I was very pleased to see the coaches put in a LOT of younger guys to get experience last night. McCarron got a lot of game-speed experience which should really pay dividends down the line for Alabama. Over the past few years Alabama's back-up QB has only seen time in games where the outcome was well in hand and still only got a few snaps before the clock ran out. Last night # 10 played a good part of the 2nd quarter and what seemed like most of the 2nd half. With this being McElroy's last season at Alabama, I'm glad to see the guy who appears to be our next starter getting this much experience.
Ingram's absence figured to not affect us badly, and it didn't. We have a group of running backs that most coaches dream about. Richardson could start on any team in the nation and be a star. Lacey isn't quite as ready as Richardson but once he got some snaps he really seemed to adjust and really started making some plays. If Those two guys were the starter and backup respectively, we would still have a running back position to be feared by any team in the nation. Goode came in late in the game and was able to contribute well. So, we have 4 running backs at Alabama that can share the load and give opposing defenses things to alter their sleep habits all season.
On defense, Hightower showed a lot of promise. He had a couple of penalties that will probably not happen later in the season. I don't know if its just that he needs to grow into the defensive leader position a little bit more, or maybe just a lot of aggression that he's got inside trying to burst out from having to sit out so much of a championship season. Either way, I think its probably not anything indicative of a lack of leadership. I personally feel that he'll end up being a very effective leader on defense.
I think our secondary did a fantastic job. SJSU is known as a passing team. They didn't find a tremendous amount of success passing in the flat. There were several near interceptions showing our DB's and company were in the right position to make plays. The only really sustainable success that SJSU could muster on offense seemed to be with screen passing and misdirection by trying to make Alabama's speed on defense work against us with over pursuit. This will give Saban and co. lots of things to work on and keep our guys heads on right. That being said, our young and inexperienced (as far as games started) defense did a great job. I look to the next few weeks to see if the game experience they have is going to translate into success against some much more imposing threats like Penn State, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina coming up. Duke may have a trick or two for us as well, but who knows.
Roll Tide :a:
Ingram's absence figured to not affect us badly, and it didn't. We have a group of running backs that most coaches dream about. Richardson could start on any team in the nation and be a star. Lacey isn't quite as ready as Richardson but once he got some snaps he really seemed to adjust and really started making some plays. If Those two guys were the starter and backup respectively, we would still have a running back position to be feared by any team in the nation. Goode came in late in the game and was able to contribute well. So, we have 4 running backs at Alabama that can share the load and give opposing defenses things to alter their sleep habits all season.
On defense, Hightower showed a lot of promise. He had a couple of penalties that will probably not happen later in the season. I don't know if its just that he needs to grow into the defensive leader position a little bit more, or maybe just a lot of aggression that he's got inside trying to burst out from having to sit out so much of a championship season. Either way, I think its probably not anything indicative of a lack of leadership. I personally feel that he'll end up being a very effective leader on defense.
I think our secondary did a fantastic job. SJSU is known as a passing team. They didn't find a tremendous amount of success passing in the flat. There were several near interceptions showing our DB's and company were in the right position to make plays. The only really sustainable success that SJSU could muster on offense seemed to be with screen passing and misdirection by trying to make Alabama's speed on defense work against us with over pursuit. This will give Saban and co. lots of things to work on and keep our guys heads on right. That being said, our young and inexperienced (as far as games started) defense did a great job. I look to the next few weeks to see if the game experience they have is going to translate into success against some much more imposing threats like Penn State, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina coming up. Duke may have a trick or two for us as well, but who knows.
Roll Tide :a:
