Bama is a ground and pound team that controls the time of possession very effectively. They need to improve the special teams and passing game in a hurry.
This is the recipe for winning in the SEC. Running the football in this league is the key, and if you can stop the run, you will win. As I always say, the game of football is won and lost in the trenches.Here's the biggest thing I take away from that:
We run on you:
You don't run on us:
You pass on us:
We don't pass on you (very much):
If we can get the passing thing down O and D .... Pretty much unstoppable.
This is the recipe for winning in the SEC. Running the football in this league is the key, and if you can stop the run, you will win. As I always say, the game of football is won and lost in the trenches.
We lead the league in running and stopping the run. Consequently, we lead the league in time of possession. If you're running the football, you're eating up clock and the other team's offense just gets to be a spectator.
Turnovers and sacks.What I found interesting is that Vandy ranks near the bottom in almost every team category, except turnovers, and are still undefeated.
As readers may note, we're higher in passing efficiency than we are in passing offense. That doesn't make us Air Coryell (which never won a championship, unless you count the AFC West), but it does mean we're capable of throwing the ball when we need to. Which we have done. But we're definitely a running team, and I don't have the first problem with that.
As for our passing defense, a whole ton of that yardage came in garbage time against Georgia, when we were in sort of a prevent mode. Outside of that, I can't remember anybody having much success throwing the ball against us.
We all knew our special teams needed work, but it's worth noting that they looked good against a Kentucky team known for it's special teams, aside from a rare off day by our placekicker.
Bottom line: It's hard to beat a team that runs with authority, is stifling against the run, throws the ball relatively efficiently, and is competitive in pass defense. Oh, and also has the second fewest penalty yards in the conference. Actually, for our first six opponents, we weren't just hard to beat, we were impossible to beat.
<insert long-snapper joke here/>I noticed Barney is way up there in punting. I guess practice makes perfect. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: