He mentions Zach Johnson, what is his connection to Bama?

I was wondering that myself.  It sounded like it could be a long term injury.  The word consistency kept coming up.

He certainly was more laid back than I expected him to be.

The pass rush can be different than the A&M game because he is not as fast or quick as JM.  Pressure on the QB is one of the best things that helps in pass coverage. 

But he is not JM and that changes the equation a bit.

I know what you are saying, but what happened to going out and proving you are the best each week?  Have we become to harsh because of the success of Bama?

Very good points.  They did rotate many players in especially on D. 

I also forgot to mention the yards Jones saved Bama on those bouncing punts.

I think that could be part of it also. 

One point I left off.  I hate that Bama has not settled on a defensive line up and they are coming up on the 4th game.  If I had a chance to start for a NC contender I would be working my butt off doing it the way it is taught.

I really can't say.  Too me it looks like they are, as CNS says, feeling entitled instead of proving how good they can be.  Everything I see can be corrected, they have to have the desire to be great.  Remember they have been told from day 1 how good they are.

First: I want to congratulate the Bama coaches and players on the win.  People aren’t going to like this, but Bema does not look like a #1 team.  I am not saying they can’t get there, but they remind me of the 2010 team that did not put it all together until the bowl game against MSU.

Offense:  The offense only got into the red zone 2 times, but they did score TD’s both of those times.  They left points on the field with the missed field goal and the int when they were in FG territory.   They didn’t seem to play the numbers game, people in the box, like they did against A&M.  The very first play of the game CSU had 8 in the box and Bema did not check out of the play.   Bama’s offense had at least 7 negative plays and one of those was an int by AJ.  It wasn’t until 3:30 in the 4th quarter that Bama converted a 3rd down.

QB:  The stats looks, good 20/26 for 258 with 1 TD and 1 big INT. On first down throws, AJ was 9 out of 12 with one TD.  One of the misses was a int that should not have been thrown.  Two plays were negated by penalties one a hold that was a completion and one was a interference call that could have gone either way.   AJ seems to get lazy when he checks down at times and does not move his feet when his check down is on the other side of the play call.  AJ also missed a wide open Howard on a seam throw that would have put Bema inside the red zone. This has caused him to miss wide open recs in each of the three games.   They say that KD went the wrong way on the first TD, but I think AJ went the wrong way on another play later.  Neither AJ, nor the rec recognized the corner blitz which led to a sack. He also missed the opportunity to throw a TD pass when he threw it short and the rec had to out jump the defender when he had him beat on the double move.   

RB:  They only ran the ball 21 times in the game.  They had 73 yards on 21 attempts.  Thirty eight of that came on one run by TJ. 

REC:  Christian Jones had 9 receptions in the game.   Hopefully if anything comes out of this game, it will take pressure off of Cooper when he comes back.  One rec didn’t recognize the corner blitz and did not adjust his route, AJ didn’t see it either.  This led to a sack of 9 yards and went from a 2nd and 1 to a 3rd and 10.  Also, on some of the 3rd down plays the recs aren’t getting deep enough to get the first down.  The recs still don’t do well on the scramble drill and get open for the QB.  I will say White made a good crack block on the LB on TJ’s long run.  Other good news here, is Howard seems to be someone who can push the middle of the field making it harder to double the outside.

OL:   This was a problem.  There were times when Bama OL didn’t get the push they needed and runs were stopped for little gain.  Bama supposedly had a bigger/stronger OL but they made too many mistakes.  I saw the TE more than once miss blocks where the guy was lined up inside.  I saw the center get pushed back into the backfield upsetting the play from the beginning.  I saw OLmen diving at feet instead of stepping to the player.  There were missed blocks because of staying on the combo too long or not even needing to have a combo block.  I saw CK not get enough dept in his drop to take care of a rusher who lined up further outside.   He stepped to flat in my opinion and it led to a sack.  If Bama is to win, even a SEC championship, this has to improve and be more consistent.  Overall the pass blocking was decent, not great. 

Defense: The defense only gave up 283 yards.  CSU didn’t cross midfield until the 2nd half.  They did have 3 three and outs and have 8 negative plays with one being a fumble recovery.  The fumble recovery led to points.  They only allowed 2.1 yards per rush and pretty much stopped the running game both inside and out.  I know there were times the defense was not lined up and others not lined up correctly.  If you watch again watch Mosley jumping up and down yelling at people. There were bad angles on tackling and getting off of blocks has to improve.  I don’t think they communicated well at times.  This game showed how Bama can be hurt by crossing routes as well as clear out routes.  CSU had a huge chance on a rail route that they missed.  I will say they made mistakes, but did pursue the ball well. 

DL:  They played pretty well, but Bama, as I say every year, needs to find a dominant pass rusher.  The bad part I saw from the DL was when they did pass rush they got too far up the field and allowed the QB to step up or scramble out of danger.  This seemed to get corrected the 2nd half.  I thought Hubbard played a pretty good game especially keeping CSU form getting to the edge.

LB:  Again, I thought Mosley played a good game.  This guy has to play sideline to sideline, along with getting the calls to others.  One problem I noticed was the LB’s didn’t communicate the underneath crossing routes well.  I say this because CSU completed one almost right in front on a backer who should have had his head on a swivel, but also should have been yelled that there was a guy coming in his zone. 

DB: If my count is correct, Bama played 6 different corners.  This was not counting Blue because he was injured.  I really didn’t see one play better than the other.  They seem to give too much cushion at time, but I also don’t know what they are taught.  I do know they don’t give up the outside, which they did on the wide rec screen numerous times.  Fortunately, they didn’t have the athletes to take advantage of it.  You have to play that outside in to where your help is coming from.   Also, why are the DB’s falling down so much?  This happened last week too.  One person that stood out to me was Collins.  He was lined up as a LB many times in as a spy/cover guy.  He will come up and hit you.

Penalties:  Bama did cut down on the penalties.  They had 2 for 15 yards. The worse one was the 10 yard holding that took away a 1 down completion, so this was a 20 swing in field position.

Special teams:  Again they come up big here.  Drake blocks the punt and Lee runs it in.    Also, Collins made his presence felt here again.




Finally:  Again, Congrats to the Bama team and coaches.  However and again people aren’t going to like this, I wish they would drop Bama from #1.  I think at this point in the season Oregon and LSU are playing better than Bama.  Can they get there?  Yes.  They need to wake up and do what they are coached to do. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

Utah State trailing USC 17/13 4th quarter Us on 29 yd line.

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Are you thinking about football?

Looks like Mar/VT may be going to OT.

Today Bama will be going into battle against 3 opponents.  First, of course you have CSU. At this point they are not as talented across the board as Bama.  Second, the weather could be a factor.  Complete concentration will be needed.  Third, in my opinion, the biggest opponent is Bama themselves.  First, they know CSU does not measure up to them.  Second, Bama is coming off a huge victory.  Many times teams have a tendency to underestimate their opponents after a huge win.  Finally, the consistency of last weeks offense must continue along with correcting defensive problems from last week. 

The best thing Bama can do is go out and prove they will not underestimate any opponent and show they are making positive strides on both sides of the ball.