For a starting march towards the repeat national title, it was about as Bamaesque as it gets. It was vanilla, and it was physical, and it won. All the things Bama fans are used to.
The Offense
The Good...
Julio's grab bag
The catch he made on AJ's 1st touchdown was spectacular, but it was more than just that, it was that he was getting involved in the offense and creating separation again. Last year, he wouldn't have gotten some of the looks he got Saturday because he wouldn't have separated from his corner and the shadow on him. Short of the one relapse he had, it was the best game Julio has had in over a year.
O Line play
While SJSU wasn't exactly a threat, the protection and execution was much improved from this time a year ago. With all the focus on Fluker and how he would do, the real secret to the success is Warmack. Warmack is a nightmare for defenders to deal with when he pulls to the right and held his own well in pass protection. Fluker did well, he's gonna have to get the lead out at some point or else they will have to double down on his side to prevent speed rushes from getting by him. Fluker is best north and south and when he's in run mode, he's at his best and does a really good job of finishing one defender and moving to the 2nd level to find another. I thought the 2nd string line did pretty well against a tired defense. I liked how McCullough played both tackles and there was little drop off from him in reserve.
Richardson time
He could have loaded up the yards if they wanted to, but why? In what little PT he got Saturday, you could see the offense at a higher gear than with the other 2. Richardson is so physical he almost is hurt by it because he hunts people to hit instead of hunting open running lanes. Richardson's second gear once he gets open is probably one of the best I've ever seen. It ranks up there with Bo's and Alexander's.
Reserves getting attention
I thought Goode ran better than he ever has. He's a nice north south compliment to Ingram and Richardson. He has good speed, not blazing, but will get a steady 4-5 yards a carry. He is lousy at pass blocking though. Lacy runs inconsistent but when he is on, he has a really good burst. More on him shortly....I thought AJ showed a lot of confidence and had a nice flow with the 1st and 2nd string offenses. I think he'll see more PT in games like this and less in the PSUs and conference games, but he will get plenty of chances to show off his arm and impress the staff and fans. I would like to see how he handles getting a bell ringer before I anoint him to anything.
The Bad...
The ball is your friend, treat it as such....
Lacy is a guy that fans will rush to love and hype, but coaches will go bald over. He has the potential, I see, they see, he knows it, but he is so reckless that it may be his undoing. When your team has literally pimp slapped the opponent at the half and your coach starts out by talking about how you didn't get it, that's a sign that 1 fumble isn't the frustration, it is just another log on the fire. Now, he got lit up at the half and he didn't sulk or trod through, he tried to erase that error. He did a fairly good job of that, but even on his TD, watch the replay and tell me if you think he's protecting the football the way you are taught. Quick answer if you don't want to do the work is no. He still one arms the ball and carries it in the wrong arm and is more involved in how he can spin or juke or make a move than fundamentally protecting the ball and getting what he can get. I think once Ingram is healthy, he gets less time on field and is focused on more to see if he can learn how to do the little things that will make him great. He's already got the big things down.
The Ugly....
None
Defense & Special Teams
The Good...
Vanilla tastes good when it works so well...
To be honest, it was probably more rice cake than vanilla, it was that bland. The game plan was pretty simple, there was nothing that San Jose did that made the staff sweat, so there was no reason to flash any tricks or amp up the rush. It was also a chance to press the young secondary to play harder and be exposed a bit and see how they react. Overall, given the level of threat being low, I was pleased with how they played short of about 4 plays or so.
The depth of this defense is insane...
I thought as they went deep into the depth chart the impressive level that these guys play at is just amazing. Billingsley, Square, Mosley, Jordan, Millner, Fulton, Perry, and Williams all were very active and making plays even when it didn't matter. I will be a huge CJ Mosley fan by the time his playing days are over in Tuscaloosa. The guy plays like an upperclassman and is just starting. I can see what the buzz is about with him and I won't be surprised if he doesn't play more as the year goes on and they try to incorporate more pressure on the QB.
Nice first outing for several
I thought Jerrell Harris had his best game to date as they asked him to be active in space and at the line of scrimmage. I thought he looked comfortable out there and that was my worry with him was would he know what to do at times, I got my answer. I thought Menzie displayed why he was ahead of the crowd at corner too. He covers well and when he is beat it isn't enough to hurt, and he makes the tackles he needs to make. I would hate to know where he would be if 100 percent right now. Kirkpatrick gloved his end and had a nice hit on a dump pass. Lester had a good game, not great, and looks his best in coverage.
Special teams play
Damn, I must have died and gone to my little place in heaven after years of watching shitty play here. The punts were strong and fairly accurate, the kicking was safe and straight, and the returns...well the kicking and punting went well.
The Bad...
Lots of room for growth...
While they did a really good job on a really bad team, there were a lot of little things that I'm sure they've heard about in film study. Lester has got to know how to take the right angles to the runner or else he won't start much farther than Arkansas. Woodall took bad angles too, I'll say that all day and night, but he had Green and Barron to cover that. Lester doesn't have that and won't have that. The facemask/big run play in the 1st was on him because he failed to do 2 fundamental things. One, he set his feet before the runner was in his tackle zone. Two, he took a poor angle for no reason and left a gap in the defense that the runner could find. This wasn't a one time thing, it was noticed a few times on run plays. There were several linemen who just didn't do a good job of getting off their blockers. This may have been a contain call, but I haven't seen Bama run a lot of just containment plays at the front 3-4. They need to do a better job of keeping the linemen off their chest guard and slipping inside the lineman to create disruption.
The Ugly...
NONE
Random Thoughts....
What did this week teach me?
Ole Miss vs. Jax State- You can take your starters out, but you best not take your foot off the gas. They had beaten JSU down to a good point where they could sub and work, just as Bama did, UT did, MSU did, etc. What they didn't do that those teams did was not let up. They went into scrimmage mode expecting Jax to lay down and take it. They didn't and they tortured the Ole Miss secondary. That's surprising because Nix is such a good coach.
LSU vs. UNC- God likes football, but hates hats. The fact that they let an undermanned and underqualified UNC get within 8 yards of victory is not a good sign for Miles. The wheels are starting to wobble down in Baton Rouge.
USCar vs. USM- When Spurrier wants to, he can. When he doesn't give a damn, they don't. They looked good against a program that used to be good. I wonder how that whole fire Bower thing is working now that the Eagles have fouled up their star player so? Carolina looked fast and physical, and looked a lot like the old Gator teams he had as far as style goes.
Auburn vs. ARK St.- No defense found here. How a DC turned head coach can have nothing but stop gaps at defense is beyond me.
Boise St vs. Va Tech- Boise wouldn't win 8 games in the SEC. Bama would stomp them by 2 touchdowns and smile doing it against that Cinderella with a tramp stamp. I thought the officiating in the last 3 minutes was probably some of the poorest I've seen outside the SEC.
No comments:
Post a Comment