Game notes: A&M vs Bama

[hscoach]

First:   First congrats to the Bama team for the victory.  This was the most dominant performance I can remember in a long time.  They dominated on both sides of the ball. 

Offense:  The offense did whatever they wanted to.   Bama rolled up 602 yards of offense.  They only had 3 negative plays, 2 tackles for losses and 1 sack, in the game and those did not come until the fourth quarter of the game.  Bama also had only 3 three and outs.  The offense score on 8 straight possessions and had scoring drives of 72, 84,64,80,24, 60, and 57 yards.  They had 30 first downs in this game.    They had 8 runs for over 10 yards, 6 of those were in the first half.  Bama had 11 pass completions for over 10 yards and 9 of those were in the first half.  They got into the red zone 5 times and had 4 touchdowns and 1 field goal.  The other 4 touchdowns were scored from outside the red zone.  Bama scored on 8 of their 13 drives.   The other factor to me was Bama running the ball with 7 to 8 in the box and many times they did this with what we use to call our Ace formation, 2 tight ends and 2 wide out with 1 back.

QB:  Sims had a very good game.  He did make one bad decision on the throw on the first drive that should have resulted in an int and probably 6 points for A&M.  On that play I think the outside rec was too wide as it looks as if Bama was trying to run a rub route to get the ball to AC.  Sims made good quick decisions the rest of the day.  He did underthrow OJH when he checked down and went to the backside.  I thought he checked down well and didn’t force the ball.    As far as Coker he has the tools.  It looks like he tries to guide the ball on those short quick throws and it slows the play development down.  One of the best throws of the day was his TD pass to the TE for the last touchdown.  At times the looks to methodical when he is throwing the ball instead of letting it go.

RB:   TJY was a beast this game.  He totaled 159 yards of offense and averaged 9.9 yards every time he touched the ball.  He only touched the ball 16 times, but it seemed like more.  The only negative about TJY was he didn’t work toward Sims when he was scrambling once.  DH also ran hard and totaled 111 yards on only 11 touches.  The biggest knock here was a missed block by DH.   I thought JF should have expected the run when he was knocked off his routes and looked to block for Sims on the scramble. 

REC:  AC had a good game an probably his best catch was on a 3rd and 10 when Sims found him on a scramble and he snagged it out of the air for a first down.    I know it has been effective, but I would love to see more recs involved in the game.    They blocked well downfield when the running back/QB broke the LOS. 

OL:  From the worse game to their best game of the year.  The sustained their blocks and moved to the 2nd level.  This is the best I have seen them come off the ball this year. They ran the ball effectively even when they had 7 to 8 in the box.  They did not miss a beat when Hill came in for the injured Shepard.  They got a push on running plays and pass protected well.  This is evident by the low number of negative plays all day.    They were able to run the ball to both the left and the ride sides of the LOS.   

Defense:  This was another very good game by the defense.   They dominated the spread team like no other.  A&M had 172 total yards on 55 plays and 98 of those came on 6 plays.  This means they gained   74 yards on the other 49 plays.  A&M had 14 drives.  Now take out two for right before half and the end of the game.  Of these 12 remaining drives, Bama had 7 three and outs and 4 four and outs.  As far a negative plays, Bama’s defense had 3 tackles for losses, a year high of 6 sacks in the game, they caused a fumble, and intercepted one pass.  Their longest drive was 9 plays and the ninth play was a fourth down play to get a first down.  They only had 8 first downs all day.  They did have 6 pass plays for over 10 yards.  This was the best tackling game for Bama this year.  There were very few yards after contact.  It seems that they were flying to the football and there were always numerous players around the ball. 

DL:  They played a great game.  The pressure put on the QB all day was done by 4 only most of the time.  It looks like Ragland is doing what Hightower use to do by putting his hand on the ground.  Maybe this is their new rabbit package.  Again, I can pick out Anderson who played a good game. Let me put it this way if the DL didn’t do the job they did the LB would not have been able to make the plays they did.  I thought this was one of their best efforts on keeping the ball inside and not letting A&M get to the perimeter.   

LB:  Ragland and Depriest had good game.  They played the pass and run.  The longest run all day was 9 yards.  They covered down field and jumped the screen.  Ragland has been a huge surprised to me this year. 
 
