🏈 This Bama team...

jdpas29

jdpas29

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first off... let me say that i think this Bama team is very good. the defensive backs are playing lights out and have closing speed that is second to none in college football. we have 2 running backs that could start anywhere. Apparently we grow great receivers at Bama now. We have a good QB in AJ and a budding one in PS. We have the best group of linebackers possibly to ever take the field for Alabama.

but i don't think this is a national champ team.

here's why...

our first string o-line was having a difficult time making holes for TR against Kent St... yes i know kent state supposedly had a great rush defense last year but, come on, it's kent state. i never played football so i don't know about all the reasons why you could be stellar at pass blocking but have difficulty run-blocking. our O-line was lights out blocking for the pass, but didn't make many seams for the RB between the tackles. i guess this could change later but i'm not so sure.

our D-line is rarely getting to the QB. blitzes that were dialed up did. it's similar to what was required last year to get good pressure we had to bring CBs or LBs. i had high hopes for the D-Line, but if my hopes were to be realized, they should have been eating the kent state QBs lunch repeatedly but instead they were getting blocked.

Our skill positions are fantastic, but both lines of scrim looked not completely national champ on saturday. i hope i'm wrong.

after the games on saturday, LSu looks like more of a BCS contender. I think they may be our only loss this year if we can get past arky.
 
i'm not freaking out. Bama's going to have a great season. i will have to see better from the LOS to think that we're going to be kissing a crystal football in a few months though. nobody get mad.

it might be different and we had a vet QB who could obviously carry the team passing because the pass blocking looks great. of course penn st. and arky will also be better tests of that.
 
I'll agree that we did not look great, but that is completely irrelevant to the National Title hunt.

Had Saturday been the Title game, than we would have been in trouble. Every player on will get better, every game, so the driving consideration in an assessment of this type is Potential Realized.

We are #2 because we have more potential than every other team other than Oklahoma, in the eyes of the voters. Writing off the season either means that a consensus #2 was wrongly assessed by everyone, or it means that Coach Saban and his staff are incapable of improving his team.

Consider a list of issues that we won with, all of which will be resolved before long:
QB on pace to throw 52 interception pace for the year (an NCAA record I think)
Missing All-American RG (B. Jones), cause he was LT.
LT (C. Kouanjou sp?) taking snaps in his first college game.
No Quarterback given time to play even an entire half.
2 WRs out (Hanks, Carter)
2nd & 3rd String RBs in 'cause 1st stringer Heisman caliber has 3 TDs despite 37 yards. (Does anyone NOT think that TR would not have broken off some long runs late in the game?)

The offense will get better, so will the Defense. And in a long season, we certainly don't have to worry about peaking too early or playing our best game in week one...something that LSU may have to deal with in 2 months.
 
I too was underwhelmed by our Line play, but the sky is not falling by any means.

Barret Jones played at LT and C.....alot. There were several guys on the O-line getting their first snaps ever in college. That is a "gel" position. Those guys have to come together and play as a unit. I am sure that before we get to the meat of the schedule that you will see more and more stability along the line and the Bama running take that you expect to see of a CNS coached team. I am sure that no one expects more out of our line than CNS.
 
This team has a lot of room for improvement, no doubt. But a lot of young, inexperienced players got valuable playing time. Also, I think it is easy for players to overlook an opponent that is widely perceived as inferior.

Alabama would really be in trouble if they had had to score two touchdowns in the last four minutes to beat Kent State, like Auburn did with Utah State. Alabama thoroughly demolished Kent State. It was never in doubt.

Remember in 2007 when Louisiana Monroe beat the Tide 21-14? If something like that had happened, we would be right to be worried. But it didn't.

We'll know a lot more about this team after they go to Happy Valley and play Joe Pa's team.
 
LBS said:
The offense will get better, so will the Defense. And in a long season, we certainly don't have to worry about peaking too early or playing our best game in week one...something that LSU may have to deal with in 2 months.
Click to expand...

This is my strongest feeling, sure we didn't play our best. BUT, you're not supposed to play your best in the first game of the season. This performance gave Saban, and the rest of our first class coaching staff plenty of ammunition, and coaching points.

The one worry that I can agree with is our OL run blocking, although I think it will improve as the season goes along. I don't quite understand people worrying about the pass rush. I felt like Upshaw/Hightower did a great job of getting to the QB or atleast putting pressure on him...which is probably why everyone is "so impressed with our DB's." I think AJ will settle in to the starting role at QB. The talent is certainly there, and one of the things that we have been spoiled with since Saban arrived that often times gets overlooked is our depth. We go through a rough schedule and we have the luxury of having depth...something not a lot of teams can claim. This will be a big advantage as the season goes on.

My attitude is: There are plenty of points to improve upon, which is how it is supposed to be after the first couple of weeks. Let's continue to improve week after week and hopefully catch a few breaks along the way and end up peaking around November, in stead of September.

Gah, I can't wait til Saturday!
 
As for the pass/run block scenario--pass blocking is MUCH easier. Run blocking requires you to clear a whole, often hitting multiple defenders. Pass blocking allows you to make use of space. You don't have to move someone, you just can't let them get by you.

You guys have a fairly young OL. It will improve. They will gel as the season progresses. Are they going to be unstoppable? Probably not this year. Cyrus will be one of the better LTs you guys have had before he leaves. You also have to remember that your best lineman is playing out of position. You guys will have a viable running attack by the end of the season but I don't think the line play is there for Trent to be a serious Heisman guy.
 
Okay, my comment on the subject, and take it with a grain of salt because I thought after the spring game that Sims would be the Tide quarterback - so I'm an idiot. I did get one prediction right in all my years of watching football. You can't tell what a team is early in the season. A dubyah is a dubyah.

My prognostication came before the 1992 season. Great defense returning. I predicted Bama to win the National Championship. Then Bama opened up against Vandy, if memory serves. Very underwhelming victory. Lots worse than yesterday's win. Then, the Tide beat Southern Miss by a touchdown I think. Southern Miss! Later, Bama beat La Tech by, I think, 13 points! La - Freakin - Tech!

Man, my team won 48 - 7 last Saturday. How did yours do? Life is good on Saturday's for me. I've been through periods of draught in my long days of rooting for the Tide. Those famines seem like they last forever. I'm stocking up during feast time. I'm going to enjoy this as long as it lasts.
 
Duder said:
As for the pass/run block scenario--pass blocking is MUCH easier. Run blocking requires you to clear a whole, often hitting multiple defenders. Pass blocking allows you to make use of space. You don't have to move someone, you just can't let them get by you.

You guys have a fairly young OL. It will improve. They will gel as the season progresses. Are they going to be unstoppable? Probably not this year. Cyrus will be one of the better LTs you guys have had before he leaves. You also have to remember that your best lineman is playing out of position. You guys will have a viable running attack by the end of the season but I don't think the line play is there for Trent to be a serious Heisman guy.
Click to expand...

TE Brad Smelley - JR.
Barrett Jons - SR
Chance Warmack - JR
William Vlachos - SR
Steen and Fluker - Sophomores with experience last year


Inexperienced line?
 
A few things I observed after watching the game for the 5th time last night. And I'm by no means picking on players or throwing anyone under the bus, I'm simply doing the same they are doing by watching film and grading players.

1. B. Jones looked much better at center than Vlachos did. I've always like Vlachos, but I noticed one thing in the game saturday. He looks like he has gained a lot of weight, and I don't think he did near as good of a job as he's done in the past.

2. C. Warmack got beat off the ball numerous times by #5. Four different times, Warmack was lying on the ground after a failed block while his man was in the backfield with arms around the running back. He was beat a lot.

2. Fluker looked good for the most part. His man did cause Sims to fumble early in the game, but to be fair, Sims stood in the pocket for what seemed like 10 seconds. There was a handful of plays to the right side where Fluker completely sealed his end making a huge hole for the running back, but the back was tripped up for no gain by Warmack's guy.

3. I was hammering Steen during the game. I blamed all the soft play up the middle on him. My reasoning was, Jones is playing left tackle so it has to be Steen getting beat in the middle. I was wrong. Alex played a good game. He did very good in the passing game and did an alright job in the running game. A few times he was pushed back, but for the most part, there wasn't much to complain about with his play. Sorry for hammering you, Steen.

4. C. Kouandjio didn't play bad at LT. I know there is a concern starting a true freshmen at LT, especially breaking in a new QB. But I believe we are going to have to take our lumps. We need Cyrus to step up and claim the LT spot so B. Jones can move back inside. That alone will help the interior line in the run game, and we need the help tremendously.

The question now is, does Barret Jones move back to a guard position or is he about to claim Vlachos' position? I have a hard time processing that a 2 year starter is about to be replaced on the offensive line, but I think it might happen. The offensive line played the best with Jones at center and Kouandjio at LT. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few weeks.
 
I re-watched the game to watch the OL and they did not look as bad as me first impression led me to believe. Now they did not create the big holes I was hoping to see on Saturday but they did not get pushed back at the line of scrimmage either. #5 Nix did beat Warmack off the ball a few times but other than that our OL pushed there DL back most of the time. In my opinion Nix could start on most SEC teams and is one of the quicker guys off the ball that we will see this season. The problem was that the OL was not getting to the KS linebackers. Also, for whatever reason TR did not look as elusive as Lacy did. Lacy was causing the first tackler to miss and he was able to get some extra yards but it looked like TR was trying to just run over them. So I am not so sure that the OL is totally to blame for TR lack of yards.

