🏈 Defense struggled---any explanation?

[bamatommy]

Bama's D gave up almost 300 yards passing to a quarterback (Mettenberger) that had looked very bland all season. He thoroughly outplayed McCarron for much of the night.

And Bama did a HORRIBLE job tackling on numerous plays.

They let LSU convert third downs over and over and over again.

How would you explain that?

Yes, I am very grateful for the win. But going forward, it is obvious that Bama has some real issues to work out. And Texas A & M is no slouch when it comes to slinging the pigskin.

 

[tidentrue]

we are still in our 24 hour window, take this "the sky is falling" somewhere else :lol:

 

[JoshB]

Fundamentals definitely weren't there, especially in terms of tackling. I dont know what Dee Milliner's deal is but the last cpl weeks he has missed SEVERAL tackles. He had at least two plays last night where all he had to do was make the tackle and it was 4th down but missed em both. A couple of the passes where just a situation of perfect pass, perfect catch, nothing you can do about it. Two plays that come to mind is a 3rd down pass where Mettenberger threw it over Deion's head yet he STILL got his hand on the ball and was in PERFECT position and the receiver still held onto the ball. The TD pass he threw was the same way, perfect position but the ball was laid in there perfectly. They caught on some quick throws too and a cpl of the Safetys just got plain beat (Vinnie and Perry). The quick throws are really what killed the pass rush tho, how many times were HaHa, Hubbard, and Mosley literally a hair away from making the sack but the quick throw negated the rush.

LOTS of things have to be cleaned up this week because Texas A&M will TORCH us if the same mistakes are made.

 

['65 Cobra]

Every championship season includes a game or two where the team just doesn't play its best. But those games also build tremendous character. This was our game this year. I think this game will only make us stronger.

Mettenberger played out of his mind in the second half, but alot of that was because we didn't get enough pressure on him. Some of our blitzes were having an effect, but at least twice Vinnie blew his safety coverage and big plays ensued. There were so many missed tackles over the course of the night. And the offense had its problems too. AJ overthrew I think it was Kenny Bell in the first half on a go route that was a sure touchdown. AJ and TJ botched the handoff at the LSU 7 in the second half that would have also probably been 7 points. And we didn't bother to attack their newbie DBs when their starters were out in the second half with some long balls.

These games happen and you learn from them and if you win, it makes you all the stronger. Bring on TAMU! I believe we are going to play lights out next week.

 

[BamaFan615]

Let's be real here - I don't think ANYONE here thought for a second that Mettenberger stood a chance against out defense. So we came in with a game plan and a mentality that underestimated him, and he played the game of his career/life. He really made some nice looking throws and did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands quickly, so our pass rush was limited.

As for our defense - I think the one position that we haven't quite replaced this year is Hightower. Hightower, much like Ro could sit in the middle of the defense and take on guards and centers and not give up ground. Hell, they'd stuff the play right there and the rest of the defense would clean the rest up.

We have a boat load of talented LB's but none of them truly can come up and stuff the run head on quite like Hightower, and Ro. And I think that has been evident at some times this year, but was more evident last night.

Also, like was mentioned before...our secondary played pretty good coverage most of the night last night, but when the opposing QB is getting the ball out quickly and hitting his targets you just have to make sure you wrap up and tackle...something we struggled with last night. It seemed to me that they might have been going after Nick Perry and Belue a good bit last night.

I'll be honest. I'm kind of concerned about this game with aTm. We're coming off of a HUGE emotional high, and they're going to test us. We easily have the better team, but they're catching us at about as good of a time as they could ask for. Our guys better have their heads on straight and come in focused.

 

[BamaFan615]

Also, you have to give credit to the crowd last night...those people are nuts. They were loud all night and certainly had an effect on the game.

 

[BigAl]

I agree with everything you say also this has been a very long season and we arent done yet. We are physically and emotionally spent.We need some well deserved rest and then we'll be back to normal.

 

[bamaraider]

They beat us up front, no other way to put it. They were well balanced, Mettengoober played nearly flawless, they're 4 headed monster got them into 3rd-and-manageable, maintained long long drives, and we didn't tackle well. Really just one of the more physical teams will ever face, what's great about this rivalry, both schools are so similar. They really did something that only Michigan did, and that was pick on Nick Perry and Deon Belue. We also didn't force a turnover for the first game

I'll tell you what, I wouldn't take trade this defense for any other defense right now in CFB, they stepped up and put our offense in good situations. The offense, at times, just didn't step until the last drive...Offense put the defense in bad situations.

 

[rick4bama]

Coach Les and his staff had two week to prepare for this game. But, the two min. drill help Alabama to win the game.

 

[bamaraider]

Also, you have to give credit to the crowd last night...those people are nuts. They were loud all night and certainly had an effect on the game.

