I find it funny that on Saturday night, I was telling family that it was a "day in the office" or "workman like performance" for the Tide and today, that's the talking points from sports radio. This really was their best showing of the year. They did come out of the gates slow, but after they got over their cowbell "feva", it was pretty well a methodical beatdown.
OFFENSE
The Good...
Much better game plan
Last week, the only thing keeping the offense slowed was the playcalling. This week, they came out and found real balance in the playcalling and featured the run early and often. Because they flexed the Ingram/Richardson show, it opened nice spaces in the secondary that helped a QB struggling with his confidence to regain it and hit his strides. Some will label it vanilla or boring, but punching the shit out of someone for 4 quarters is great television for me!
You need that yard, you better get that yard
Lost in the hoopla of it all is a real gut check of a play by Richardson. He had the 1st down, reversed lost the first down, got hit, and out of pure hustle or will got that yard back. Good thing too, the ass chewing would have been waiting on him.....
Hark! Red zone success!
Amazing how running works well in the red zone isn't it? There will be some real man of genius moment and talk about the "jumbo", but the difference in Shula's jumbo and Saban's jumbo is the same difference in their whole philosophy- conditioning. They are tougher, so give me some jumbo with my smash mouth and enjoy. The decision to quit trying the fades and other junk passes, and go with their best weapon was welcomed and a relief to see.
WR Play stepping up
It should be noted that both TD passes were the same play and great reads by McElroy, another welcomed statement after weeks of struggle, where the safety had to choose who he was going to take on as Bama attacked a 2 deep safety with 2 options- sideline or middle- and gave Greg time to see the play develop. Hanks did a great job of sitting in the cushion and helping his QB find him. After that, it was paydirt. Jones's TD was just a reaction and a misread by the safety and again the QB had time to find him and took advantage again.
Ingram time after time
When Mark gets the ball on a steady diet of plays, he's probably the most productive player in D1 ball. The trainer will get laps on him for the helmet malfunction that almost had Bama fans fearing the worst, but he's tough and plays through it. The biggest thing that Ingram does isn't the breakaway or YACs, it is the mental accountability that everyone facing Bama has to do for him. Just like Tebow or McCoy or AJ Green or CJ Spiller, Ingram is eyed on every play and when they play action to him, that is pure trouble for defenses because they will shade or follow the runner and give McElroy his favorite play, a roll out in the open to a streaking WR/TE over the flat.
The bad or ugly...
Nothing really that bad or ugly
Doesn't mean it was perfect, but it was a night where they came in with a mission and did it, and didn't give the Bulldogs a moment to believe they could win.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
The Good....
Ever thought about how bad it must be to get hit by Rolo?
I couldn't help but think what went through Relf (or however you spell running back disguised as a QB)'s mind as he rolled and then went fetal as McClain barrelled in. It was that kind of night of the Bulldogs in a nutshell. They never could get their offense clicking and everytime they had a little drive going, it usually died from a sack, pick or penalty.
Throwing at Johnson is en vogue, but won't be if this keeps up
It isn't disrespecting him, but opposing coaches think he's the easiest target of the 3 to throw at. Past film probably would justify that comment, but after 2 or 3 games into this season, he's been a much better corner. Practice makes perfect I guess. He did get beat on the first play, but the old MJ would have tried to catch up and failed, the new MJ knows to just take the penalty and go on. That's where the change has happened.
Even after Woodall leaves, the secondary won't skip a beat
Out of all the defenders in the secondary, Woodall is the best and worst at times, but with Barron and Green both showing their ability to cover the field, I can't say that his graduation will have the same hand ringing that RJ's did. Woodall is a great run stopping safety and has a much better view of the play, but he's never been comfortable in man coverage, he is better in deep 2. Barron is also better in deep 2, but he can cover a back or TE as well as a linebacker could. Green is the best cover safety they have and probably will be the Star corner in nickel next year. Saturday was a night where you could tell that while he gives a lot for this team and is a good player, Barron is going to be far beyond him though.
