🏈 Defense needs major fixing

[BetyoursoulBamaisbetterthanyou]

Moses probably needs flat out replaced, hes lost the starting gig if you ask me. Dude has been a non factor all year, and has given up a ton of massive plays. Jobe was Perry bad tonight, lots or critical mistakes, including the big one rhat really put the game in danger.

Also dont get why they dont blitz more. Against a guy like Trask, you have to dial up pressure, especially when your secondary cant defend a pass like tonight. Trask is good, but any QB is vulnerable to pressure if you get to them consistently.

 

[mando]

I have been critical of the D and was tonight as I was watching but these guys had very difficult match ups tonight. UF offense is probably the best one we have seen this year. Pitts is a matchup nightmare. Same with #1, maybe not as good as waddle but similar. Give UF some credit.

You mention Jobe, he did have some struggles tonight but he also made some plays especially in the 4th qtr. Heck even #2 did as well and he is viewed by most people I have heard as a 1st round NFL pick.

With that said I do believe we need to get better. Complete overhaul? Will let the man make that call.

 

[BetyoursoulBamaisbetterthanyou]

I have been critical of the D and was tonight as I was watching but these guys had very difficult match ups tonight. UF offense is probably the best one we have seen this year. Pitts is a matchup nightmare. Same with #1, maybe not as good as waddle but similar. Give UF some credit.

You mention Jobe, he did have some struggles tonight but he also made some plays especially in the 4th qtr. Heck even #2 did as well and he is viewed by most people I have heard as a 1st round NFL pick.

With that said I do believe we need to get better. Complete overhaul? Will let the man make that call.

If they played clemson next week, who would you say wins? I try to be confident in our guys as any fan should, but tonight really showed some concerns.

 

[mando]

If they played clemson next week, who would you say wins? I try to be confident in our guys as any fan should, but tonight really showed some concerns.

Bama, the offense is a machine and the Clemson matchups may not be as difficult as UF. Stopping all the different ways we can move the ball is a load for anyone. The wild card in all of this will be the Dickerson injury and assuming he is out how well will Owens do in his place?

BTW do not get me wrong I hate these type of games and allowing a team to score 46 points is never ok. I am just pointing out UF offense has some play makers that create matchup issues.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

They made some plays, some really good plays. They have some dynamic players at WR and a great QB, just like we do. Despite what many may think, Trask will likely be selected before Mac in the draft (sort of like when Moses gets drafted pretty high yet so many fans think he should be riding the bench). I didn't expect UF to score more than 24 points, but they also had a much better plan than I was anticipating. It is inexcusable that they lost to LSU last week, but it's also obvious that they spent some of that time working on this game. As for Alabama's defense, I don't think it was as bad as it appeared. They had to defend some perfect throws, especially to Pitts. And the younger guys had their worst games, they were exposed a bit by Mullen. That's ok, they'll grow and learn. Surtain gave up a TD in coverage that was just unlucky. More often than not, he makes a play on that ball, but he got lost of a split second. Nothing Golding and Saban can do about stuff like that.

 

[bamascw]

I am going to agree with mando a bit here, I think our Defense had a tough matchup tonight. Yes, we missed some plays, but that is common, we never make every play. The days of our shutdown, only let you score 10 points defensive efforts are gone. I do think Dylan has played a bit off this year but maybe it is the injury messing with his head. We don't seem to have the d line to put as much pressure on the QB as in years past. If we play ND in the first game I am not worried in the least about our D, and honestly, I don't think Clemson will give us as much issue offensively as the Gators did but that is just my opinion.

 

[ElephantStomp]

The D doesn’t need major anything. UF has probably the second best offense in the country (behind UA’s). There were mistakes, but to have the “sky is falling” attitude is not logical.

Prior to tonight the defense was playing great and everybody was singing their praises, now after one game it needs completely overhauled? Makes no sense

 

[TerryP]

Moses probably needs flat out replaced, hes lost the starting gig if you ask me. Dude has been a non factor all year, and has given up a ton of massive plays.

He's done a damn good job against the run this season. He was beaten in the passing game and that's supposed to be something to get all upset about? I don't see that stance when you've got mismatches, planned, to put athletes against linebackers.

As for Alabama's defense, I don't think it was as bad as it appeared. They had to defend some perfect throws, especially to Pitts. And the younger guys had their worst games, they were exposed a bit by Mullen. That's ok, they'll grow and learn.

We as fans just came off the 2019 season where we saw inexperience on the front. This season, and this game, we saw a greatly improved front due to their experience (and lack of injuries.)

We fast forward a year and people automatically seem to forget these UF receivers were going after true freshman.

A few odd plays last night that, when removed, would have meant a Bama cover. It was a game closer than I thought it would be but quite frankly I didn't feel any anxiety throughout the contest. Now, reading around this morning (if I didn't know what happened) you'd think Bama was playing from behind all night.

 

[Bamabww]

I thought our guys did an excellent job for the most part. Florida has a really good team and if the coaching staffs were swapped, meaning if our coaching staff had been coaching their players, they'd probably have beat us last night.

I know players make (or don't make) the plays but coaching has a lot to do with it as well, especially when the teams are equally matched.

 

[RollllTide!]

