Crimson Red Sports

First:   The first thing I want to say is my prayers go out to KD.  It will be a great loss for Bama going forward.  Second congrats to Ole Miss for their not giving up.  To Bama, this is a game you gave away by making too many mistakes at crucial time.

Offense:   The offense made too many mistakes in crucial time of the game to win the game.  They put up 396 yards of offense.  They ran the ball effectively but dug themselves holes too often.  They missed crucial block on 3rd and short D Ball as well as OJ Howard.  They had drops that would have kept the drives alive.  They only had 4 tackles for losses, one sack, and an int.  They only had 2 three and outs while having at least 3 runs for over 10 yards and 6 completions for over 10 yards.  There did seem to be a couple of blown opportunities when watching the replays, but they don’t show the complete field.   Some sad facts here, Bama had a first and10 on the 19 going in and had to settle for a long field goal because of penalties and plays.  They should have had a 1st on the 18 going in on the last drive, but a penalty negated this.  It also looks like the offense is giving the screen away too soon on some of the plays.  They had to waste 2 timeouts on offense which could have been crucial in the final drive.

QB:  Sims made plays, but also missed on some plays.  It looks like on the drop by OJH that C Jones was open over the top for probably a TD.  Now this was not showing he complete field, so someone may have been over the top of CJ.  The 2nd was when he threw to Vogler, it looks like Cooper is open deep for the TD.  Again same thing as before could not see the whole field.  I also thought Sims feet got a little happy too early.  There is a play when Sims didn’t throw the ball away and I think this was because there was a screen called and he would have had men down field.  He would have had to throw it to the feet of the RB.  I do think if he had thrown the ball out to OJH left instead of a little behind he would have had a better chance for the ball.

RB:   TJY played well. He gained over 100 yards and this was against a tough D.  I wonder if Henry didn’t get a little banged up because he wasn’t used late.  It may have been just because of the way TJY was playing. 

REC:  AC was the main focus of stopping the passing game.  OJH had a big catch, but also made many mistakes, 2 holding calls.   Vogler missed a crucial block on a 3rd down and 1 play as did Ball when Bama had him at a TE position.  There were a couple of times when it looked like the routes by recs were not run hard and at times it didn’t look like they adjusted to the scramble very well.

OL:   By looking at the negative plays the OL had a pretty good game.  There were a couple of busted assignments one by the right guard.  This was a big 3rd down play before the half that could have kept a drive alive.  The new center put the ball low and makes the QB take his eyes away from the D which hurts in his reads.

Defense:  The defense made bad coverage mistake that hurt Bama in the game.  The defense had 10 tackles for losses, 1 sack, a blocked PAT, and a fumble recovery for a TD.  They had 3 runs of over 10 yards and 8 passes for over 10 yards.  In all honesty, the play should have been negated by the facemask penalty.  They had 1 three and out and 1 4 and out.  This is not counting the 4 play drive for a TD or 3 play drive for a TD.  The D did a good job on the first drive holding them to a field goal.  There were some missed tackles, especially in the 4th quarter that would have put Ole Miss behind the chains.   

DL:    I thought they did a good job stopping the running game.  Many times, and this is how DD got hurt, the DE came in and took on/out the pulling linemen and stuffed the play.  They were just a step short on getting to the QB, but many throws were quick. 
 
LB:  Both LB’s had some difficult times.  First, RR doesn’t adjust with the motion which should have cost Bama.  Second TD went too flat on the long pass to the TC for the long gain in the second half.  RR did have some big hits on the OM running back and QB. 

DB:   Here was a major problem.  They seem to be extremely confused on who had who on the trips bunch package.  This cost Bama the most in the game.  Ole Miss threw at least 5 back shoulder throws and completed 3 of them.  On the bubble screen Jones went inside and allowed them to get the edge instead of fighting thru the outside should and forcing the player back inside where his help was.

Penalties:  In my opinion this is where the game was lost.  For example Bama had a 1st down on the 19 yard line going in and ended up kicking about a 46 yard field goal.  They had a 1st down on the 18 going in on the last drive have a holding call and have then have a 2 and 13 at the 32.  They still had time and didn’t have to force the ball into coverage. There were also times when Bama would start 1st and 15 which is harder to overcome.  I am not sure, but I would bet most of the penalties where in the second half.  There were penalties on special teams.  A big one was the block in the back which negated a nice kickoff return by Cyrus Jones.

Special teams:   The first couple of kick offs hurt because of not giving the coverage team time to get down there.  When the ball was kicked high they covered well.  There were two missed field goals from 46 and 51 yards.  The big play was the fumble on the kickoff return when Bama should have had good field position because of the Ole Miss penalty. JK Scott did a great job changing field position and averaged over 50 yards a kick.  I know it is only 5 yards, but there was a penalty on delay of game on one punt.

Finally:  Bama mistake came back and caused them to lose to a good football team. These mistakes led to 2 touchdowns in the last 6 minutes.  They did give themselves a chance to win, but made more mistakes on the final drive. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

As always coach, thanks for the insight you provide.

I think you used the word "mistakes" a record number of times in this week's write-up. Team had two weeks to clean up mistakes, but.....  What now?  Is it bad/ineffective coaching, or ?????

I think everyone is trying hard to get it right.  For some reason just hasn't come together yet.

I don't think it is bad coaching as much as I think it is the pressure of being Bama.

I have no idea if this theory is accurate, but I wanted to hear some opinions on it.  My theory is that the gruesome sight of the Drake injury, compounded by his 5 or 6 screams of pain and terror that could be heard on TV, may have caused some on the team to lose their focus.  I can say for a fact that I lost my focus, and still haven't gotten it back 100%.  I'm not saying they were scared to play or anything like that, just that they were distracted and having a hard time focusing on the task at hand, wondering if they would ever see the Drake on the football field again or if this was a career ending Prothro style injury.  These players are close, and when something like that happens it is hard not to think about your friend and wonder how he is doing.

What does everybody think about this theory?

I think that theory is definitely plausible.  I wasn't that impressed with our play before KD's injury and it didn't seem to get much/if any better afterwards IMO.  There were several plays that our OL didn't block well allowing our RB to get tackled for a loss or little/no gain. 

That is a good theory.  However, many of the false starts, this year, have been on the same two players, LB and AK.

It seems like it might have been a contributing factor, not the only factor, but a contributing one, particularly with some of the younger players.  :dunno:

Thanks for the analysis coach.  Always good to hear your thoughts.

I hadn't thought about the psychological impact of KD's injury but that's certainly plausible  Hope he's able to come back next year.

I've been disappointed this year with OJH's play.  Mistakes, dropped balls, etc.  Do you, hscoach, have any thoughts on this?  Sophomore slump?  I'm not knocking the kid, he will be great before he's through.  Just seems to me to be struggling.

Good question for hscoach.  I will chime in with this comment:

Maybe CNS and CLK have seen this in practice as well, which could explain why he hasn't been targeted that often so far this year.

Great stuff Coach. My two cents, Henry did not square up the holes. It seemed he wanted to bounce everything outside. He is most effective going straight at them.

Also we kept running left and then stopped, like we were over thinking things. Should have stayed with it.

It is fairly obvious outside of Collins, we are very inexpierenced in the secondary. They will be good but D line needs to be more effective so they don't have to defend as long. Overall this team does lack experience.

I want to see what hscoach says too. 
Meanwhile I'll say I doubt the coaches have been avoiding plays to OJ due to [whatever].  The interception play apparently was designed as a keep-it-in-your-pocket-for-a-big-moment play.  It matched OJ one-on-one (it appears) with a DB while drawing away the other coverage to Cooper.  Cooper did a quick out to the right, drawing Golson to him.  OJ beat his man deep, but Golson pulled off Cooper and made the play.  I don't think we'd design such a play around OJ if we doubted him.  Seems they wanted someone tall, fast, and capable in that position.  Golson ruined it.

(http://i.giphy.com/5wWf7GTCTRZxyQFQJbO.gif)

Too me there are two things.  One did he misjudge the throw or two did the wind first effect the throw.  When I saw it first I thought he should have gone up and high pointed the ball.  I also thought if the ball had been thrown a little more inside he would have a better shot.  Why not throw to the outside route. You still have time to score.

Did anyone else notice, on the play where Sims almost threw the int to the LB, if he hold the ball a count longer DW clears the LB and has a lot of room to run.

1. The wind had died by game's end to ~5mph, so unlikely (unless it gusted);
2. OJ never saw Golson come from behind him, nor did he expect Golson to leave Cooper (prolly never happened in practice);
3. The LB dropped under Cooper, so Cooper wasn't wide open. 
4.  Kiffin probably wanted that play in ~30 yards of space to get separation for OJ vs the safety.  He had that.
5.  Sims never looked at Cooper.  See the video.

2 is why the play should not have been thrown.  It seems that this was the only that Sims was looking at and the safety read his eyes and came off AC.

I was thinking precisely this coach. These young people are generally great at denying their vulnerability. They all think they are made of steel and nothing bad will ever happen to them. When something like this happens, that illusion is impossible to maintain, the da#@ breaks, and here come the doubts and fears.

I agree.  That's what Sims said after the game (he shouldn't have thrown it into coverage).

