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Dispassionate observations from the game after a 2nd watch.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 3:42 pm
Posted on 9/11/23 at 3:42 pm
Sunshine-pumpers and Doomcasters alike will probably hate this post, but what the hell, I'm doing it anyway. Had a second watch of the game after some time to not view it from an emotional standpoint. A few things really stood out, and some of the weren't all that negative.
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Defensive Line - Have to give a lot of credit to Sark and his game-plan that really took the DL out of the game. Lots of quick passing, Ewers was getting the ball out of there in under 2 second on most downs, they did a lot of rolling the pocket as well. Much in the Sark/Kiffen model they went side to side a lot, which probably contributed to the breakdowns late in the game; they were worked hard and by the 4th quarter they were effectively dead.
Ultimately, UT's play calling wasn't going to let them affect the game much. Could they have done more, for sure, but they were effectively neutralized by scheme and when they had a chance to affect the game, they didn't get a rush going. Games like this where it really hurts to see Bo Davis on the other sideline.
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DB's - Sark really went after the young guys and largely left Koolaid alone. Smart move on his part because they struggled to be consistent with their coverage and decisions making. They bought the "eye candy" that Sark put out there for them. They have potential, but need time and some games under their belt before the lights really go on. Koolaid is a stud, nothing more that needs to be said there.
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Offensive Line - After the second watch, I'm not as down on this unit like I was on Saturday. They need a lot of work and likely need to shuffle the lineup, but there is hope there. Had good push on a lot of running downs and actually had a nice pocket set up more times than you'd think. Milroe did them no favors, a couple of the sacks on a blitz the line held up well, RB picked up the block on the free LB rushing and got him to the ground, but Milroe hung in the backfield and let the LB get back to his feet and run him down. Both times he had a 4 second count on a blitz and didn't either take off or get rid of the ball. The play at 11:20 in the second quarter is a perfect example of this. Play clock goes from 11:20 to 11:16 on a blitz and he takes a sack. Once they realized that we didn't have a short or intermediate passing game, they cranked up the pressure and the OL was taking on an aggressive rush starting in the second quarter. Especially after hot-reads weren't identified. No reason to keep anyone back, we weren't going to punish them.
About a half dozen other times, they had the pocket set and Milroe either didn't step up in it and bailed early, or drifted back out of the pocket into the rushing lane and right into trouble. It was an awareness issue that created a negative play.
Wasn't all sunshine 52 ended up on his arse way too many times and they had trouble getting to the second level on run plays. The three man and fourman rushes that they let through were obvious breakdowns, but actually were fewer than I remembered from Saturday. Again, after a second look, I don't have as negative view as I did in the heat of the game. Is it great? Not at all, but it's not a trainwreck either.
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WRs - Actually pretty impressed with this group. If you were at the game you saw that they were running free on a bunch of downs, not so much on the broadcast view. Sometimes two and three of them made their way open. Not seeing those guys running free cost us a lot of points. There were at least four or five occasions that the QB had time and they were running free. I know play calls aren't always designed to get the ball out to them, but these guys had to be at least a second read on a lot of those plays. Best case scenario we left a couple TD's out there, worst case five. Texas actually did a fairly poor job in coverage, it just got lost in the fact that we couldn't get the ball out there to them. No significant drops and some really great catches on some really bad placements.
Not technically a WR, but Niblack did a hell of a job blocking and was in there pushing either Milroe of the RBs from being and generated more yards. Really impressed with his effort and awareness, not so much his TikTok skills.
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RB - Not really much here to say, they did a great job with blocking assignments, especially JM. Need to see more to really comment on this crew, we needed to use them more, but I guess the game didn't really go that way. Milroe ended up taking the ball a lot of the downs that would go to a RB.
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QB - Not going to get into this too deeply, we all saw what we saw. It's as bad, if not worse after a second look. The big mistakes and Ints are one thing, so many missed opportunities and outright creating bad scenarios because of a lack of awareness is another. Not sure where this will go, but the fixes here aren't easy.
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This one was a tough one to swallow, because it was out there for them. Even with all the penalties, poor decisions, liabilities at positions and mistakes this one could have gone the other way, just couldn't take advantage of what Texas left out there.
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Defensive Line - Have to give a lot of credit to Sark and his game-plan that really took the DL out of the game. Lots of quick passing, Ewers was getting the ball out of there in under 2 second on most downs, they did a lot of rolling the pocket as well. Much in the Sark/Kiffen model they went side to side a lot, which probably contributed to the breakdowns late in the game; they were worked hard and by the 4th quarter they were effectively dead.
Ultimately, UT's play calling wasn't going to let them affect the game much. Could they have done more, for sure, but they were effectively neutralized by scheme and when they had a chance to affect the game, they didn't get a rush going. Games like this where it really hurts to see Bo Davis on the other sideline.
--
DB's - Sark really went after the young guys and largely left Koolaid alone. Smart move on his part because they struggled to be consistent with their coverage and decisions making. They bought the "eye candy" that Sark put out there for them. They have potential, but need time and some games under their belt before the lights really go on. Koolaid is a stud, nothing more that needs to be said there.
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Offensive Line - After the second watch, I'm not as down on this unit like I was on Saturday. They need a lot of work and likely need to shuffle the lineup, but there is hope there. Had good push on a lot of running downs and actually had a nice pocket set up more times than you'd think. Milroe did them no favors, a couple of the sacks on a blitz the line held up well, RB picked up the block on the free LB rushing and got him to the ground, but Milroe hung in the backfield and let the LB get back to his feet and run him down. Both times he had a 4 second count on a blitz and didn't either take off or get rid of the ball. The play at 11:20 in the second quarter is a perfect example of this. Play clock goes from 11:20 to 11:16 on a blitz and he takes a sack. Once they realized that we didn't have a short or intermediate passing game, they cranked up the pressure and the OL was taking on an aggressive rush starting in the second quarter. Especially after hot-reads weren't identified. No reason to keep anyone back, we weren't going to punish them.
About a half dozen other times, they had the pocket set and Milroe either didn't step up in it and bailed early, or drifted back out of the pocket into the rushing lane and right into trouble. It was an awareness issue that created a negative play.
Wasn't all sunshine 52 ended up on his arse way too many times and they had trouble getting to the second level on run plays. The three man and fourman rushes that they let through were obvious breakdowns, but actually were fewer than I remembered from Saturday. Again, after a second look, I don't have as negative view as I did in the heat of the game. Is it great? Not at all, but it's not a trainwreck either.
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WRs - Actually pretty impressed with this group. If you were at the game you saw that they were running free on a bunch of downs, not so much on the broadcast view. Sometimes two and three of them made their way open. Not seeing those guys running free cost us a lot of points. There were at least four or five occasions that the QB had time and they were running free. I know play calls aren't always designed to get the ball out to them, but these guys had to be at least a second read on a lot of those plays. Best case scenario we left a couple TD's out there, worst case five. Texas actually did a fairly poor job in coverage, it just got lost in the fact that we couldn't get the ball out there to them. No significant drops and some really great catches on some really bad placements.
Not technically a WR, but Niblack did a hell of a job blocking and was in there pushing either Milroe of the RBs from being and generated more yards. Really impressed with his effort and awareness, not so much his TikTok skills.
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RB - Not really much here to say, they did a great job with blocking assignments, especially JM. Need to see more to really comment on this crew, we needed to use them more, but I guess the game didn't really go that way. Milroe ended up taking the ball a lot of the downs that would go to a RB.
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QB - Not going to get into this too deeply, we all saw what we saw. It's as bad, if not worse after a second look. The big mistakes and Ints are one thing, so many missed opportunities and outright creating bad scenarios because of a lack of awareness is another. Not sure where this will go, but the fixes here aren't easy.
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This one was a tough one to swallow, because it was out there for them. Even with all the penalties, poor decisions, liabilities at positions and mistakes this one could have gone the other way, just couldn't take advantage of what Texas left out there.
8
Posted on 9/11/23 at 3:50 pm to RolltidePA
How many times did all of you say out loud during the game "step up Jalen!" when he dropped back in the pocket? I know I did several times 
thanks for the breakdown.
I personally want to see 26 and 22 get some significant carries. 26 got 2 carries, and I think that they were back to back. What is the deal here? The dude is good. 22 is obviously going to be really good. We used to have no qualms about putting underclassmen RBs out there in big games.
Is it possible to feel that it wasn't as bad as it seemed, and also was as bad as it seemed at the same time?
I truly feel like we have the tools IF we can get some quality play at QB. Just unsure if that is going to happen this year.
Kind of crazy that one of the big concerns(WR) ended up being the brightest spots. That is definitely a good thing. Just gotta get someone in there that can get them the ball more consistently.
thanks for the breakdown.
I personally want to see 26 and 22 get some significant carries. 26 got 2 carries, and I think that they were back to back. What is the deal here? The dude is good. 22 is obviously going to be really good. We used to have no qualms about putting underclassmen RBs out there in big games.
Is it possible to feel that it wasn't as bad as it seemed, and also was as bad as it seemed at the same time?
I truly feel like we have the tools IF we can get some quality play at QB. Just unsure if that is going to happen this year.
Kind of crazy that one of the big concerns(WR) ended up being the brightest spots. That is definitely a good thing. Just gotta get someone in there that can get them the ball more consistently.
This post was edited on 9/11/23 at 4:00 pm
Posted on 9/11/23 at 3:51 pm to RolltidePA
I felt more optimism coming out of the 2015 Ole Miss loss than this one. Texas didn't have a a few flukes bounces that went their way like 2015 Ole Miss. The offense finished the game on a more positive note in the 2015 Ole Miss game too. They came on in the 2nd half after switching back to Coker. The defense was too gassed to get the last few stops they needed but Alabama went down punching.
Fortunately, this is very much a mid-2010s SEC where the competition is not very stiff. There is still a realistic chance to compete for the conference with marked improvement. I'm not confident this squad has a national championship ceiling though.
Fortunately, this is very much a mid-2010s SEC where the competition is not very stiff. There is still a realistic chance to compete for the conference with marked improvement. I'm not confident this squad has a national championship ceiling though.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 3:54 pm to Diego Ricardo
quote:
I felt more optimism coming out of the 2015 Ole Miss loss than this one.
I feel about the same as I do now after that OM loss, and that is to say I wasn't very optimistic after that OM loss. I thought that Coker was not very capable, and it was unlikely he was going to lead us anywhere. But he slowly turned it around, and grinded, and by the last quarter or so of the season, he was good enough.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:00 pm to Diego Ricardo
quote:
Texas didn't have a a few flukes bounces that went their way like 2015 Ole Miss
I can think of two off the top of my head. Two fumbles that bounced right to them and one converted a first down. That said it felt like Bama was hanging in by a thread most of that game. I think they’re fortunate to have only lost by 10. Milroe May be the answer but it would only be because the others would have to be worse than him and until we see them running the offense in the beginning of the game we will never know.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:03 pm to labamafan
quote:
I think they’re fortunate to have only lost by 10.
I kind of feel the same way, but at the same, how many points did we leave on the field with Milroe completely missing throws, or throwing a bad pass that our player caught anyway but caused him to have to stop or fall down? And what was it, 2 touchdowns that were completely wiped off the board due to penalties?
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:05 pm to Funky Tide 8
An FCS QB could do a better job than Milroe let alone any of the backups. Milroe has to go!
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:07 pm to Shaft Williams
Well I don’t want to see Milroe leave but he needs more time to grow behind a another QB
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:12 pm to labamafan
Why do you want to hold onto Milroe?
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:18 pm to RolltidePA
In other words 90% of this loss falls on Milroe, which is what I've been saying.
A simple QB switch and we are in the running for a championship
A simple QB switch and we are in the running for a championship
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:30 pm to CrimsonBuddha
quote:
In other words 90% of this loss falls on Milroe, which is what I've been saying. A simple QB switch and we are in the running for a championship
Sarks game plan was solid as far as making sure that we couldn’t get to Ewers and picked his shots. Also grinding our defense down. UT had a hand in making things difficult.
I don’t like to hammer kids and drop blame on them. But yeah; the more you watch the bigger the deficiencies at QB become. There were plays that were blocked perfectly, guys were open and we ended up with a negative outcome. Hard to overlook that, even harder to post wins against quality opponents.
I don’t know about a championship, but this team isn’t a finished product and the product could be good if the lights go on for a QB.
This post was edited on 9/11/23 at 4:31 pm
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:39 pm to Funky Tide 8
quote:
I kind of feel the same way, but at the same, how many points did we leave on the field with Milroe completely missing throws, or throwing a bad pass that our player caught anyway but caused him to have to stop or fall down? And what was it, 2 touchdowns that were completely wiped off the board due to penalties?
A conservative count would be 21. But in reality we left 35 points or more on the field. 2 TDs called back, 3 potential TDs from missed passes and if he comes off his first read and looks downfield there were another couple out there.
The missed opportunities were bigger than the mistakes IMHO.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 4:45 pm to RolltidePA
One of those touchdowns should have been an interception, we’re lucky he tipped it in the first place
I’m happy someone pointed out the quick passes. Watching the sideline throws had me worried heavily about late game fatigue
I’m happy someone pointed out the quick passes. Watching the sideline throws had me worried heavily about late game fatigue
This post was edited on 9/11/23 at 4:46 pm
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:17 pm to UhOhOreo
Sark ran almost the same offense he had at Bama. Half orbit motion, pop pass, screens, all the same stuff. Make the defense tired. Second half we lasted a bit and then jello legs.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:24 pm to RolltidePA
Best breakdown I've seen of the game so far. Agree on every point.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:27 pm to CrimsonCrusade
I agree.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:47 pm to CrimsonBoz
I would really like to know just how close the decision was between Milroe and the 2nd QB. If Milroe was the clear choice, then we're in a world of shite going forward.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:52 pm to JoseyWalesTheOutlaw
quote:
I would really like to know just how close the decision was between Milroe and the 2nd QB. If Milroe was the clear choice, then we're in a world of shite going forward.
Saban literally said before the season that we may see a similar QB situation as in 2017 with Hurts/Tua.
He said in the postgame interview that he thought about pulling Milroe out of the game.
He said multiple positive things about Buchner in the presser today.
The line right now between Milroe and Buchner is razor thin, and Buchner may already be the starter going forward. We don't know yet
Posted on 9/11/23 at 5:54 pm to CrimsonBuddha
Sark is such a damn good play caller and offensive mind. I wish he hadn't gone to Texas and had worked out a coach in waiting type deal. Obviously Texas isn't a gig to turn down as an assistant but can always wish what if.
Posted on 9/11/23 at 6:16 pm to JoseyWalesTheOutlaw
quote:
I would really like to know just how close the decision was between Milroe and the 2nd QB. If Milroe was the clear choice, then we're in a world of shite going forward.
I think loyalty was the deciding factor to name Milroe the starter. If Saban really thought Milroe was the guy without a doubt he would have said so clearly. But, he never did.
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