First, let me send congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  There were some mistakes, but Bama came out on top.

Offense:   The offense put up 422 yards of offense.  The negative I have is they wasted field position at least twice and came up with no points.   The Bama offense had 5 negative plays which included 2 sacks, 2 tackle for losses, and a wide rec screen that was tackled for a loss.   They only had 3 three and outs which all occurred in the first half.  They actually left no points on the field if you don’t count starting position on their on 47 and the opponents 48.  I think this offensive coordinator utilizes the deep out and corner routes more than the last OC.  If you recall, this is something I ask for last year.  I do wonder, with the talented rec’s Bama has, why they don’t utilized more max protection sets on 2nd/3rd  and long plays.  Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored 3 TD’s and a FG.  The other 2 TD’s came from outside the red zone. 

QB:  AJ had a pretty good game.  He should have had his first int of the year, but fortunately the DB dropped the ball.  The amazing stat I have is AJ was 8 for 11 on first down throws.  Nine of these 11 were play action plays and he connected on 7 of those nine.  He did a good job on the check down when needed.   He threw 2 great passes, the TD to Bell and the corner/deep out route to Christian Jones.   These balls were put where no one else had a chance to get the ball.  .  Seven different players had receptions in the game. 


RB:  They ran hard.  Most of the night there was not contact until they were at or past the LOS.  The picked up the blitz well and caught the ball out of the backfield.  If you noticed the running backs almost always finished the runs by falling forward and not being pushed back.  I will mention again, I like the way KD runs the ball.

REC:   What really impresses me here is the different rec’s that catch the ball.  It is also noticeable how often they catch the ball with their hands and not let the ball get into their body.  This is one reason there are few drops.  They also do a good job blocking on the running plays.   

OL:  I thought they had a very good game.  There were a couple of breakdowns, like CK not coming off the combo block with MW on the pass play where AJ was sacked.  However, most of the night the running backs did not have contact until they reached or crossed the LOS on running plays.  A great example was the first TD run by TJY, he went untouched from 11 yards out into the end zone.  Also, the MSU D was giving Bama’s OL many different looks and the OL was rarely beat.  This means they were communicating well and all on the same page.   I also want to put this note in here.  Did you notice when the backup OL went in and came off after their series?  While they were on the bench being coached up Barrett Jones was right there with them helping out. 

Defense:   The D actually looked confused at times early in the game.  I think this showed when they turned a couple of rec’s loose.  They only gave up 271 yards of total offense.  Thirty one of those yards came on one pass play (see above) and the 97 yard drive that came up empty.  They had 8 negative plays which included 4 tackle for losses, 1 sack, 1 int, 1 fumble recoveries and a blocked FG.  What doesn’t really show up is the QB hits/pressures.   I have Bama for 14 of these which are considered affecting the QB.  The D had 5 three and outs 4 of which were in the first half.  I am also going to say it looks more like Bama is playing a 4-2-5 more and more since you have 2 safeties and VS is in the game playing like a strong safety.  It looked again like a lot of the completions were under the LB’s.   The negative here were the missed tackles by the D. The positive is turnovers led to points.  They did come up big in the red zone early and kept MSU off the board.
   
DL:   They played very well.  A lot of the pressure was put on by these guys without a lot of blitzing.  I am not saying they didn’t blitz, but the DL did a good job without the blitz many times.

LB:   All three had a pretty good game.  It is amazing how Bama can rotate the LB; CJM, TD, and NJ into the game and be so effective.   I think #30 reminds me of Donte Hightower when he is in the down position.

DB:  They made some mistakes.  HCD took a bad angle on the pass when going for the int.  They didn’t adjust well on motion a couple of times.   They missed a couple of tackles.  There were a few times when there were wide open rec’s.  I will say RL is beginning to be a force when he delivers a blow.   
   
Penalties:  A few help Bama and a few hurt Bama.  The good thing is they were not hurt early in the game at crucial times. 

Special teams:  I am not sure why CF is asked to keep kicking right.  In my opinion, mentioned last week he kicks the ball better to his left.  The kick off cover team was good on 4 out of 7 kicks.  Christian Jones caused fumbles on two big returns and Bama got one of them and it let to points.   They can’t keep giving up these big returns.  Bama was also fortunate on the punt that hit the MSU player in the back.  This also led to points.

Finally:  Bama made some mental mistakes.  First, DM hits the punt return guy when he fair catches inside the 10.  This mistake moves the ball outside the 20.  Second, the secondary had wide open rec’s running around a few times.   Third, the rec’s, again, were not line up correctly and move to correct this, but the TE/HB was in motion which caused a penalty.  The points Bama gave up was against the backups.  Both the O and D got quality playing times during the fourth quarter. 