Not a lot of hope for the Dawgs when they can't make a 1st down
Credit the staff for making 2 or 3 adjustments and flat out clamping down the Dawg offense from ever taking off. The spread has to have balance and it never did get any real traction in the passing game and as a result it was hard for Dixon to find open running room after the first quarter.
Nice stand in the red zone
Bama had a couple of moments where MSU could have scored and made the game interesting, but they were only able to muster 3 points total out of both attempts. The marked improvement here was that Bama had tried to play zone when backed up, but Saturday they stayed in man coverage with 2 deep safeties in for help, and with a subpar QB against them, they didn't have a prayer.
The Bad...
Nothing real bad, but they came out on their heels
To start the game, the defense came out on its heels and was very stiff early on. The first drive and second drives that State had were their best of the game, but thankfully the State players were their own worst enemies with a fumble and pick that killed the drives. Bama looked very tight to start out though and it was almost as if they were more afraid of the option than they were Dixon straight ahead. It took a few adjustments, as the offense took a 9 play drive that turned over on downs, to get things in perspective and change what they were doing to cover the outside edges and contain the middle.
The Ugly...
Like you don't know, Special Teams Coverage of course
To set the scene so that you get why S/T coverage is such a big issue, Bama has just gone up 17-0, and that is a big enough cushion to grind out and win....if you do your blocking and tackling right. Bumphis took the ball and really should have housed it, but he made a freshman error and ended up caught at around the 40. A 17-7 game is a ballgame again and the cowbells start jingling again. It happened again when Berry took it back inside the red zone and that was only saved by a great hustle play by Green (I think). Bama's coverage unit had shown signs of improvement, thanks in part to Jerrell Harris playing in it, but Saturday was a reminder of how fragile they can be when a great player like Bumphis can get a seam and the defense loses its containment. This is still the area of Bama's armor that can beat them.
RANDOM THOUGHTS...
SEC Bowling for Bucks week 2
Last week, I had it as:
BCS- Bama
Sugar- Florida
Cap 1- LSU
Cotton- UT
Outback- Ole Miss
Chick Fil A- Auburn
Music City- Arkansas
Liberty- UGA
Independance- Kentucky
Papajohns.com- USCar
This week, I see a few changes around the middle after UT's shutdown.
BCS- Bama
Sugar-Florida
Cap 1- LSU
Cotton- Miss
Outback- UT
Chick Fil A- UGA
Music City- Arkansas
Liberty- Auburn
Indy- KY
Papajohns.com- USCar
The Cotton bowl will be happy as a lark to get Ole Miss back in against an OU or Nebraska. LSU continues to control its destiny as far as the Cap 1 goes, which is the prize for the best non-BCS team in the conference. They have Ole Miss and Arkansas left, both could be rough without Jefferson though. Arkansas is now eligible and has a chance to win out and possibly be the Cotton represenative if they beat MSU and LSU. They are a much more attractive team going down the stretch than UGA or UT. Don't look now, but MSU is 4-6 with ARK and Ole Miss left. If they by some chance win out, how big of a mess is USCar or Kentucky in? UT will get its 6th against Vandy but Kentucky will be hard for a team that looked on the brink of mailing it in.
Pray for anyone but TCU...
I have said it a few times and after the pure unadulterated beatdown they gave Utah, I think I have proof...Nobody wants to see TCU as their bowl opponent. Alabama only does if that is the BCS championship, but in the Sugar Bowl, it will be hard to get up for that. Same for Florida or Texas, if it is for the trophy, they'll see them, but in the Fiesta or Sugar as a consolation game, not so friendly. TCU has the resume to be in the game, and I know some will say "if they played in the Big 12 or SEC, they would be an 8 win team". Maybe, but they put a beatdown on the same Utah that beatdown Bama, they beat Clemson on the road, and they ripped BYU on the road. If someone falters and the door is open, I'm all for TCU getting that shot. They've played the schedule to get there, and look good doing it. How Patterson doesn't get a big time job offer is beyond me. I wonder if Auburn would like to have that call back?
Patriots 4th and huh?
Not college related, but an interesting study of styles to read the for and against the play call decision last night. I can understand the motivation to go for it. You don't want Manning to have the ball and if you make it, game over. Your offense has been your best defense all year, and you have a champion QB and WR to use at your disposal. I was a little surprised they went to Faulk in that spot, but perhaps that was the motivation. You know they will be on Moss and Welker, so he should have single coverage. However, with 2 minutes to go a punt deep would make it hard for the Colts to march and score, but not impossible when you watch the Colts swallow field in seconds week after week. I don't think it was as stupid as some have painted it, but it was a gamble that beat them. It really was an indicator that the Pats have 0 running game and haven't in years. I thought they would want Coffee in the 2nd round so bad they couldn't stand it, but they passed on him. Ingram would be an ideal back for them in 2011, and I don't see a great back for them this spring in the 2010 draft. Best would have been but the injury will spook them. Dwyer can't catch. McKnight maybe is a fit, but he's never been asked to be a 20 carry guy. Gerhart may be a fit, but he's not as fast as they need. So that will be an underlying theme for the draft, are they passing for the 2011 draft where an Ingram and others will be waiting. A name to watch for you draft junkies- Anthony Dixon- another in the long line of good MSU running backs that will live happy in the NFL. He can pound it down field, he can catch, and he has that extra burst that separates him from defenders. I'm real high on him from an NFL POV.
The death of USCal...a bit premature
I'll admit, I like USC. I like Pete Carroll and have a lot of respect for a man that spends his free time trying to make a difference in the gang infested south central. Am I a homer for them like some pollsters? No. I thought all year they were pretending because they lost a lot from last year to the draft. As good of a recruiter and coach as he is, there are limits. Here is a guy that has lost coaches to other programs right and left, and yet they continue to win. It did catch up to them this year, and if you were going to take a shot at USCal, this was the year. I do point to history though to remind folks that all the fans and writers/critics proclaimed another winning coach and his program dead once before. That coach rattled off one of the best dynasties in history. Can USCal do that? I don't know. I do know they aren't dead, but they are rebuilding. It will be like Florida next year. They will be a little down from where they have been and teams will pile it on when they can, but will it mean the Meyer era is over? Doubt it. Recruiting is too fertile in Cali and Florida to say anything like that for either coach.
Looking back at some coaching jobs, I hit some and missed some...
Earlier in the year, I took time to call out some good jobs being done by coaches not named Saban, and since I like to hold myself accountable, here was the list then:
Jim Harbaugh, Stanford Hit
Chip Kelly, Oregon Hit
Frank Beamer, Va Tech Missed it
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech Hit
Randy Shannon, Miami FL Sorry Randy jinxed you
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Hit
Rich Rodriguez, Michigan Missed
Jim Leavitt, South Florida Toss up
Brian Kelly, Cincinati Hit
Gary Patterson, TCU Hit
Harbaugh is about to be the enshrined one at Stanford and he's mouthy, like an SEC coach, but he walks it. He could be a Spurrier type who knows how it could be done and did it in his day, but will be frustrated with his QB for not being able to do it the way he did it. Kelly has a coach of the year job going after all the chaos from Boise. Beamer ball has a leak. Paul Johnson has tweaked his triple option after LSU and Miami poked holes in it. They look real good folks. Miami is young and it has caught up to them. Their future star QB, Harris, has started to show his youth and lack of big game experience down the stretch. Ferentz takes a backup QB and pushes a far more talented OSU team to OT. Rich Rod is a good coach in a bad spot. They didn't really want him in the old guard, and are making sure that anything they can do to pull the rug out, they will. The distractions are spilling out on the field again. He would be better served to go south and coach again. Rodriguez at a FSU or LSU would be lethal. Leavitt does a great job every year, but they just aren't getting over the hump yet against the West Virginias and Cincys. Brian Kelly will command whatever paycheck he wants soon. This is a guy that was real close to being a finalist for UT's job, and would be a good coach at any conference because he is set in his system and philosophy, and sells it to the players. Gary Patterson is the best unknown coach there is, and Auburn should kick itself for missing on him, as should Nebraska and some others. Patterson was the backbone that Fran never had after they split, and nobody replaced him for Fran, but he replaced Fran real easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment