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Title: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: KoKoPuf on July 18, 2014, 09:27:30 AM Pretty good article from Tony Barnhart http://mrcollegefootball.blog.ajc.com/2014/07/17/saban-alabama-must-re-establish-its-identity/ Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: Marshal Dillon on July 18, 2014, 10:54:38 AM I think the problems last year go way beyond the giving up of 3.32 yards per rush, which is still an outstanding run defense stat. We did not pressure the QB with a pass rush, our DB play was poor to average, at best, and team leadership seemed to be missing. Plus, we heard grumblings of possible team dissension, which is a sure-fire team killer.
:dog: Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: pmull on July 18, 2014, 04:06:28 PM Good article by TB.
We had problems on both sides of the ball last year IMO. We could not get a 3rd and one time after time. We need to get back to mash mouth football and run the ball. That opens up the big play passing game. On defense it is easy to blame the pass rush because they did not get enough pressure but we were missing lock down corners. No pass rush is going to be good if the QB does not have to go through his reads and find an open man. Receivers were running around wide open last year. We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. We will be good again this year. We have a few key positions that some new guys have to step up. My concerns are QB, OL, corners and all phases of the kicking game. If we can fill those gaps, and I think we can, we will be in position to win another championship. Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: Marshal Dillon on July 18, 2014, 04:52:32 PM Good article by TB. We had problems on both sides of the ball last year IMO. We could not get a 3rd and one time after time. We need to get back to mash mouth football and run the ball. That opens up the big play passing game. On defense it is easy to blame the pass rush because they did not get enough pressure but we were missing lock down corners. No pass rush is going to be good if the QB does not have to go through his reads and find an open man. Receivers were running around wide open last year. We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. We will be good again this year. We have a few key positions that some new guys have to step up. My concerns are QB, OL, corners and all phases of the kicking game. If we can fill those gaps, and I think we can, we will be in position to win another championship. I forgot about the O-line problems from last year. We lost 7 starters from the D, which is a huge concern. I disagree about your analysis of the pass rush. You can have the best CB's in the game, but if there is very little pass rush, they will get open. The pass rush makes the QB hurry, get out of his rhythm, and start looking over his shoulder (happy feet). The CB picture has us depending on at least 1 freshman to produce, Brown or Humphrey. :tinfoil: Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: pmull on July 18, 2014, 04:59:44 PM Good article by TB. We had problems on both sides of the ball last year IMO. We could not get a 3rd and one time after time. We need to get back to mash mouth football and run the ball. That opens up the big play passing game. On defense it is easy to blame the pass rush because they did not get enough pressure but we were missing lock down corners. No pass rush is going to be good if the QB does not have to go through his reads and find an open man. Receivers were running around wide open last year. We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. We will be good again this year. We have a few key positions that some new guys have to step up. My concerns are QB, OL, corners and all phases of the kicking game. If we can fill those gaps, and I think we can, we will be in position to win another championship. I forgot about the O-line problems from last year. We lost 7 starters from the D, which is a huge concern. I disagree about your analysis of the pass rush. You can have the best CB's in the game, but if there is very little pass rush, they will get open. The pass rush makes the QB hurry, get out of his rhythm, and start looking over his shoulder (happy feet). The CB picture has us depending on at least 1 freshman to produce, Brown or Humphrey. :tinfoil: We actually agree about the pass rush. Our pass rush was not very good but neither were our corners. My point was meant to be one could help the other but neither stepped up. Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: 2Stater on July 18, 2014, 05:03:21 PM Quote We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. Truer words were never spoken. I'm hoping with the change in assistant coaches will get these areas turned around. I'm looking for a big improvement in the "O" line and "D" line this year. The secondary has to be better this year than last. If you really think about it, just a little improvement can lead to another NC. With all the mistakes and problems we had last year, we were only one play away from playing for another one. We would have beat Mizzou. Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: pmull on July 18, 2014, 05:26:13 PM Quote We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. Truer words were never spoken. I'm hoping with the change in assistant coaches will get these areas turned around. I'm looking for a big improvement in the "O" line and "D" line this year. The secondary has to be better this year than last. If you really think about it, just a little improvement can lead to another NC. With all the mistakes and problems we had last year, we were only one play away from playing for another one. We would have beat Mizzou. If we made the 3rd and one late in the barn game or hit the short field goal (or any FG) we win the championship. We would have beat Mizzou in the SEC game and have six weeks to prepare for FSU. We would have been motivated to play for a championship. We were a good team last year and will be again this year. You have to do everything right to win a championship. That is why it is so hard to do. Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: Marshal Dillon on July 18, 2014, 05:45:57 PM Good article by TB. We had problems on both sides of the ball last year IMO. We could not get a 3rd and one time after time. We need to get back to mash mouth football and run the ball. That opens up the big play passing game. On defense it is easy to blame the pass rush because they did not get enough pressure but we were missing lock down corners. No pass rush is going to be good if the QB does not have to go through his reads and find an open man. Receivers were running around wide open last year. We had a good team last year. We peaked in the 2nd half of the LSU game. IMO our players thought they won the championship that night. We had the barn beat and could not put them away. At that point in the season we were playing not to lose. That is not Bama football. The Sugar Bowl Bowl was 2008 all over again. We lost our edge as the season wore on. We will be good again this year. We have a few key positions that some new guys have to step up. My concerns are QB, OL, corners and all phases of the kicking game. If we can fill those gaps, and I think we can, we will be in position to win another championship. I forgot about the O-line problems from last year. We lost 7 starters from the D, which is a huge concern. I disagree about your analysis of the pass rush. You can have the best CB's in the game, but if there is very little pass rush, they will get open. The pass rush makes the QB hurry, get out of his rhythm, and start looking over his shoulder (happy feet). The CB picture has us depending on at least 1 freshman to produce, Brown or Humphrey. :tinfoil: We actually agree about the pass rush. Our pass rush was not very good but neither were our corners. My point was meant to be one could help the other but neither stepped up. Most definitely agree. The DB's & D-Line stunk last year, along with the O-Line. I don't see how we rebuild all 3 areas in just one year, since all 3 D-linemen graduated and we lost 2 DB's, including the one good one. :dunno: Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: Jamos on July 18, 2014, 05:47:57 PM No doubt there were many issues on and off the field last year and I firmly believe that the off the field issues was the cancer that did the most damage to the team. Being mentally prepared isn't easy and it showed at the end of the season, missed blocks, blown coverages, dropped passes, fumbles, missed tackles, and I could go on and on. All of these reasons you can blame on not having your mind set in the right place at the right time.
The first three games of the season aren't barn burners by no means but I think they are critical. These are the games where the ground work has to be laid for the tougher games down the road. Hopefully player positions can be established in these games and the depth chart filled as well. Also, hopefully the old injury bug will be nice to the team this year. Title: Re: Alabama Must Establish Identity Post by: KoKoPuf on July 19, 2014, 11:20:34 AM I still think the "Saban to Texas" uproar was a large factor in the loss of team focus. Surely Bama won't have to deal with that again.
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