Game notes: MSU vs Bama

[hscoach]

First, let me send congrats to the Bama players and coaches on the win.  There were some mistakes, but Bama came out on top.

Offense:   The offense put up 422 yards of offense.  The negative I have is they wasted field position at least twice and came up with no points.   The Bama offense had 5 negative plays which included 2 sacks, 2 tackle for losses, and a wide rec screen that was tackled for a loss.   They only had 3 three and outs which all occurred in the first half.  They actually left no points on the field if you don’t count starting position on their on 47 and the opponents 48.  I think this offensive coordinator utilizes the deep out and corner routes more than the last OC.  If you recall, this is something I ask for last year.  I do wonder, with the talented rec’s Bama has, why they don’t utilized more max protection sets on 2nd/3rd  and long plays.  Bama got into the red zone 4 times and scored 3 TD’s and a FG.  The other 2 TD’s came from outside the red zone. 

QB:  AJ had a pretty good game.  He should have had his first int of the year, but fortunately the DB dropped the ball.  The amazing stat I have is AJ was 8 for 11 on first down throws.  Nine of these 11 were play action plays and he connected on 7 of those nine.  He did a good job on the check down when needed.   He threw 2 great passes, the TD to Bell and the corner/deep out route to Christian Jones.   These balls were put where no one else had a chance to get the ball.  .  Seven different players had receptions in the game. 


RB:  They ran hard.  Most of the night there was not contact until they were at or past the LOS.  The picked up the blitz well and caught the ball out of the backfield.  If you noticed the running backs almost always finished the runs by falling forward and not being pushed back.  I will mention again, I like the way KD runs the ball.

REC:   What really impresses me here is the different rec’s that catch the ball.  It is also noticeable how often they catch the ball with their hands and not let the ball get into their body.  This is one reason there are few drops.  They also do a good job blocking on the running plays.   

OL:  I thought they had a very good game.  There were a couple of breakdowns, like CK not coming off the combo block with MW on the pass play where AJ was sacked.  However, most of the night the running backs did not have contact until they reached or crossed the LOS on running plays.  A great example was the first TD run by TJY, he went untouched from 11 yards out into the end zone.  Also, the MSU D was giving Bama’s OL many different looks and the OL was rarely beat.  This means they were communicating well and all on the same page.   I also want to put this note in here.  Did you notice when the backup OL went in and came off after their series?  While they were on the bench being coached up Barrett Jones was right there with them helping out. 

Defense:   The D actually looked confused at times early in the game.  I think this showed when they turned a couple of rec’s loose.  They only gave up 271 yards of total offense.  Thirty one of those yards came on one pass play (see above) and the 97 yard drive that came up empty.  They had 8 negative plays which included 4 tackle for losses, 1 sack, 1 int, 1 fumble recoveries and a blocked FG.  What doesn’t really show up is the QB hits/pressures.   I have Bama for 14 of these which are considered affecting the QB.  The D had 5 three and outs 4 of which were in the first half.  I am also going to say it looks more like Bama is playing a 4-2-5 more and more since you have 2 safeties and VS is in the game playing like a strong safety.  It looked again like a lot of the completions were under the LB’s.   The negative here were the missed tackles by the D. The positive is turnovers led to points.  They did come up big in the red zone early and kept MSU off the board.
   
DL:   They played very well.  A lot of the pressure was put on by these guys without a lot of blitzing.  I am not saying they didn’t blitz, but the DL did a good job without the blitz many times.

LB:   All three had a pretty good game.  It is amazing how Bama can rotate the LB; CJM, TD, and NJ into the game and be so effective.   I think #30 reminds me of Donte Hightower when he is in the down position.

DB:  They made some mistakes.  HCD took a bad angle on the pass when going for the int.  They didn’t adjust well on motion a couple of times.   They missed a couple of tackles.  There were a few times when there were wide open rec’s.  I will say RL is beginning to be a force when he delivers a blow.   
   
Penalties:  A few help Bama and a few hurt Bama.  The good thing is they were not hurt early in the game at crucial times. 

Special teams:  I am not sure why CF is asked to keep kicking right.  In my opinion, mentioned last week he kicks the ball better to his left.  The kick off cover team was good on 4 out of 7 kicks.  Christian Jones caused fumbles on two big returns and Bama got one of them and it let to points.   They can’t keep giving up these big returns.  Bama was also fortunate on the punt that hit the MSU player in the back.  This also led to points.

Finally:  Bama made some mental mistakes.  First, DM hits the punt return guy when he fair catches inside the 10.  This mistake moves the ball outside the 20.  Second, the secondary had wide open rec’s running around a few times.   Third, the rec’s, again, were not line up correctly and move to correct this, but the TE/HB was in motion which caused a penalty.  The points Bama gave up was against the backups.  Both the O and D got quality playing times during the fourth quarter. 

Watching on TV, I couldn’t believe the empty seats.  Also, I feel sorry for those backups playing and the crowd leaving early.  They put in a lot of hard work and deserve some attention.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 

[ricky023]

Hey, hscoach another great job. My question is, what are we going to do about our kick coverage especially on Kick offs. Oregon would eat us alive on kick returns the way the lanes open up. I just think somebody needs to figure out this problem and get it solved before playing someone like Oregon. JMHO. RTR!

