🏈 Would you rather have a bend, but don't break, defense or one that's just...well, broken?

[TerryP]

"If it wasn't for the snap going over Trickett's head..."

How many times have you read that (or have said that) over the last two days? It's labeled as a mistake by West Virginia; some going as far as to call it a lucky break for the Tide.

What's missed in those statements is what actually happened on the field. We saw a WVU offensive line with gaps larger than a traditional, run-first offense. We also saw a linebacker on a blitz hitting the A gap on the offensive line. WVU's center, thinking about blocking that blitzing linebacker, didn't focus on his first assignment of snapping the ball correctly and ended up making a huge mistake.

So, is that just a lucky break? Or, is that the perfect defensive call from the Alabama staff that forced a mistake?

We see wide receivers drop passes and those are often called lucky breaks. Then again, if the receiver is concentrating on where the defensive player is in relation to the end zone is it a lucky break?

Define it anyway you would like. Everyone has opinions and I've often said there aren't right or wrong opinions, just good and bad opinions.

We leave Saturday's game with one thing to look back on. The Tide defense allowed one touchdown. We saw a defense bend, but only break to the point of resulting in points one time.

Clemson's defense, specifically their line, was considered to be one of the best in college football in the pre-season. That defense broke Saturday.

Florida State, another defense considered one of the nations best, broke several times last Saturday but the 'Noles squeaked out a win.

Thinking about last year has led me on this small rant...

Against Ole Miss, the LSU defense broke and allowed the Black Bears to put points on the board. Their offense couldn't muster much behind Mettenbergers three INT's.

Against A&M, the Bama defense broke and allowed the Aggies to put points on the board. The Tide offense did more than muster points, it racked them up.

The rules on the time clock have changed: it's changed the game. Has there been an effect on your views on defense? Should there be?

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

What rules to the time clock are you referring?

 

[jdpas29]

When a player gets beat on a route I don't get very irritated. When a player is completely out of position and looks lost on a play it really gets me.... Its kinda like the difference in making a volcano for your 5th grade science project which is lame enough compared to not making a volcano at all and saying your dog ate it.

 

[jdpas29]

But in general I like a defense that stiffens in the red zone. I also want to see the linemen be a bit more difficult to handle. Maybe with depriest being back it will tighten up a bit.

 

[TerryP]

What rules to the time clock are you referring?

The move back in 2008 to the 40/25 rule versus the 25 second rule.

If you google with the key words "college football 40/25 second rule" I'm betting you'll find a plethora of articles talking about how that change is going to benefit offenses by giving another advantage to those running a hurry-up style. I recall Rodgers Redding, who was the SEC coordinator of officials back then, making comments about how that change was going to be a benefit that offenses had never seen before.

I'd look it up myself...back and forth today from PC and phone.

If someone gets the time, look up that on google.

 

[rick4bama]

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/NCAANewsArc...aster+play+result+-+10-08-08+-+ncaa+news.html

Football rules changes succeed; shorter games, faster play result
Here one for the NCAA site from 2008

 

[bamafan4ever]

I don't know who would have selected "broken defense" but maybe you were just being rhetorical. We had two guys that got their first start at MLB and Will. Tre coming back will help but maybe WVU is just better this year than last. We won't know until the season plays out but Holgerson is a good offensive coach. I am not sweating it yet.

 

[bamaledge]

I'll put my 2cents in. How about the obvious drop by Christion Jones that was a sure TD? Now that was some West Virginia luck. Yeah, I said a lot of BS, but I do that when we don't seem to play so well. I could probably, maybe not have so high expectations but that's what some people want. They want to give every kid a ribbon for just participating. BS, Its ok to have lofty goals but people and players make mistakes. Learn from them and keep moving forward and that's exactly what I think this team will do. Keep practicing and keep improving and this team may just be the best. ROLL TIDE.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Holy crap, I had been wondering this for the longest time. And it drove me insane as to not understanding the consistency of the out of bounds rule. Now I understand & it does make sense.

I wonder though if it really helps the HUNH b/c so much of it is based on pass efficiency & not being able to save clock time to get more plays in, I thought would be the advantage of the HUNH.

