Game notes: TA&M vs Bama

[hscoach]

First,   I want to send congrats to Tx A&M, they did a great job and came into Bama’s house and beat the number one team.  The QB was the difference maker in the game. 
It will be interesting to see if Bama can regroup.

Offense:   The offense did not make plays.   AJ missed too many open recs.  They wasted good field position in the second half and had to settle for a field goal on one.  They could not covert a 3rd and 2 that would have allowed them to continue the drive and take the lead with a TD.  They were in the red zone 4 times and scored 2 TD’s and 1 FG and threw a pick to end the chance of taking the lead with under 2:00 to play.  I have AJ getting pressured/scrambling 9 times and a lot of these were because of coverage.  They had 7 negative plays, but here is the big difference, three of the negative plays were turnovers.  There were 2 ints and a fumble.   Two of these led to point, the fumble led to the TD that put the game away.  I also have Bama for 4 three and outs.  It seems to me that Bama has a hard time getting a first down in their opening positions of each half.  I would also like to know what happened to that little toss play which allowed the back to get outside quick.  Also, I don’t understand the philosophy of going quick when the D needs a break.  I also think Bama got lucky on the call that overturned an int by A&M.

QB:  AJ had a chance to keep Bama in the game, but missed some throws.   If he hadn’t underthrow the ball at the end, the rec walks into the end zone.    I will say he made some good throws, but I wonder if the first int may have hurt his confidence and was not willing to let it go.

RB:  They ran hard.  TJ is going to have to hold on to the ball.  I noticed a couple of times him carrying the ball away from his body.   EL did pick up a couple of blocks and did a good job getting yardage after getting the check down throw.

REC:  Most of the time, if the ball was near they caught it.  Not being able to see on TV, I don’t know if they were that well covered at times or if AJ just didn’t pull the trigger.  Cooper, made a good adjustment on the corner blitz for the TD and AJ hit him in stride.

OL:   At times, they didn’t look good.  BJ had trouble with the nose.  If you are the best OL in the country can’t you pick up a 3rd and 2, at least make it back to the LOS.  AJ had time to throw, but like I stated above, most scrambles were because of coverage.

Defense:  The D played better in the second half.  In the first half Bama was not really pressing their rec and allowed quick short throws.  I can’t understand why the coaching staff didn’t learn from the UF/LSU film and pressure from the beginning.   If my stats are correct, in the first half, Johnny M had 67 yards on scrambles where Bama lost contain.  I also have them for only 2 three and outs.  It would have been more if Bama hadn’t jumped off sides on what was going to be a punt.  I also have Bama for at least 7 missed tackles.   In all of this Bama did have 4 sacks and 5 tackles for a loss.   Also, I saw some players stop and not play to the whistle when they thought a play was dead.  When given time JM found rec and put it in a tight window a few times.
   
DL:   They shut down the running game except for JM scrambles.  They made some plays in the second half.  No dominant person could take over.   

LB:   They had to play a lot of different formations and get everyone lined up.  They had a better 2nd half than first.  About the only play where the LB stood out was when CJM kept JM from getting a first down of their 4th down try.

DB:  They did better when they started pressing the second half.  I thought Fulton did and decent job on the big rec.  He was in position a lot of the time and both he and the rec made plays.  JM did hit a couple of holes that took excellent throws and the DB”s just couldn’t get there. 
 
Penalties:  Too many penalties. I think the 2 biggest were the facemask early in the first series and off course the off sides on the punt.

Special teams: Bama covered kicks well.   Also, CM punted the ball well.   One question I do have is how do you run into your own player on the kickoff return?

Finally:  Bama made too many mistakes to win the game.  They made them on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball.  Turnovers, led to 13 points, they went for 2 and didn’t make it.  On offense, they fumble when approaching the red zone and AJ missed too many open rec’s.  Even with all this they still had a chance to win the game at the end.   Also, I was surprised by the inability to get the proper packages in on D which led to timeouts being used.  National Champions take advantage of these situations.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

[BAMAWV]

THX, HSC. Like writing an obituary?

The 'not to the whistle' part. Was that when Johnny Football fumbled a pass to himself?

[hscoach]

THX, HSC. Like writing an obituary?

The 'not to the whistle' part. Was that when Johnny Football fumbled a pass to himself?

That was the main one.

[BAMAWV]

I thought about PMing you after the game. I wondered whether or not you had picked up on anything in AJs throwing motion or follow through that may indicate injury?

[XBAMA]

it was said yesterday that anytime a QB runs for 92 yards the
D did not stop him .... but if my numbers are correct ... 

Johnny rushed 74 yds in 1st qtr.  but was held to 18 for the rest of the game, so I give the Bama D some credit for stopping him.

but with everything else that went wrong it didn't matter did it ?

[Marshal Dillon]

I thought about PMing you after the game. I wondered whether or not you had picked up on anything in AJs throwing motion or follow through that may indicate injury?

[/b]
 


Bingo!! I am wondering the same thing.


 

[Merk]

As a psychological angle, during the warm for the TAM game, it seemed to me that AJ had the same expression and look in his eyes as be did warming up for the LSU game. Sort of an uneasy, unconfident look. I was going to post a comment on it but thought maybe I was just imagining things. As it turned out, maybe there was something to it...or not.

