I mentioned it a couple times in the game thread, but I'm as surprised as anyone at the way this game played out. I knew we were going to be fired up, but I never expected that sort of explosion in the first half. Now that my adrenaline has settled down somewhat, here's a couple things that stood out to me:
- The quick no-huddle combined with the short crossing routes simply didn't allow the physicality of Bama's defensive line to make a gamechanging difference. A brilliant bit of coaching from our OC, to be sure. On a few of those plays in the first quarter, there were a couple receivers wide open on crossing routes, and Johnson just had to pick one. I was a little surprised there weren't any adjustments made to slow them down (jamming them on the line, tougher man-to-man, etc.). Curious to hear your thoughts on the lack of adjustments.
- Probably the biggest surprise for me was the play of our defensive line. Even with Smith out, I thought your front five would be able to handle things pretty easily and have your way with the running game. The way our guys were flying around accomplished exactly what we needed to have happen, which is force JPW to beat us. Between the constant pressure and dropped balls, I felt a little sorry for him. He wasn't getting any help at all.
- Tackling (or lack thereof) was the make or break point of the game, IMO. Our receivers (who aren't really that big) were getting an extra 3-4 yards after contact, and Freddie Brown looked like a world-beater out there. If a couple of those sticks are made right after the catch, that's a completely different ball game. CNS had to be tearing his hair out over that.
- I think we can all agree that the officiating was pretty horrid all the way around. There were holding calls galore for both teams that never got called.
- I wonder how much difference the pre-game prep made. I recall Saban saying that the team had a 2am curfew, while Utah had a strict midnight deadline, and from what I heard, most of the players were in well before that. It looked early like Utah simply wanted the game more, and I'm curious how much the lax attitude from Bama's coaches may have played into that. (I know that CNS was prepared, but the team didn't match his intensity)
- My elation is tempered somewhat by the fact that we still won't get a sniff at the National Championship, but that's completely out of our control. I don't know what else we can prove, but maybe this'll be the first (well, second for us) step towards leveling the playing field. By hanging with Bama tonight, Utah proved that they can play with anyone in the country (and not just at home).
It was a great game to cap off an incredible season. There's a bright future ahead for the Tide, and I'd hate to be anyone on your schedule next year. Thanks again for the hospitality over the last few weeks. You guys are a class act, and hopefully we can play each other again - maybe in a National Title game down the road.
- The quick no-huddle combined with the short crossing routes simply didn't allow the physicality of Bama's defensive line to make a gamechanging difference. A brilliant bit of coaching from our OC, to be sure. On a few of those plays in the first quarter, there were a couple receivers wide open on crossing routes, and Johnson just had to pick one. I was a little surprised there weren't any adjustments made to slow them down (jamming them on the line, tougher man-to-man, etc.). Curious to hear your thoughts on the lack of adjustments.
- Probably the biggest surprise for me was the play of our defensive line. Even with Smith out, I thought your front five would be able to handle things pretty easily and have your way with the running game. The way our guys were flying around accomplished exactly what we needed to have happen, which is force JPW to beat us. Between the constant pressure and dropped balls, I felt a little sorry for him. He wasn't getting any help at all.
- Tackling (or lack thereof) was the make or break point of the game, IMO. Our receivers (who aren't really that big) were getting an extra 3-4 yards after contact, and Freddie Brown looked like a world-beater out there. If a couple of those sticks are made right after the catch, that's a completely different ball game. CNS had to be tearing his hair out over that.
- I think we can all agree that the officiating was pretty horrid all the way around. There were holding calls galore for both teams that never got called.
- I wonder how much difference the pre-game prep made. I recall Saban saying that the team had a 2am curfew, while Utah had a strict midnight deadline, and from what I heard, most of the players were in well before that. It looked early like Utah simply wanted the game more, and I'm curious how much the lax attitude from Bama's coaches may have played into that. (I know that CNS was prepared, but the team didn't match his intensity)
- My elation is tempered somewhat by the fact that we still won't get a sniff at the National Championship, but that's completely out of our control. I don't know what else we can prove, but maybe this'll be the first (well, second for us) step towards leveling the playing field. By hanging with Bama tonight, Utah proved that they can play with anyone in the country (and not just at home).
It was a great game to cap off an incredible season. There's a bright future ahead for the Tide, and I'd hate to be anyone on your schedule next year. Thanks again for the hospitality over the last few weeks. You guys are a class act, and hopefully we can play each other again - maybe in a National Title game down the road.