For a team like 'Bama, ball control is vital & since the sideline works in favor of running the clock out, therefore less plays, I could see how it would be to our advantage

I am sure it is all a matter of perspective.

 

[ElephantStomp]

When a WVU player is wide open and drops a pass that has nothing to do with Alabama's defense.

I might sound like a negative nanny, but there seems to be a bunch of pumping sunshine in relation to our play. That version of our defense (missing the players we were missing) wasn't very good, but I am curious to see how we play with those players back, but the next two weeks won't really show us anything

 

[planomateo]

When a WVU player is wide open and drops a pass that has nothing to do with Alabama's defense.

I might sound like a negative nanny, but there seems to be a bunch of pumping sunshine in relation to our play. That version of our defense (missing the players we were missing) wasn't very good, but I am curious to see how we play with those players back, but the next two weeks won't really show us anything

I don't think its sunshine pumping, I think its being realistic and more importantly realizing that its the first game of the season. The defense was missing a few key players and they were looking to the sideline alot during the game. I'm holding some of my criticism for a few games, I'd rather have some time to create a solid opinion over the next few weeks than judge things to quickly (or overreact).

 

[RollllTide!]

I don't think its sunshine pumping, I think its being realistic and more importantly realizing that its the first game of the season. The defense was missing a few key players and they were looking to the sideline alot during the game. I'm holding some of my criticism for a few games, I'd rather have some time to create a solid opinion over the next few weeks than judge things to quickly (or overreact).

What he said

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

And they are coachable. I truly thought there was in improvement on defense after half time. Using CNS words, "they were playing soft" & it did pick up afterwards. Sometimes young players just have to be reminded.

 

[TerryP]

When a WVU player is wide open and drops a pass that has nothing to do with Alabama's defense.

I might sound like a negative nanny, but there seems to be a bunch of pumping sunshine in relation to our play. That version of our defense (missing the players we were missing) wasn't very good, but I am curious to see how we play with those players back, but the next two weeks won't really show us anything

Look at your TV schedule and find a time where you can record the game. Watch it again. There were guys open, within coverage. More often than not there was a safety within striking distance—literally. You can't tell me that receivers aren't aware enough to know where they are about to get hit.

Hell, even Christion Jones knew that defender was creeping up on him and he needed to catch that pass and turn quickly. He forgot about one preceding the other.

It's overlooked, in my opinion. It's somewhat akin to people thinking an offense can't stretch a defense without completing long passes. A few attempts, even unsuccessful attempts, will cause corners and safeties to play further off...

 

[ElephantStomp]

Look at your TV schedule and find a time where you can record the game. Watch it again. There were guys open, within coverage. More often than not there was a safety within striking distance—literally. You can't tell me that receivers aren't aware enough to know where they are about to get hit.

Hell, even Christion Jones knew that defender was creeping up on him and he needed to catch that pass and turn quickly. He forgot about one preceding the other.

It's overlooked, in my opinion. It's somewhat akin to people thinking an offense can't stretch a defense without completing long passes. A few attempts, even unsuccessful attempts, will cause corners and safeties to play further off...

There were people within striking distance I'll give you that, but there were at least a few times where the WRs just plain dropped them for no reason.

 

[JoshB]

Here's some interesting things to look at.

Everyone always talks about "halftime adjustments." In the second half WVU had 177 total yards, 6 points, and their last three drives (when they NEEDED drives) went 3 plays for 5 yards (punt), 3 plays for 3 yards (punt), and 5 plays for 18 yards (downs) and the first of those three and outs was after the Sims pick in great field position.

I've always felt that the best way to combat a fast paced offense is with a slow, methodical, pounding offense and I really think that ended up being the difference in the game especially with the way the defense struggled in the first half. WVU even abandoned the hurry up at one point after Henry and Yeldon began just wearing that defense the hell out. They didnt do that because the coaches for WVU are stupid, they did it because they HAD TO. They knew that if they did not give their defense a breather things were gonna get ugly. That played right into Saban and Smart's hands.

So again going back to some folks that whined that Drake didnt get the ball as much as they wanted in this game. Who do you think needs the ball in their hands to do what I just described? The more shifty, outside runner in Drake or the two wrecking ball monsters that are going to kill a defense?

