Report card: As season reaches halftime, Alabama needs tutoring

[JessN]

Share
 

Report card: As season reaches halftime, Alabama needs tutoring
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-in-Chief
Oct. 7, 2007

The 2007 college football season is half over, so it’s time to take a position-by-position look at the state of the program since Nick Saban took over the team.

For the full story, click here: http://tidefans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63479

[lafella]

Those are pretty generous grades you gave Jess, especially considering you've pretty much called every game we lost so far (all I believe) and you grade out theirs to ours as well and we often find ourselves (as we should) on the latter end of the two grades.


Your usually the executioner of hopes for the weekend so I was a bit surprised lol.

[JessN]

Remember, we're 4-2 and have done it while playing in the SEC. A 4-2 team in the SEC is a B team at worst.

[Bamabuzzard]

	Quote:	JessN
	Remember, we're 4-2 and have done it while playing in the SEC. A 4-2 team in the SEC is a B team at worst.

Jess,

Do you see our "problems" more of a talent issue or simply players not getting the mental aspect of the game (such as mental toughness etc.)? I just feel at some point this thing on offense has to begin to "click" and sink in and can't imagine it not happening AT ALL in this season considering we do play 12 games.

[JessN]

	Quote:	Bamabuzzard
	Jess, Do you see our "problems" more of a talent issue or simply players not getting the mental aspect of the game (such as mental toughness etc.)? I just feel at some point this thing on offense has to begin to "click" and sink in and can't imagine it not happening AT ALL in this season considering we do play 12 games.

Depends on the position.

I think we have some real talent issues at D-line and at linebacker, particularly the Jack spot and the backups. We're playing a 3-4/4-3/3-1-3 look with only six linebackers playing (the four starters plus Fanney and Hall). No one else in this conference has to do that.

We're also talent-thin at safety, which we knew coming into this year, and at QB. But the QB struggles that are attributable to execution are more mental than physical at this point. I think if Wilson had his mental game together, he'd be more than adequate for what we want to do.

Don't discount the emotional effects of two losses on this team. As fans, we knew this was a transition year -- to the players, those things don't exist. They come here to win championships and when they get put out of the championship picture, there's going to be some emotional/confidence issues to deal with.

If Saban can make them see they're still in the conference championship race, however improbable that might be, that might cheer their spirits. But mostly, these guys are, for the first time in their college careers, dealing with a coach that doesn't just expect success but demands it. And there are consequences for failure -- Tyrone King gave up Houston's last touchdown, and he was immediately yanked and yelled at, harshly. The next series, Sharrief went in and was going to stay in until he hurt his shoulder. When they sent King back in, they talked to him pointedly before sending him back in there.

We were playing dime package with two out of the six DBs being walk-ons (King, R.Johnson). There's part of the issue, too.

[Andy]

Good Report Jess. I think a simple way to analyize the season is look at the teams we have played, and measure their talent level against ours. I think and most would agree that we had more talent than Western Carolina, Vandy, and Houston, and we won those games. Our talent level with Arkansas, is probably even and we won that as well. Georgia and Florida State have more talent than we do, and we lost. Going forward in my opinion we will play 3 teams that we are more talented than(LM, Ole Miss, and Miss State) and 3 teams who have more talent than we do. (Tenn., LSU, and Auburn). We need to hold serve against the first three, and find a way to take at least one if not 2 against the other three, and that would in my opinion be a good start to the recovery of Alabama football. Do not get me wrong, I want to win them all, and will pull like we are the favorite in every game. But realistically this is how I see it.

[derek4tide]

Good write up, Jess. As for the QB situation, it is starting to look like it will be JPW through the season regardless of how he performs.

[trenda]

Jess,

Any insight or thoughts on Fanuzzi right now? Seems a shame to waste a year of eligibility on that WC game.

Is this a situation where the staff already feels confident that what we have coming in (Starr) probably has a better chance at playing than NF, so go ahead and play him when the opportunity presents itself?

[Alanbama27]

Good read Jess! I too was surprised at some of the grades you gave but your back up arguments lead me to not question them because they make sense.