Don't need major fixing. Can't win with defences only. We did slow them down and that snot knocker fumble was epic. We stopped most of the runs but the passing didn't get it done. The pass penalties showed we were pressing. Trask can throw dimes.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

The D has improved....but just dont have that “ DC” that seems to have team prepared...for everything... ( see Clemsons...)
But NS knows... if he isnt happy...he will make a change...

but...as several pointed out.... Florida has a potent O... and Trask and his 10 foot receiver are good...reallygood

 

[mando]

but...as several pointed out.... Florida has a potent O... and Trask and his 10 foot receiver are good...reallygood

Now we know how people felt when we had Julio .

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

The Bama DL has really gotten much better as the year progressed. The 2 ILBers are average with 8 actually making strides while 32 is stuck at average. 2 and 28 got beat some but they were challenged by really good players. 13 is humble this AM. JMO but the worst part of this defensive crew is the 2 safeties. Hell they're playing facing the QB unlike the others that find themselves running to defend with their back to the QB. Neither have great speed to cover ground while the ball is in the air.

The game between UGA and UF pretty much told the story of what was to be expected of this game. UF can score. Trask throws a great ball.

I assume Bama will be paired with ND and OSU gets Clemson. We can beat ND but I am not so sure about Dabo U.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

The Bama DL has really gotten much better as the year progressed. The 2 ILBers are average with 8 actually making strides while 32 is stuck at average. 2 and 28 got beat some but they were challenged by really good players. 13 is humble this AM. JMO but the worst part of this defensive crew is the 2 safeties. Hell they're playing facing the QB unlike the others that find themselves running to defend with their back to the QB. Neither have great speed to cover ground while the ball is in the air.

The game between UGA and UF pretty much told the story of what was to be expected of this game. UF can score. Trask throws a great ball.

I assume Bama will be paired with ND and OSU gets Clemson. We can beat ND but I am not so sure about Dabo U.

Dabo U......lol

they-better be prepared to score a bunch of points...

their advantage is their DC.... best in business and will have them prepared

 

[Crtuneman]

Here's the difference between Clemson and Florida. Trask and Lawrence are both excellent QBs, and they have excellent WRs to throw to. The one thing Lawrence has that Trask does not is an elite RB. Etienne is going to be hard to stop for Bama and our soft defense. I really don't know if we can stop them. And then with Landon being out for the playoffs, that puts us in a big hole. As has been discussed already, our biggest problem is our middle LBs. Harris and Moses may be the worst since Saban arrived. The DL is really good and Allen and Anderson are phenomenal. We have got to find a way to help Harris and Moses, because Clemson is going to expose them. And did anyone else notice that Ben Davis got a lot of playing time in the Championship game?

 

[mando]

And did anyone else notice that Ben Davis got a lot of playing time in the Championship game?

I thought this was mainly in the red zone but maybe I missed it. I did see #20 out there some. He was the 5* true freshman out of Texas I believe. Was committed to OU and flipped if I am remembering correctly. Do not think he had gotten many snaps outside of special teams and mop up duty.

 

[mando]

JMO but the worst part of this defensive crew is the 2 safeties.

When you spread the field and have 4 wideouts and freak TE you create mismatches. We do the same thing by trying to get a safety to cover our WR's. I do not think our safety play is unique to us. These guys are freshman and have gotten better throughout the year. In the Saban era, guys get better and better as they are in the program from one year to the next. Hard to get safeties that are LB like and can matchup with elite WR's. Heck our first round CB had difficulties covering the UF receivers at times.

 

[Secondand26]

When you spread the field and have 4 wideouts and freak TE you create mismatches. We do the same thing by trying to get a safety to cover our WR's. I do not think our safety play is unique to us. These guys are freshman and have gotten better throughout the year. In the Saban era, guys get better and better as they are in the program from one year to the next. Hard to get safeties that are LB like and can matchup with elite WR's. Heck our first round CB had difficulties covering the UF receivers at times.

But but but...
We are supposed to stop everybody every play! (I'm guilty of this during the game as well). Heaven forbid that a team with 2 solid lock 1st round receivers and a QB who can run every time the middle is left open do what we've done to every team (including Florida) this year - create extreme mismatches and then exploit them. All we want are linebackers and safeties that can run like Henry Ruggs, hit like Daron Payne, and process the game like CJ Mosely. These kind of guys are so very common & it's a damn shame Saban doesn't sign 30 or so of them every year.

I didn't enjoy the game either, but a little next morning perspective is also nice.
As Gene Stallings was apt to say "the other team has really good players also and they want to win too!"
As far as the 2 defenses; remember the hits on Mac where he fumbled & turned the ball over on his own 9 yard line? Me neither, but I do remember several potential loose ball hits by the Alabama defense (along with that particular turnover) that could have made this a blow out but we didn't make the recoveries this time. I also remember the sack on the last play of the game, I still say this defense is making improvements every week in one area or another.

Per Nick Saban in the post game press conference - "It's probably a good thing that we got faced with some adversity tonight." Most of the great teams that we remember had to win a game or 2 like this, and those teams never played an 11 game SEC-only schedule.
We have been tested & I think we will be a much better team because of it.

 

[sean]

I'm of the mind that the defense needed last night. They needed to be tested...hard. They needed to feel that pressure of not being able to stop the other guys across that line on almost every play. They've had it kind of easy the rest of the year. Adversity builds character and toughness. If they take the next game a bit more seriously, then they'll be able to take the game, after that, more seriously, too.

Also, knowing who Coach Saban is, he won't let it go, either. They'll be working their asses off.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

The fact Bama only had one turnover (if you call the stolen pass from 87) just might be the reason we didn't lose.