News Article: Penn State wrap-up: Tide wins big, but trouble spots start to become evident

I was very surprised when I read the stats this morning, as I would have figured PSU for 350 +/- yards of offense. But the name of the game is points, and from that measuring stick, it's hard to do much better than they have so far.

I was commenting to the group I was with last night that, imo, it is apparent that our defense is more effective with Hightower not play MLB. I dont think that is a natural position for him. Also, I think we have some maturity issues on defense as well. Maybe that is to be expected but for some reason it seems they appear to be relying more on their reputation than really working on their craft and becoming a nasty defense.

While, we have been able to get away with it until this point, we need to quit basking in the fact we are the No. 1 team.

We beat a pretty good team in a game not even as close as the score indicates (and that really wasn't close either). Some people just wont let others enjoy themselves or the team's success, they need something to worry about. My job in the process is to cheer, applaud, and enjoy. Coach has clearly and repeatedly stated that no two teams are the same, every year brings about new issues to be resolved. I'll leave the picking of nits to Coach, he seems to specialize in the extrication those types of pesky problems. However, if you have a magnifying class and some tweezers, happy hunting.

JessN said:

Penn State wrap-up: Tide wins big, but trouble spots start to become evident
By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Sept. 12, 2010

It’s amazing how different a 24-3 victory over a ranked, respected opponent can look when perspectives change.

Three years ago, such a win would have set Alabama fans dancing in the streets. These days, the celebration is blunted somewhat by the realization that Alabama has a ways to go if it wants to repeat as national champions.

For the full story, click here: http://www.tidefans.com/forums/tide...g-but-trouble-spots-start-become-evident.html

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Great win for the Tide, but our defensive line hardly pressured their freshman QB. Hopefully with MD back next week against Duke, we'll do a beat down on the QB. But that game will only be practice leading up to SC and FL.

Penn State was our first real test game and it was good to get a strong win. We were exposed in some areas, especially our defensive line lacked the ability to pressure the quarterback consistently on pass plays. This could be a big factor in the upcoming contest against Arkansas. Also, I was surprised at Penn State's ability to run through our defensive line on too many occasions. Fortunately, this becomes great teaching tools for CNS and staff. I suspect we will see significant improvement in DL play, but this may be one of those years where we don't dominate on the defensive side vs. last season. Offensively, many, many positives from my viewpoint. We may see the offense carrying this team this year. It will be interesting to see how the defense matures and jells as the season progresses.

Not to pile on, but after the SJSU game I noted that there were too many times that GMac with good protection could not find an open receiver. It happened several times again last night. I don't know if our receivers are having that much trouble getting separation or that maybe GMac is just being overly cautious to avoid throwing a pick.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how we look right now. Any rough edges we can spot as fans, the coaching staff will obviously spot and correct.

We're the best looking team I've seen so far this season. Didn't get to see much of OU's game, but they must be pretty danged good to maul FSU the way they did. FSU is not without athletes, but OU curb stomped them. Pretty impressive.

Loved the Va-Tech/JMU game. Maybe it will bring the Boise State wackos back down to earth.

TommyMac said:

Not to pile on, but after the SJSU game I noted that there were too many times that GMac with good protection could not find an open receiver. It happened several times again last night. I don't know if our receivers are having that much trouble getting separation or that maybe GMac is just being overly cautious to avoid throwing a pick.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how we look right now. Any rough edges we can spot as fans, the coaching staff will obviously spot and correct.

We're the best looking team I've seen so far this season. Didn't get to see much of OU's game, but they must be pretty danged good to maul FSU the way they did. FSU is not without athletes, but OU curb stomped them. Pretty impressive.

Loved the Va-Tech/JMU game. Maybe it will bring the Boise State wackos back down to earth.

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But, Boise State is already penciled in to the National Championship game .

In my opinion,our weak areas can be corrected as the season progresses. Our weakness will not prevent the Tide from wining another NC. I worry about Florida and the old Ball Coach over at SC But we will win both of them. I see us playing Ohio State for the NC. We will win that also. Like I said, I am no expert just a huge biased fan and that is my gut opinion.

Thanks, Jess: Always enjoy your reviews and thoughts.

I too have some of your concerns and sat in my son's RV after the game last night listening to him and my son-on-law (a Georgia grad) say basically the same things about Dont'a. A great ballplayer and after the injury maybe a step slower than he was. But, as good as he his, I guess we are all comparing him to and expecting him to be another Rolando.

As one of the group said "This is only our second game and what a game it was and we will only get better".

Thanks again, Jess. Keep up the good work and the "good reads".

ROLL TIDE!

i disagree with you guys about Hightower. He is by far our best LB at stopping the run. He does a great job getting off blocks and rarely misses a tackle. He was never exactly a speed demon in the first place..

JessN said:

And if you need any more evidence that I'm on the right track, consider this: Alabama currently ranks dead last in the SEC in both sacks and tackles for loss. National rankings in those two categories are 109th and 120th, respectively, meaning UA is the worst in the nation right now in tackles for losses.

How this is true given the fact that UA leads the nation in scoring defense is a statistical miracle of some kind.

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True, but we are 12th nationally in total defense. So some stats don't tell the whole picture. I think our defense will be fine especially since Saban is at the helm.

I agree with everything Jess said, yet I also see improvements. Trent Richardson seem to have better field vision this year. He uses his blockers better and seems to have improved his receiving skills. I see Eddie Lacy as Roy Upchurch's replacement; not as good blocking or receiving but more speed and moves. McElroy seems to have a swagger and confidence of a salty QB and his passes have "that touch". Seeing Maze in the wildcat is a new wrinkle, Hanks seems more consistent and Julio, well, he's my favorite player. Overall, the Tide Offense just looks faster and better tuned. If we do lose a game this year, I bet it will be a high scoring one cuz I don't see anybody stopping this offense. edwd58 says, "My job in the process is to cheer, applaud, and enjoy" so that's what I'm going to do too.

JessN said:

And if you need any more evidence that I'm on the right track, consider this: Alabama currently ranks dead last in the SEC in both sacks and tackles for loss. National rankings in those two categories are 109th and 120th, respectively, meaning UA is the worst in the nation right now in tackles for losses.

How this is true given the fact that UA leads the nation in scoring defense is a statistical miracle of some kind.

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There is an adage that says there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. You can do with them pretty much whatever you want and I think that is what is being done here. We've played two games and give up an average of 3 ppg. Do we realistically expect this to remain constant throughout the year? Of course not (but wouldn't it be nice!). So, the flip side of that is you don't/shouldn't really expect that we'll end the season ranked 109th and 120th in those 2 categories. If memory serves, we weren't exactly setting the world on fire in the sack category in the early part of last season either, but we ended up okay.

Oh well, if you just need something to worry about to help you along, it may as well be this. :smile:

edwd58 said:

There is an adage that says there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. You can do with them pretty much whatever you want and I think that is what is being done here. We've played two games and give up an average of 3 ppg. Do we realistically expect this to remain constant throughout the year? Of course not (but wouldn't it be nice!). So, the flip side of that is you don't/shouldn't really expect that we'll end the season ranked 109th and 120th in those 2 categories. If memory serves, we weren't exactly setting the world on fire in the sack category in the early part of last season either, but we ended up okay.

Oh well, if you just need something to worry about to help you along, it may as well be this. :smile:

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I get your point, but Bama was atop the SEC in sacks early in the season. They had 5 vs. VA Tech alone.

BigAL413 said:

I get your point, but Bama was atop the SEC in sacks early in the season. They had 5 vs. VA Tech alone.

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i remember a lot of worrying about all of the stuff that needed improving after the va. tech game (and just about every other game last year too) too.

just saying

Marcel will definitly help in the sacks and TOL categories. Remember, one player can make a huge difference. If Marcel continues his beastly presence on the line, he can likely free up others to make the play when he can't.

Jess' assessment is spot-on from the defensive standpoint. Truth to be told, if we were facing a junior/senior Bolden at QB, we're in a tight game and could've been beaten. Our biggest problem on defense besides the injuries, IMO, is our inexperience.

Inexperience comes across in a lot of ways... and it's showing up for us in the form of poor angles/tackling and not being physical at the point of attack. On many plays, our DL simply didn't take the fight to the OL... we actually looked very tentative at times. More than anything else with our players, that's due to lack of confidence in schemes/responsibilities. DH, regardless of what many of the "experts" are saying, is not on the level of McClain... far from it right now. The worst thing about that right now is the fact we need a "bell cow" to guide these younger players. Maybe MD becomes that for us... but if we continue to be playing w/o some key guys on defense and don't get that leadership, we'll likely drop a game due to this issue sooner or later.

Upside is that CNS and staff have two weeks to really work on these issues... there's a lot of opportunity for some phenomenal development. Players will be able to learn this week, put it into practice in earnest Saturday... then have a whole extra week to refine and mature before playing Arkansas. I look for lots of improvements this week... and if it comes along with better health, I'll also feel better about our chances to get back to another SECCG in November.

BigAL413 said:

I get your point, but Bama was atop the SEC in sacks early in the season. They had 5 vs. VA Tech alone.

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Your are correct, which is why I should have looked it up. I'll just use being 50+ as my excuse for not remembering clearly. So, I did go back and look it up and we also had 5 sacks the next week, but matched that only one other time all season. In fact, we had 2 or fewer sacks in 8 games, in 3 games we had zero sacks. Here is how you can have "fun" with stats; we had 31.25% (10 of 32) of our season sacks in the first 2 games last year, we had 46.9% (15 of 32), nearly half, of our sacks for the entire season in just 3 games. All I'm saying is that it is way too early in the season to pick out one stat, or two, with which to be overly concerned/confident.