DB:  They played well by coming up and supporting the run as well as playing pass coverage.  ‘
The best thing that helped them out was the pass rush, especially pressure with 4.  One of the best plays was when JW got up from a block and still made the play for a short gain.  They could have easily come up with 2 more picks during this game, Collins and Perry could have each had one.   

Penalties: How about this no Bama penalties.  A&M only had 2 which show’s Bama’s dominance even more since they did not have to overcome their own mistakes. 

Special teams:   For the most part they were good on the kickoff coverage except for the last when a few backups were in.  I notice when Bama kicks off to their left they kick the ball higher and deeper.  Maybe this is because it is a more natural motion for a right footed kicker.  Foster made more big hits on special team.  I am glad Jones had a good day and his return help set up a Bama TD.

Finally:  This is the most complete game Bama has played.  I honestly feel they can play with anyone when they play like this.  They played with emotion and looked like they had fun.  The job now is to keep it going.   My congrats go out to the 7 Bama players who will graduate in December with their master’s degree.

Please feel free to comment.

Good Luck and Roll Tide Roll 
15 and counting

[Old Tider]

Beautiful analysis, Coach.  I wonder if Saban can find anything negative to complain about.

[lstephen]

Great analysis coach!  And, yes, coach Saban will find SOMETHING to complain about!  Roll Tide!!!!

[hscoach]

Beautiful analysis, Coach.  I wonder if Saban can find anything negative to complain about.

One they called a timeout on offense and it looked like it was the wrong personal package.  He turned and jumped on Bobby Williams.  Second the big return at the end of the game kick off return.  

[2Stater]

Great analysis, Coach. 2 players that I was glad to see having a major impact in the game was Ragland's play on "D", and Reuben's play on ST's. Their play ignited the crowd and fired up the team like we've rarely seen this year.

It was indeed, a complete, totally dominant game by Bama.

[ricky023]

Great job hscoach and if CNS can't find something to holler about he better make up something. This is how we go from worse to best. lol, RTR!

[Chechem]

Wow, it's fun to read these reviews when Alabama plays so well.

Just amazing that a team can change so much in a week!

[SUPERCOACH]

Good stuff coach, as always.

Does anyone know why we switched to JK Scott for kickoffs?  I think Grifith did the first few kickoffs of the game.

[hscoach]

Good stuff coach, as always.

Does anyone know why we switched to JK Scott for kickoffs?  I think Grifith did the first few kickoffs of the game.

Don't know for sure.  Maybe just get him some work in case something happens to AG.

[SUPERCOACH]

Good stuff coach, as always.

Does anyone know why we switched to JK Scott for kickoffs?  I think Grifith did the first few kickoffs of the game.

Don't know for sure.  Maybe just get him some work in case something happens to AG.

Maybe Griff's leg gave out after all those TDs and we had to bring in a relief kicker.

[carl childers]

hscoach, I really feel Bradley has improved since being pushed into the C role. Looking more settled and blocking well. The guard play this week was markedly better.Also, I believe Grant Hill should be in the rotation more. He does a very good job and would be even better with more snaps.

[hscoach]

hscoach, I really feel Bradley has improved since being pushed into the C role. Looking more settled and blocking well. The guard play this week was markedly better.Also, I believe Grant Hill should be in the rotation more. He does a very good job and would be even better with more snaps.

I agree that the guards did play better.  I am not convinced the center played any worse than the other OL last week.  It seems that every time Hill gets in the game he does well. 

[bama87]

Coach well said.  I agree Vozeman is growing at the center spot. He did a good job with protections.

[bamaphil]

I was really glad to see the team playing with such emotion and enjoying themselves.  It seems like prior to yesterday that had been missing this season.  We now know that we have a championship caliber team, the only question is can they avoid beating themselves as they did against Ole Miss and almost did against Arky.

[hscoach]

I was really glad to see the team playing with such emotion and enjoying themselves.  It seems like prior to yesterday that had been missing this season.  We now know that we have a championship caliber team, the only question is can they avoid beating themselves as they did against Ole Miss and almost did against Arky.

It is almost like they were thinking about their assignments and being afraid of making a mistake instead of playing.  This week was totally different.  It was like they are going full speed, they may make a mistake but if they do they will be doing it all out.

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