Crimson Red Sports

                                             MSU vs Bama

Congrats to the Bama coaches and players for the bounce back win.  There were bright spots on both sides of the ball, but there is still room for improvement.

OFFFENSE:  The offense never really sustained a drive all day.  What I mean here, is there was no real drive where they never just drove the ball down the field without the aid of Young having to scramble or a penalty.  Bama also wasted great field position at least 3 times, as they started drives on the MSU 45(punt), the 43(punt) of Bama, and the MSU 17(FG).  The offense put together 290 yards of total offense which included 29 rushing yards and 261 passing yards.  Third down efficiency was at 47 percent as they were 8 for 17.  The offense also scored only 6 points in the 2nd half.

Negative plays:  7 tackles for losses, 3 sack, 2 fumbles. 

3 and out: Bama had 3 three and out and at least one of them was on the great field position I mentioned above.

10+ plays:  12passing and 2 running plays. 

Red zone:  Bama had 4 trips into the red zone and scored 2 touchdowns and kicked 2 field goals.  Bama had one touchdown from outside the red zone and kicked a field goal from outside the red zone.

QB: Young completed 60% of his passes.  I could be wrong, but he didn’t seem to be throwing balls into windows he had done before.  He missed a pass early on a check down that probably would have extended the drive.

RB: It was tough going for the running backs.  Gibbs, the leading rusher, had 37 yards on 10 carries.  McClellan and Williams, both had 6 carries for 6 and 9 yards.

Rec:  Not counting RBs, 8 different receivers had receptions for the game.  I will say they did a better job, not great, on the scramble drill.  It seems on the scramble drill everyone wanted to go deep instead of someone coming back for the ball.  I did see some shut down their routes when they say Young scramble the other way.  I know it is different, but when we worked on scramble drill we told shallow routed to go deep and deeper routes to work back to the ball and open space in from of the QB. 

OL:  I know MSU was slanting and bringing people, but I didn’t really see the OL sustaining their blocks.  It seemed that the slants and stunts kept the OL from some combo blocks.  I will say they did a good job staying on or behind the LOS when Young scrambled.

Def: Bama gave up a total of 293 yards which included 231 passing and 62 rushing.  Early on the defensive line was not really getting a good push but it got better as the game progressed.  You have to say they played better, but in reality there was a huge drop off in competition.

Negative plays:  I have Bama for 2 tackles for losses and 4 sacks.

3 and outs:  5 three and outs and 1 four and out as MSU went for it on 4th down.

10+ plays:  9 passing and 1 running play. 

Red zone:  got into the red zone 2 times and turned the ball over on downs once and scored a touchdown the other time.  That is how the game ended.

DL:  They didn’t get pressure early but got better as the game went on.  I do understand Bama was playing with limited depth, but it seems, as they showed later, they can come of the ball harder.

LB:  They played well, I do notice, and I saw this last week, To’oto’o has taken the block on with the wrong shoulder at times.  I know this is going to happened from time to time, but I have noticed it a couple times the last weeks. LB play was limited as Bama played 6 defensive backs.

DB: They had a better game, but also, as I said they were not playing the talent they were the week before.  Also, it looked like they played the wide splits by receivers a little different.  I am going to give my opinion here, but it seemed they made plays today, that they have been called pass interference on in the past.  Ricks looked good and you have to wonder why he hasn’t gotten a shot earlier.  A couple of thoughts, one he started practicing like he was supposed to, maybe he felt entitled, or two, the coverages finally started to click for him.   

Special teams: The thing that stood out to me was the kickoffs and coverage.  They didn’t seem to be as high or as deep as before.  Second, the returns were pretty good at times against Bama.

Penalties: This was a great improvement.  Bama had 3 penalties and 2 were on the last drive which were pass interference calls which help keep drives alive and allowed MSU to score.

Finally, Bama did a lot of good things in this game, but it was far from being a complete game, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Feel free to comment:

18 and Counting

Thanks for the work hscoach. Until we get back to the old days of imposing our WILL on every play we will not be going to the NCG. We have got to get smarter and stronger, our O-line and D-line have got to play better. RTR!

Coach: "I am going to give my opinion here, but it seemed they made plays today, that they have been called pass interference on in the past."

I agree.  Subjective.

Also, it's hard to understand why we return kickoffs.  So often kick returns get penalties, and we end up inside our 10.  Same with our opposition, and I saw it in NFL games yesterday.  Seems that we'd be better off just taking the 25 every time, especially if it's kicked to our 10 or deeper.   :dunno:

Thanks coach.  We improved, especially in the penalty area.  Hopefully the by week will give us a chance to heal some injuries and get some more improvement on the basics.  Good to see Ricks play so well.  ROLL TIDE!!!

And CONGRATULATIONS to the SEC regular season champions Women's Soccer team.  Tournament starts this week in Pensacola.  ROLL TIDE!!!

You know what I had never thought about this but you seem to be right. The getting of the ball at the 25 yard line is better than inside the ten cause a player can not see the number on the other team unless it is in the back. RTR!

Thanks Coach. Another spot-on assessment. It almost seemed like we sleep-walked through that game, moreso in the second half. Maybe because the team was banged up?