Bingo. If OJ gets more aggressive and goes to the ball instead trying to catch it over his shoulder, he probably catches and definitely prevents to INT.

hscoach, I am noticing something and want to see if you agree. I don't know if it is youth/inexperience in the back of the defense or merely utter confusion. I think Kirby is trying to make adjustments pre-snap and players are too busy looking over to get ready for the snap. They look very confused. I think there is a lot to be said for simplifying things a bit so the players will stop thinking and start reacting and playing more relaxed.

 :facepalm:

Maybe I'm blinded by having been a receiver instead of a coach!   :lol2:

I think that is a real possibility.   Also, have you ever heard of being over coached?  Don't take this as questioning the coaches, because some of those throws had to be perfect.  Maybe they simplify the coverages and let the athletes play.

I'm quite sure that it wasn't shown on TV, but as Kenyon was being attended to, DeAndrew White and Blake Sims were side by side, knee down, head bowed, praying.

My prayers go to him, as well. 

The hearsay from the players was that it affected them a great deal.  Word is that Yeldon, White, and Sims especially were affected.  Just passing along the words of a reporter, not mine.

I did catch a glimpse of that on the broadcast.

Is this a credible reporter, such as Cecil Hurt, or a hack, such as Scarbinsky?  :lol:

 :lol:

I stopped reading or posting Scarb's crap.  And I've stopped posting his entire name, as I have also the humpers (e.g., Aubs).

If I ever get around to it, I'm going to teach WALL-E to reject Scarb.  I've had the capability in place all along, I just need to turn it on.

I just got around to it.  No more Scarb articles from WALL-E.  Members can still post a link to one if they want to.

Woot.  Excellent, SC.   #+

Hscoach,

The D is my main concern. Why after a week off are they confused on the bunch formation. and why two times did Collins (a great player) bite on the RB insted of taking the WR?

i just dont see why they are so lost. and what gets me is they are not progessing.

My opinion is that I would throw that ball all day long, with a match up of O.J., Cooper, or Norwood, (last year), on a 5'9" defender.  Golson made a great play and that is what wins games at crunch time.  I won't write off a great player like O.J. after a bad hair day.  There were too many other things in the game, all easily correctable, that would have helped win the game.

They will get it right.

See you in the play offs.
    

 #+  :worship: :worship:

Agree. It is like having a thoroughbred and holding it up with a bit. Coach 'em up Sunday through Friday, but let 'em eat on Saturday.

I did notice several highlight plays to OJ on the Saban Show last night.  I guess those didn't register during the game because I was too distracted by the Drake injury.

I really have no answer.  I don't know if this defense is too complicated.  Don't know if you saw, but I said earlier that maybe there are too many adjustments.  Maybe you simplify and let the athletes play.

I don't force this ball when you have a wide open rec and time on the clock.  If it is a last ditch effort then do it.

Good Morning, Let me echo what hscoach said about Kenyon. I can not get the sound of him hollering in pain out of my mind. I have heard unconfirmed reports that it was a clean break but it sure did not seem that way when I saw it on TV. we should know shortly when CNS Press Conference happens. Again I think hscoach has made very good points in his analysis of the game. Let me just add some thought of mine and yall let me know what you think.

Over view: We all knew that this would be a tough game with the defense that Ole Miss has on the field this year. But I thought that overall while we did not play to the best of our ability we did do enough to win the game.

Offense: The offense started out well running the ball and made good yardage early in the game. While they were all over Amari trying to take him away in the game he still manage to make a few very outstanding plays. The dropped passes we had were very costly in the fact they cost us first downs. But overall would have won us the game if not for all the penalties and turn overs.

QB: Blake played a good game for the most part, missed of couple of throws that could have been a big play, but also had some questionable ones as well especially on the int in the endzone to seal the game for Ole Miss. He also cost us when he took the two consecutive losses that took out of decent FG range in the first half instead of throwing the ball away. So staying focused and making the right decisions needs to be improved upon.

OL: While they played well there again too many miscues that cost us big time again. But I believe that when Rayn Kelly went down the OL was in chaos for a good bit as shown by having to take two time outs back to back. Communication was either slow or the right calls being made on the line. When Blake was freaking out trying to get the ball snapped and the line was still point out the Mike, Sam, and everybody else and was oblivious to the play clock. From that point on the entire complexity of the game changed. After Ole Miss took the lead I told my bud Rick who I was watching the game with the Championship Teams need to at time need to make Championship Drives and this was ours right here, the OL played well and seem to be in sync. The holding penalty on OJ broke our backs after we had the first down inside the 15 with one TO remaining. 

Defense: While I thought that overall they played a good game the three or four busted coverage's that they used to score their touchdowns on has got to be corrected. I understand that we had a True Freshman in the game but it also seemed like at times there was a lack of the proper communication going on out there.  But they were put into a bad position a couple of time and stood firm and made them settle for FG's that kept the score in check for us.

DL: They played a good game. They held their running game in check and put some pressure on Bo at times. It did seem that when he did hit the passes their was a lack of pressure on those plays. So while they are getting better there are not quite where they need to be yet.

