Good- Good plan early on offense... Leaned on the running game, quick and comfortable throws for Milroe to get into a rhythm, etc.
Average gain on 1st down today was 5.8 yards... I beat this horse to death each week, but when it's close to those numbers, Bama wins. It's that simple.
Milroe had a handful of tough plays... one of the fumbles was really bad, he just needed to tuck it and get that extra yard for a first down. The blind side hit fumble was a bit more excusable. But, overall, a really good game from him. The staff put him in winning situations. The ran him smartly, with well designed plays that took out some of the decision making. For the most part, his throws were catchable and he made the right reads. It was squeaky clean, but it was clean enough.
The first 2 drives to start the 2nd quarter were things of beauty. THAT is the potential of the offense under Milroe when they don't force things and don't hurt themselves. If Bama had taken that offense into Norman, then this season would have ended with a chance for the league title.
Jam Miller and Germie Bernard both stepped up today.
7 grabs for 92 yards. That was the stat line for Bama's 3 TE's today. Several of those were for first downs too... they came up big.
Formby and VenDeMark both played pretty well, backing up starters.
For the most part, the defense held Hunter in check... he had a couple of 20 yard runs, but that was pretty much it. Really good job of the group handling the auburn run game, especially after their showing last week in Norman.
auburn was just 4 of 12 on 3rd down.
Tim Keenan went out with a bang! Played his tail off.
Domani Jackson played really well.
Bray Hubbard just makes plays. Gonna be fun to watch him next season.
Bad- As good as the plan was early on offense, some supporting cast still had some big let downs. Pritchett was all out of sorts (a season-long theme with him). Ryan Williams fumbled on the opening possession as Bama was driving, then in the 2nd quarter he dropped what was Milroe's best long ball in weeks, which would have been a touchdown to put Bama up 14-0. Instead of the score, Milroe went on to throw an INT that killed the drive.
Ugly- 4 turnovers. auburn kinda flopped the script on Bama today and forced 4 turnovers... Bama did get 2 of their own which were nice, but if Bama holds onto a couple of those balls, the final score is likely 35-7 or so.
It's a situation that will have to be fixed in the offseason, but yet again, the tackles really put the offense and Milroe into some bad spots. Proctor because of his size and slow feet and Pritchett because he's just not that good. Both actual weight and dead weight will be shed here soon.
The double unsportsmanlike penalty on Bama... look, it should have been offsetting penalties, but that type of lack of discipline has been a staple for this team and that needs to be eradicated this offseason. You can be a tough, physical football team without acting like idiots.
Notes- While this rivalry has always been heated, we've never really seen bad blood spill over onto the field too much. Personally, I kinda like that. The trash talk by auburn players after their A&M game kinda felt like a spark that might ignite some stuff in the game, and it did. I really don't care to see this game turn into the Egg Bowl where there's fights almost every year, like we saw today. But if it does evolve into that, let history show that it was little brother who threw the first jobs, letting their mouths write some checks that their asses couldn't cash. auburn's Demarcus Riddick, specifically, looks looks like a fucking moron today. All that chatter and so little (no) impact on the game.
Personally, I'm pretty happy. I didn't care how it happened, as long as Bama won. If this Tide team was a person, they'd be a schizophrenic, bipolar. They don't handle success well. They don't handle adversity well. But today, they rebounded from the worst loss the school has suffered in many years and brought some fight. I'm happy that guys like Malachi Moore and Tyler Booker will walk away from UA having never lost to those fuckers. I'm happy Milroe went out at home on a positive note, a nice win, and a smile on his face. I'm happy that DeBoer and his staff now have a good taste of what this game and rivalry are all about. There's a lot to clean up going forward, and I'll be happy to discuss that another day, but tonight, I'm going to turn on the Bama basketball game, enjoy that win over auburn, and just be happy.