🏈 Game manager needs to change... read before u flame me

[jaycoach]

With the struggles our defense is having at times. I really believe we would be more effective in the future weeks taking more chances down field. We have become so concerned with not throwing pics that we never let the recievers try to win a one on one match up down field. This would be even more effective with the play action game. We dont do a good job with our fakes. Gonna need more points in the weeks to come... jmo. Just need to tell Greg to take a chance one on one. What you guys think?

 

[252BAMA]

Bama is not making the other team defend the whole field. Why should they? Bama is only using, or trying to use, the 10 or 20 yards in front of them.

 

[BAMAFSTBACK]

It's time to see what AJ can do.

 

[BamaDelta]

You know I've been thinking a lot about Greg after this Sat. First of all, I really like him as a person. He is really confident and smart as a whip. I started thinking the other day that maybe he's a bit too confident, but then again had he beaten SC I would have never said it. I didn't like the interview with him about the field general stuff, and I know I'm just being an old fuddy duddy. These guys have to be able to "talk" a little, but I wish he would have handled that interview a little differently. No matter, it was just an interview and had nothing to do with the game.

jay, if you think you're going to get flamed then I might just get kicked off the board. Before I say anything anyone that knows me knows this loss upset me. Rightly, wrongly, good or bad it did. There is the whole rest of the season ahead of us and yes, I'll be worried about each game. We have issues on both sides of the ball that can be corrected or at least minimized to give us a chance in each remaining game. Face it, some games will be much less challenging than others.

Here goes though. I am so frustrated in the QB position as a whole. There I said it. Nothing against Greg, John Parker, Brodie, Tyler, etc.... but when in the world have we had a guy that could go in and take over a game or set his will upon the other team? I guess Brodie would be the closest thing we had before his injuries and before Prothro went down. I'm not flaming; I'm just scratching my head. I know Greg came in at the end of the Auburn game and drove us down the field. I know that and forever will be thankful. I know he started admirably vs. Va.Tech last season. I know he had a GREAT game vs. Florida in the SECCG. I know all of this. But I also watch other teams and think wow, if we could only have him. Sorry, but I do.

Maybe some of you wouldn't trade a Ryan Mallett or a Cam Newton, but............................................................................................................................................................

ugh, it's just frustrating. I hope I'll eat every thought I'm having right now. I really do.

 

[gumboman]

Do I think our best QB is sitting on the sidelines? Yes. Do I think he is ready to take over our team and give us the best chance to win, from here on out? No. He does not have the experience, which is waaaaaayyyy underrated. Say you throw AJ in there. Did you see the A-Day game? Did you see the mistakes made? Those two or three he made, would EASILY cost us a ballgame. Greg is like a big brother to AJ, as well as a mentor. AJ is being shown the RIGHT way to step into an important role, and he is not going to be set up for failure right out of the gates. He will be hungry when he gets his shot, and when he does, he will be ready. This is Alabama! You don't show up and start. You wait your turn. Some of our best talent is sitting on the sidelines. Ask the players who has the most natural ability. He rarely sees the field, and it's not a QB. Saban just is not going to play you until you can put it ALL together. Period.

 

[jaycoach]

I wouldnt switch QB's but I would tell Greg to take more shots at the big play... That is the one thing I think AJ does better. It is also why he throws more picks

 

[Nate]

Seriously, this whole doom and gloom crap is old. Since 2008 we have lost 3 games only one has been regular season. We've won a NC, and are STILL on track to have a chance at playing for it again, and have the talent to be in the mix again NEXT year. My GOD HOW HORRIBLE IS THAT???

Does anyone really think they know Greg McElroy as a QB better than Coach Saban or McElwain? Yes McElroy should be taking more shots down field YES, I'm sure this will be addressed.

THIS IS NOT THE SHULA ERA ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

I wonder how much the sack that caused the fumble scared McElroy from throwing it away. Maybe he had a fear that somebody was behind him at all times & therefore didn't want to attempt the throw...not justifying it,just a thought. </br> McElroy's strength has been low turnover's & he tends to be a very controlled QB. Typically there is some form of straight up logic to his execution. Not always but most of the time. He tries not to get the team beat; which is how he is coached, I think. That being said it can be his biggest weakness. Him holding on to the ball so much last saturday was dumbfounding. Those sacks totally set the tempo of play calling, either pass or run. Long pass plays were called; they were defended well, McElroy new it but rarely ran for distance or threw it away. I have faith enough in the kid to get back out there & do it. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

 

[jaycoach]

Dude... why the anger? I dont think anybody is ready to right us off. I know the coaches know a lot more than any of us, they see them. Just because we are discussing it doesnt mean we don't have faith in the coaches or players...

 

[joeman546]

With the struggles our defense is having at times. I really believe we would be more effective in the future weeks taking more chances down field. We have become so concerned with not throwing pics that we never let the recievers try to win a one on one match up down field. This would be even more effective with the play action game. We dont do a good job with our fakes. Gonna need more points in the weeks to come... jmo. Just need to tell Greg to take a chance one on one. What you guys think?
​

I agree with throwing downfield more, I dont agree with needing a new QB to do that(to those praising the backup). Greg led the nation in deepball pass efficiency last year i believe, he just needs to get back to taking shots. AJ has a better arm, but it isnt as though gmac has a noodle arm.
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[BamaDelta]

I'm sure I'm overreacting, but we were told the strength of our team would be our offense. We were told the goal would be to be more explosive. We were led to believe certain players would get more touches in order to increase our productivity on offense. No, it's not doom and gloom but I can guarantee you Coach Saban would still like our offense to be more explosive than it was Sat. We scored 21 points Sat. as we all know. We had a chance at much more. Missed opportunities and poor execution. In the Florida game the offense scored 24 with one of those TD's set up by an int. in the red zone.

We put the pedal to the medal at Duke and vs. San Jose State but struggled against maybe a not-so-good D in Penn State. 24 points vs. this year's Penn State team is looking worse and worse now. I don't know about Arkansas' D (guess we'll know more after AU game), but we had a short field or two there as well. There are issues on offense. I don't know why; the playmakers are there. In the past it wasn't such a big deal because we had the D. This year it is a big deal. We have to find a way to score more points period. Terry mentioned that before the Florida game we were working on all kinds of packages out of wildcat, bobcat, whatever. I argued that we didn't need to get fancy but just stick to basics. Now I don't know. Have we ever even started with basics? I really have to think about it. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we are way too predictable and way too conservative.

No, it's not the Mike Shula days but our red zone issues are being exposed and we're not imposing our will on offense. For the time being (and hopefully it will only be one week) that isn't exactly the way Saban teams are usually defined.

 

[psychojoe]

It is our running game that evryone fears, and SC loaded the box and dared us to go down the field with the passing game. In essence, they decided to put the game in G Mac's hands. Their secondary is the strength of their defense, and they locked up in tight coverage, daring us to go down the field. Except for a couple of shots we didn't accept the dare.

But IMO the offense didn't lose tha game. SC put 35 on us. We let a QB (Garcia) who has a reputation for getting flustered under pressure just sit in the pocket and pick out which of his big receivers he'd go to.

Another issue on defense that I wondered about, is SC broke the huddle and came to the line of scrimmage, then Garcia looked to Spurrier, who changed the call based on the coverage he saw. I know that last year's more experienced defense changed its calls late, and I wonder if its because there was no Rolando back there to make that kind of switch.

 

[AlabamaAubKiller]

Same old song and dance here.....
Anything goes wrong with the kicking Blame the QB.
Anything goes wrong inthe running game....blame the QB.
Anything Goes Wrong on the Def.....Blame the QB.
Line backers can't tackle thier way out of a wet paper sack....blame the QB.
Secondary can't pass cover your grand mother.....blame the QB.
Left Tackle gets a hang nail.....blame the QB.
Truck driver locks him self out of the equipment truck....Well that MUST be all McElroy's fault.
You don'r replace a 5th yr Sr. QB after 1 loss.....
Sorry i'm moving on. nothing to see here.

I'm not saying...i'm just sayin'.

 

[reger60]

It is our running game that evryone fears, and SC loaded the box and dared us to go down the field with the passing game. In essence, they decided to put the game in G Mac's hands. Their secondary is the strength of their defense, and they locked up in tight coverage, daring us to go down the field. Except for a couple of shots we didn't accept the dare.

But IMO the offense didn't lose tha game. SC put 35 on us. We let a QB (Garcia) who has a reputation for getting flustered under pressure just sit in the pocket and pick out which of his big receivers he'd go to.

