🏈 You're Head Coach. What do you do next?

[JoshB]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

 

[MissingRing]

In this day of college football you simply have to be good at the QB position. A good QB covers a multitude of sins. Three of our five turnovers were interceptions. Days are gone where we can have a "dominating" defense, good running game and be average or worse at QB. Those days are gone. If we would have been efficient at QB last night we win that game. Despite the the Drake and Stewart turnovers. You hear it in the NFL and it is the same on the college level. It is a QB driven league. Until we get solid at the QB position we are going to struggle to win games against good teams.

I agree with this completely. A lot of people seem to think that it is a mark football sophistication to say that Alabama doesn't need a dynamic QB, but instead only a competent game manager, somebody who merely hands off the ball and throws a few screen passes. What we need right now is a QB who does more good than harm. But, in the larger scheme of things, Alabama absolutely does need an elite QB as much as any team that you care to name.

 

[We All Bleed Crimson]

Folks, we lost a mistake-prone game. We didn't lose the season. These guys showed a lot after being down late in the game more than once. There was no quit on the team - which is more than I can say for many of our fans. Bama has some issues to take care of and the coaching staff will be working on these. If there are problems, I don't think any of us need to belittle the players because i guarantee that none of those guys wanted to win less than any of us fans wanted the win.
I have even seen a post (somewhere else) where a "fan" was calling for Saban's head ... surely they were STILL drunk. The sky is NOT falling, the team is not on the verge of going winless. There is still a lot to play for this season. And... Bama is still a very good team - just how good, time will tell.
Hang in there crimson tide family, we will be OK. ROLL TIDE EVERYONE!!!

 

[BigCrimson]

I agree with this completely. A lot of people seem to think that it is a mark football sophistication to say that Alabama doesn't need a dynamic QB, but instead only a competent game manager, somebody who merely hands off the ball and throws a few screen passes. What we need right now is a QB who does more good than harm. But, in the larger scheme of things, Alabama absolutely does need an elite QB as much as any team that you care to name.

You take Chad Kelly off the Ole Miss team and all of a sudden their deficiency at RB is magnified by 100. Yet with a good QB they were able to mask it and put up over 341 yards passing. With us not having a good functional QB it puts so much pressure on us to be perfect in other areas. Put a good dynamic QB behind center and I promise you this offense would light up every defense we faced without any problems.

 

[psychojoe]

I think you step in and tell Kiffin to feed Henry more and to get Drake the ball in space. Neither have been stopped, so why not get them the ball?

You can't really work on not fumbling, as you can only show a guy how to hold the ball. The only thing g I would teach our defensive backs is to not bite and allow the scraping backers make a play. Humphrey doesn't bite and sticks with the receiver, we give up a first down, not six points.

Humphrey came up to play the run because he saw OM offensive linemen down field. I am sure he is coached to play run when he sees that. Refer to Cyrus Jones two years ago against Auburn on an essentially identical play, including the OL being downfield. I hope Nick gives the SEC office a real earful this week about enforcing the rule as it exists.

 

[psychojoe]

You take Chad Kelly off the Ole Miss team and all of a sudden their deficiency at RB is magnified by 100. Yet with a good QB they were able to mask it and put up over 341 yards passing. With us not having a good functional QB it puts so much pressure on us to be perfect in other areas. Put a good dynamic QB behind center and I promise you this offense would light up every defense we faced without any problems.

Chad Kelly made a terrible football play that was far more likely to become a pick six than to be a pinball ricochet exception than to result in a positive play for them. His luck was in. THE R/P option play with the OL illegally down field and the ricochet play accounted for about 150 yards of their total. Without those two plays their total is under 200 yards.

Rather than a good dynamic QB, how about a game manager who does not turn the ball over. That would likely have won us the ball game.

 

[DustyG]

Exactly the same thing I've done for the last 20 years of my coaching career. Get my team focused on improving as individuals and as a team.

 

[bama alum]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

That's about most of what I've read on this board off and on the last couple of days, and I've hardly read half of what's here.

Folks, we lost a mistake-prone game. We didn't lose the season. These guys showed a lot after being down late in the game more than once. There was no quit on the team - which is more than I can say for many of our fans. Bama has some issues to take care of and the coaching staff will be working on these. If there are problems, I don't think any of us need to belittle the players because i guarantee that none of those guys wanted to win less than any of us fans wanted the win.
I have even seen a post (somewhere else) where a "fan" was calling for Saban's head ... surely they were STILL drunk. The sky is NOT falling, the team is not on the verge of going winless. There is still a lot to play for this season. And... Bama is still a very good team - just how good, time will tell.
Hang in there crimson tide family, we will be OK. ROLL TIDE EVERYONE!!!

Yep!

 

[BamaFan334]

Humphrey came up to play the run because he saw OM offensive linemen down field. I am sure he is coached to play run when he sees that. Refer to Cyrus Jones two years ago against Auburn on an essentially identical play, including the OL being downfield. I hope Nick gives the SEC office a real earful this week about enforcing the rule as it exists.

Are you sure that'S what he saw or was he watching the quarterback and bit like 99% of corner backs do? Not sure I can believe in that quick of a response he surveyed the offensive line while running with a receiver and turned around to see an offensive lineman up field and came up to play the quarterback. I honestly think he bit, no issues with that, and simply made a mistake, it happens. The only thing I have to question about your theory is that if he has that kind of reaction time and that coached up, he would also easily know to turn his head when making a play on the receiver instead of getting flagged.