The only problem I had with your entire grading was with the Defensive line play. While you seem to be saying that the DL has been a bust as expected your reasoning for this seems to only be in Quarterback pressure because you give them credit for being better than expected against the run. While I agree with both of those assessments I think your wording was overly harsh in saying that "the fear has been realized" because in my book I think the DL has been MUCH better than we expected. The overall grade of C should be upgraded at the very mimimum to a C+ in my estimation and there is an argument that can be made to give them a B- by simply looking only at stats, which suggest that grade is deserved. Stats are the one thing that don't lie, the problem is they also don't tell the whole story. With more QB pressure, we at the very least stay with FSU better than we did and likely beat UGA (whether deserved or not).

With regard to your last comment about a cure being either recruiting or the weightroom, I'd have to go with recruiting as none of our DL are of the size or athletic ability that CNS' defense requires. They are good and would likley seem much better with Coach Kines "D" but that is not what we're playing so recruiting is the only answer.

Defensive line: C
Alabama’s defensive line was perceived as its biggest weakness coming into the year, and that fear has been realized. Taking away what Alabama did against the beleaguered offensive lines of Western Carolina and Houston, Alabama got most of its line pressure against passing games in the Vanderbilt contest. Against Arkansas, Georgia and Florida State, Alabama could not get consistent pressure against the quarterback. Against the run, however, Alabama has probably been a little better than expected. Injuries have been a big problem for this unit, claiming Byron Walton’s career in the preseason and then knocking starting nosetackle Brian Motley out of the first four games of the year. Motley might be 100 percent in time for Ole Miss, but that’s still not certain. Wallace Gilberry has played very well at end given he’s usually the only one getting consistent pressure. Lorenzo Washington, who spelled Motley in his absence, played better than expected but still not to a level that anyone would call dominating. At the tackle/end position manned by Bobby Greenwood, Greenwood has had his moments, good and bad. Again, an injury has altered the situation there, putting Brandon Deaderick into a starting role. Unfortunately, the situation as a whole will probably be cured only by recruiting, and/or the weightroom. Alabama’s options for 2007 are to try to stay as healthy as possible, scheme as well as possible to cover weaknesses and hope for the best.

[BAMAHD]

Good read Jess thanks!
We do have some real talent issues at D-line and at linebacker.The good news is this years class may be a top 5, the bad news is one class is not going to solve all these problems.

[JessN]

	Quote:	trenda
	Jess, Any insight or thoughts on Fanuzzi right now? Seems a shame to waste a year of eligibility on that WC game. Is this a situation where the staff already feels confident that what we have coming in (Starr) probably has a better chance at playing than NF, so go ahead and play him when the opportunity presents itself?

I think the reason Fanuzzi played was to guard against a scenario in which Wilson got hurt, leaving not only the inexperienced McElroy as the starter, but the new backup in that case, Fanuzzi, a total greenhorn. I also think the coaches may have anticipated playing him in games that haven't gotten as soft as they might have expected (Vanderbilt, Houston).

I also believe Star Jackson has a lot to do with this situation. Alabama loses no quarterbacks to graduation after 2007. Once Jackson is on campus, I believe he may prove able to win the No. 2 slot immediately. If that's the case, you can always redshirt Fanuzzi next year.

If Fanuzzi transfers, it's a moot point. If McElroy transfers, I believe Alabama will take another QB in this class to take his place.

[JessN]

Alan,

Prior to the season, I thought this defensive line was going to be a D unit. To get a C grade is a step above where I thought they'd be.

The main issue is how the line looked in the three games this year in which there was actually big-time talent on the other side. That would be Arkansas, Georgia and Florida State. In those three games, our D-line was controlled fairly effectively.

Being honest with ourselves here, Houston's OL stinks and so does WCU. Go back to the Houston preview and read what they've been dealing with this year. Vanderbilt's OL is underrated and we had a good day there, but that's one line out of four that are quality or anything close to it.

The Alabama DL is good enough to cause problems for poor OLs, but not for good ones. Hence, it's right there in the middle somewhere.

[BamaNation]

ttt