Crimson Red Sports

                                                                            Tenn vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama coaches and players on a great victory.  This was a game where UT came off a big victory and had high expectations. The defense set the tone early and help the Bama offense put points on the board.

OFFFENSE:   Bama put together 545 yards of total offense, which included 327 yards passing and 218 rushing.  Most passing yards, 256, came in the first half while most rushing yards, 123 came in the 2nd half.  This is to be expected with the big lead and Bama wanting the clock to run.  Bama could have put more points on the board if they had wanted too.  As far as negative plays, Bama had 4 tackles for losses and 1 interception off a tipped ball which was returned for a touchdown.  The first negative play didn’t come until 1:50 left in the 3rd quarter.  Bama was credited with 2 three and outs which were back to back and happened in the first half.  This was the first time, according to the announcers, that Tua had consecutive 3 and outs in a game.  Looking at the positives, Bama had 14 pass plays that covered 10+ yards and they had 9 running plays that covered 10+ yards.  Only one of these was a scramble by Hurts which covered 21 yards where he scored.  Bama reached the red zone 7 times and scored 6 touchdowns.  The other trip the ball was turned over on downs as Bama was trying not to run up the score.  Bama also scored 2 times from outside the red zone.

QB:   Tua played well and made some nice throws.  He did a very good job of finding receivers when he had to escape pressure.  There were a few balls that were thrown high and I wonder if this has something to do with the knee or if the wind effected a couple of throws.  He did throw one up for grabs which fortunately wasn’t intercepted.  He also threw what I call a hospital ball where Waddle took a big hit but held on to the ball.  There was also a drop on a catchable ball.  Tua also missed Juedy in the endzone for what would have been a touchdown, but they scored anyway.   Jalen played well in the short time he was in.  I thought he would have gotten in a little sooner.  He did have a pick that was returned for a TD, however, it was tipped and just happened to fall right into the hands of the DL that scored.  His other passes were on target and he checked down to find one receiver.

RB:  The running back divided the carries up and gained 190 yards on 27 carries which breaks down to over 7 yards a carry.  I do wonder if D Harris isn’t a little banged up since he only carried the ball 3 times.  N Harris had a big highlight moment when he hurdled a defensive player on a 14-yard gain.  They did a good job pass blocking and picked up the blitz on more than 1 occasion. 

Rec:  Not counting RB’s, 5 different receivers had catches. They were divided up pretty well among 4 of them as 2 had 5 catches, Smith and Jeudy, while Waddle had 4 and Ruggs had 3.  Each one of these guys had a touchdown reception.  I going to say right here the routes this year looked better than in the past.  Anyone on the route has a chance to be thrown the ball.

OL:  I thought they played one of their better games.  As, I state above the first tackle for loss wasn’t until there was 1:50 left in the 3rd quarter.  They gave up no sacks even though there was a little pressure, I think it came more from coverage.  This is a game where the OL got a push on the goal line and Bama scored 3 touchdowns, 4 if you count the rushing touchdown by Jalen.  This is a game where the OL got to the 2nd level more than once.  The worse I saw from them was on 1 running play, Pierschbacher’s man ran under the block.  Instead of continuing on he looked back and stopped.  He should have continued looking for the next UT player.  The other was on the screen where the UT player beat the block.  I thought if the OL had continued instead of lunging he could have made a block and it would have been a big gain on the screen.

Def:  The defense played well especially in the beginning of the game.  They started out with 3 straight 3 and outs and would have been 4 if not for an offsides penalty.  The defense gave up a total of 258 total yards which included 227 yards passing and 31 rushing.   Bama only gave up a total of 87 yards in the second half.  They only gave up 6 yards in the 1st quarter.  I have Bama credited for four 3 and outs one which was because of a fumble.  They also had a 1 and out as there was a safety in the begging of the 2nd half.  As far as negative plays, I have Bama credited with 10 tackles for losses, 3 sacks (all in the first half), and they caused 3 fumbles one that was recovered and set the offense up in the red zone which led to a touchdown.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, UT had 7 passing plays and 1 running play.  The running play didn’t happen until the 2nd half.  UT got into the red zone twice and scored 2 touchdowns, they did have a chance for a field goal from outside the red-zone but they missed the field goal.    One thing that stands out to me, is that it seems Bama is playing better assignment football.