Another issue on defense that I wondered about, is SC broke the huddle and came to the line of scrimmage, then Garcia looked to Spurrier, who changed the call based on the coverage he saw. I know that last year's more experienced defense changed its calls late, and I wonder if its because there was no Rolando back there to make that kind of switch.

I'm with Joe here. If the defense had done the job, the offense would have been in a better position to play to their strengths. Bama's offensive game plan at 0-0 has a much better chance of success than the the down-by-three-scores game plan. As bad as we want it to be, the vertical game is simply not our strength. With a three-score lead, opposing defenses can be more daring. putting us way out of our comfort zone.

Having said that, I honestly had a bad feeling when our first drive stalled and we had to settle for a field goal.

 

[bamadezz]

But IMO the offense didn't lose tha game. SC put 35 on us. We let a QB (Garcia) who has a reputation for getting flustered under pressure just sit in the pocket and pick out which of his big receivers he'd go to.

Agreed. I kept waiting for our defense to get in Garcia's head and it never did. The dude had all day to stand there and wait. Garcia had the game of his life and it's due in part to our defense not touching him or at least forcing him to hurry.

That said, Greg made some horrible decisions this past Saturday, but I still think he's the wisest choice for starting QB right now.

 

[GivinEmTheBusiness]

It's time to see what AJ can do.

I also agree it's time to forget about winning this season & prepare AJ for next year. :lance:

 

['65 Cobra]

Hello? Did anybody watch that game? We're talking about dumping our QB when our Defense got scortched for 45 points?!?! Look GMac has his faults, but he is not our biggest weak spot right now. We need Marcel and/or Dont'a to step up and take leadership responsibility on the field and give our young guys some guidance. We need our defensive coordinator to turn our young athletes loose and let them play instead of the conservative hand-cuffs trying to "prevent" mistakes. Pre-vent only pre-vents us from winning! And, lastly, on offense we need to get more creative and aggressive about getting the ball in the hands of play-makers; quicker tempo, faster developing plays - boom, boom, boom. Again, it's time to drop the conservative, let's-not-make-any-mistakes, playcalling and let these guys play some ball. Play to win, don't play not to lose!!

 

[TideAlum05]

I definitely don't want Greg to sit. Everyone's built AJ up, but he's done nothing in a real game. We lost one freaking game and the main reason why we lost was because our defense stunk. Also, keep in mind that Garcia had the game of his life.

I hate our entire passing philosphy. Throw the ball down the field some. Hell, in 2008 with JPW, Julio's favorite was the 15-20 yd square in. What happened to that? Tell Greg to throw the ball up to Julio and let him make plays. We have one of the best WRs in the country and he's catching screens and 5 yd outs. When Julio is 1 on 1 downfield, THROW IT UP. And why do we have no quick slant plays for 3rd and 4-6 situations. Greg holds on to the ball a long time, but almost all of our pass plays are slow developing.

I just don't see how anyone could blame that loss on Greg. The defense and coaching are why we lost.

 

[joeman546]

I definitely don't want Greg to sit. Everyone's built AJ up, but he's done nothing in a real game. We lost one freaking game and the main reason why we lost was because our defense stunk. Also, keep in mind that Garcia had the game of his life.

I hate our entire passing philosphy. Throw the ball down the field some. Hell, in 2008 with JPW, Julio's favorite was the 15-20 yd square in. What happened to that? Tell Greg to throw the ball up to Julio and let him make plays. We have one of the best WRs in the country and he's catching screens and 5 yd outs. When Julio is 1 on 1 downfield, THROW IT UP. And why do we have no quick slant plays for 3rd and 4-6 situations. Greg holds on to the ball a long time, but almost all of our pass plays are slow developing.

I just don't see how anyone could blame that loss on Greg. The defense and coaching are why we lost.
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Want to add to this, in the second half against florida the ball was thrown past the los ONCE, and that was a curl julio dropped.

I wouldnt be against gmac taking appropriate chances with our receivers, Maze and possibly hanks have some NFL ability, so if even if its not the best throw, have faith that the player can beat his man. That said, wee definatly lost because of the D, but we have little reason not to be able to march down the field with our offense.
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[BAMAFSTBACK]

I also agree it's time to forget about winning this season & prepare AJ for next year. :lance:

They did that last year while he redshirted. I think he's a better QB. It's my opinion. You don't have to like it.