I think it is missing assignments more than anything.  They show signs of doing it right on many occasions. 

First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on the win.  Ole Miss came in and played well, but the defense led the way.  The offense needs to play with the sense of urgency that the defense showed.  Bama must improve on offense like they did this last week.  They also have to cut out the mental mistakes/penalties that hurt the team.  

Offense:  The offense quietly put 437 yard up.  There still mistakes that need to be corrected.  They had 11 negative plays.  This included 3 fumbles which Bama kept, but still hurt the drive. I fumble was in the red zone that put Bama behind the sticks.  Also, it included 1 int.  This leaves 7 plays that were tackles for losses and one those was a sack.  Bama had 2 three and outs all day with one 4 and out.  They only got in the red zone twice and got a field goal out of it.  The defensive teams seem to get of the ball well against Bama.  I don’t know if they need to change the snap count more or something in the stance is tipping them off.  They also didn’t take advantage of good field position at times.  Something that you don’t notice a lot and Bama uses it is the unbalanced look.

QB:  I think AJ had a very good game and here is why.  He was 25/32.  This is a good stat alone, but he was under pressure most of the night.  About 3 of his incompletions were on deep ball, one of which was underthrown that could have been a TD.  One incompletion, at least, was when he was scrambling and the recs did not come back well enough to help him out.   The biggest stat I have is he completed at least 5 passes when he was getting ready to be hit.  I think he was hit at least 6 times and one of those was late.  He did a good job directing the team before the half to get points.  

RB:  They ran hard and made positive yardage most of the time.   Both Drake and Yeldon hit the hole hard.  They also displayed good vision and toughness.  

REC:  Eight different players caught the ball which includes RB’s.  Jones again was the leading rec along with Norwood.  Norwood made a great catch when he was covered and AJ threw the ball in a tight window down low.   I would love to see these recs do a better job on the scramble drill.  I will put this here but I am not sure it was a problem.  It looked like a couple of times the recs may have busted a route.  I say this based on AJ reaction a couple of times.

OL:   I am putting the TE Vogler here.   He has got to do a better job.  He missed at least 3 blocks and at least 2 of those led to negative plays.  He missed a block that allowed immediate pressure on AJ and he fumbled.  The OL did make improvements, however they still need to get better.  They continue to put Bama in the hole early with false start penalties.  I know they haven’t, but it seems on every first possession for Bama they have a penalty to put themselves in a hole.  I thought Lindsay came in and played very well.  He may have even played better than Kelley.

Defense:   The defense played well.  They gave up only 205 total yards to a team that was averaging close to 500.  Sixty four of the yards came on 2 plays.  They had 5 negative plays which included a safety, an interception, and a fumble recovery.  I have them pressuring the OM QB at least 7 times, one of which caused the grounding call.  If my stats are correct, he only completed a couple of balls when he was scrambling.  They had 2 three and outs, 1 four and out and two one and outs.  Overall I thought the D did a good job tackling.  

DL:  They played well and were responsible for stopping the running game.  I say this because the safeties were involved with coverage most of the time.  The Ole Miss running back had run for 164 against UT, but Bama held him to 28 rushing and 12 rec.  
  
LB:  I know this sounds like a broken record, but CJ played well again.  It looked like he was the Spy for the OM QB.  TD also had a pretty good job at LB.

DB:   I thought they played well.  I also thought Jackson caused a fumble on the played that was ruled incomplete.  They did a good job coming up and making tackles and covered well enough for the DL to get pressure.  The D line getting pressure make covering guys a lot easier.  There were a couple of bust that allowed recs to be wide open a few times.  

Penalties: This is another game where the opponent had less penalties than Bama.

Special teams:  This was a difference maker in many games.  Bama doesn’t allow big returns very often.  Mandel has turned into a guy that can flip the field for the team. He made a great play on the first punt on the high snap.  Many punters would have panicked and shanked the punt.  Collins is always making plays on special teams.  Besides getting the punt off from a bad snap, the other big play was pinning OM back on the punt right before the safety.  CF hitting the 53 yarder has to be big for his confidence, and it was one of the best balls he has hit on FGs.


Finally:  Bama needs to continue to improve.  This is supposed to be one of the most potent offenses in the NCAA with all of the firepower Bama has on O.  They didn’t show him a lot, but I wonder if AC foot is still bothering him.  The mental mistakes and problems with the OL have to be corrected.  

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll  
15 and counting

This could be a wild one.

I don't think so.

Ga looked good on first drive.

What a disservice they are doing to the game and a team by not taking the penalty away also.

I don't think it was targeting

I was watching West Virginia and all I could think of is I need more mustard on my sandwich

They seem to like to throw the slant early.  I would look for the slant.

I hope you are correct.  I do think they have the talent, but they must execute and this is not what they have done on a consistent basis.

I agree with what they said.

Does this mean I have to retrack what I said?

There are a few things I want to get off my chest and direct them to the Alabama Football team.  First, you have the chance to be part of one of the greatest dynasties in college sports.   Do you know how many teams/players would love to have the opportunity to do what you have a chance of accomplishing?   You get to play for one of the greatest college football programs of all time.  It is not a right it is a privilege.  There are players who give up the opportunity to attend other schools on scholarship, but turn them down and walk on at Alabama.  The coaches who recruited you saw something special in you and it is time for you to show them they were not wrong.  I will be honest.  If I was one of the voting members of any poll, I would not vote for Alabama to be the number 1 team.  I would put Oregon and LSU ahead of you and probably someone else if I didn’t what Bama so much.   You don’t win a championship because you are Alabama, Alabama wins championships because they get the best recruits and they have the best coaches.  You are not entitled to be number 1 because you wear crimson and white, you earn it.   I really can’t understand how some players can look their teammates in the eye after some of the subpar performances I have seen.  If I was a running back I would kick some of you linemen in the butt and tell you to pick it up or get off the field.  There is no question there is talent on this team, but when are you going to go out and prove you are one of the top teams in the country?  There used to be a time when Ole Miss dreaded coming to Tuscaloosa because they knew they would be beat done physically and there was a snowballs chance in hell of beating you.  Not only are they coming to town they are talking about how they are going to beat you on your home field.  They are not scared of you because you are Alabama; they are not scared of you because they have seen the inconsistency of your prior games.  You see some teams have been improving each week, can you say the same?  There is no doubt many players have played their butts off all three games, the problem is all players have not.  People have even been questioning your heart.  When you have heart you can be a champion.  Without it, you are just another team.  Maybe we fans are too critical, but maybe it is time for you to be a little critical of yourself and step up and play the way you are capable. 

My question is Do You Have Heart?
H- Hard work on the practice field and in the game in all situations.
E-Effort are you willing to give the effort necessary to win, you have to do it in practice also.   
A-Assignments, you have to take care of your assignment and know that the player next to you will do the same
R-Relentless, are you relentless in your pursuit to be the best player for your team and be part of the greatest dynasty in college football?
T-Tenacious, are you tenacious in you play, your desire to get better, your desire to not let your teammates down?

There is no doubt in my mind that you have the capabilities to win a National Championship this year.  The question is when are you going to wake up and prove this?  Ole Miss is coming to town and planning on leaving with a victory.  Are you going to let this happen?  Or are you going out and prove they haven’t gotten quite as far as they think they have.  They still cannot play with one of the most storied programs in college football. 

Only you can answer this question.  It is time to prove to the rest of the college football world you are number 1 and NOONE will take if from you without a fight.

Thanks