JessN: Missouri wrap-up: Crimson Tide is clutch in Columbia, if not quite polished

[JessN]

Missouri wrap-up: Crimson Tide is clutch in Columbia, if not quite polished
by Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief

One of the questions Alabama had to address in 2025 is whether it could win a close game, especially one on the road, when it didn’t have its A-game. A 27-24 victory over Missouri, led by a solid defensive performance – especially from Bama’s front six – was the answer to that question.

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TideFans.com | By the Fans, For the Fans. - Missouri wrap-up: Crimson Tide is clutch in Columbia, if not quite polished

One of the questions Alabama had to address in 2025 is whether it could win a close game, especially one on the road, when it didn’t have its A-game. A 27-24 victory over Missouri, led by a s…

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[92tide]

great write-up

 

[rja4bama]

Thanks Jess.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Great write up. A great win by the team.

 

[Rkharley98]

As always, great write up Jess.

 

[Toddrn]

"Alabama held Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy to 52 carries on 12 yards." Our D is even better than I thought. LOL

 

[78Alum]

Jess, thanks once again. I always look forward to your thoughts!

 

[bamagradinATL]

"Alabama held Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy to 52 carries on 12 yards." Our D is even better than I thought. LOL

That surprised me more than anything.

 

[uaintn]

Thanks, Jess. Appreciate your insight and steady work. I always look forward to reading your analysis of the games.

My feeling is that this team needs to take another step up. It was great to get wins the last two Saturdays, but re-watching the games I come away with the feeling that we are playing needlessly close.

We should have won both games much more comfortably than we did. I believe DeBoer has a history of having a lot of close wins without regard to the competition.. But this team is leaving lots of points off the scoreboard. It is hard for me to put a finger on the reason -- sometimes it is play-calling that is '"too cute", sometimes it is a missed blocking assignment, sometimes it is a dropped pass, sometimes the running back fails to bounce outside, sometimes the quarterback holds the ball too long/doesn't take off with 8 easy yards staring him in the face, sometimes our run fits are terrible, sometimes we don't set the edge, sometimes our entire defense is staring at the sideline when the ball is snapped, etc. It's kind of maddening.

Sooner or later I hope to see this team string together complete games. If they ever manage to hit on all cylinders, they can beat any team in the country. If they continue like they have the last two weeks they can lose to any SEC team on the schedule.

 

[BamaMoon]

Great points but most importantly was the one this is a game we loss last year, most likely.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Thanks, Jess. Appreciate your insight and steady work. I always look forward to reading your analysis of the games.

My feeling is that this team needs to take another step up. It was great to get wins the last two Saturdays, but re-watching the games I come away with the feeling that we are playing needlessly close.

We should have won both games much more comfortably than we did. I believe DeBoer has a history of having a lot of close wins without regard to the competition.. But this team is leaving lots of points off the scoreboard. It is hard for me to put a finger on the reason -- sometimes it is play-calling that is '"too cute", sometimes it is a missed blocking assignment, sometimes it is a dropped pass, sometimes the running back fails to bounce outside, sometimes the quarterback holds the ball too long/doesn't take off with 8 easy yards staring him in the face, sometimes our run fits are terrible, sometimes we don't set the edge, sometimes our entire defense is staring at the sideline when the ball is snapped, etc. It's kind of maddening.

Sooner or later I hope to see this team string together complete games. If they ever manage to hit on all cylinders, they can beat any team in the country. If they continue like they have the last two weeks they can lose to any SEC team on the schedule.

I think they struggle (coming out of halftime) at recreating the pace and accuracy of the first half. Look at the UGA game and the Missouri game. We find an offensive pace in the first half then coming out of halftime cannot pick back up where we left off. I think it is a focus issue on both the players and the staff. It's what made Saban's teams so great, they'd beat the hell out of you in the first half then pick right back up at doing it in the second. DeBoer needs to find that formula of being consistent from half to half.

 

[BamaMoon]

I think they struggle (coming out of halftime) at recreating the pace and accuracy of the first half. Look at the UGA game and the Missouri game. We find an offensive pace in the first half then coming out of halftime cannot pick back up where we left off. I think it is a focus issue on both the players and the staff. It's what made Saban's teams so great, they'd beat the hell out of you in the first half then pick right back up at doing it in the second. DeBoer needs to find that formula of being consistent from half to half.

Probably the reason I'm not making $10 million a year coaching, but why when something works in the first half do we not just keep on running the same plays in the second half???

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Probably the reason I'm not making $10 million a year coaching, but why when something works in the first half do we not just keep on running the same plays in the second half???

I'm not sure if they are making adjustments to the anticipated adjustments of the other team, or what. But they definitely struggle getting into the same playcalling and execution flow of the first half. The defense is just the opposite. They get their ugly out in the first half then come back in the second half and play a lot better. It's weird.

 

[BamaMoon]

I'm not sure if they are making adjustments to the anticipated adjustments of the other team, or what. But they definitely struggle getting into the same playcalling and execution flow of the first half. The defense is just the opposite. They get their ugly out in the first half then come back in the second half and play a lot better. It's weird.

In the cases where we have a half time lead, I'm sure we are probably running the ball a little more and being a tad more conservative in order to run the clock.

But, against Mizzu, it felt like we should have been up 17 points the whole second half, but just couldn't put points on the board. The fumble on the first play really hurt our offense. We go down and put points up on that drive and we probably coast to the W rather than have to bite our nails. Mizzu could not pass the ball and we probably pick off a few more passes if they are having to play catch up ball.

 

[JessN]

Probably the reason I'm not making $10 million a year coaching, but why when something works in the first half do we not just keep on running the same plays in the second half???

Usually because they adjust to take it away. We do the same to them. It's a chess match.