LB: They as everyone else played well for the biggest portion of the game. The on busted coverage was on the back doing the wheel route out of the backfield and the pass to the TE for 50+ yds. CNS said that there was not the right rotation on the wheel route and the wrong coverage on the TE play which changed the momentum of the game that we never really got back.

DB: Again the same as last year we are having trouble keeping the same guys in the lineup week in and week out. The back shoulder throws as hscoach pointed out was a very strong point for Ole Miss. They hit it it seemed almost at will against us. I am sure all of yall are sitting there hollering turn around!!!!! to which ever DB happens to in coverage just as I do. There has to be some sort of tactic to be able to correct that in some way. If not we will be preyed upon all year this way. Communication was a factor again, I know that it's tough when you have a revolving door out there but this must get corrected!!!

Penalties: The straw that is continually breaking our backs!!! I am not sure if it is a lack of focus, communication, lack of eye control or just what is causing this to keep being the problem it is. But in our last two games we have had more penalties than maybe all of last year!!! Don't quote me on that but it sure seems that way!!! This above any other factor has been what has ultimately cost us the game this week and the most of all of our problems this year. I know that this is driving CNS and his staff nuts. I was hoping that this would disappear during the bye week but I was wrong about that. It has to be a major focal point in practice to be corrected.

Special Teams: I will hit the high spot first. JK SCOTT what can you say about this young man except for OMG!!!!! The first punt again this week was a howitzer shot that totally flipped field position for us. This young man will be a very important weapon for us in his tenure at Alabama. Kick & Punt returns. While usually a high spot for us cost us big time on the Fumble by C Jones. You know that with the amount of time spent on ball control this would not be an issue but it sure rears it head up a lot at us. at some point I hope we can go at least one complete game with losing the handle on the ball.

Final thoughts: If there was ever any doubt of the strength of the SEC West Division they should all be forgotten by now. We still control our own destiny but will need someone else to beat Ole Miss for us to get to Atlanta. While I think that we are more than capable of completing this task it will not be an easy journey. The games this week will shed a bit more light on what it will take for it to happen. We go on the road aging to face a very BIG and very STRONG OL at Arkansas. These guys play smash mouth football. They run the ball as we do and just say stop us if you can. This should give us a chance to stay in our base defense for the biggest portion of the game and hopefully work in our favor. But again it will boil down to penalties and mistakes made on both side of the ball. If we can play a CLEAN game then I really like our chances, but if not then it could go down to the wire and that is just happening too much so far!!! We are still in good shape to make the playoff but we must clean up all of the miscues. Let me know what yall think and Roll Tide!!!!   

Very good points.  The back shoulder throw is tough to defend.  I was just discussing this with one of my ex rec. who is now an asst. principal at our school.  If you play on his hip you may have a chance to break it up, but you could be beat by the double move.  If you play over the top you have the short throw to contend with.  This seems to be one of the most difficult routes to defend.  As far as busted assignment in the secondary, I think it was Perry and Collins who made the most mistakes. 

I am going to put this out there to see what you guys think.  On one of the holding penalties by OJH he had just run about 50 yards and Bama jumped back on the ball.  OJ looked like he was breathing hard.  It also looked like the defender timed the snap count really well, maybe Bama could have taken him out for a break  Your thoughts?

I just watched the press conference.  CNS said that Drake's injury was a broken bone and a dislocated ankle.  That is much better than I expected.  The dislocated ankle accounts for the foot being turned sideways.  I was afraid that he had broken both bones in his leg, which would be much tougher to come back from.  CNS said that it was a very similar break to what Henry had a couple of years ago in spring practice.  So it sounds like he is probably lost for the season, but will be able to come back next year.  I was very concerned that we may have seen his last play.

Good stuff Peewee.  #+

And you to hscoach, I forgot to give you an e-cred this week.  #+

I did not notice that on the OJ penalty, but I was having a hard time focusing.

I did notice several missed tackles by Perry.  You can't just run up to the ball carrier and throw a shoulder at him.  You have to wrap him up and don't let go until he is on the ground or the ref blows the whistle.

I will also add that C. Jones was not securing the ball correctly on the first kick off either, and he was very lucky he didn't fumble it that time too.  I even commented on it during the in game thread.  At the press conference CNS said that if he doesn't start securing the ball then we will put somebody else back there who will.  It is OK to try for a big play, but you have to focus on keeping the ball first.

I noticed on one of the holding calls on OJH, it looked like he was pass blocking and "legally" holding the rusher's jersey inside the shoulders.  When Blake ran around the outside, the rusher tried to pull away and OJH continued to hold on too long, causing the holding call.  It is hard to fault him on that one.

I saw that too, and I agree that it was a picky call on that one.