[lstephen]

As always, thanks!   

[SUPERCOACH]

I agree about the kick coverage.  We have got to get that fixed.  We have problems with that every year.

[hscoach]

Hey, hscoach another great job. My question is, what are we going to do about our kick coverage especially on Kick offs. Oregon would eat us alive on kick returns the way the lanes open up. I just think somebody needs to figure out this problem and get it solved before playing someone like Oregon. JMHO. RTR!

Too me  it  seems like a different person  each week.  I thought HCD had a chance to make a play on one return.  The other problem at times, in my opinion, they are not getting off of blocks.

[#1Tidefan]

Great analysis Coach! As always...Thanks! 

[BAMAWV]

Thanks, HSC. About AJ getting "lucky" not to have been picked off. I say he was "unlucky" in that his intended receiver fell down or got his legs tangled.

[SeniorTSM]

HSC,
I dont know how mcuh you get to see other teams, but wanted to see if its just me or is everyone else noticing how much better Bama is?

I watch some teams like oregon, Very good on O, but again their D does not wrap up and they leave people wide open a lot. Sad part is they dont play very good teams.

K State is not a bad team but again the competion they play is just not good.

I would say ND is very similar to Bama but no where close to the execution on both sides of the ball.

When you watch Bama then watch another team, I get mad because i can see the other team is just not doing it right...lol

I know Bama is having some small flaws but I will say I have never seen a team play this well. I know it can all change quick qithout that focus, but Bama is doing some great things.

[hscoach]

HSC,
I dont know how mcuh you get to see other teams, but wanted to see if its just me or is everyone else noticing how much better Bama is?

I watch some teams like oregon, Very good on O, but again their D does not wrap up and they leave people wide open a lot. Sad part is they dont play very good teams.

K State is not a bad team but again the competion they play is just not good.

I would say ND is very similar to Bama but no where close to the execution on both sides of the ball.

When you watch Bama then watch another team, I get mad because i can see the other team is just not doing it right...lol

I know Bama is having some small flaws but I will say I have never seen a team play this well. I know it can all change quick qithout that focus, but Bama is doing some great things.

What I notice a lot of are complete defensive breakdowns by other teams.  Many just seem unprepared for what some teams are doing and have been doing all year.  Bama may have one or two a game, but I have seen DB's running into each other, I think this was the Baylor/West Virginia game.  Also, Bama/SEC just plays better assignment football.  I have not watchd KSU or ND so I can't really say about them.

[hscoach]

Thanks, HSC. About AJ getting "lucky" not to have been picked off. I say he was "unlucky" in that his intended receiver fell down or got his legs tangled.

The reason they got their legs tangled is the ball was underthrown an the rec had to so down.  The DB went and high pointed the ball and fortunatly dropped it.

[Elephantidae]

Watching on TV, I couldn’t believe the empty seats.  Also, I feel sorry for those backups playing and the crowd leaving early.  They put in a lot of hard work and deserve some attention.

 

I believe that the empty seats were because it felt much colder than anybody expected.  I think the forecast for game time was high 50's and down to low 50's by end of game.  I would guess that windchill was in the 30's by start of 2nd half.  I guess the arctic air mass/wind was cutting through some people's thin windbreakers and single layer sweaters.  I just came back from an Oregon golf trip where I played in 50* wet weather and kind of knew what to expect and I was still freezing by the 4th quarter (especially my feet).  I saw a lot of people with new hoodies (could see creases where they had been folded) but also saw people ill prepared for the cold wind.  A lot of girls in their homecoming outfits I guess didn't want them covered up by heavy coats or just plain got fooled by the cold.  By the time the game was well in hand BDS was emptying out pretty quickly.  It didn't have anything to do with backups but everything to do with the uncomfortable and unexpected weather.  I only get to a couple of games a year so I don't ever leave before the end but even I had to give my wife some relief and we left right after Bama's last TD.

[hscoach]

Watching on TV, I couldn’t believe the empty seats.  Also, I feel sorry for those backups playing and the crowd leaving early.  They put in a lot of hard work and deserve some attention.

 

I believe that the empty seats were because it felt much colder than anybody expected.  I think the forecast for game time was high 50's and down to low 50's by end of game.  I would guess that windchill was in the 30's by start of 2nd half.  I guess the arctic air mass/wind was cutting through some people's thin windbreakers and single layer sweaters.  I just came back from an Oregon golf trip where I played in 50* wet weather and kind of knew what to expect and I was still freezing by the 4th quarter (especially my feet).  I saw a lot of people with new hoodies (could see creases where they had been folded) but also saw people ill prepared for the cold wind.  A lot of girls in their homecoming outfits I guess didn't want them covered up by heavy coats or just plain got fooled by the cold.  By the time the game was well in hand BDS was emptying out pretty quickly.  It didn't have anything to do with backups but everything to do with the uncomfortable and unexpected weather.  I only get to a couple of games a year so I don't ever leave before the end but even I had to give my wife some relief and we left right after Bama's last TD.

Thanks for the info, I did not know that.

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