🏈 First time I questioned McElwain's playcalling....

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

I thought the halftime observation of Jimmy Johnson's 'Bama's offensive halftime adjustments were spot on. They were to the effect of the following:

Alabama cannot pass protect right now, especially w/ the makeshift line. They have been marginally effective at running the ball at this point & should stick to running the ball. It is what they do best anyway. (this is not a direct quote but what I recall)

This seemed clear to me for the following reasons:

1st. It has been 'Bama's bread & butter all season but it was sidelined during this game & the last quarter against UF.

2nd. NO yardage is better than NEGATIVE yardage. Countless sacks consistantly kept 'Bama at long down & distance.

3rd. We needed to keep pounding Utah all night just to send the message that we are not phased...we just panicked, gave them more confidence, & we began to shrivel in the fetal position.

4th. North & South running nuetralizes spead. We were doing an OK job of it & as long as we continued there was bound to be a crack that breaks.

5th. Can we say more effective play action? The run will force this but NOPE we lost track at this which just ENABLED Utah to pin their ears back. We played right into their hands.

Hopefully the lesson was learned. I thought the same after the last quarter against UF & especially after the entire Tulane game but my bubble has been burst a little bit.

FWIW, offer you feedback on this, pro or con, there is a good chance that I've missed something.

 

[joeman546]

You know, thats all well and good until you take into account the fact that you only have 4 tries to make ten yards each time in the game of football.

 

[BAMAFSTBACK]

As irritated as I am at this loss and as much back and forth with objectivity and emotion I have but one conclusion... Our offensive line had at least 80% to do with this loss. We have had horrid pass protection for years now. Poor tackling on D made up the rest. We simply did not have an offensive front last night and our D looked like a bunch of kids running around with NO CLUE. Obviously I'm still a we bit emotional. We have got to get this offensive line in shape and I mean right now. I think Brodie was having flash backs last night if he was watching. Horrible. Nothing else to say. To answer the question, Mac had no choice. He had no options. It was like trying to eat spaghetti with a rubber fork.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

You know, thats all well and good until you take into account the fact that you only have 4 tries to make ten yards each time in the game of football.

Please see 2nd Reason.

Also, when we are averaging 3-4 yards per carry that might take care of those ten yards :? .

 

[Guest]

The only play call during the game that I question was when we were 4th and 2 (I think) then decided to let Tiffin try and make another field goal. It was after a hard-nosed drive that I felt we could have converted on that perticular 4th down as we had a little bit of momentum to hang on to. But all the coulda, should, and woulda's won't do any good now.

I'm doing OK right now. Not feeling anywhere near as bad as last night or early this morning. Trying to stay busy around the house ya know :lol:

 

[bcgoody44]

Our running backs whiffed quite a few times on blitz pick-up as well, so not all the blame can be placed on the O-line but a lot of it can.

 

[Tideboy]

The only play call during the game that I question was when we were 4th and 2 (I think) then decided to let Tiffin try and make another field goal. It was after a hard-nosed drive that I felt we could have converted on that perticular 4th down as we had a little bit of momentum to hang on to.

I had the same thought. I wanted to see Cody in there at fullback and plow for that 2 yards.

 

[Guest]

If I had a problem with any play call in the whole game, it was the play-action passing in the 4th quarter when everybody and their grandmother knew we were not going to run the ball. The Utah defense was pinning their ears back and we couldn't block them. JPW should have been in the shotgun.

On the issue of the running game, we were having more success out in space, yet we continued to run off tackle. I would like to have seen some sweeps and quick screens to the RB to spread the defense out.

The bottom line is this. McElwain is a great OC. We didn't have our best game because our OL was in tatters. The speed of Utah victimized our OL...and to some degree, like it or not, I think we overlooked them. It wasn't just that Utah wanted to be in the Sugar Bowl and we wanted to be in the NC game, it was that we didn't think Utah should have been in the Sugar against us. We paid the price.

It is perfectly fine for fans to be homers, but players have to be business-like. I think we were business like...in the Enron sense.

 

[Guest]

If I had a problem with any play call in the whole game, it was the play-action passing in the 4th quarter when everybody and their grandmother knew we were not going to run the ball. The Utah defense was pinning their ears back and we couldn't block them. JPW should have been in the shotgun.

On the issue of the running game, we were having more success out in space, yet we continued to run off tackle. I would like to have seen some sweeps and quick screens to the RB to spread the defense out.

The bottom line is this. McElwain is a great OC. We didn't have our best game because our OL was in tatters. The speed of Utah victimized our OL...and to some degree, like it or not, I think we overlooked them. It wasn't just that Utah wanted to be in the Sugar Bowl and we wanted to be in the NC game, it was that we didn't think Utah should have been in the Sugar against us. We paid the price.

It is perfectly fine for fans to be homers, but players have to be business-like. I think we were business like...in the Enron sense.

That is sort of where I lean to as well.

I definitely agree on running a sweep or something rather than continue to try and run off the tackles. It was getting way too predictable in play calling throughout the game IMO. The Ute D knew what we were going to do before we broke huddle. Hell, everyone else probably did to.

Ingram to me looked more fit for this game than Coffee did. Not to take anything away from Coffee either of course. But I just felt like when Ingram was in he brought some sort of intensity or seemed to fit with the faster D of Utah than Coffee did. I don;t know what it was.

I would of loved to see more screens as well since they were bringing a ton of pressure. I feel that if we would of try to stick with running out in space then set-up more to do screens rather than play action or the deep ball, our output could of been possibly more productiive. But who's to say? It's over now and it was what it was.

No way anyone could place the blame on any perticular player, coach or position. Pretty much every facet of the game (save for Javy's intensity throughout the whole game) was in total disarray last night. From top to bottom. It was the worst performance, as a team, I've seen since ULM IMHO.

But I'm looking forward to 2009! It's going to be a great year and a chance to start off the season in the big stage, amongst the nation again, to redeem ourselves and set the tone for the season. Recruiting will be intense and I can't wait. I look forward to hearing progress in tyhe spring and summer camps. Who wins what job and what our starting roster will look like. Should be an exciting time and another great year to see the Tide continue to improve during "the process"!

Roll Tide.

 

[joeman546]

You know, thats all well and good until you take into account the fact that you only have 4 tries to make ten yards each time in the game of football.

Please see 2nd Reason.

Also, when we are averaging 3-4 yards per carry that might take care of those ten yards :? .

3-4 yards per carry isnt enough to sustain a drive with is what i mean, lets say we run 6 yards back to back and then r;un 2 yards back to back, iiiiits now 3rd and six, and we only went a net total of 16 yards, but it comes out to a 4 yards per carry average.

I tried to say in so many words that we werent running well enough to do that, and we had to pass. 4 yards per cary isnt enough to run on all downs, its just a stat. Though if we got the 4 yards every carry, id say go for it

 

[Guest]

If I had a problem with any play call in the whole game, it was the play-action passing in the 4th quarter when everybody and their grandmother knew we were not going to run the ball. The Utah defense was pinning their ears back and we couldn't block them. JPW should have been in the shotgun.

On the issue of the running game, we were having more success out in space, yet we continued to run off tackle. I would like to have seen some sweeps and quick screens to the RB to spread the defense out.

The bottom line is this. McElwain is a great OC. We didn't have our best game because our OL was in tatters. The speed of Utah victimized our OL...and to some degree, like it or not, I think we overlooked them. It wasn't just that Utah wanted to be in the Sugar Bowl and we wanted to be in the NC game, it was that we didn't think Utah should have been in the Sugar against us. We paid the price.

It is perfectly fine for fans to be homers, but players have to be business-like. I think we were business like...in the Enron sense.

That is sort of where I lean to as well.

I definitely agree on running a sweep or something rather than continue to try and run off the tackles. It was getting way too predictable in play calling throughout the game IMO. The Ute D knew what we were going to do before we broke huddle. Hell, everyone else probably did to.

Ingram to me looked more fit for this game than Coffee did. Not to take anything away from Coffee either of course. But I just felt like when Ingram was in he brought some sort of intensity or seemed to fit with the faster D of Utah than Coffee did. I don;t know what it was.

I would of loved to see more screens as well since they were bringing a ton of pressure. I feel that if we would of try to stick with running out in space then set-up more to do screens rather than play action or the deep ball, our output could of been possibly more productiive. But who's to say? It's over now and it was what it was.

No way anyone could place the blame on any perticular player, coach or position. Pretty much every facet of the game (save for Javy's intensity throughout the whole game) was in total disarray last night. From top to bottom. It was the worst performance, as a team, I've seen since ULM IMHO.

But I'm looking forward to 2009! It's going to be a great year and a chance to start off the season in the big stage, amongst the nation again, to redeem ourselves and set the tone for the season. Recruiting will be intense and I can't wait. I look forward to hearing progress in tyhe spring and summer camps. Who wins what job and what our starting roster will look like. Should be an exciting time and another great year to see the Tide continue to improve during "the process"!

Roll Tide.

Everyone knew what we were going to do - as was the case all season. This time - with our OL in disarray, somebody was finally able to stop it.

We didn't change our gameplan, and didn't really get away from our gameplan. We always pass the ball to loosen up the run, and do so until the defense finally learns their lesson. With no blocking - we couldn't teach the lesson.