Game notes SM vs Bama

[hscoach]

First:   Congrats to Bama for the win.  Bama won, but in my opinion played with little emotion especially in the first half.

Offense:   This was another game where Bama was playing an undermanned team.  The good part is many Bama players got some good game experience.  Bama had 11 runs of over 10 yards while they had 10 pass plays of over 10 yards.  Remember when the ball is thrown behind the QB, it is a running play.  Also those little pitches in front are considered passing plays.   They had 4 tackles for losses and one sack.  I think CLK called his third straight good game, but I also think they had a specific agenda on what they wanted to work on during the game.  If you noticed there were no hitch/wide rec screens this game.  I even predicted them when watching the game looking at the defense’s alignment.  They had TD drives of 70, 80, 38, 75, 68, 99, and 47 yards.  One 59 yard drive ended in a field goal.  They got into the red zone 7 times and had 6 TD’s and a field goal.  One TD came from outside the red zone.  The offense did waste great field position, the 50, and had a 3 and out.  The offense scored 21 points in the first half and 31 the second.  They had 2 three and outs and missed a big ball for a TD on one of those.  Bama did throw the ball downfield more and introduced the heavy package.  I believe it was D Jackson, 6’7” 320 pounds and he hit the hole hard.  I think the offense got a little slow, but the second half seemed to be smoother.


QB:  I thought both played well.  The both missed a deep ball.  BS’s ball was underthrown while JC was overthrown.  They did make some good strong throws.  It looks like the decision making, especially by Sims compared to last year and the spring game, has improved drastically.  The fade route even though not perfect, was put in a position where only the rec could make a play.  A better ball to AC on the reviewed play and he probably scores.  I will also say I thought JC got in for the TD, but Bama went hurry up and didn’t get a review.

RB:   I don’t have to tell you this, because you know.  Bama is loaded at RB.  The five used yesterday averaged 7.06 yards per carry.  I don’t think Bama has had this much talent in the backfield even when they ran the wishbone.  They pass block well and can catch the ball.  I want to mention JF here.  I think he has no fully recovered from the knee injury.  He seems to be playing with more confidence. 

REC:  AC again was the main target, but CJ also caught 4 balls.  The big point here is CJ did not have a drop this game.   

OL:   Since the O put up the 3rd straight game of over 500 yards you can say they did a pretty good job.  I am not sure they were focused early because of a penalty and missed assignment getting off the ball.  There were a couple of 3rd and shorts that Bama did not make because of the OL.

Defense:  The defense gave up 263 yards. They had 4 tackles for a loss and 1 sack. There were 5 three and outs, but his is kind of skewed.   They had one three and out, but the punt hit the Bama player and SM got the football back and went 3 and out again, but kicked a field goal.  A couple of the 3 and outs were aided by drops on 3rd down.  They also had 1 four and out.  Even though they didn’t have but 1 sack, they affected the QB and many times done with a rush of 4.  They did give up 8 pass plays of 10+ yards and 1 run of 10+ yards.  A couple of the pass plays were just good catches.  At this point I think Bama only has 1 take away for the first 3 games.  Something people haven’t notice is they have not given up a TD this year.  The TD was scored on special teams.    There was a few missed tackles, and they did look confused a couple of times.  This being said they also rotated many players and many got good game experience.  I would love to see Dickson on one end and Anderson on the other.   This could be their rabbit package.  You can add Allen and Evans here too.

DL:    They did a better job of getting pressure with 4 players.  They seem to be staying in their lanes better and only lost contain a couple of times yesterday.
 
LB:  I thought TD played well.  He has to play both pass and run.  He did look frustrated a couple of times yesterday when getting and relaying calls.  He came up and made some big hits on underneath pass plays. 

DB:   I can’t figure out why they are not making plays.  Many times they are in pretty good position, but don’t make the play.  The rec’s must be doing a good job of hiding when the ball is in the air and coming to them.  Maybe the other defenders are not communicating the ball is in the air.  I saw this look last year, but not as much this year with LC lining up in the LB position. 