DL:  I thought the DL played a very good game.  It seemed that Williams or Buggs were making plays all day.  I also thought Ray played well replacing Davis.

LB:  They played well, but the front line really made plays before they got to their level many times.

DB: The DB’s played better than it looked.  There were a couple of balls that were contested but caught by the offense.  The UT QB made a couple of good throws where their receiver was the only one who had a chance for the ball. 

Special Teams:  Kick-off returns were good when they returned except for one which could have been a disaster.  Bama returners let the ball hit the ground and made a good play to get to it and make 3 yards.   The first big return help give Bama good field position for their touchdown drive.  It seemed like the wind had an effect on the balls that were kicked.  Bama was surprised by the onside kick, but fortunately the UT player touched it before it went 10 yards.  Another positive was Bama averaged about 41 yards on 2 punts.

Penalties:  Bama had 5 penalties for 36 yards.  Of the ones that were enforced, Bama had 2 on special teams, offsides and block in the back.  There were 2 holding calls, one of offense and one on defense.  There was 1 more false start on offense, which Bama overcame.  Most of the penalties were overcome or didn’t really hurt Bama.

Finally, the bye week came at a very good time.  It will be good for Bama to get their legs under them and allow some of the injuries to heal.  This also gives Bama time to improve even more on their assignments.  Also, just like LSU they have 2 weeks to prepare. 

Feel free to comment:

17and Counting

Well done hscoach. Thanks for a great report. I notice what time you could see Jalen he sure looked disappointed on the sidelines. RTR!

I thought the same thing.

Thanks coach. 

I've had some real concerns with our run defense early in the season - they seemed a bit soft in the middle.  It looks to me like our run defense has improved weekly and I'm beginning to feel really good about our chances to stop LSU's running game.  I don't think their quarterback can beat us with his arm.  What are your thoughts concerning improvement with Bama's front 7 this season.

My concern is our passing defense. Our DB's can't cover a good strong guy at all. One man yesterday had almost all the catches and takes the ball away for our DB's. RTR!

I agree with you.  I think, especially the last 2 weeks, Bama's front 7 has played better football.  They have cleaned up their assignments and missed less tackles.  They are not perfect by any means but they are making a lot fewer mistakes.  I also, think the communication has been better, there doesn't seem to be as much confusion with the calls and lining up.  As far as LSU QB, again I agree with you.  I was watching the LSU/MSU game last night and he really didn't impress me.  He was 16/29 and had 129 yards or something close to that.  I would expect the passing game to be to get rid of the ball quickly against Bama.

Bemember the OM game, they covered the big guys pretty well.  A lot has to do with the QB being able to get the ball to them.  A good pass rush will help.

Thanks Coach. You're on the money as always.

Stopping the run game has improved every week. It makes the other team's QB have to beat you with his arm. Kudos to UT's backup QB, Chryst. He did a great job. Even though, they made a few big pass plays on us, our DBs missed far fewer assignments than previous weeks, from what I could see.

I certainly agree with RE, I don't see Burrow beating us with his arm, and if we stuff the run against LSU like we did yesterday, we could win going away.

But we all know how fired up the crowd gets at Red Stick, and LSU will play inspired football, at least for a while.

Your thoughts, Coach?

It will be, by far, the toughest challenge for Bama especially being at LSU.  I don't think their QB can beat Bama by throwing the ball.  LSU averaged  8 yards a reception last night vs MSU.  Bama may have to stay more patient this game and settle for drives instead of quick scores.  Hopefully the our QB will take what is given and not try to force the action.

Thanks coach.  Spot on.  Looking forward to the bye week and our guys having time to heal!  I was really surprised to hear that 34 didn't play for disciplinary reasons.  I hadn't heard that he had any of those kind of issues.  On to LSU and ROLL TIDE!!!

Except in the first half while Devon White is out, Right?  :lol2:

They do need to take advantage of that.

I look forward to reading your reports each week. Another spot on analysis.

What are your thoughts on Deonta Brown #65 starting at left guard instead of Cotton? How do you think Brown did? Your guess on who starts the LSU game?

