OFFENSE
The Good...
Better Goal Line Offense
For the real man of genius who insisted that I was dumb, I hope that you saw the difference when the linemen get lower and drive their guys back. If anyone questions if the line was scolded and worked on this week in goal line situations, play the 1st and goal from the 1 and this week's sneak from the 1. Much better job of getting in and driving back to allow AJ to scoot over the goal line. They were much more focused in the red zone of hitting their blocks and getting Trent and co over the goal line all night. It was good to see them take a bad moment and improve and learn from it.
When Trent taketh away, he keeps taking...
This was a big game for Trent. This was his hometown school so to speak. He has friends there, he's heard the jawing over the years from them, and this is the only time he'll ever get to play in front of that crowd. So, when he went to Bama and took away the potential of one of the most dominating offenses in football history from Florida (imagine Tebow, Cooper, Nelson, Hernandez, Demps, Rainey, and Trent Richardson on one team....), he returned to take more than pride. From his first carry, he basically was in his "zone" and was wanting the ball. They couldn't feed him the ball enough and he wanted more when they pulled him late in the game. I like seeing that.
Better blocking performances by several
Trent's big day, and Lacy's TD, were helped in large part because Bama has begun to go downhill more and less zone block. Warmack, who has been the focus of much ire by more than just me, found his block assignment to his liking because he absolutely mauled him for 4 quarters. They also have adjusted some of the counters to work towards his abilities instead of pushing beyond who and what he is. In other words, they are shorter counters to the 0 or A gap instead of B or C/4-5 gaps. They also have included more H Back assistance in the last two weeks with Underwood and Williams (on occasion) sliding inside to give backside help and seal the lanes.
Screen like a pig...
There wasn't a lot in the way of the passing game that was working well. Credit Florida's team speed for a lot of that, but the screen plays to Richardson and Maze were probably the best 2 plays from the passing game on Saturday. They were well timed as well, as Florida was bringing 6 or 7 on both instances and they were able to put more hats on smaller helmets down field as a result.
The Bad...
McCarron regressed back to 2010 McTats
I know as I type this, the big chested homer will caw on about how it was a great win and blah blah fart blah blah. It was for the most part, but upon further review, AJ didn't have a good game. In a way, this is good for 2 reasons. First, it is a teaching moment. He can be taken to film and talked to and asked what he thought and why he did some of the things he did. Then he can apply and grow from those mental errors and hopefully not make them again. Second, it proved to the team that even with their new QB struggling as he did, they can win through the run and defense. Now, if you wonder what it was that he did that was "Bad", it was a combination of 3 things that most "Team AJ" fans accused McElroy of doing. He held the ball too long on a few plays, sailed several that nearly killed Hanks and Williams, and he really should have had about 3 INTs but was fortunate to see them hit the ground. I said this during the game, and I again ask it now but wasn't he supposed to have the arm to make all the throws Team AJers? Before you go off on a brooding hate, I fully disclose that AJ is the starter and should be the starter, but there were many fans who proclaimed without fear of recourse that he could do it all and open the offense up. Saturday, I saw a player who was more content with short passes and handing it off and could not hit go routes or fades than I did the Internet version of him.
Bell flop
I probably shouldn't be as irritated as I was/am about him dropping a TD pass, but I am. The thing about it is this, if a guy is gonna talk and say this that and the next, when it is time to put up or shut up, you better put up. When a ball hits you square in the hands, well, it is what it is. AJ has already lost faith in White, so Bell has a great chance to earn a spot this year and next, but if he can't make big plays, he won't get many looks.
The Ugly...
None
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
The Good....
Interior Pressure improves
The Upshaw pick 6 was a product of great interior pressure from Gentry. Uphsaw actually was getting beaten by his guy, but luck is a fickle date sometime and she put Upshaw in the right spot to make a play. It was good to see all the defenders rally to him and make sure he was finding paydirt too. Defensive guys love to score touchdowns and it doesn't happen a whole lot, so when they see the chance, they always seem to give a little bit more to get their guy home.
Demps and Rainey= 24 feet of offense
I credit Twitter for the title. They accumulated fewer feet than the 3 D Linemen and Jack are tall. That is domination in any shape or form and for the 2nd straight year, they were forced to be 1 dimensional early and often. Granted Demps was hurt by a kicker.....wait I gotta compose myself.....and that probably lessened the performance, but it was obvious early that they couldn't man up and plow up the middle- they didn't have a runner built for that- and the more they tried to stretch the run left or right the more they played into Bama's strength.