Penalties:  There were only 3 penalties on Bama.  One was big since it was the targeting call.  I am not sure I agree with the call because of what the rec does.  The other two were a bad formation and a false start. 

Special teams:   The kicking game has been strong.  I really like the way the ball comes of the foot of AG on FG/PATs.  It gets up in a hurry and has distance.  Most of the kickoffs have good height and depth.  It gives time to cover.  A couple of the late kickoffs were from the backup kicker.

Finally:  I think Bama looked to this game as improving and working on specific things.  There seemed to be a lack of emotion and looked like a practice early.  I think Bama will show more pressure looks on defense with the upcoming games.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

[carl childers]

Thanks coach. It seemed CLK called a different package of plays yesterday. Do you think it was because of what USM was giving them or to give future opponents more looks?

[hscoach]

Thanks coach. It seemed CLK called a different package of plays yesterday. Do you think it was because of what USM was giving them or to give future opponents more looks?

I wonder if they wanted to work on the OL blocking for running plays.  They were several times I expected to see the hitch/wide rec screen and they ran something else.  It is hard to tell what their thinking is, especially with these last 2 opponents, since they could do basically what they wanted to do.

[SUPERCOACH]

Good observations, as always. 

I think we have given up 1 TD against the defense.  WV threw a TD pass against Sylve, but that is the only one that I can remember.

[hscoach]

Good observations, as always. 

I think we have given up 1 TD against the defense.  WV threw a TD pass against Sylve, but that is the only one that I can remember.

You are correct, I forgot about that one.

[bama87]

Good stuff Coach. I think you are right there was a specific plan and the offense stuck to it. It did feel like a glorified scrimmage. I think we had played very plain and things open up this week.

[2Stater]

Another great observation, Coach. I was one of the biggest skeptics of Kiffin. Not any longer. He is making the most of the offense, with the exception of utilizing the TE's. The TD to Vogler, however, was a big surprise. I think we'll see more activity with the TE's as we get into SEC play, particularly with OJ.

I just can't figure out what is going on with the DB's. As you mentioned, they are not turning around trying to locate the ball. Maybe the receivers are disguising when the ball is getting there, but this has been going on for a while now, and with SEC play coming up next week, the DB's must do a better job of picking those up.

[KoKoPuf]

Good job, Coach. Always look forward to,your write up.

[McBaman]

Thanks for the write-up coach.  Your insights and way of looking at the game are always great.

I'm puzzled like many others about the DBs. Consider: These guys are coached by Kirby and CNS, and you can be sure that in practice they get an earful when they show bad technique.  Yet in games the technique frequently sucks especially on long passes.  They are in good position but don't know where the
ball is.

I'm also puzzled about why there are still so many communication issues on both O and D.  Surely they work on this in practice.  What gives???

Finally, I like a lot of how the O is looking.  Just feels less predictable and thus harder to defend than in the past.  And gotta believe there is still more to come.

[SUPERCOACH]

I think the DBs are taught to not turn and look for the ball in man coverage, but to instead stay in the receiver's hip pocket and watch for when he starts to make a play on the ball.  Then be ready to rake through his arms and knock the ball away.

[hscoach]

I think the DBs are taught to not turn and look for the ball in man coverage, but to instead stay in the receiver's hip pocket and watch for when he starts to make a play on the ball.  Then be ready to rake through his arms and knock the ball away.

You are  right they don't look for the ball when in man coverage.  Usually the rec eyes get big and their arms start to come up.  Then you know to make a play on the ball.  I think they can do a better job attacking/pulling the arm of the rec.   There is usually a free DB who yells ball when the ball is on the way.  As far as zone, you have to read the routes and break on the ball.  There was almost one int yesterday when that happened.  The DB just missed the ball and it was completed, but brought back because of a face mask penalty against the OL.  I will say there have been some good catches and balls thrown where only the rec can get the ball. 

[SUPERCOACH]

I think the DBs are taught to not turn and look for the ball in man coverage, but to instead stay in the receiver's hip pocket and watch for when he starts to make a play on the ball.  Then be ready to rake through his arms and knock the ball away.