Also, the fact that the OL was being moved around contributed to a lack of continuity. It also did not help that we did not know how this Kent State defense was going to play, since they have a new coach with different schemes, factored into the lack of production. The Kent State defense is not a bad defense against the run (#4 in the country last year) as has already been mentioned. I think it will also help with consistency and continuity on the OL to have one QB leading the offense. There is not much good that comes out of a two QB system so I hope the staff can name a starter sooner rather than later.

It is only the first game of the season and it is too early to judge our OL. I think we will have a much better sense of what kind of OL we will have after the game against PSU. If Trent is kept under 50 yards this week then we are in trouble. Roll Tide!
 
Argo said:
A few things I observed after watching the game for the 5th time last night. And I'm by no means picking on players or throwing anyone under the bus, I'm simply doing the same they are doing by watching film and grading players.

1. B. Jones looked much better at center than Vlachos did. I've always like Vlachos, but I noticed one thing in the game saturday. He looks like he has gained a lot of weight, and I don't think he did near as good of a job as he's done in the past.

2. C. Warmack got beat off the ball numerous times by #5. Four different times, Warmack was lying on the ground after a failed block while his man was in the backfield with arms around the running back. He was beat a lot.

2. Fluker looked good for the most part. His man did cause Sims to fumble early in the game, but to be fair, Sims stood in the pocket for what seemed like 10 seconds. There was a handful of plays to the right side where Fluker completely sealed his end making a huge hole for the running back, but the back was tripped up for no gain by Warmack's guy.

3. I was hammering Steen during the game. I blamed all the soft play up the middle on him. My reasoning was, Jones is playing left tackle so it has to be Steen getting beat in the middle. I was wrong. Alex played a good game. He did very good in the passing game and did an alright job in the running game. A few times he was pushed back, but for the most part, there wasn't much to complain about with his play. Sorry for hammering you, Steen.

4. C. Kouandjio didn't play bad at LT. I know there is a concern starting a true freshmen at LT, especially breaking in a new QB. But I believe we are going to have to take our lumps. We need Cyrus to step up and claim the LT spot so B. Jones can move back inside. That alone will help the interior line in the run game, and we need the help tremendously.

The question now is, does Barret Jones move back to a guard position or is he about to claim Vlachos' position? I have a hard time processing that a 2 year starter is about to be replaced on the offensive line, but I think it might happen. The offensive line played the best with Jones at center and Kouandjio at LT. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the next few weeks.
Click to expand...

Excellent observations! I thought that WV had a weak year last year as well. He is supposedly very strong, but maybe it's time to look elsewhere. I know that once the O-Line settles in and gels with one another, their play should pick up. Also, CNS was playing ALOT of guys and experimenting and I'm sure that had something to do with some of the less than dominant play. It may be like this for the first few weeks. The Penn State game may be fairly close while we work all of this out. I just hope we settle in on a QB and an O-line in time for Arky and I hope Duron is starting by then. On D, we we look really good but I'd like to see Dont'a really grab hold of the leadership role on D and get the guys pumped up. Last thing; dominate and finish. In the Michigan State game we absolutely pounded the snot out of them physically. THAT's the kind of performance we need in the trenches this year.

PS - to TheChief, Barret Jones is a Junior and Brad Smelley plays the H-back TE position - hardly an O-lineman. Steen and Fluker are both sophs and both started, not to mention CK is a true freshman who had significant playing time.
 
Chances are you guys are nit picking here. OU definitely had some plays that would set off these kind of posts too. But sometimes you gotta look at the overall picture. Bama won handily. Players sometimes don't give their all when you're kicking the doo-doo out of some team, and they know there will be no come back. No worries really. No major injuries. Bama beat Kent st like they were supposed to. Now go kick joe pa to retirement please. :)
 
This team has potential to grow into a very solid unit. I can't take much from last Saturdays game however, we never had any continuity on the OL to form a solid opinion on their performance. I will give it a shot however, since it did seem as though we're more effective with Barrett on the inside and Cyrus at LT. I believe, and this is just my opinion, that we'll be a lot better with Cyrus at LT. It's not really a sink or swim deal with him, he looks solid enough to anchor the blind side from what I could tell in his limited action. You look for him to dominate inferior players ahead of him, and he did just that. There will be growing pains and we're foolish to not believe so, but Barrett Jones is much more valuable to us on the inside.

As for WR, White looked great. There were some great play calls to get him the ball, which I hope to see a lot more this year. Speaking of play calls though, it's more than obvious we were using a limited playbook of course. I wouldn't take too much from our QB's performance on a game plan that will be nothing like our future ones. We'll be grinding it out much more with better run packages and see our play action, short passing and screen game return. May not even show all those cards against Penn State honestly...
 
We Time, Talent, and Coaching. Who out there can match us?

Other than home field advantage, where is PSU better than us?
North Texas buys two weeks to improve before Arkansas.
Our Defense will keep us in it with the Hogs. So which is better, out Offense or their Defense?

At that point we are 5 weeks in with success to serve as a spring board.
 

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