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I just don't get the "we got lucky" descriptor.

Dropped passes and missed tackles are a direct result of coaching and recruiting. Recruit a kid athletic enough to get open and catch, and drill him to get the route advantage and the sure catch. Recruit a kid fast enough to be in position to make a play, then coach him to be in position and not leave his feet attempting a tackle.

Alabama has benefited from other teams' lack of execution, lack of athleticism and lack of preparation since Coach Saban's second year here. Go to his third year and you can add other teams' lack of depth to that advantage. It's not luck that other teams miss tackles and we make ours, or that we catch more passes than other teams. When we run up against a pass happy team that drills well, we get a lesser, or no, advantage due to their execution in that phase (see Utah 2008, et al).

RTR,

Tim

 

[TerryP]

I don't know why this thread crossed my mind tonight other than the obvious...and the thread Bamabww posted this afternoon.

Auburn had 14 drives yesterday with eight resulting in scores, four of the eight field goals. Their last touchdown counted, no doubt, but the game was out of reach at that point. Hell, even Gus knew it or he'd have been burning timeouts.

So, in essence, we saw a defense that bent 10 times, broke four? (Or three depending on how you choose to view the game.)

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Four-word phrase, once foreign to Crimson Tide, represents the evolving nature of Alabama...

A few years ago, the phrase was foreign at Alabama. It took four games for the 2011 defense to allow 630 yards.

Auburn did it in one night, though the Crimson Tide still won the shootout-version of the Iron Bowl, 55-44. How? With those four words, safety Nick Perry used this term to describe the Alabama defense on Monday.

"Bend," he said, "but don't break."

It's the best way to characterize the way this group, especially in the red zone. Auburn penetrated the 20-yard line eight times Saturday night, but scored touchdowns on just two of the trips. It continues a season-long trend for the Tide defense.

Though it ranks seventh in the 14-team SEC in red-zone defense, but that only counts the percentage of scores inside the 20. The Tide allows points 81.1 percent of the time, but touchdowns came just 37.8 of red-zone trips. Only two teams have lower touchdown percentages as Mississippi State and Ole Miss checked in at 37.5 percent.

It'll face the SEC's best red-zone offense in the league title game at 3 p.m. Saturday. Missouri is scoring 92.1 percent of the time with touchdowns on 66 percent of those occasions.

The Tide's been especially stingy in big games recently. Then-No. 1 Mississippi State scored touchdowns on just two of six red-zone trips two weeks ago. A week before that, LSU was 1-for-3. Ole Miss, the only team to beat Alabama, scored touchdowns on two of the three trips inside the 20.

But, overall, there are more opportunities for Alabama opponents.

For the sake of comparison, the 2011 and 2012 Alabama defenses allowed just 29 red-zone trips in 13 and 14 games, respectively. Last year, that number was down to 25. The 2014 Alabama opponents have been there 37 times through 12 games, but Perry wasn't worried about those trends after the Iron Bowl.

"There's some things you can't control," he said. "If they get it down there, you just have to bend but don't break, and just can't let them in the end zone, and I think that saved the game for us."

The run defense is especially stout when it's backed up with little room to operate. Auburn's Corey Grant scored only the third rushing touchdown Alabama's allowed all season in the closing minute of the Iron Bowl.

Defensive end Jonathan Allen really perked up when asked about defending near the goal-line. He said the play-calling is simplified as they take a more "physical mentality."

"It's big boy football inside the red zone, but I feel like we stepped up and manned up inside the red zone so I'm really happy with how we played in the red zone," he said.

Though they would rather avoid the big plays that put Auburn in the red zone Saturday, coach Nick Saban said they were adequately prepared for these scenarios. Significant practice time is dedicated to stopping teams deep in Alabama territory.

"You get a little bit hard to score on even if people move the ball on you," Saban said. "That's obviously what we want to be on defense, and that's hard to score on. So we spend a lot of time in the red zone. Players understand how we adapt and change things in the red zone. And they competed well down there. Hopefully, that's something we'll continue to be able to do. It all comes down to execution."

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