re: Gotta chime in on some of the "observations"...

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Sylve did not have a bad game, and all you folks who are decrying him for not turning his head to find the ball don't understand playing db, don't understand the technique Saban teaches, and likely never played the game.

Turning your head to find the ball is a LUXURY that you take advantage of if the route/throw affords you the time and you get the signal early enough from the receiver to do so. WV was not running those kinds of routes. It was all 1-step and 3-step drops, no long developing routes, and a few broken plays. Sylve and the other db's had TIGHT coverage on nearly every completion (not counting crossing stuff, that's another topic).

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Well, RecruitingJunkie has already addressed this with the Saban press conference. Needless to say, Saban has a different opinion on what they should be doing.

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Sylve will be fine. And you f@ckers clamoring for the freshman DB's to start make me sick. Sure, they'll be stars one day, but if Sylve and Jones were in position nearly all night cause they KNOW THE D inside and out, what are freshman gonna do?. Put Humphrey, Brown, or Jones in full time and THEN you'll see folks running free. Can't cover 'em if you don't know what to do. Knowledge of Saban's D is much higher on the list of keys to success than sheer physical talent.

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Sylve clearly was not having a good game. Even if you didn't want to put in one of the freshmen to see what they could do, why not put in Maurice Smith who has played in the system for a year already? Why continue to rely on someone who is consistently getting beat?

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Secondly, we were getting outschemed in the first half because we were playing bump and run on the slot guy and playing off the outside receiver. Then in the second half, we started playing bump coverage on the outside man, and only gave up 6 points in the second half.

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I haven't watched all of the second half again, but from what I have watched, Bradley Sylve was running bump and run and getting beaten. Playing bump and run when your CB is outmatched typically won't work well for you. That is why we were running zone initially. All of their big plays in the second half came against him. He simply wasn't having a good game.

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Sims had an excellent day overall. Completed 73% for 250, had command all night, and couldn't be touched in the pocket.

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Let's not rewrite history. He had a good game, but his WRs made him look better than he was. Really, I would say the success in the passing game was a result of Lane Kiffin finding ways to get his playmakers in space than Blake Sims doing anything great. There was a great stat where he was 1/5 on throws of 15+ yards. That needs to be better if we are in tight games. He played well and took care of the ball for the most part, but saying he played excellently is hyperbole.

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Right now, Sims gives us the best option to win. That is a fact.

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You can't say that because we haven't seen Coker play yet.

ETA: I for the most part agree with the rest of your post.

I thought that when we started to successfully defend the run, they struggled quite a bit more.

Another observation I have is that half the time they dropped the ball, they were going over the middle and about to get lit up by a safety. Perry and Collins pulled up about 3 times in the second half because the receiver dropped the ball.