Bama Game Thread: Official Postgame Thread - Bama vs. UTw...

[Bamabuzzard]

In the midst of all the very justified hand-wringing about this team, it's worth remembering they still have everything to play for. The margin for error, though, is nonexistent.

In the middle of all the gruesome mistakes last Saturday, for quite a bit of the game you could see what this team could (and might still) be if Saban and the staff can sort out the problems.

Probably because after three quarters they had held a Sarkisian offense to 13 points. Regardless of the sacks, lack thereof, etc. Holding a team in today's football to 13 PTS after three quarters doesn't exactly scream "THEY SUCK!!!"

 

[CB4]

Probably because after three quarters they had held a Sarkisian offense to 13 points. Regardless of the sacks, lack thereof, etc. Holding a team in today's football to 13 PTS after three quarters doesn't exactly scream "THEY SUCK!!!"


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And if you happen to be (as my father use to say “a glutton for punishment” 😉😉) go back and watch that first half. Sark’s goal was to “run and stretch” our defense sideline to sideline from the jump. He ran as much wide stuff as possible. And whether our S&C folks want to admit, our defense was gassed the last 10 minutes of the game. Case in point. We had held them under 100 yards rushing up until then (I believe in the 80’s). The last drive Sark did nothing fancy. He ran it straight at us in those last 8-10 minutes and we could not stop it.
You couple that game plan with one where we spit and sputter on offense, going three and out too often, it worked to a tee.
Sark, as they, “began the game knowing what he wanted it to look like at the end”. It is the reason he is one of the best play callers in football.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Probably because after three quarters they had held a Sarkisian offense to 13 points. Regardless of the sacks, lack thereof, etc. Holding a team in today's football to 13 PTS after three quarters doesn't exactly scream "THEY SUCK!!!"


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In the 4th quarter, it looked like we reverted to the mean of the Pete Golding era on defense. Some of that was Sark being Sark. He schemed this game so well and set up those deep passes that Ewers was able to connect on late.

So yes, there is potential there that has not been apparent over the last few years. We do hit harder. We do wrap up more. But we broke down late, we still don't generate a pass rush outside of bringing 5 or more, and DBs are still getting lost in coverage at critical times.

A lot of this past game you just have to tip your hat to Texas. Sark was at his best, it is clear he's got a talented roster, and they were amped up to play Alabama. My question for them is are they ready to do this over the long haul, or are they going to go out and drop a game to Iowa State where they don't show up to play?

My question for us is, are we really ready to sell out to be the best we can be? Because we still haven't really done that. Close does not count in football.

 

[teamplayer]

Dang, I remember when "4th quarter is ours" meant something. Throwing those four fingers in the air wasn't just done out of habit. Now, teams rip off 21 in the fourth to beat us in Bryant Denny. Ouch!
UGA scored 20 on us in the fourth quarter to win the national title a few years ago. Tennessee scored 18 in the fourth to beat us last year. LSU scored 10 in the fourth and 8 in OT to beat us last year. Those are some disturbing facts that have become a troubling trend. It seems to me that our conditioning isn't what it used to be. All I ever hear is how great our current strength and conditioning program is, but all I see is us getting pushed around on the line of scrimmage and running out of juice in the fourth quarter.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

In the 4th quarter, it looked like we reverted to the mean of the Pete Golding era on defense. Some of that was Sark being Sark. He schemed this game so well and set up those deep passes that Ewers was able to connect on late.

So yes, there is potential there that has not been apparent over the last few years. We do hit harder. We do wrap up more. But we broke down late, we still don't generate a pass rush outside of bringing 5 or more, and DBs are still getting lost in coverage at critical times.

A lot of this past game you just have to tip your hat to Texas. Sark was at his best, it is clear he's got a talented roster, and they were amped up to play Alabama. My question for them is are they ready to do this over the long haul, or are they going to go out and drop a game to Iowa State where they don't show up to play?

My question for us is, are we really ready to sell out to be the best we can be? Because we still haven't really done that. Close does not count in football.

I saw signs of fatigue set in during the fourth quarter and a part of me completely understands it. They dropped a ton of energy limiting Texas from putting a lot more points on the board due to our offense's ineptness through three quarters. So I get it. But I also saw the strategic genius of Sark start taking over as well, with pulling stuff out of the playbook he'd been holding for that specific time of the game. Yeah, I wished there would have been a pass rush, but overall, holding an offense like that to 13 pts after three quarters is borderline amazing.

 

[CB4]

Dang, I remember when "4th quarter is ours" meant something. Throwing those four fingers in the air wasn't just done out of habit. Now, teams rip off 21 in the fourth to beat us in Bryant Denny. Ouch!
UGA scored 20 on us in the fourth quarter to win the national title a few years ago. Tennessee scored 18 in the fourth to beat us last year. LSU scored 10 in the fourth and 8 in OT to beat us last year. Those are some disturbing facts that have become a troubling trend. It seems to me that our conditioning isn't what it used to be. All I ever hear is how great our current strength and conditioning program is, but all I see is us getting pushed around on the line of scrimmage and running out of juice in the fourth quarter.

Yep it use be about “run the ball” on offense and “stop the run” on defense. The benchmark of defensive excellence was shutouts.

Today is has little to do with rushing defense or passing defense stats. It has to with scoring defense. It matters less about the yards you give up respectively. It is about getting off the field/getting key stops on third and fourth downs and holding your opponent to field goal attempts. These days holding your opponents to under 20 points a game is considered “good” defense.

 

[CullmanTide]

That’s where I’m at. If Milroe continues to play QB, I won’t watch.

Good.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Yep it use be about “run the ball” on offense and “stop the run” on defense. The benchmark of defensive excellence was shutouts.

Today is has little to do with rushing defense or passing defense stats. It has to with scoring defense. It matters less about the yards you give up respectively. It is about getting off the field/getting key stops on third and fourth downs and holding your opponent to field goal attempts. These days holding your opponents to under 20 points a game is considered “good” defense.

This ^^^^

Yep, it's not that teams don't run the ball anymore, it's how they get to their number of rushes that has caused problems with the "stop the run on defense". Herbie alluded to it the other night with how Sark looks at run/pass "balance". Sure, by the end of the game the run/pass ratio is "balanced", but for chunks of the game, they may not be. Your defense may be called upon to defend five, six, or seven pass plays with one or none run plays mixed in. It's a very, very different game than what a lot of us grew up watching.

 

[CB4]

@TideEngineer08 you pose some very valid questions about both programs. So is Texas “really” back? I could see them being flat as a pancake in other games on the schedule and drop a couple. Bottom line: they had been pointing to this game for a year and took us to the wood shed. So will they be emotionally empty for others is the question. The mark of a championship teams is consistency week in and week out. We know that is the benchmark for championships the last 15 years.

For Texas to “be back” they have to show me that consistency. If you look back at Sark’s HC history, he has never shown that consistency (except for being known as “Seven Win Steve” from his Washington days).

The other question you pose is the one we all here should be concerned with: Is this the end or the beginning of the end? Is the “dynasty” dead? That begins to be answered in two weeks with Ole Miss.

So will we “go softly into that good night” or have the Horns “awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible resolve”? (You can tell I love cliches huh?).

I’m not off the Nick Saban bandwagon yet. I still believe we can turn a corner. But I need CNS to show me some of the competitive fire we use see.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

I forgot about the the downside of going to sports bars. The constant replaying of games that you lost.

 

[BamaMoon]

@TideEngineer08 you pose some very valid questions about both programs. So is Texas “really” back? I could see them being flat as a pancake in other games on the schedule and drop a couple. Bottom line: they had been pointing to this game for a year and took us to the wood shed. So will they be emotionally empty for others is the question. The mark of a championship teams is consistency week in and week out. We know that is the benchmark for championships the last 15 years.

For Texas to “be back” they have to show me that consistency. If you look back at Sark’s HC history, he has never shown that consistency (except for being known as “Seven Win Steve” from his Washington days).

The other question you pose is the one we all here should be concerned with: Is this the end or the beginning of the end? Is the “dynasty” dead? That begins to be answered in two weeks with Ole Miss.

So will we “go softly into that good night” or have the Horns “awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible resolve”? (You can tell I love cliches huh?).

I’m not off the Nick Saban bandwagon yet. I still believe we can turn a corner. But I need CNS to show me some of the competitive fire we use see.

I must have missed that post, but I'll comment:

It really doesn't matter what Texas does after this game.

It's possible they are the best team we'll play and run the table OR it's possible they just got up for Bama like almost every decent team we play does. When the right team, with enough talent, with enough motivation get up for us, we will lose sometimes.

The bigger issue to me is this seems to be happening more frequently. It's probably still more to do with us than them, but UT definitely had enough talent, elite coaching and game planning to pull the upset. Does OM? Does TAMU? Does UT? Does Auburn?

Until we figure out how to meet these challenges, these types of "upsets" will continue until they are no longer upsets.

 

[BamaMoon]

Listening to Coach Saban’s press conference today, a couple of things:

Sacks were a combination of poor oline technique, inability of receivers to get open (coverage sacks) and not making reads fast enough (QB processing). Texas really didn’t do anything in terms of scheme they didn’t anticipate.

My translation: they whipped us at the LOS, receivers aren’t getting separation and Jalen ain’t making reads. Which begs me to ask myself “are we even giving Milroe “checks”’ in or out based on certain defensive looks or is that beyond him at this point?

When asked about having numerous players along the Oline that he felt, going into the season, he could win with, did he anticipate any changes this week, CNS basically said he didn’t anticipate any but they had work to do on the “little things” around technique to improve.

My transition: I think these are the best five. They just aren’t playing well together as a unit with discipline.

Asked about receivers and drops - CNS stated there was only one pass that was considered a “drop” so they are catching it better.

My translation: When they get a “catchable” pass, they are making the reception. Problem is they aren’t getting many “catchable” passes.(And my personal opinion is that some of the catches they made Saturday night darn near got them decapitated).

Asked about Buchner’s progress- said he is making process and had good practices and scrimmages last week.

My translation: CNS stopped short of saying “He’s going to see the field a bunch Saturday” but my gut tells me he will see field a lot sooner than he did week one versus MTSU, regardless of the score.

Who am I to disagree with CNS, but I know there were times we had receivers breaking open and JM either didn't see them OR he bailed the pocket about the time they did.

That doesn't mean we don't need great separation, but I think our WR are the MVPs of the offense so far. They are catching passes like they work in a circus at times.

Why is the D line getting a pass for the most part? OL taking a lot of deserved criticism but we didnt have any sacks, only 2 negative plays...allowing Ewers to look like Brady out there and have a game that made him a first round draft pick! ...We need pressure and negative plays to get interceptions, field position etc...and that is as big of a problem as the OL. For all the talk, the walk hasnt been up to the noise.

16-13 in the fourth quarter. It was not the defense's fault.

We chose to drop 8 and rush 3 or 7 and rush 4 most of the time. They were protecting with 5 or 6 and Ewers has good footwork. We chose our method and it didn't work. But I still say the defense was plenty good enough.

OTOH, if the offense does what we heard they were planning to do: run and make first down and shorten the game UT probably doesn't even score 20 on us.

 

[Joefus]

We were generally terrible on first down outside of the first drive. Seemed like our tendency to pass unsuccessfully on first down really put us behind the sticks which also hurt the run game.

Opening script was ok but everything after that was rough and seemingly like he was watching a different game

 

[Joefus]

I'd rather being taking lumps with Lonergan in getting experience than with a kid that's been there for 3 years and can't read defenses.

Simpson, I guess the light has just never come on for him or there some other issue. Kid was highly highly rated, but its just not showing up.

Buchner, he's the only one with experience and I'd imagine Rees is more comfortable with him. Seeing Rees look like he just didn't know what to do Saturday was troubling, but if Milroe is making bad decisions, it doesn't matter if even Sark or Kiffin were calling plays.

Lonergan, I have no info on this kid other than that he apparently looks like he knows what he's doing and has a leadership quality about him.

im all for giving someone else a chance but I’m not sure what putting in a true freshman accomplishes. You get him game experience sure but next years starter will be sayin unless the reports are wrong. He’s supposed to be another can’t miss qb on a similar trajectory as Bryce. So why take those lumps when there’s already a qb ahead of him on the depth chart with game experience.

 

[mlh]

im all for giving someone else a chance but I’m not sure what putting in a true freshman accomplishes. You get him game experience sure but next years starter will be sayin unless the reports are wrong. He’s supposed to be another can’t miss qb on a similar trajectory as Bryce. So why take those lumps when there’s already a qb ahead of him on the depth chart with game experience.

Who was supposed to be this year's can't miss QB?

If next year's starter is going to be Sayin, what does it matter? Why not play the true freshman if he's our best QB this year? We need to play whoever gives us the best chance to win THIS year.

 

[Cruloc]

im all for giving someone else a chance but I’m not sure what putting in a true freshman accomplishes. You get him game experience sure but next years starter will be sayin unless the reports are wrong. He’s supposed to be another can’t miss qb on a similar trajectory as Bryce. So why take those lumps when there’s already a qb ahead of him on the depth chart with game experience.

Simpson was a 5 star can't miss....hes 3rd string. If Sayin is as good as advertised, he'll earn it.

 

[Joefus]

Who was supposed to be this year's can't miss QB?

If next year's starter is going to be Sayin, what does it matter? Why not play the true freshman if he's our best QB this year? We need to play whoever gives us the best chance to win THIS year.

Exactly! I’m missing where anyone has said he’s the best option. I’ve seen lots of posters on message boards say that but what does that mean? He’s the the 4th option. Why skip over two qbs to play someone no one outside the team has seen play except the spring game where he wasn’t like some kinda big revelation. Simpson and Buchner sure but the true fr qb? That just doesn’t make any sense to me…like at all

 

[Joefus]

Simpson was a 5 star can't miss....hes 3rd string. If Sayin is as good as advertised, he'll earn it.

It’s a crap shoot for sure but Simpson and sayin are not the same in hype nor tape nor rankings.

 

[SkullDuckery]

The worst part of Saturday is that Texas looked like Alabama the last 15 plus years and Alabama looked like the opponents we beat. This game played out exactly like we were used to seeing, only Alabama was the victor. They stole our identity and I feel we don’t have ”it” anymore.

 

[BamaMoon]

im all for giving someone else a chance but I’m not sure what putting in a true freshman accomplishes. You get him game experience sure but next years starter will be sayin unless the reports are wrong. He’s supposed to be another can’t miss qb on a similar trajectory as Bryce. So why take those lumps when there’s already a qb ahead of him on the depth chart with game experience.

Who was supposed to be this year's can't miss QB?

If next year's starter is going to be Sayin, what does it matter? Why not play the true freshman if he's our best QB this year? We need to play whoever gives us the best chance to win THIS year.

I'm just spitballing here, but I imagine the staff probably thought TS could be a two year starter after BY and that would give Sayin one year to sit, learn and get some backup play before he started year 2.

I guess this is a "best case scenario" but it appears to not be working out that way.

If our QB room turns out to be a big mess, Sayin may win the job as a true freshman.