🏈 Practice Report: 9/8

[TerryP]

The Tide went back to work today with a different attitude than last Monday. A week ago Bama was riding high after demolishing a top ten team, today they were getting a heavy dose of “I told you so” brutality. In the long run of the season this sluggish game against Tulane may have been the best thing for this young Alabama unit.

The injury news is all good. Not one single Tide player practiced in a black no contact jersey today. The news is not as good for Bama’s opponent as Western Kentucky will be without starting quarterback K.J. Black due to a dislocated shoulder. Taking his place will be former Notre Dame QB David Wolke - who, by the way, was recruited to play at Alabama back in 2004.

With Andre Smith (knee) back at left tackle and Marlon Davis (hamstring) back at right guard, Bama practiced with the first unit offensive line that was dominant against Clemson. Both Smith and Davis are less than 100%, but if there are no set backs, then both guys should be ready to go Saturday.

The receiver group was a bit more crowded today than they’ve been all season. Will Oakley continues to increase his role as he recovers from off season foot surgery. Earl Alexander missed the Tulane game with an injured foot as well, but he is back working with the 2nd unit behind Julio Jones. Redshirt freshman Brandon Gibson has served his two game suspension and could factor into the rotation quickly.

The focus today for the offense was on pass protection - and that was for the entire offense. The offensive line struggled to protect QB John Parker Wilson all game against Tulane, but Nick Saban indicated that the line was not to blame for three of the sacks given up Saturday night. With that in mind there was a considerable amount of time spent with the running backs working on blitz pick up. Wilson and the receivers worked on checking down to hot routes to combat the corner blitz that Tulane used effectively.

Even with the Hilltoppers missing their starting QB the defense spent time today working on stopping the spread offense. There are a variety of different looks that are encompassed with the term “spread offense” and Nick Saban has mentioned how different the WKU version is than any Bama has seen. Through two games they are averaging 176.5 in the air and 155.5 on the ground.

Despite that balance there will likely be the need for Bama to spend a lot more time in the nickel and dime defenses than we’ve seen so far this season. Marquis Johnson is coming off of two very solid games and will likely see more responsibility with the opponents’ top receivers. Kareem Jackson will still be the top guy on the outside, but Johnson is beginning to show the capability of handling those duties occasionally to give Jackson a break.

Having Arenas back is big for this unit as well. Mark Barron struggled in pass coverage considerably Saturday night and this would be a tough offense for him to learn in week three. I expect that we’ll see him get playing time as Bama is certain to face more spread offenses later in the season, but that time can now be rationed and controlled by the coaches; rather than forced by injury.

Source: BSR

 

[Guest]

nice write up, thanks

its great to see everyone healthy again. javy had me freaked out saturday. i had my binoculars looking at his legs when the trainers were around and didnt see any movement for a few seconds. good to see everyone back. :wink:

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Thanks, Terry. Good to see everyone back.

On the WKU QB situation, I don't think they lose much with Wolke in; however, if he runs with it he better have his head on a swivel. They'll have a long season without both of them.

RTR,

Tim

 

[Guest]

The Tide went back to work today with a different attitude than last Monday. A week ago Bama was riding high after demolishing a top ten team, today they were getting a heavy dose of “I told you so” brutality. In the long run of the season this sluggish game against Tulane may have been the best thing for this young Alabama unit.

I told somebody Sat night that deep down Saban was probably pleased that game went the way it did.

 

[ExiledTidefan]

That's a great point. We probably needed to have a game like Tulane to bring us back down to Earth some, as well as some over-zealous fans and media. But we still won the game, so that was a good consequence of poor play.

The more I'm thinking about the game this past Saturday night, I'm thinking that it was a positive to get them re-focused.

 

[jdpas29]

"Nick Saban indicated that the line was not to blame for three of the sacks given up Saturday night. With that in mind there was a considerable amount of time spent with the running backs working on blitz pick up. Wilson and the receivers worked on checking down to hot routes to combat the corner blitz that Tulane used effectively."

this is what i hoped to hear the most

thanks, terry

 

[bamafan4ever]

"Nick Saban indicated that the line was not to blame for three of the sacks given up Saturday night. With that in mind there was a considerable amount of time spent with the running backs working on blitz pick up. Wilson and the receivers worked on checking down to hot routes to combat the corner blitz that Tulane used effectively."

this is what i hoped to hear the most

thanks, terry

Amen!

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Thanks for the update. Good coaching is something we are not use to. Coach is addressing the problems, which by the way was stated a few times by our members and staff, that the RBs need to step up on the blocking.

 

[NTT]

Has Jarrell shown that he is learning the defense and getting ready to contribute even more. More so than that has he shown the he is eager and putting forth all of his effort?