shipley00
Member
When August rolled around (no pun intended), the evaluation by all the media and fans were that Alabama would have an improved offensive line, and our front seven would be suspect due to lack of talent and lack of depth. Alabama started the season as underdogs to Arkansas and Georgia. Now that we are three games into the season...
1. Some expect our OL to dominate: I, for one, am very please with the OL. Our OL has improved dramatically, but when you were 10th best in the SEC the year before, Improving to 6th is a huge improvement. I still don't see our OL as better than 5th or 6th, but I'm thrilled with what he have. We are lightyears ahead of last season.
2. Our front 7 was predicted to be middle to mid-low in the SEC rankings: This was BEFORE we lost our starting (freshman) Nose tackle and before we lost our staring middle LB (Mustin) for a game. Throw in a true Freshman MLB who is also the signal caller (how scary is that?) and I think our defense has played well. We were expected to be weak against the run, and we are, especially without Motley. As good as Rolando is, he's an 18 year old kid who was playing basketball 6 months ago. He will improve as the season goes on. We should get Motley back in late October. I defense should improve as the season goes on. That's an improvement over recent years.
3. Our passing game was suppose to be a major strength and it's not. We are in a new system... again. While we can't seem to connect on long passes ( :evil: ) we are throwing the ball away rather than take sacks or get hit with holding penalties.
The one thing I can't figure out is why JPW can not throw the screen pass to the right. To my knowledge we've completed two screen passes the entire year to the right. One was intercepted and another one should have. One of the two completions was due to the athletic effort of TG. If you can't complete a simple screen, it's hard to keep the defense honest.
For some reason, the Alabama QB, can not pick up on defensive miscues (the Upchurch being uncovered for several seconds post earlier), defenses seriously tipping their hand on an all out blitz. I just have to have faith that CMA and CNS can and will correct that.
4. Did anyone notice that our defense pounced on a loose ball instead of trying to pick it up and run with it?
Bottom line, were better off than I though we would be, but have a long way to go. We are, however, in my opinion, improving week to week.
Roll Tide!!!
1. Some expect our OL to dominate: I, for one, am very please with the OL. Our OL has improved dramatically, but when you were 10th best in the SEC the year before, Improving to 6th is a huge improvement. I still don't see our OL as better than 5th or 6th, but I'm thrilled with what he have. We are lightyears ahead of last season.
2. Our front 7 was predicted to be middle to mid-low in the SEC rankings: This was BEFORE we lost our starting (freshman) Nose tackle and before we lost our staring middle LB (Mustin) for a game. Throw in a true Freshman MLB who is also the signal caller (how scary is that?) and I think our defense has played well. We were expected to be weak against the run, and we are, especially without Motley. As good as Rolando is, he's an 18 year old kid who was playing basketball 6 months ago. He will improve as the season goes on. We should get Motley back in late October. I defense should improve as the season goes on. That's an improvement over recent years.
3. Our passing game was suppose to be a major strength and it's not. We are in a new system... again. While we can't seem to connect on long passes ( :evil: ) we are throwing the ball away rather than take sacks or get hit with holding penalties.
The one thing I can't figure out is why JPW can not throw the screen pass to the right. To my knowledge we've completed two screen passes the entire year to the right. One was intercepted and another one should have. One of the two completions was due to the athletic effort of TG. If you can't complete a simple screen, it's hard to keep the defense honest.
For some reason, the Alabama QB, can not pick up on defensive miscues (the Upchurch being uncovered for several seconds post earlier), defenses seriously tipping their hand on an all out blitz. I just have to have faith that CMA and CNS can and will correct that.
4. Did anyone notice that our defense pounced on a loose ball instead of trying to pick it up and run with it?
Bottom line, were better off than I though we would be, but have a long way to go. We are, however, in my opinion, improving week to week.
Roll Tide!!!
