the OL with their protection and technique.  This game gave other teams a game plan on how to attack the Bama offense.  You would think by this time in the season many of these problems would be worked out.  Also, I wonder why Bama offense didn’t got to a 4 wide out formation to take players out of the box or use the 4 wide set with the TE in the H back set while using the back for max protection with a release built in if there wasn’t a blitz.  This set would still give you a 3 man passing game and with LSU’s shortage of DB, I would take that chance.
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

Thanks for the analysis coach!

Seems like O'Brien and Marrone have some work to do.  After all the "fire Pete Golding" chatter all season now folks have other coaches to complain about.  Seems to me that the coaching may actually be OK but some of our young players need to start playing to their potential!

ROLL TIDE!!!

It worries me that they don't seem to have answers for blitzes.  Is it on the players, I don't know.  I mean 20 pressures on 38 throws seems to be a little high to me.  Also, the inability to run the ball with hardly any success is troubling.

So much to pick apart with this team against LSU, but the glaring weakness was the O line. Usually, Bama coaches are pretty good about making adjustments. At one point, they started throwing underneath, with success, to counter the blitzing but then got away from it. I really don't understand it.

This week is a cupcake game. Let's hope they get some things worked out.

Another great assessment, Coach, thanks.

And no injuries.

Is the center good?

Center Darrian Dalcourt didn't return after the first quarter because of a sprained ankle. Saban said the extent of Dalcourt's and Armour-Davis' injuries are not known yet.

"I didn't talk to doc yet, but I know Dalcourt sprained his ankle," Saban said. "I don't know how serious it or how bad it is.

https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sports/college/2021/11/06/nick-saban-gives-alabama-football-injury-updates-jobe-dalcourt-amour-davis/6327759001/

Great analysis, as usual, coach.

To me, this was very similar to the TAM game from the oppositions defensive scheme. As someone mentioned, there is a template now for what a team needs to do to slow our offense. We would think after a week off, things would have been somewhat fixed but it looks like they regressed.

So coach, do you think it’s coaching? The kids attitude and/lack of talent? The O line just doesn’t seem to get it.

I don't know whether the "Is the center good" question relates to Dalcourt or Owens.  This is Dalcourt's third year in the program and first as a starter.  Owens is back for his sixth year.  He finished last year as the starting center after Landon Dickerson went down in the SEC championship game.  He'd been an off and on starter at Guard/Center since, I believe, his Sophomore year.  They've both been around for a lot of wins.  Owens' replacement, George, is a sophomore.  Maybe, with a little work together this week and next, the line will improve.  We don't yet know how long, if at all, Dalcourt is out.

It is so hard to tell.  At times they look like they can handle things, but it does worry me that the coaches didn't make adjustments.   Like I mentioned above, if they are going to need max protection, why not go to a formation like I mentioned above.  You can go  like I said above:  TE in the wing/HB set with allows the back to go to either side to block.  Then you can put 2 or 1 wide out to that side and the other 2 or 1 to the other side. You have a built in release if the LB's bail and not come on the blitz.   I will have to look again but I don't remember seeing that type of look on offense.  Also, remember how the motion game with the 4 wide game use to give teams problems when you ran that little pop pass?  If you have LB's walked up it is real difficult for them to get to the edge and make tackle on those speedy recs.

Sorry for the confusion.  What I should have said will Dalcourt be back next week.  With the team Bama's playing it may be good to hold him out this week.  I would put those linemen in the cage this week and work their butts off.  Also, I would tell the backup, this is a great week to take someone's job from a starter.

The only weakness I could find was: the O-line, RB's and TE's with QB and D-line, LB's and especially DB's. RTR!

Sounds like we're lucky to be 1-8.

Wait...we're 8-1.

Good job as usual. For all the calls for Golding's head ( and I have to admit I've done it) the defense has turned a corner and is playing very well. They are doing a great job pressuring the QB, and for the most part stopping the run. The only run that they played poorly was the 4th down run that gains 40 yards - they let the motion trick their eyes. But offensively - wow. It is very concerning that when they see what LSU is doing they can't make adjustments. Coach, I know you have been in situations where you see tendencies and made adjustments to attack what they are doing. If a team is constantly blitzing, it creates 1 on 1 situations that are mismatches and you can create mismatches by formation. It also opens up the field in the middle to attack. How can a former NFL HC and OC not see that?

I agree Carl. RTR!

You forgot special teams!  :lol2:

Yes sir but I just didn't know how to spell it ll, rofl. RTR!

 :tinfoil:

That is what is strange to me.  I would have like to see them go to the TE wing set and use the back for max protection.  Saying that I don't think Robinson did a very good job blocking the other night.  You can use that formation and use the 3 man passing game and with the talent Bama has they should be able to get open.  Also, if the blitz bails you have built in releases for the TE and RB.  I think it would have been beneficial to go to the 4 wide game.  If they want to put seven in the box, they have to go man to man on the 4 receivers.  This with motion like Kiffin and Sark use to use.  Throw quick and short and let the playmakers gain the yards to bring them out of that look.  I think the little motion pop pass could have given them trouble with the LB walked up in the LOS. Hard to get to the edge from there.