Crimson Red Sports

                                                                            Missouri vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great victory.  Bama’s defense looked like a defense of old, however I didn’t think Lockley had his best called game.  I question after a 1st down play in the red zone with a 7-yard competition to Hurts why throw 2 on the next two play?  You have 2 plays to run for 3 yards and get a 1st down inside the 10.  The other calls I question is the jump ball pass in the middle of the end zone. 

OFFFENSE:   Even though the offense put 564 yards of total offense together, it wasn’t one of their best efforts.  Bama had 380 yards passing and 184 rushing.  However, again they failed to convert on 4th and short.  After watching the 2nd time I will put this on D Harris.  If he stayed behind Irv Smith instead of cutting it back where the safeties filled, he probably would have made the first down and maybe scored.  As far as negative plays, I have Bama with 6 tackles for losses, 1 sack, and a lost fumble which occurred on that sack.  Good news is the only three and out was in the red zone that ended with a field goal.  For pass plays of 10 plus yards, I have Bama with 12, 9 of which were in the first half. I also have Bama for 7 running plays that went for 10 plus yards.  Bama struggled in the red zone.  They got into the red zone 7 times.  Out of all these trips, they had 3 field goal and 3 touchdowns while also turning the ball over on downs when they didn’t convert on the 4th and one.  I mentioned this above talking about Harris cutting back to where the safeties filled the hole.  The did have one touchdown from outside the red zone which occurred on the 2nd play of the game.  The bad news for the offense was points that were left on the field.  Two holding call negated touchdowns while trips into the red zone where Bama had to take field goals instead of touchdowns. 

QB:   Tua didn’t have one of his better games with a 55% competition rate.  I’m not saying he played bad, however, I thought he tried to force a couple of balls.  He did do a great job on the first touchdown as it looked like that receiver was his 3rd option.  Also, I don’t know why but it looked like the receivers weren’t on the same page on a couple of plays.  I thought he could have checked down to N Harris when he tried to throw deep and it looked like Harris had a lot of running room.  This is not a criticism, but just an observation.  Jalen came in and played well.  I actually thought he looked a little nervous when he first came in.  He threw 2 very good deep balls.  It was obvious that Bama wanted to run the ball more in the 2nd half and keep the clock moving.

RB:  The running backs combined for 174 of the rushing yards on 41 carries.  The equated to a 4.2-yard average.  I don’t know why, but it just didn’t seem like they ran the ball that much.  I would like to see Bama run the edge a little more where most yards seem to be made or at least have some more jet sweep action to help keep the safeties and DL from squeezing down so quickly on the runs up the middle.  I have noticed Bama seems to release their backs more than usual on passing plays. 

Rec:   Seven different receivers caught passes, 6 receivers and 1 back.  Smith and Ruggs both had 4 catches while Jeudy had 3.  This game was the least amount of catches and yards for TE Irv Smith.  However, he has already surpassed his totals from last year with several games to go. 

OL:  The OL played well most of the night. I still think they play to high in certain short yardage situations.  The biggest bust was when Tua was sacked and fumbled.  You can see the center and left guard standing there after getting beat on a stunt.  Another big mistake was the holding call on Williams which negated a touchdown.  The QB’s had a clean pocket to throw the ball most of the day. 

Def:  The defense played a very good game, something Bama fans expect.  Bama gave up a total of 212 yards of offense, which include 70 rushing and 142 passing.  If my calculations are correct, Bama only gave up a total of 45 yards in the 2nd half.  As far as negative plays, I have Bama with 7 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 interceptions.  For 3 and outs, I have Bama credited for 4 three and outs, on was a result of a fumble.  There was also a 1 and out because of the safety and a 2 and out because of the interception.  For plays that covered over 10 yards, only gave up 5 pass plays and 2 running plays.  A couple of those pass plays took exceptional catches.  Missouri only got into the red zone twice and scored a touchdown and threw an interception.  Their field goal was from outside the red zone.  The defense was responsible for points Bama scored.  The first interception was returned to the red zone, but Bama settled for a field goal.  The drive after the fumble recovery resulted in a touchdown.  They also scored points when they recorded a safety.  I also think Bama only lost the edge for one big gain during this game.  On the touchdown, I counted 7 seconds to throw the ball as Bama only rushed three.  You can’t expect the DB’s to cover that long.  Also, Missouri was averaging 530 yard a game and were held to 318 yards under their average.  There also wasn’t as many missed tackles this game.

DL:  I thought the DL played well, as Missouri only averaged 2 yards per rush.  They also have to be responsible for the pass rush against what many consider a passing team.  I think they only lost the edge once that turned into a decent gain.  Both Williams and Davis stood out to me even though Davis had the penalty where he should have been ejected.

LB:  Playing teams like Missouri are tough on LB’s.  They have to worry about the pass as well as the run.  I thought Wilson had a good game especially since there didn’t seem to be as many bust on defense and he is the main signal caller.

DB: The DB’s played well.  Missouri receivers did make a couple of big catches, however almost every catch on balls more than 10 yards were contested.  Smith came up big in his start as he had 2 interceptions one which put Bama in the red zone and one was interception in the end zone.

Special Teams:  Here Bama missed a 52-yard field goal.  It looked like it had the distance, but again the alignment didn’t seem right.  A 12-yard punt gave Missouri good field position, but the defense stepped up and got the 3 and out.  Waddle wanted to make a play on the punt when he fumbled because he tried to take off before he secured the ball. 

Penalties:  They had 5 penalties for 60 yards and one was offsetting.  Bama had some big penalties in the game.  Two holding calls negated touchdowns.  One
resulted in a field goal and the other was the drive where Tua fumbled so they got no points off of this.  Davis had a unsportsmanlike conduct and was lucky he wasn’t thrown out of the game. 

Finally, this game was a big improvement for the defense.  Again, I think the offense could have played better.  I think there was at least 15 points left on the field.  One final thing does anyone else seem to think it strange seeing Butch Jones on the sideline.

Feel free to comment:

17and Counting

Thanks hscoach. I don't have TV so in listening to Eli it sounded as if they got away from the run when we needed sure yardage.
Also the penalties seem to be killing us. Why is a Saban coached team not more discipline that this? Especially what Raekwon did Eli had a heart attack just about it. RTR!

One penalty was a hustling penalty when the horse collar was called.  The 2 holding call, which really cost Bama, could have been avoided with better technique.  Davis said it was retaliation for an earlier play.  I did see a couple of questionable blocks by the Missouri OL.  One was the clip where it looked like the OL went for the knee of the DL.  Another was after the play where an OL took a cheap shot on Williams.  Davis's was unacceptable, however there is a lot that goes on in those piles that we don't see. 

Another great analysis Coach. Thanks

Yeah, it was very obvious that Mizzou was playing dirty. I really think that is what set off R. Davis. It wasn't obvious on that play, but I think things built up to that. I know the league will look into Davis' punch throwing, but they need to also look at the Mizzou dirty antics.

Thanks, coach.  Hope we can put UT away early and get Tua's knee some rest.  The off week will be coming at a good time!  ROLL TIDE!!!

Everybody pray for our punter and Tua to heal.

Excellent analysis, coach.   :worship: :worship:

Will do Chechem. RTR!

BTW, I heard much complaining and confusion on line about Bama getting a holding penalty but still facing just 3rd and 8.  The announcers were confused also, it seemed.  It was because, by rule, holding ahead of the LOS is a spot foul.

Coach, maybe you could clarify it, and explain the circumstance.

Thanks, coach, for another great analysis. Mizzou did play dirty, no doubt. I’ve read that the one play where Smiths leg twisted on purpose was a technique taught. I was never taught that but never played in college, either. Is this taught? Almost looks like a Jiu Jitsu move.

I thought that was the one they declined the penalty on they were complaining about.

I never coached with people who coached that way, but that isn't to say it isn't done.  Some coaches, especially desperate coaches, teach various techniques.

https://imgur.com/AZxgjCx

mizzou's #71 gave Bama's #30 a right haymaker as you can see in the video

Bama's #99 returned with a couple of gut shots to #71

don't make it right but I figure the Bama Boys were tired of their dirty play

 :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

Thanks HS.  I saw Butch Jones on the sideline too and thought it really strange.  I wonder if he will be on the sideline again this weekend in Knoxville.  I would guess that he probably will since Lane Kiffen was on the sideline when we went up there.

Well what good can Butch Jones do for us. He is not a coach right? RTR!

He was hired as an analyst on Saban's staff. 
I'm sure the players call him "coach".

I expect him to be there, since he has every game.

Bama has scored on each opening drive this year.  The longest was 8 plays and the shortest was 1.  They are averaging 3.857 plays on opening drives.

I finally watched the tape of the game.
OMG, Mizzou is the dirtiest team we've faced in my memory.
Cale Garrett (#47) was the worst, but there were cheap shots taken by both their offense and defense all day.  Much of it was just late pushes or bumps of a player, but it was consistent and just dirty play.
BASTIDS!!

 >:(