Never in my life have I seen a crowd interact so much with the band...

 

[rick4bama]

Never in my life have I seen a crowd interact so much with the band...

CBS show the fans a lot last night. It look like for every play the camera would pan to the LSU fans.

 

['65 Cobra]

They beat us up front, no other way to put it. They were well balanced, Mettengoober played nearly flawless, they're 4 headed monster got them into 3rd-and-manageable, maintained long long drives, and we didn't tackle well. Really just one of the more physical teams will ever face, what's great about this rivalry, both schools are so similar. They really did something that only Michigan did, and that was pick on Nick Perry and Deon Belue. We also didn't force a turnover for the first game

I'll tell you what, I wouldn't take trade this defense for any other defense right now in CFB, they stepped up and put our offense in good situations. The offense, at times, just didn't step until the last drive...Offense put the defense in bad situations.

Well said, Bamaraider. If you look at TOP, LSU had nearly double ours. Our offense really struggled on converting 3rd downs (we were something like 1 for 9 as I recall). It takes a team and offensive struggles can hurt the defense especially if they have to keep coming back onto the field.

I agree - I wouldn't trade our defense for anyone else's right now. It may not have a Hightower or McClain but it is developing its own identity and after a long hard game, it really stepped up at the end to get the offense the ball back. As an aside, I notice Trey DePriest getting more and more playing time.

 

[bamaraider]

Here is something that is pretty sick, what they do after every 3rd down stop
[video=youtube;w3dfaf7XNSo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3dfaf7XNSo[/video]

 

[TerryP]

A lot of the defensive mistakes I credit to fatigue. The offense certainly didn't help.

LSU ended up with less than three yards per carry. We controlled their running game attack.

However, we did so by playing in our base 3-4 most of the night. Normally, we spend around 75% of the time in nickel. That, along with Mett having a great game, is one of the main reasons they had the success they did in the passing attack.

Look, they've played two good defenses this year in South Carolina and Florida. The end result is the same when you look at how they did statistically.

No if, and, or buts about one thing. Except for once in the first and the last drive, AJ didn't have a good night. Another thing is for certain. We won't face another defensive line like we did last night.

 

[TerryP]

Well said, Bamaraider. If you look at TOP, LSU had nearly double ours. Our offense really struggled on converting 3rd downs (we were something like 1 for 9 as I recall). It takes a team and offensive struggles can hurt the defense especially if they have to keep coming back onto the field.

I agree - I wouldn't trade our defense for anyone else's right now. It may not have a Hightower or McClain but it is developing its own identity and after a long hard game, it really stepped up at the end to get the offense the ball back. As an aside, I notice Trey DePriest getting more and more playing time.

Because we were in our base. If we were in nickel we'd have seen CJ the same amount of time.

 

[JoshB]

Yeah I think Danielson event touched on the fact that we wouldnt see CJ as much last night because we wouldnt be in Nickel as much as usual...

 

[Argo]

Defensively, players who are seriously battle tested in that type of atmosphere on this defense.

Dee Milliner
Robert Lester
Damion Square
Nico Johnson

Now think about the players who played who haven't seen that type of craziness.

Dickson
Hubbard
Belue
Perry
Depriest


I haven't watched the replay yet, but I know I saw more young guys in there for more than a play or two. That was a tremendous battle last night, and it will stick with them.

Vinnie has been in battles, but I'm not sure in the type of atmosphere as last night.

 

[TerryP]

Defensively, players who are seriously battle tested in that type of atmosphere on this defense.

Dee Milliner
Robert Lester
Damion Square
Nico Johnson

Now think about the players who played who haven't seen that type of craziness.

Dickson
Hubbard
Belue
Perry
Depriest


I haven't watched the replay yet, but I know I saw more young guys in there for more than a play or two. That was a tremendous battle last night, and it will stick with them.

Vinnie has been in battles, but I'm not sure in the type of atmosphere as last night.

When you do check the replay, it'll shock you how many mental mistakes those four made. There were a few times last night I was shocked to see how out of position some of the guys were.

BUT, again, goes back to playing a scheme we don't use that often, IMO. IE: Like the sacks we gave up against WKU when we weren't keeping any TE's back in pass pro.

 

[Argo]

That too. I thought about how well LSU matched up with us if they could keep us out of nickel. Unfortunately for the remaining teams, they don't have that luxury. And Oregon better hope like hell they don't see us.

 

[ElephantStomp]

I think our offense is as much to blame for our defensive struggles as the defense. I agree with Terry that fatigue played a huge part. Our offense kept going three and out and putting our defense back onto the field quickly then you tie that into LSU playing the best game of the year and their QB playing the best game of his career and us just missing assignments and tackles.