You are  right they don't look for the ball when in man coverage.  Usually the rec eyes get big and their arms start to come up.  Then you know to make a play on the ball.  I think they can do a better job attacking/pulling the arm of the rec.   There is usually a free DB who yells ball when the ball is on the way.  As far as zone, you have to read the routes and break on the ball.  There was almost one int yesterday when that happened.  The DB just missed the ball and it was completed, but brought back because of a face mask penalty against the OL.  I will say there have been some good catches and balls thrown where only the rec can get the ball. 

Yeah, that is what I thought.  On that one TD that Sylve gave up that everyone was upset about, he was in the right position and playing the proper technique.  He just wasn't able to knock the ball out at the end.  It was a perfect throw and a great play on the ball by the receiver.

[hscoach]

I think the DBs are taught to not turn and look for the ball in man coverage, but to instead stay in the receiver's hip pocket and watch for when he starts to make a play on the ball.  Then be ready to rake through his arms and knock the ball away.

You are  right they don't look for the ball when in man coverage.  Usually the rec eyes get big and their arms start to come up.  Then you know to make a play on the ball.  I think they can do a better job attacking/pulling the arm of the rec.   There is usually a free DB who yells ball when the ball is on the way.  As far as zone, you have to read the routes and break on the ball.  There was almost one int yesterday when that happened.  The DB just missed the ball and it was completed, but brought back because of a face mask penalty against the OL.  I will say there have been some good catches and balls thrown where only the rec can get the ball. 

Yeah, that is what I thought.  On that one TD that Sylve gave up that everyone was upset about, he was in the right position and playing the proper technique.  He just wasn't able to knock the ball out at the end.  It was a perfect throw and a great play on the ball by the receiver.

On those taller recs they can't go for the ball. They have to get that near arm and pull it away from the ball.

[Peewee from Grand Bay]

First:   Congrats to Bama for the win.  Bama won, but in my opinion played with little emotion especially in the first half.

Offense:   This was another game where Bama was playing an undermanned team.  The good part is many Bama players got some good game experience.  Bama had 11 runs of over 10 yards while they had 10 pass plays of over 10 yards.  Remember when the ball is thrown behind the QB, it is a running play.  Also those little pitches in front are considered passing plays.   They had 4 tackles for losses and one sack.  I think CLK called his third straight good game, but I also think they had a specific agenda on what they wanted to work on during the game.  If you noticed there were no hitch/wide rec screens this game.  I even predicted them when watching the game looking at the defense’s alignment.  They had TD drives of 70, 80, 38, 75, 68, 99, and 47 yards.  One 59 yard drive ended in a field goal.  They got into the red zone 7 times and had 6 TD’s and a field goal.  One TD came from outside the red zone.  The offense did waste great field position, the 50, and had a 3 and out.  The offense scored 21 points in the first half and 31 the second.  They had 2 three and outs and missed a big ball for a TD on one of those.  Bama did throw the ball downfield more and introduced the heavy package.  I believe it was D Jackson, 6’7” 320 pounds and he hit the hole hard.  I think the offense got a little slow, but the second half seemed to be smoother.


QB:  I thought both played well.  The both missed a deep ball.  BS’s ball was underthrown while JC was overthrown.  They did make some good strong throws.  It looks like the decision making, especially by Sims compared to last year and the spring game, has improved drastically.  The fade route even though not perfect, was put in a position where only the rec could make a play.  A better ball to AC on the reviewed play and he probably scores.  I will also say I thought JC got in for the TD, but Bama went hurry up and didn’t get a review.

RB:   I don’t have to tell you this, because you know.  Bama is loaded at RB.  The five used yesterday averaged 7.06 yards per carry.  I don’t think Bama has had this much talent in the backfield even when they ran the wishbone.  They pass block well and can catch the ball.  I want to mention JF here.  I think he has no fully recovered from the knee injury.  He seems to be playing with more confidence. 

REC:  AC again was the main target, but CJ also caught 4 balls.  The big point here is CJ did not have a drop this game.   