Watching on TV, I couldn’t believe the empty seats.  Also, I feel sorry for those backups playing and the crowd leaving early.  They put in a lot of hard work and deserve some attention.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 

I have heard of people sleep texting, but I guess not sleep posting is coming about.

Prays for you and your family.

Thanks to all you guys who respond and enjoy the post. 

If you watch on one of the kick off returns, Bama' s outside guy goes to far up the field and inside.  This creates a lane for the return guy to get to daylight.

Hopefully, they will be like Texas and keep the head coach and keep firing assistant coaches.

That is the big question.  I think Bama's D will keep teams from making long drives.  I thought the last 2 games they have tackled better and played better assignment football.   If the passing game can keep numbers out of the box, then I think Bama will be able to run  the ball.  Only time will tell.

It looked to me the safeties were playing pretty shallow t help on the run.  I thought their D line did a decent job early on runs not allowing the OL to get to the 2nd level.  I think the adjustment was more playaction on early downs.

First, let me send congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  It looks like Bama is back on track.  The played well both offensively and defensively.

Offense:   Bama quietly put 500 yards of total offense on the board.  They got in the red zone 3 times and came up with 2 TD’s and a FG.  The other 27 point came from outside the red zone.   It looks to me like Bama passing game is more diverse than in the past.  Maybe it is just the number of weapons at rec.  The thing I am most please with is the way Bama takes what is given, but can still be explosive with big pass and running plays.  If my count is correct Bama had two 3 and out the whole game.   Also if my count is correct Bama only had 3 negative plays and one of those could have been avoided if AJ had thrown the ball away instead of stepping out of bounds.  I do think Bama’s offense got on tract more when they started throwing the ball on first down. 

QB:  AJ had a very good game. He completed 17 of 22 passes and hit 6 different rec’s.  He seemed to find his secondary rec’s and get the ball to them.  I guess the only bad note was his throws on both 2 of his TD’s and the long throw to Cooper were a bit underthrown.  Not a complaint, but I think he had his choice of rec’s on the first TD pass. 

RB:  They again ran the ball well. Also, they picked up the blitz pretty well.  For the most part, the backs were not getting contact until they hit or passed the LOS.

REC:   They made catches and got yardage after the catch.  Cooper is emerging as a player that will cause other defensives to have to make adjustment.  I do think they could have made a couple of more blocks for the running backs, but this was early in the game and did a better job later.

OL:  They played well.  Like I stated above, the rb’s were not getting contact until they were at or past the LOS.  There was a sack that the UT D made a good play on.  I did notice a couple of times where they missed or were late coming off on the combo block.   AJ did have a little pressure but did a good job getting rid of the ball most of the time.  Late in the game, as in others, the OL showed their dominance.

Defense:   The D gave up less than 300 yards.  On hundred and thirty eight of those yards came on 4 pass plays.  I have them for five 3 and outs and 1 four and out.  Two of the three and outs were because of ints.  Also, Bama scored after both of the ints.  They did not sack the QB, but they did make him uncomfortable during the game.  I have the D with 6 negative plays which include 2 ints.  They did have a couple of bust on D when someone failed to cover the TE on the hot read and when no one stepped out and covered the rec on the back out.  One thing I really like about this D is their pursuit.  They don’t give up.  The big complaint was the big pass plays they gave up, but many times the D stepped up and stopped them. 
   
DL:  They did a good job stopping the run and getting pressure on the QB and not letting him find secondary rec’s.   They played discipline D.  The best example was the reverse where the player stayed home and help stop the play.  I also notice #8 has been getting on the field more and more each game. 

LB:   All three played well in my opinion.  CJM made a big play on the screen by reading it early and not allowing the blocker to get too him.  Also, these line backers play sideline to sideline.  CJ also made the int that led to a TD for Bama.

DB:  This was a very good cover game by the DB’s.  They were playing against some quality rec’s.  Probably the biggest help to them was the pressure the QB was getting.  During most of the night the DB’s were in good position to make plays.  There was one pass where the UT made a good throw and the rec made a good catch.   
   
Penalties:  There were 2 big penalties during the game.  One with a bad formation took a TD off the board.  A second negated a big punt return.  However, Bama did score on that drive. 

Special teams:  I think CF kicks the ball better to his left than his right.  Also, on the long field goals he looks like the old CF from last year.   He looked like he wasn’t going thru the ball.  Kickoff coverage needs to improve.  The players ran themselves too far up the field a couple of times and open lanes for their return. 

