Alabama17Tide
Member
Henderson: Three Observations, They Said It, and Post Game Notes | BamaInsider.com
1. Was not a pretty game
This was Alabamaās worst game of the season. Played undisciplined, Tua was off, Alabama made some strange calls on offense to where the Crimson Tide could never quite get into a rhythm. Missouriās running backs Larry Roundtree and Tyler Badie ran for a combined 89-yards.
Looked worse than the numbers showed and Alabama only allowed 142-yards of passing from Drew Lock, who Saban has a lot of respect for.
The red-zone play calling on offense seemed off and instead of just pounding it on the ground, Alabama seemed to be forcing the pass which Missouri was in good position to defend. This was Tuaās worst night of the season, but he still managed to go 12 of 22 for 265-yards with 3 touchdowns and finished with a rating of 200.7.
2. The Good
Quick drives. Alabamaās longest scoring drive of the night lasted just 3:28. Their fastest drive was 23 seconds. Itās quite incredible how quick this team can put points on the board and it does not get better than Tua Tagovailoa to Jerry Jeudy, that IMO is the most dangerous connection in all of college football.
Though the running backs ran hard. Damien Harris ran for 14 carries for 62-yards, Najee Harris ran for 63-yards, and Josh Jacobs ran for 54-yards. Each looked explosive at times and while Iād like to see a little less dancing from Josh Jacobs, he is still very effective at making people miss. I think we all saw a lot of improvement from Jalen Hurts tonight.
He had some very good deep ball passes that were right on the money, his longest was 44-yards, and he hit on another for 29-yards-yards, in all Hurts was 7 of 8 passing for 115-yards. The play of Savion Smith was much improved and he recorded two more interceptions on the season. Quinnen Williams continues to play lights out as does Isaiah Buggs who recorded his seventh sack of the season. Raekwon Davis played better, but also played undisciplined.
3. Punting is awful
My goodness. DeLong punted one time tonight for 12-yards.
They Said It
Nick Saban
āWe did get some guys knocked up. Tua (Tagovailoa) could have gone back in the game. He wanted to go back in the game, but I didnāt think it was worth putting him back in. He sort of tweaked his knee a little bit, the same one he tweaked last week. We donāt think thereās any issues or problems with it. DeVonta Smith pulled a muscle, so heās going to be day-to-day and probably would be the most questionable guy that we have. The other guys twisted ankles and bruised shoulders, and they may miss a day of practice, but I donāt think it will be an issue for the next game.ā
#47 Christian Miller, LB
On how it felt to play so well on defense against good offense:
āI was happy with the way we played. There are still a couple of things we couldāve done a little bit better, but overall we came out and held down to our goal and limited their points. They had a high-powered offense, and we got a chance to show what we can do against a first-round draft pick (in Missouri quarterback Drew Lock). It was a good effort from our defense.ā
#8 Josh Jacobs, RB
On playing a role on special teams and offense:
āItās definitely a lot of fun to be out there and just show my versatility. I just try to go out there and execute everything they ask me to do.ā
Missouri Head Coach Barry Odom
Opening statement
āThere are things we talked throughout the week on, having this opportunity to, in this environment, to play the best team in the country. We needed the turnover margin to be in our favor. We needed to eliminate explosive plays when our defense was out on the field, and obviously we didn't start that way.
1. Was not a pretty game
This was Alabamaās worst game of the season. Played undisciplined, Tua was off, Alabama made some strange calls on offense to where the Crimson Tide could never quite get into a rhythm. Missouriās running backs Larry Roundtree and Tyler Badie ran for a combined 89-yards.
Looked worse than the numbers showed and Alabama only allowed 142-yards of passing from Drew Lock, who Saban has a lot of respect for.
The red-zone play calling on offense seemed off and instead of just pounding it on the ground, Alabama seemed to be forcing the pass which Missouri was in good position to defend. This was Tuaās worst night of the season, but he still managed to go 12 of 22 for 265-yards with 3 touchdowns and finished with a rating of 200.7.
2. The Good
Quick drives. Alabamaās longest scoring drive of the night lasted just 3:28. Their fastest drive was 23 seconds. Itās quite incredible how quick this team can put points on the board and it does not get better than Tua Tagovailoa to Jerry Jeudy, that IMO is the most dangerous connection in all of college football.
Though the running backs ran hard. Damien Harris ran for 14 carries for 62-yards, Najee Harris ran for 63-yards, and Josh Jacobs ran for 54-yards. Each looked explosive at times and while Iād like to see a little less dancing from Josh Jacobs, he is still very effective at making people miss. I think we all saw a lot of improvement from Jalen Hurts tonight.
He had some very good deep ball passes that were right on the money, his longest was 44-yards, and he hit on another for 29-yards-yards, in all Hurts was 7 of 8 passing for 115-yards. The play of Savion Smith was much improved and he recorded two more interceptions on the season. Quinnen Williams continues to play lights out as does Isaiah Buggs who recorded his seventh sack of the season. Raekwon Davis played better, but also played undisciplined.
3. Punting is awful
My goodness. DeLong punted one time tonight for 12-yards.
They Said It
Nick Saban
āWe did get some guys knocked up. Tua (Tagovailoa) could have gone back in the game. He wanted to go back in the game, but I didnāt think it was worth putting him back in. He sort of tweaked his knee a little bit, the same one he tweaked last week. We donāt think thereās any issues or problems with it. DeVonta Smith pulled a muscle, so heās going to be day-to-day and probably would be the most questionable guy that we have. The other guys twisted ankles and bruised shoulders, and they may miss a day of practice, but I donāt think it will be an issue for the next game.ā
#47 Christian Miller, LB
On how it felt to play so well on defense against good offense:
āI was happy with the way we played. There are still a couple of things we couldāve done a little bit better, but overall we came out and held down to our goal and limited their points. They had a high-powered offense, and we got a chance to show what we can do against a first-round draft pick (in Missouri quarterback Drew Lock). It was a good effort from our defense.ā
#8 Josh Jacobs, RB
On playing a role on special teams and offense:
āItās definitely a lot of fun to be out there and just show my versatility. I just try to go out there and execute everything they ask me to do.ā
Missouri Head Coach Barry Odom
Opening statement
āThere are things we talked throughout the week on, having this opportunity to, in this environment, to play the best team in the country. We needed the turnover margin to be in our favor. We needed to eliminate explosive plays when our defense was out on the field, and obviously we didn't start that way.