I thought he as well as others played well yesterday on the OL.  I'm not sure but didn't Cotton have and ankle injury a week or two ago.  The good thing is that it is a good problem to have with 2 guys playing well at the same spot.

Excellent analysis, coach.  Thanks.   :worship:

Someone mentioned that Jalen's tipped pass (returned for a TD) resulted from his lack of good footwork and throwing off his back foot.  Please comment on Jalen's footwork, and what he might do to improve it.

Thanks much.

I am not Coach but I did read where CNS said it was not Jalen's fault. It was a breakdown in protection.

That was one he threw off his back foot because of early pressure. I think his footwork has improved this year, however at times he reverts back.  The other two passes which he completed were on target and he checked down on one of them.

Thanks, coach.  I agree that he is much improved this year; didn't see the checkdown.
Just hope his surgery was successful and he's able to play against LSU.

I hope he is too.  I think if he is unable to go it completely take the QB running game away.  I don't think the coaches would want Tua running the ball with a knee that is less than 100%.

Wildcat to Jacobs/Harris/Harris/Robinson?

Too me that allows LSU to load the box because there is not passing threat.  I would rather use Tua and tell him not to run unless absolutely necessary.  I would like to see a two back set with Jacobs and whoever.  You can run either one, run a double screen, max protect for passing, or motion Jacobs out and isolate him on a LB or SS.

I like it, and we indeed may need more protection against LSU.
Wonder why we haven't run more screens this year!

The one they had set up was just a bit off with the blocking the other day.  I think they need to be a better screen team.  They are also using the WR screen/quick throws to do some of the things screens do.

The set I mentioned above is what I really thought Jalen would have been good at.  He could even throw the ball sort of like they did the game before.

Yeah, agree.
The WR screens are a standard, but I meant I'm surprised we haven't been better at more traditional screens, like middle screens.  We should have some good ones with our RBs that catch well (Jacobs especially) and TEs (especially Irv Smith).

Maybe we can burn LSU with these, if their rush/blitz becomes an issue.

I like the idea of the TE screen with Smith, like Arkansas ran.  With the weapons Bama has, I think the screen should be a bigger part of the offensive package, especially with teams that like to run man coverage.

I think against lsu we need north and south type of work. All the razzle dazzle stuff ain't gonna do what we want. Look what happen to malzahn and the kittens. RTR!

This isn't the razzle dazzle stuff of Gus, it is taking advantage of matchups and using players to your advantage of what the defense likes to do.  You really wouldn't notice that much of a change in the offense.

 :clap: :clap: Thanks hscoach, cause I am just nervous of that LB from lsu White, cause he is good. My idea would be run right at him with some type of double team. RTR!

I think you are right, when Bama runs the ball it is probably better to run right at them.

I just now got the chance to read your comments.  I was only able to watch the 1st half so that cleared up some of the events of the second half.  Thanks for your work.  I would love to see both qb's in the game again against the Corndogs.  Wouldn't it be awesome for both qb's to throw a TD pass to the other qb?

Preacher, the good news is, he'll only be in for half a game.

And it will be 49 to nothing before he ever steps on the field.  :lol2:

I think when you have both Tua and Jalen in the game at the same time it presents problems for the defense. 

Coach, are you and Brian going to the game?

Not unless I win the lottery. 

If you win this lottery you can take us all (and pay off the REC).   :lol2:

That is true.  The game, golf, and all will be on me if I win the lottery.

I could use some new clubs.
And a new back for Preacher?

Keep your fingers crossed.

You could also pay off the SEC.  Oh, and I could use another chainsaw...

 ;)

Shoot that new back sounds like a winner. RTR!

All this lottery talk, I guess I better go buy a ticket or two. I haven't bought one in years. If I win, I'll buy "Walk-on's" restaurant by Tiger stadium and feed you guys.  :P

No ty on the feed at Tiger stadium. OOOPpppsssss I see the winner was everywhere. Shoot 2 didn't win. I was hoping. RTR!

It's a rainy day in Tx, so I decided to watch the game again.  S Carter played a good game and I should have given him more credit.

I heard his name a lot over the loud speaker.