Aaron Murry on Milroe (USF) (video)

[CoolBreeze]

They did. Still, it's hard to be excited about this season when we were supposed to have this elite offense, yet we were only 1 point ahead of a G5 team deep in the 4th quarter...at home...on the night that we officially unveiled Saban Field. Not great.

Funny, last year after this game I turned off sports media (WJOX) in my car and put it on Watercolors. Ended up being a pretty good season. I've listened to jazz ever since and just hope my team digs deep and wins down the stretch. BTW, South Florida has some talent and a pretty decent coach. It is essentially the same group and staff that had our number last year.

 

[BamaMoon]

Take away the crappy Oline play and we would have scored 60 on them, even with Milroe's issues. The moment we took #75 out and #52 came in we scored three times in a hot minute.

Watching that film study by Aaron Murray just confirms what the Film Guys said last week in their review about the changes CKD will employ with future OL players.

Big 75 was just so slow and clunky. I think the Bulls have some great speed rushers, but SEC play will be equal or better.

I agree #52 helped, but it was also like a dam breaking. Once we finally scored and went ahead the next 3 tds revealed their defense was gassed and done. It was interesting that we ran behind #52 on all three of those rushing TDs.

 

[BamaMoon]

So, the same issues remain with JM: reading the defense and picking the right option at game speed. It's not his arm or his athleticism; he just cannot process the game quick enough under pressure. More frustration is ahead, as even after months, the same issue is still there. It can't be fixed in the season, nor apparently out of the season.

basically

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Watching that film study by Aaron Murray just confirms what the Film Guys said last week in their review about the changes CKD will employ with future OL players.

Big 75 was just so slow and clunky. I think the Bulls have some great speed rushers, but SEC play will be equal or better.

I agree #52 helped, but it was also like a dam breaking. Once we finally scored and went ahead the next 3 tds revealed their defense was gassed and done. It was interesting that we ran behind #52 on all three of those rushing TDs.

And let's not forget we had two td's earlier in the game called back due to boneheaded penalties.

 

[BamaMoon]

And let's not forget we had two td's earlier in the game called back due to boneheaded penalties.

Yeah, and the one of JM going in for the long rushing one was probably (technically) a hold on #75, but I think JM would have scored anyway.

Ref should have held on to his hanky on that one and a few more, but #75 got exposed.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

And let's not forget we had two td's earlier in the game called back due to boneheaded penalties.

Milroe would have had over 200 yards on the ground if that TD wasn't called back. Pretty wild lol

 

[UAH]

Ty's very first snap against WKU proved he can handle a free blitzer.

The coaching staff has placed themselves into the position of win or lose with Milroe. All of last year and this year has been about developing Milroe without ever giving another QB an opportunity for snaps under pressure to know definitively how they would handle it. When a tough situation arrives as with Saturday night there is no opportunity to make a change to at least allow the starter to see what is happening on the field. I find it remarkable and that is being diplomatic.

 

[AWRTR]

We are a spoiled bunch from the point of view that Bama has had an incredible run of absolutely elite-level QB play. Starting with AJ, and really even GMac in 2010, Bama has had well above competent QB play. Guys like Coker and Blake Sims who we think of as second-tier guys for us were both good college QB's. Then we had AJ, Tua, Mac, and Bryce who were all All-American/Heisman level guys. Hurts struggled some, but when he was benched worked his butt off and when he came in to play he was excellent, and he saved the SECCG game when Tua got hurt. Jalen was incredible in that comeback.

I say all that to remind us all that sometimes a guy doesn't completely pan out to our expectations, and that is made even harder to deal with when you compare it to what we have seen here since 2010 at the QB spot. Jalen is more in line with most college QB's when comes to his processing speed and mechanics than we have become accustomed to seeing in a crimson jersey. He's not bad he's just not, and probably never will be, at the level of our past top tier guys. The staff has to figure out how to call a game he can execute more efficiently. I don't envy them, but I'm always pulling for whoever plays for Bama.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Ty's very first snap against WKU proved he can handle a free blitzer.

Yeah the guy came through completely untouched and Ty just rolled right and hit Prentice on a 15 yard Curl like it was nothing.

 

[BamaMoon]

We are a spoiled bunch from the point of view that Bama has had an incredible run of absolutely elite-level QB play. Starting with AJ, and really even GMac in 2010, Bama has had well above competent QB play. Guys like Coker and Blake Sims who we think of as second-tier guys for us were both good college QB's. Then we had AJ, Tua, Mac, and Bryce who were all All-American/Heisman level guys. Hurts struggled some, but when he was benched worked his butt off and when he came in to play he was excellent, and he saved the SECCG game when Tua got hurt. Jalen was incredible in that comeback.

I say all that to remind us all that sometimes a guy doesn't completely pan out to our expectations, and that is made even harder to deal with when you compare it to what we have seen here since 2010 at the QB spot. Jalen is more in line with most college QB's when comes to his processing speed and mechanics than we have become accustomed to seeing in a crimson jersey. He's not bad he's just not, and probably never will be, at the level of our past top tier guys. The staff has to figure out how to call a game he can execute more efficiently. I don't envy them, but I'm always pulling for whoever plays for Bama.

Excellent post. I feel ya!

JM may still be JH 2.0 but it should have happened by now if it was going to happen.

 

[BamaMoon]

We have been here before. Got a hot mess on our hands for sure but we really needed a game like this to put things in perspective for this new staff. Better it happens in week 2 so we can work on it. Give the Bulls their due. That group came to play.

Yep. Hot mess.

 

[stlimprov]

Full credit to @gtgilbert for being on this from the very beginning (even watching warm ups when he was backing up BY).

He's slow getting the ball out in passing skels WHEN THERE IS NO COVERAGE!

So, there's no question, this is his biggest issue (along with accuracy).

We are basically struggling to accept we now have a QB who is mortal in this regard when our 3 prior QBs were exceptional in both of these areas: they threw the ball before the receiver was open (on time) and it generally hit him in the numbers. Of course, TUA was the GOAT and it was because he was so good at presnap reads because when the ball was snapped he usually knew where he was going to throw it. JM, it seems, doesn't know, and he's deciding based on what he sees and he has slow eyes.

FWIW one criticism of Tua was that he wasn't really reading but had already determined pre-snap, with the low point of this being that Venables/Clemson figured it out well enough (and had the talent) to bait him in the NC.

 

[BamaMoon]

FWIW one criticism of Tua was that he wasn't really reading but had already determined pre-snap, with the low point of this being that Venables/Clemson figured it out well enough (and had the talent) to bait him in the NC.

Yes, he could/did pre-read and Clemson figured out how to bait and switch and they did it to perfection. Gotta give credit to Dabo and staff on that one.

I think Tua has probably learned to read more post-snap in the NFL, but in those days nobody was better at reading the defense and finding the soft spot and could sling it right on time and on target.

Man, it was a thing of beauty!

 

[gtgilbert]

That's not something that can be taught though. 95% of college QBs can't do it. Not even every NFL guy can do it.

I'd disagree on that. I think a VAST majority of P5 QBs and many group of 5 QBs can throw a guy open. It's just throwing to the spot where the WR should be and trusting they will get there. I see HS QBs do it pretty often actually.

 

[BamaMoon]

I'd disagree on that. I think a VAST majority of P5 QBs and many group of 5 QBs can throw a guy open. It's just throwing to the spot where the WR should be and trusting they will get there. I see HS QBs do it pretty often actually.

I don't know how often QBs can do it compared to those who can't, but I think it happens more than we think.

I'm a former basketball player who played point guard and shooting guard. So I talk a lot about vision. Great PGs see things developing a split second before they develop.

CNS often compared his QBs to point guards who needed to distribute the ball. But seeing the field and especially seeing something before it happens is a gift that some are born with and perhaps a skill others may learn.

But I suspect players that see a play develop before it does and can throw to the open spot is more of a God-given skill than one that is learned. And if you haven't displayed you can do it by your 4th year of college ball it ain't gonna suddenly happen.

I'm convinced that's were JM's major weakness lies. He just doesn't have the vision to see an RPO read (remember what CTR had to do last year on the RPO reads) and he doesn't have the vision to see an open receiver until they are already open, which by that point, they are not by the time he throws it.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I'd disagree on that. I think a VAST majority of P5 QBs and many group of 5 QBs can throw a guy open. It's just throwing to the spot where the WR should be and trusting they will get there. I see HS QBs do it pretty often actually.

That's what I was trying to explain earlier.

JM does not trust his WRs/TEs

I don't know if he's scared to throw an INT because of the Texas game or what.

But he won't rip the ball until the target is already open and even then it's route dependent.

He does not like Crossing routes I know. We've had guys open on those 2 weeks in a row and he won't throw it.

Timing gets thrown off badly on everything because of the waiting.... plus his happy feet is disrupting his mechanics.

The foot work is atrocious at times and he throws w/ Arm strength alone and passes sail.

At this point I don't see how any of it gets fixed.

From week to week we'll just have to hope there are more feast than famine because the opposing defense had a few coverage busts that were bad enough for a WR to clearly be open on one of the 1st or 2nd reads or that the field opens up in the middle for a straight line sprint.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I think we can win with Milroe, even against elite competition. But he has some deficiencies that he obviously cannot overcome. So this staff is going to have to figure it out. With the offensive line issues, they also need to get Simpson more reps because he is one snap away from being our starter.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I think we can win with Milroe, even against elite competition. But he has some deficiencies that he obviously cannot overcome. So this staff is going to have to figure it out. With the offensive line issues, they also need to get Simpson more reps because he is one snap away from being our starter.

If we can get the OL fixed then we can start using our elite running backs as the center pieces of the offense and work Milroe in around them. The offense will not have sustained success building it around Milroe. He's too inconsistent in the passing game to do that. But it doesn't mean he can't excel in the passing game, it just means that part of his game cannot be what we depend on to open everything else up. The running game or the threat of one is what we need to help Milroe succeed in the air.

 

[CoolBreeze]

If we can get the OL fixed then we can start using our elite running backs as the center pieces of the offense and work Milroe in around them. The offense will not have sustained success building it around Milroe. He's too inconsistent in the passing game to do that. But it doesn't mean he can't excel in the passing game, it just means that part of his game cannot be what we depend on to open everything else up. The running game or the threat of one is what we need to help Milroe succeed in the air.

Well said. We thought we were getting an elite running game out of the shoot. Got to get the guys in the trenches to start opening holes and let those stallions run!

 

[AWRTR]

Well said. We thought we were getting an elite running game out of the shoot. Got to get the guys in the trenches to start opening holes and let those stallions run!

If the starting O-line is back this week then I think we can see that. It would also do for us to mix in a little more running plays for Milroe. These two together can open up easier passing lanes.