Helmet popping
I know folks like "Boom". It sells tickets and gets on TV, but it isn't always a great thing. However, when Saturday was done, both sides had swapped paint pretty well. It was clear after Florida came out swinging, that Bama was gonna have to impose itself one play at a time and start to make them quit. It took a lot longer than it did Arkansas or Penn State, but Florida did tap out late in the 3rd after they just couldn't swing back and hit helmets like Bama was.
Great vision by Hightower, Barron, and others
I single these two out in particular because I noticed them several times making the right angles and reading the play pre-snap. You saw Florida having a lot of issues with communicating their play on defense, but when you have 2 guys with 3-4 years starting in key roles, the difference is easy to notice. I was very impressed by Hightower's lateral quickness to snare Rainey and one of their WRs in the open field. For a guy of his size to be able to move that well, even with angles, is amazing. Factor in a knee injury, and then it is almost unbelievable.
The Bad...
A first quarter to forget.
The first play was a bust either on Dre, Lester or both. My guess is that it was Lester since Barron drifted back to support Menzie's backside. Regardless, it was a bad start. The next series or three weren't much better as they let Florida pick and prod them down the field at will for about 18 minutes or so. What I would guess is the most damaging of this time frame is that it displayed that Bama is slow to adjust to two plays- the slant and any inside route. Way too many crossing routes hit without a guy on them early on.
I would wet myself if kicking and punting was improving...
It is bizarre to me that folks want to argue how the short kickoffs are a planned thing. I've never heard of a plan where you kick to the 10. If you are kicking to avoid or disrupt a return, you either kick it to the back pylon or you squib it straight down the middle of the field with about 10 hops on it. I would have thought that this week's game had dispelled the myth that kicking high and short worked given that Florida lived around midfield through the first half. I really have never heard a coach with any defensive background say they would give up 10 yards up front for some thing in return. Now, punting is consistent I suppose, but it isn't great. The odd thing is that it takes about killing him to get a great punt out of him. What is probably more concerning is that after he was hit in the knee, they were more than happy to keep him out there than try another punter.....
The Ugly...
None
RANDOM THOUGHTS
So what did this game teach us????
Well, it sure enough said that the following positives are true:
- Bama can play on the road in a hostile environment
- Bama can take a serious punch/attack and weather it to win
- They don't panic like they did last year.
- Bama can enforce their will on top end teams and make them one dimensional
- Bama cannot flip the field with their kicking/punting game.
- Bama still struggles with interior routes
- The offense does not start or restart at will yet.
Georgia fans feel like Christmas came early when Florida lost their QB and USCar lost to Auburn. However, when I look at the East, I don't see a front runner. With Brantley out, Florida has a much lower shot of winning the East. They cannot put that kind of pressure on a true Freshman, I don't care how highly recruited he was. South Carolina has lived on borrowed time all year. Navy and others about did it to them, but Auburn (who is the master of borrowed time) caught them and exposed that they have 0 defense and no passing attack.
Vandy is overachieving, but their schedule will catch them. Tennessee is too young for prime time. UT didn't handle the loss to UF well and another loss to UGA could result in a very long fall for Flashy Pants. Tennessee has to beat UGA to have any shot at surviving and getting to play "Who wants their ass whooped by the national champion?" Kentucky....well basketball is just around the corner.
That leaves UGA. Now the Bulldogs will tell you that they have fixed the problems and they are full speed ahead. That's easy to say when you donkey punch a low end school and the weak sisters of the West. Their signature win is a next to last West team, let that sink in. They looked weak against Boise, and weak on defense against USCar. They can and should beat UT because they aren't ready for the show yet. They go to Vanderbilt who has been a trap game for UGA for years it seems. They still aren't a favorite to beat UF in the Non Alcoholic Cocktail Bowl with or without Brantley. Florida's defense can outlast a team like UGA because they don't have the same wear it down and pound you down mentality or a defense that imposes itself like Bama or LSU can. Here's the bigger catch for UGA to me, Auburn and Georgia Tech are the absolute last teams that they should want to see. Two spread offenses with talented runners against their defense is a bad recipe to me. I think whomever survives the (L)East is probably doomed to get a beat down from either Bama or LSU.
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