[SUPERCOACH]

Good notes.  What did you think about the play selection at the end of the game when we had it 1st and goal on the 6?

[bama87]

Good notes.  What did you think about the play selection at the end of the game when we had it 1st and goal on the 6?

SC agreed,.. I think the big thing in the game was play calling. As bad as things were, we still had a chance. 1st and goal at the 6 should be nothing but run. I don't care if they put all 11 in the box. That is our strength running the ball.

HSC, your thoughts?

[hscoach]

First, I don't think an injury was the reason for bad throws.  He some good ones.   As far as the play selection, I have no problem with it.  Bama had failed earlier on 3rd and 2 and settled for a field goal.  I really thought A&M was daring Bama to throw and they missed some passes that would have kept them in the game, or at least kept the chains moving.  After the int, I don't know what the routes look like.  Just think, if the last deep pass was not  underthrown, the rec walks in the endzone.

[bama87]

If both deep throws are out in front. It's 14 points easy. I am not down on our team. I think mental fatigue was a major factor.

[window licker]

I'm gonna disagree with you a bit HS. I'm not sure I put either one of those INT's on AJ. The first one, the DB knocked the snot out of KB and the ball popped out. It was a little behind him, but KB put his hands on it (my old rec coach used to tell us "if you touch it, you'd better catch it." The second, the DB just made a heck of a play. They knew what was coming and played it well.

I wouldn't trade our coaching staff for ANY in the country, but I think we got outcoached. They did what we KNEW they were going to do and they did it well enough to win. We DID NOT do what we normally do and for the second week it cost us. For whatever reason, we seem to have abandoned the run. It's what we do, it's who Alabama football is. I'm sorry guys, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that we can't gain 7 yds running it 4 times behind a line that every player will play in the NFL. We were able to over come it last week, we weren't this week.

I'm sure there are plenty that disagree with me. Feel free to flame.

[bama87]

I'm gonna disagree with you a bit HS. I'm not sure I put either one of those INT's on AJ. The first one, the DB knocked the snot out of KB and the ball popped out. It was a little behind him, but KB put his hands on it (my old rec coach used to tell us "if you touch it, you'd better catch it." The second, the DB just made a heck of a play. They knew what was coming and played it well.

I wouldn't trade our coaching staff for ANY in the country, but I think we got outcoached. They did what we KNEW they were going to do and they did it well enough to win. We DID NOT do what we normally do and for the second week it cost us. For whatever reason, we seem to have abandoned the run. It's what we do, it's who Alabama football is. I'm sorry guys, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that we can't gain 7 yds running it 4 times behind a line that every player will play in the NFL. We were able to over come it last week, we weren't this week.

I'm sure there are plenty that disagree with me. Feel free to flame.

That has been my point. Run it 4 times for the TD. I would take my chances calling the same play each time.

[BAMAWV]

I'm gonna disagree with you a bit HS. I'm not sure I put either one of those INT's on AJ. The first one, the DB knocked the snot out of KB and the ball popped out. It was a little behind him, but KB put his hands on it (my old rec coach used to tell us "if you touch it, you'd better catch it." The second, the DB just made a heck of a play. They knew what was coming and played it well.

I wouldn't trade our coaching staff for ANY in the country, but I think we got outcoached. They did what we KNEW they were going to do and they did it well enough to win. We DID NOT do what we normally do and for the second week it cost us. For whatever reason, we seem to have abandoned the run. It's what we do, it's who Alabama football is. I'm sorry guys, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that we can't gain 7 yds running it 4 times behind a line that every player will play in the NFL. We were able to over come it last week, we weren't this week.

I'm sure there are plenty that disagree with me. Feel free to flame.

That has been my point. Run it 4 times for the TD. I would take my chances calling the same play each time.

I said this on another thread. As to the possible TD that was intercepted at the goalline, having a QB that has throw a zillion passes without a INT, the odds are better to throw. The second the ball is controlled by the receiver a TD is scored and the whistle blows. But a run gives the "D" a chance to hold him up and strip the ball. Also there is a chance of a fumbled handoff or fumble by the RB. JMHO

[hscoach]

I'm gonna disagree with you a bit HS. I'm not sure I put either one of those INT's on AJ. The first one, the DB knocked the snot out of KB and the ball popped out. It was a little behind him, but KB put his hands on it (my old rec coach used to tell us "if you touch it, you'd better catch it." The second, the DB just made a heck of a play. They knew what was coming and played it well.

I wouldn't trade our coaching staff for ANY in the country, but I think we got outcoached. They did what we KNEW they were going to do and they did it well enough to win. We DID NOT do what we normally do and for the second week it cost us. For whatever reason, we seem to have abandoned the run. It's what we do, it's who Alabama football is. I'm sorry guys, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that we can't gain 7 yds running it 4 times behind a line that every player will play in the NFL. We were able to over come it last week, we weren't this week.

I'm sure there are plenty that disagree with me. Feel free to flame.

I will agree the DB did make a play.  I am sure from film study they knew that Bama would run the crossing route and I think the backside safety was watching for it.  They took a chance and it paid off.  What I am referring to is did that shake AJ's cofidence.    The second was a pick play and the players either switched assignments or they didn't get picked.  Play selection is based on what coaches see on film in certain situations.  Bottom line Bama didn't make the plays.

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