Crimson Red Sports

                                                                                            WCU vs Bama

First, congrats to the Bama players and coaching staff on the victory. This was a good game to get healthy with some players.  It was also a great game to work on technique and assignment football.

OFFFENSE:  The offense put together 541 yards of total offense which included 310 passing and 231 rushing.  I only have Bama with 2 types of negative plays, which are 1 tackle for losses and a fumble which they lost in the endzone.  The tackles for loss came in the first half when the QB was under center and almost dropped the ball throwing off the timing of the running play. I only have Bama for 1 three and out which was aided by the snapped that was almost dropped by Jones.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have Bama with 10 pass plays and 4 running plays.  Bama got into the red zone 7 times and scored 5 touchdowns and kicked a field goal.  Three other touchdowns came from outside the red zone and the other came from an interception return.  Overall, the offense could do what they wanted against an undermanned team.

QB:   Mac was 10 for 12 for 275 yards.  The big thing is he made no real mistakes.  He did miss and the TE for what could have been a touchdown, and it would have been a tight throw, but could have been made.  He was a little off on a couple of throws, but that could be expected because of the start and him being a little pumped up.  Taulia was 2 for 3 for 35 yards and really wasn’t asked to do too much other than hand the ball off.  Tyson came in and got the last few snaps only to hand the ball off.

RB:  Harris had 66 yards on 14 carries along with 12 yards on 1 catch.  This breaks down to a little over 5 yards per touch.  I thought he ran hard and got what he could in a couple of tough runs.  Bama also used 5 other running backs in this game.  Overall, the running backs averaged 5.8 yards per carry.  The one that also was impressive was K Robinson who had 8 carries for 92 yards.  I know it was late in the game, but this guy has a burst.

Rec: The receivers only combined for 12 catches, but they averaged over 25 yards per catch.  It was obvious, in the game, WCU couldn’t match the speed of the receivers. 

OL:  I thought they played well.  Again, as I said above, this was a great game to work on assignments and techniques.  They got a big push against an undersized DL.  They protected the QB in passing situations and gave him time to find the secondary receiver a couple of times. 

Def:  The defense gave up a total of 179 yards which included 112 passing yards and 67 rushing yards.  For negative plays, I have the defense with 3 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 4 interceptions and a fumble recovery.  I also credit the defense with 5 three and outs and could have been more if you add in the series that had turnovers.  For plays that covered 10+ yards, I have WCU with 5 passing plays and 2 running plays.  One of the running plays was when Bama allowed the QB to break contain and gain yards on the scramble.  WCU never got into the Bama red zone, but they did kick a field goal in the second half from outside the red zone.  Also, I have Bama only have 4 missed tackles for the game.

DL: The DL played a good game, especially with all the starting players on the sideline.  They should have had a good game because like I have mentioned above, they were playing an undermanned team.

LB: They played well.  This is also a game that could have been tough on LB’s because of the offensive scheme run by WCU.  They had to contend with, as many call it, eye candy and sometimes hard to decide where the ball is going.

DB: I thought they played pretty well, especially McKinney.  There really were not a lot of balls thrown down field.  Most of the completions were short and underneath.  The TE’s were the ones who made a few catches were isolated on LB, not the DB.  Plus, they had 4 interceptions, 2 by both Mckinney and Mayden. 

Special Teams:  The biggest thing about special teams was the return by Waddle that was wasted because of the fumble in the end zone.  All PAT’s and field goals were made.  WCU returned no kick offs.  Bama only punted once.     
Penalties:  Bama actually had a good day penalty wise since they only had 4 for 45 yards.  There was a facemask, a false start, a holding and a blindside block on a punt return.  They were able to over all of these penalties.

Finally, it was great to see Tua at the game.  Bama needs to get healthy with the DL and receivers for the AU game.  Jones won’t have to win the game by himself if he allows his playmakers a chance to do the job. 

Feel free to comment:

17 and Counting

Thanks again, Coach. You're right, this was a game to get us healthy. Barmore is the only player who seemed to have gotten banged up. Hopefully, it's only minor.

We did all the things we hoped we would do in this game. It was a good prep for Auburn.

The film analysts were pointing out this morning that Mac was slow getting the ball out.  Rather than leading receivers open, like Tua, he waited a second+ longer until the receiver was open and then passed the ball.  They thought this might pose a problem with Auburn.

Every college QB is slow getting it off compared to Tua.  :lol2:

Thanks Coach.  Always look forward to your take on the game.

Iron Bowl week!

Roll Tide!

Well this week means it all after a heart breken season. RTR!

Haven't seen that statement made about Bama in a while.  

Thanks for the write-up Coach.  Great job as usual...

 #+ #+ #+

I was at the game yesterday. We were all saying Mac was late with most of his passes. Tua threw the pass as the receiver was breaking open. Mac waits until they are open the same way Jalen Hurts did. The late pass even when completed gives the defense time to recovery and eliminates yards after the catch.

Auburn is strong up front and weak in the secondary. There will be opportunities but Mac needs to get the ball out quicker.

We only punted once and it was a 33 yd shank. Auburn's defensive will force some punts and we need to flip the field. Our defense is not what we are used to.

I hate to say it but it is truth. We are young but at this time of the year our defense youngsters should have picked up the defense and be playing out of their minds, but they are not. If we don't have some leaders pick up the pace against auburn we are in for a long day they have great WR's like us. RTR!

They have good wide receivers, but Gus should have spent more time recruiting offensive linemen.  With a healthy Barmore we might pressure Bo Nixs into a few mistakes.  Also, Their running game is weak this year.  I like our chances.

What the film analysts said is that Auburn defenders are better than Western Carolina defenders, and the late passes would give them opportunities to break up the pass or even intercept.  With Western Carolina, the effect was mostly loss of yak, but it might be different with the Barn.

Still, Bama is the better team, Tua or no Tua, and I'm hoping we put a whipping on them.

Me too CP. RTR!

Thanks coach.  Good notes!  Looking forward to your analysis of a win over Auburn next week!  ROLL TIDE and Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Beat Auburn!

FIFY  :D