OL:   Since the O put up the 3rd straight game of over 500 yards you can say they did a pretty good job.  I am not sure they were focused early because of a penalty and missed assignment getting off the ball.  There were a couple of 3rd and shorts that Bama did not make because of the OL.

Defense:  The defense gave up 263 yards. They had 4 tackles for a loss and 1 sack. There were 5 three and outs, but his is kind of skewed.   They had one three and out, but the punt hit the Bama player and SM got the football back and went 3 and out again, but kicked a field goal.  A couple of the 3 and outs were aided by drops on 3rd down.  They also had 1 four and out.  Even though they didn’t have but 1 sack, they affected the QB and many times done with a rush of 4.  They did give up 8 pass plays of 10+ yards and 1 run of 10+ yards.  A couple of the pass plays were just good catches.  At this point I think Bama only has 1 take away for the first 3 games.  Something people haven’t notice is they have not given up a TD this year.  The TD was scored on special teams.    There was a few missed tackles, and they did look confused a couple of times.  This being said they also rotated many players and many got good game experience.  I would love to see Dickson on one end and Anderson on the other.   This could be their rabbit package.  You can add Allen and Evans here too.

DL:    They did a better job of getting pressure with 4 players.  They seem to be staying in their lanes better and only lost contain a couple of times yesterday.
 
LB:  I thought TD played well.  He has to play both pass and run.  He did look frustrated a couple of times yesterday when getting and relaying calls.  He came up and made some big hits on underneath pass plays. 

DB:   I can’t figure out why they are not making plays.  Many times they are in pretty good position, but don’t make the play.  The rec’s must be doing a good job of hiding when the ball is in the air and coming to them.  Maybe the other defenders are not communicating the ball is in the air.  I saw this look last year, but not as much this year with LC lining up in the LB position. 

Penalties:  There were only 3 penalties on Bama.  One was big since it was the targeting call.  I am not sure I agree with the call because of what the rec does.  The other two were a bad formation and a false start. 

Special teams:   The kicking game has been strong.  I really like the way the ball comes of the foot of AG on FG/PATs.  It gets up in a hurry and has distance.  Most of the kickoffs have good height and depth.  It gives time to cover.  A couple of the late kickoffs were from the backup kicker.

Finally:  I think Bama looked to this game as improving and working on specific things.  There seemed to be a lack of emotion and looked like a practice early.  I think Bama will show more pressure looks on defense with the upcoming games.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

Another great report on the game coach. I agree 100%
I am not sure either with what is up with the db's, first qtr of the game So Miss moves down the field effortlessly until they hit the red zone which was the story of the night for them. Playing off the rec a bit too much at times and just not being in that right position to get the deflection. Played better after that and in the second half.

rec- another great game for AC and CJ but like coach said on his TV show we can not just target  these guys. We need to spread out the ball some more and still get AC his touches. If I am not mistaken we have had only one pass to an TE which was in this game to BV for a TD. But we must get OJH and the others involved. Look at the distribution ball over the last three years as compared to this year. AC has caught 75-85% of all passes attempted. Just have to keep the defense guessing to who the ball will go to.

Just a quick note on the two long balls. While JC pass was way over thrown, BS was late in throwing his ball as well as it ending up under thrown. If he throws it when the rec make his first break into the open field we score. He had two or three steps on the db early in the route. Phil Savage also pointed that out as well.

Over all a good win but still lots and lots of work to be done!! We are getting there but nit there yet. Big test this week. Ready to see how they respond!!!! 

[hscoach]

We need to spread out the ball some more and still get AC his touches. If I am not mistaken we have had only one pass to an TE which was in this game to BV for a TD. But we must get OJH and the others involved. Look at the distribution ball over the last three years as compared to this year. AC has caught 75-85% of all passes attempted. Just have to keep the defense guessing to who the ball will go to.

It will be interesting to see what happens this week.  Will Bama leave AC as the outside rec and UF matchup their best defender on him, or will Bama move him inside for matchup problems.  This could be the week the TE get more throws their way.  It was good  to see Jones catch the ball without drop this week.

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