Finally:  There were too many mental mistakes.  Offense had a formation bust that took a way a TD.  The D had too many men on the field.  AJ ran out of bound and lost four yard on a ball he could have thrown away.  Also, on special teams the return man tried to run before he secured the ball and fumbled, fortunately they got the ball back.  Bama left points on the field.  One TD called back and then missed the FG.  Also there was another missed FG as well as a botched extra point.    I do think the team has progressed the last couple of weeks.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

give UT any advantage since he was a D coach at Bama last year?  When watching it looked like they may use some of the same signals that Bama uses.

There are not many athletes or ex athletes out there that don't have a little torn meniscus.

I did miss the last 3:51 of the game on my recording.  I was watching the game with friends at a local establishment and they changed it right after Drake scored.  Did I miss anything that needed to be included?

 I think the announcer got it right when they said CNS spoke to them about coming back and the players looked at the scoreboard and Missouri inability to move the ball and thought, yea right.

First, let me send congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  It looks like Bama is back on track.  They looked better offensively this game.

Offense:   The offense did whatever they wanted.  The OL dominated the D front.  Bama O put up over 500 yards of offense in this game.  Two running backs had over 100 yards.  I have the O for 5 negative plays, 4 of which came after the lightening delay.  CM dropped snap is included in these stats.  I have Bama in the red zone 6 times and they scored 5 TD’s.  One trip resulted in a fumble by AJ on a scramble.  There was one funny note I want to mention.  On Bama’s 5th TD, the officials marked the ball short on the 2nd down play.  When the center got the ball in position to snap the ball the nose broke the plane of the goal line. 

QB:  I thought this was probably AJ’s best game.  I say this because of the conditions during the game.  He completed 16/21 passes for 171 yards.  He also made the right decision a majority of the time.  He turned a couple of plays into positive plays which could have easily been negative plays.  He threw the ball where only his rec’s had a chance to catch it.

RB:  They ran hard and took advantage of the blocking by the OL.  There were times they ran for tough yardage, but most of the time they were on the other side of the LOS before they were hit.  I thought EL showed power and speed in this game especially on the first TD run.  TJY did the same.  I thought he had a chance for a long TD run, except he tripped himself on the cut.  I still like the Drake kid and trust him more every day. 

REC:  A couple of things stood out here.  First, they caught the ball with their hands in these conditions.  Many players have a tendency to let the ball get in on their body in the rain and don’t trust their hands.   Second, they blocked well which allowed many of the long runs by the RB’s. 

OL:  The OL won the point of attack most of the day.  There were a couple of times they allowed people to get inside of them, DJF and CK both.  When AJ got hurt DJF got beat inside.  He had a guy head up to inside and one outside.  You must take the most dangerous theat.  I say this not knowing the blocking scheme called.  What I saw more of was the OL getting to the 2nd level and blocking downfield more than earlier games.   I also want you to notice the center’s ability to pull.   This is a difficult job which was done very well in the game. 

Defense:   The D gave up a total of 182 yards.  I have them making 11 negative plays which included a blocked punt and 2 interceptions.  They also had at least 6 three and outs.  I do think they did a better job of tackling, but still missed a couple.  Also, I worry about teams with speed that may be able to get to the outside because Bama lost contain a couple of times.  They may not have always sacked the QB, but they hit him numerous times and made him uncomfortable.  The D did come up with a big play after the fumble punt snap and came up with a fumble and did not allow points right before the half.
   
DL: They did well.  They were able to put pressure when rushing 3 and 4 many times.  They did lose contain a couple of times, but they also stayed home on the reverse and stopped them for a loss.   

LB:  They all played well at times.  I saw TD take on the block with the inside shoulder and force the ball back inside like he is taught to do.  I saw NJ shoot the gap and make the play in the backfield.  CJM did the same on balls short to the outside.  I also saw the cutback run and the LB get beat as they ran past the play. 

DB:  They made some plays, but also they were aided by the dropped passes by the Missouri Rec’s.  There were a few pass break ups, and a couple of ints.  They came up and did a good job on the option the few times they ran it.  They were also beat a couple of times, but the QB did not make the throw for whatever reason. 
 
Penalties:  There were a few but Bama overcame them most of the time. 

Special teams:   The good and the bad.  The good was the field position Bama got because of punt returns or just fielding the punts.  Also, good was the blocked punt which led to a TD.  The bad, CJ decide to return a kick off from 8 yards deep in the end zone.  Second, CJ fielded a punt that would have gone in the end zone.  Third, I guess the worst was the kickoff return for a TD.  Fourth, the fumble snap by CM, the D bailed him out by stopping Missouri and causing a fumble.

Finally: 
Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
14 and counting

Maybe John L Smith will be available.