 

[silvermetalflake]

Bama's 2016 Top 5 TO DO list.

1. Find a Heisman level QB
2. Find a Heisman level QB
3. Find a Heisman level QB
4. Find a Heisman level QB
5. Find a field goal kicker who can do better than 1 outta 5.

 

[jdpas29]

At one point Cooper Bateman was 8 of 9 passing... He made a couple of good throws that were the best i've seen all year from either QB. He gets pulled after one INT and later it's because he didn't run?!? Prior to the pick, the point disparity in the game was all off of turnovers and field position problems. Our secondary couldn't stop the passing game. I'm not sure how Bateman gets a bad rap for that. Back up and watch the game film a bit. Watch the throws Bateman was making before the pick. He's our best option. That ain't saying much right now but he's still a better option.

Objectively i would have to say spend a good part of the week working the read option and QB draw type game with Cooper and start him again.

Coker made some good throws but IMO he throws far too many errant throws and there's a higher probability of INT on every throw.

I think the coaches made the right choice with Bateman (it was probably Kiffin's idea). They should stick with their original assessment.

 

[bamafan4ever]

Again, I don't give a damn about the name on the back of the jersey at QB as long as he gives us the best chance to win and I don't care if he is a senior or a freshman. Let's just give him, whoever "him" is, the ball and let him sink or swim. OSU is proof this multiple QB bullcrap doesn't work!

 

[BigCrimson]

Chad Kelly made a terrible football play that was far more likely to become a pick six than to be a pinball ricochet exception than to result in a positive play for them. His luck was in. THE R/P option play with the OL illegally down field and the ricochet play accounted for about 150 yards of their total. Without those two plays their total is under 200 yards.

Rather than a good dynamic QB, how about a game manager who does not turn the ball over. That would likely have won us the ball game.

Agreed, either one would have won the game Saturday night.

 

[Teague]

Rather than a good dynamic QB, how about a game manager who does not turn the ball over. That would likely have won us the ball game.

I'm a little surprised Morris completely dropped out of the competition. I guess I really haven't seen him play much, but he seems like a guy that could run the offense and not make huge mistakes. Honestly, I've been most surprised by the lack of accuracy from Coker and Bateman. I can't even tell who they're throwing to on long throws, and even the short ones are usually off enough to make the receiver slow down and reach back, up, or down to catch it.

 

[UAgrad93]

I'm a little surprised Morris completely dropped out of the competition. I guess I really haven't seen him play much, but he seems like a guy that could run the offense and not make huge mistakes. Honestly, I've been most surprised by the lack of accuracy from Coker and Bateman. I can't even tell who they're throwing to on long throws, and even the short ones are usually off enough to make the receiver slow down and reach back, up, or down to catch it.

This right here is what I saw but others tend to think that one of these guys was doing SO MUCH better than the other. On a 4th and 3 early in the game and we elect to go for it rather than attempt the long FG. I agreed with that decision, since AG hadn't connected on the season. A slant route is thrown behind the WR, even though it is caught, it is short of the yardage needed because he had to stop and reach back to make the catch. A ball thrown on target likely gets the 1st down and continues the drive. But because the pass was completed, some people scream and applaud Bateman for being SO accurate and having the offense in a better rhythm and don't understand why he was yanked out in favor of Coker.
It is what it is. We have two QBs with limited game reps that aren't highly efficient like we have been exposed to in the past, McElroy, McCarron, and Sims. We are a damn spoiled bunch!!

 

[DT55FOREVER]

Unfortunately, some changes they need to make don't need to be done during the season. They need to adapt to the HUNH and change their defensive system. Like I said in my thread, they are 6-5 against the last 11 ranked opponents giving up over 26 points/game. Teams that have top level talent like Bama know how to use it to beat this defense. When a team does the same thing for 8 years, good coaches are going to figure out how to handle it.
I disagree with those that said OM didn't have a ton of yards so the defense played well enough to win. OM didn't have as many yards because they didn't have as far to go on many of their drives. We continued to give them good field position.

Regarding the offense, we can't have a quarterback out there that looks lost half the time and turns it over constantly (yes, that means Coker). The remainder of this year, they need to play the guy with the best understanding of the offense. If it's true that Morris has the best handle of the offense and didn't turn the ball over in fall camp, they need to give him a real shot while working Barnett into the mix. Imagine what happens if Barnett get frustrated with the redshirt and transfers after the season. You know he is watching Rosen at UCLA and other freshmen quarterbacks he beat at the Elite 11 getting their shot and has to be disappointed. It would be different if Coker or another quarterback was doing well but they aren't.

Of course, they need to continue to develop the skills of each player and they need to work in guys that will be the main guys next season. We should see Harris, Barnett, Cotton, etc. more often.

 

[KoKoPuf]

Take the Texas job?

 

[BigAl]

Listen folks this aint the end of the world it's just one hick up in the history of this great University's football tradition. We can overcome this .

 

[jdpas29]

agreed. some games you're just not going to win. the cookie crumbled about 5 times during the game bigtime... none of the cookie crumbs fell in our mouth that's all.

Offense played ok overall save the INTs. Defense did ok most of the night given the secondary being our weak spot anyway... we all knew that.

we didn't match up well against this team to start with. It's why i said this one was a toss up. I felt bad about it, but i actually was going to pick ole miss. didn't want to stir up trouble.

 

[riz]

I"d order another case of deer antler juice.