I think they have to throw the ball.  AJ will have to take the small window.  Also, he must be on target.  The O line has got to open holes for TR and the other backs.  Mistake must be kept to a minimum.   On D they will have to play great assignment football and be ready for anything, fake punt, field goal and going for it on fourth.  The good thing is LSU has not had a lot of on field adversity.   Put them in passing situations and make them throw the ball to beat you.

You can be sure that celebration lasted about 5 minutes and then: LSU on my mind.

As CNS and others say Bama's own worst enemy is themselves.  I do think the emotion of coming off some game, like UF, tends to be a part of the problem.  Also, it doesn't matter what the players are told, they still hear the LSU talk.

What I call a slam release is when the TE sells the block first.  He bangs the guy over him or a little inside, then he releases on the route.

I also like the deep crossing routes, especially off of playaction.  I really don't think the D played much more than base most of the night.   Thank for the CF reference, I forgot to include he did kick the ball better.  Even his field goal was better than his last attempt.

You may be right about making something out of nothing, but  thought he had rec open a couple of time and held the ball.  BS and EL saved him by adjusting his route.  Remember the throw to DH when it was knocked down.  I thought MM was open to the outside. 

Again, first let me say congrats to the players and coaches on the victory.  I will say they better come out harder/better against LSU or they will find themselves in a hole where they may not be able to dig out.   I think UT outplayed Bama in the first half both offensively and defensively.  The team better be more focused in the next game.  A side note, I had just written down team focus for a reminder when the announce stated it looks like the team in white is the more focused team.

Offense:  The offense was not sharp in the first half.  It was not great in the 2nd half but the D help control the game.   
1.   AJ was not seeing the field well in the 1st half.  He did make some of his best deep throws of the year, mainly because they were complete. 
2.   Bama changed up the screen and now gives teams more to prepare for.
3.   In the first half Bama ran the ball to the right most of the half.  I have only 2 rushes to the left.  It seems if one of your starters is out on the right side the left would be the strongest.  Maybe that is where UT’s orange eater was.
4.   Was TR healthy?  He didn’t get as many touches as you would think. 
5.   The OL was not getting/sustaining their blocks in the first half, some were even looking around.
6.   In the first half Bama had 157 yards of offense and 91 came on two plays, the completions to Maze and Hanks.  I know you can add, but this leaves 66 yards the rest of the half.  They ended with 442 yard which mean they had 285 in the second half.
7.   The Bama rec’s are catching the ball with their hands.  What I mean here they are not letting the ball get into their bodies where drops occur.  The only real drop I know was the first throw from PS to the tight end.
8.   Bama faced 8/9 in the box a lot with the 2 tight set.
9.   I would like to see the RB create a better outlet path for the QB on the check down for better angle to throw the ball.
10.   I really don’t understand the route combo on the boot to the left where, BS adjusted his route and AJ got a completion.  I saw two deep rec’s toward the middle of the field and no one working to the outside.  It seems you would have a deep outside rec. 
   

QB:   AJ did not have a good game in my opinion.  I don’t think he saw the field very well.  Yes he was 17/26 but his rec’s made catches that were not on target, Hanks alone made 3 diving catches.  One of the best throws he made was the out to Maze.  The deep balls were better.  I wonder if the first throw to Maze was further outside would he have scored.  The throw took him a little inside to the defender.  The defender probably had the angle anyway.  The deep throw for the TD was probably his best deep ball.  However, he did miss an intermediate throw to the TE when he was open.  AJ must also understand when he opens/looks one way the inside LB is going to shade his drop that way.  PS came, with the backup OL, and did a good job.  He got to throw the ball and should have been 2/2.  The throw to Maze was a good one.

RB:  They ran hard without a lot of opening, especially in the first half.  I don’t know if TR is banged up, but I thought he would have gotten more carries.  EL and JF ran hard.  They all did a good job catching the ball and pass blocking.  EL made a good route adjustment to help AJ on the scramble. 

REC:  The rec’s caught the ball.  As I said DH made three diving catches.  If he had been able to make the catch on the run, there is no telling how many yards he would have had.   Again, different rec’s caught the ball. 

OL:  The OL, in my opinion, did not play well in the first half.  One play I saw BJ looking back at the running back and blocking no one.  They did not get to the second level and some paths were not good.  On the holding call by WV, it looked like he went to flat and allowed the LB to come thru, then he reached back and got the holding call.  DJF got beat on a third down run, which gave Bama no chance to make the play.  They also, gave up the first sack in I don’t know how long.  This could have been AJ’s fault, because I said earlier, I don’t think he was seeing the field well.  There did a lot better job in the second half.  If you watch the game again, notice the block by WV on the TD run by TR on third down.  He did a great job crossing over and turning the guy out and getting his butt to the hole.

Defense:  Like the offense, the defense was not focused in the first half.  UT had 115 yards in the first half and ended up with 163 for the game.  This equates to 48 yards in the 2nd half.  Plus the two turn over came in the second half.  They cannot afford, like the offense, to play this way against LSU. 
1.   The opponents again scored first in the game.
2.   The D made a big stop on the first drive after the int and UT having good field position.
3.   There were 2 negative plays in the first half and four negative plays in the 2nd half.  Two of the negative plays were the interception and the fumble recovery. 
4.   The interception led to 7 points. 
5.   The defense had one 3 and out in the first half and a 4 and out.  In the second half they had two 3 and outs one 4 and out and 2 one and outs.  I think you can see the difference in play in the second half. 
6.   Again the TE slammed release and caught a ball between the line backers. 
7.   UT had a first and  20 and ended up getting a first down.  They also had another 5 yard penalty on the same series, so they really had to go about 25 yards. 
8.   When Upshaw caused the fumble if the Bama player had fallen on it instead of thinking about picking it up and returning it, Bama would have had another turnover.
9.   One of the biggest plays of the game was the 4th down stop that led to Bama’s second TD.  In essence you could say the D was responsible for 14 points.
10.   I thought I saw a couple of open rec’s that the UT QB did not see, maybe because of pressure. 


DL:  They were not flashy, just did their job.  Only one player really stood out here.  One of the plays that stand out was when Upshaw caused the fumble.  His other play was when they flared the back out and he turns the RB inside where the help is.  Finally, they got outside on him, but I think he was held and it looks like he was complaining to the official about it.

LB:   Some of the biggest hits came from DH.  I am surprised Simms got up after the one hit.  NJ again had a solid game.  I really don’t remember JH doing much as others.  DH interception set up a TD for Bama and it looked like he was going to score.  I love to see the D turn into blockers when they intercept the ball.

DB:  Where was MB?  He is usually making plays all night.  He did drop a potential interception which would have kept UT off the board.  Maybe it was the game plan.  Again, I will complain about no jam on rec and allowing them to get inside.  However, it looked like they may have been disguising a zone and the other DB did not get underneath the throw. 

Penalties: The holding call I spoke of earlier help stop a potential big drive. 
 
Special teams:   First, the fake punt should not have been successful as it looks as if Bama was in punt safe.   The kick off cover team looked like its old self once in the game.  The punt cover team did not do a great job at times especially since it looked like the ball hung long enough to get coverage. 

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll

There were a few other "winners" picked out the year MI won.

On ESPN where they show the line up of game they have a little side note.  Bama vs Tenn side note 50.1% of TR yards have come after contact.

In society today there are different standards than when a lot of us grew up.  We learned by tough love.  I hate to say it, but these days are not the same.   First, the young man made a huge mistake.  He does need to be punished.  Also, I would look at his "record" since he has been there.  Has he been a problem, etc.  Many of you know that in college many of these guys think they are invincible.  I am disappointed about this for the Bama program.  I am not against giving him a second chance with a very short leash.  I will support the decision CNS makes because I believe it will be what is best for the team.

I think one of the main points people are missing here is the scholarship limits Saban has to work under.   I agree Coach Bryant was one of the greatest, if not the greatest,  coaches of all times.  However, he was able to get the best players and give scholarship to other just so other teams could not sign them.  This also shows Coach Bryants impact on the young men knowing they were coming to a team where competition would be extremely hard to get playing time.  I think the same can be said for Saban's teams.

A former player told me it is extremely hard to fail a drug test because they are given a calendar of the dates the test are done.  I don't know if this is actually true.

I really don't like list like this for these reasons:
1. Trent doesn't rush like this without a good push by the OL.  I know he does break tackle and ankles, but look at the early games when they were playing lesser opponents.
2. AJ can't complete passes without protection.
3.  The LB's don't make plays if the DL doesn't keep the OL off the LBs.
4. The pass D is a lot less effective if they don't get help from the DL pressuring the QB.
I guess, I am more of a team first guy.

What if they just played the part "LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR' over and over when the D took the field.