my A game take

bamanix

1st Team
Mar 24, 2010
528
0
0
I always enjoy any bama football action. even a spring game that is a glorified scrimmage. the easter weekend turnout was great, and the weather perfect. as for the game, it was what I expected basically. I do think bateman is the best qb of the ones in camp, and coker may be better. running backs, I said last year I thought drake was as good as we got, but, he is not a coach favorite, and yeldon is going to be the starter. henry will get time, as he should. my big concern, is the same as last year. the off line. many say well, they were vanilla, and only concentrated on 7 or a few more plays at best. well, my take on that is if that is true our guys should be much better with fewer plays in their performance. the defense absolutely destroyed our offensive line. does that mean our defense is that much stronger. don't know, just afraid of what happens when the season starts. with all the 4 stars and 5 stars should be more consistency in their play. maybe we need to play the second team players more during the season. the linebackers are solid, and the secondary with tony brown at corner sure makes a difference at the corner. geno smith and Collins look like a legitimate safety duo. when Humphreys arrives in the fall, and the return of eddie Jackson will solidify the secondary. l alson perry and Williams to be solid. it really boils down to the off line for me. we need a physical incoming linemen like Jackson to make a difference. I still think Lindsay would have been in the lineup this year whether at center or either guard position. arie is just not the answer, and brown just seems a little big for a bull dozing guard like steen was. we do have some road graders coming in as freshmen, and they are the future.
 

BigBama76

Suspended
Oct 26, 2011
1,002
0
0
Atlanta, GA
There's no doubt our offensive and thus overall success is going to be contingent on our OL play.

The biggest difference I saw in the OL last year versus the 2012 squad was they were not nearly as aggressive, physically or mentally. What I saw in the A-Day game didn't show any improvement there. However, even the 2012 OL had problems with smaller more athletic DL and this group certainly hasn't shown any improvement in that area.

The good news is that we seem to have one of the most athletic front sevens I've seen in a long time and there appears to be plenty of quality depth. I don't think there is much, if any, drop-off from the first team front seven to the second team front seven we saw A-Day.

Hopefully practicing against these faster and more athletic DL's will force improvement from our OL and better prepare them for the defenses they will see this coming year.
 

TRU

All-SEC
Oct 3, 2000
1,466
192
187
Tampa, FL
There's no doubt our offensive and thus overall success is going to be contingent on our OL play.

The biggest difference I saw in the OL last year versus the 2012 squad was they were not nearly as aggressive, physically or mentally. What I saw in the A-Day game didn't show any improvement there. However, even the 2012 OL had problems with smaller more athletic DL and this group certainly hasn't shown any improvement in that area.

The good news is that we seem to have one of the most athletic front sevens I've seen in a long time and there appears to be plenty of quality depth. I don't think there is much, if any, drop-off from the first team front seven to the second team front seven we saw A-Day.

Hopefully practicing against these faster and more athletic DL's will force improvement from our OL and better prepare them for the defenses they will see this coming year.
I agree, but isn't it always true that the game is mostly decided at the LOS? If you OL can open up huge holes your grandmother could consistently average 6 YPC. And almost any QB can look like Peyton Manning given enough time to read the field and throw. Conversely, few QBs can reliably hit the open man while lying flat on their back.
 

Ole Man Dan

Hall of Fame
Apr 21, 2008
8,982
3,421
187
Gadsden, Al.
Arie is pretty good if they face him head on, I think he's weak on the angle blocks.
He better get used to angles, cause that's what he's gonna see this year.

Offensive line may open holes for our running backs against weaker teams, but the stronger teams will be a challenge.

I was expecting a good day for our Defense.
I was very disappointed with our Offense.

Drake still has issues that will probably limit his touches this year.
No excuse for the performance of our Field Goal Kicker.

If we can use Morris in some Punting situations, the other teams will have to watch him for a fake.
I thought Morris did a credible job Punting.
 

cuda.1973

Hall of Fame
Dec 6, 2009
8,506
607
137
Allen, Texas
If we can use Morris in some Punting situations, the other teams will have to watch him for a fake.
I thought Morris did a credible job Punting.
I'm biased, so I would like to see him be the regular punter. And have him run a fake, in the WVU game. Just to make sure all the other coaches have something to worry about.
 

TommyMac

Hall of Fame
Apr 24, 2001
14,040
33
0
83
Mobile, Alabama
I'm not at all worried about our O-line because;

It's mid-April.

They may have been going against the best D-line in the nation.

It's mid-April.

The offense was vanilla and the defense was very familiar with them.

It's mid-April.

It's still a work in progress and the starters are yet to be determined.

Did I mention that it's mid-April?

:D
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
57
Ocean Springs, MS
I'm not at all worried about our O-line because;

It's mid-April.

They may have been going against the best D-line in the nation.

It's mid-April.

The offense was vanilla and the defense was very familiar with them.

It's mid-April.

It's still a work in progress and the starters are yet to be determined.

Did I mention that it's mid-April?

:D
Yeah, yesterday our offense faced the best defense they may face in the year 2014. So it's not panic time just yet. Plus, our defense has seen these plays all spring. They pretty much knew what was coming and you could tell it.
 

Padreruf

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2001
8,688
12,229
287
73
Charleston, South Carolina
Rewatched the game this pm. I don't feel quite as bad as I did. OL had some good moments when they blew open holes, including the first play from scrimmage. They couldn't block the DL when the play was obvious. QB's were pressing...BS looked like he was playing under shackles. Let him run and he would move the team. That being said, QB is still up for grabs. I am not fully sold on JC yet as I have not seen him. Being so lowly ranked out of college still bothers me. Overall, we have a Mercedes ready to run...who will get the keys?
 

bamaslammer

All-American
Jan 8, 2003
4,440
1,104
282
Argo, AL, St Clair
www.kirkwoodhouse.com
It wasn't one of their better days but I doubt Cameron starts if we were playing a game. I think they felt he would learn faster going with the 1st unit. Also the defensive ends just crashed to the passer a lot. It's not like they were worried about the run. Even with that our middle linebackers did a really amazing job controlling the run. This is going to be a very good defense in my opinion. There is no question that we need to see a better line than last year. We are just going to have to hope they can get better over the summer and fall.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
I'll wait until on that first Saturday night of the season to make judgements. I'm hopeful about the defense. The front looks much improved in just a few months. After the last two games last year I thought our DL just liked dancing 300lb men.
 

Alabama22

1st Team
Aug 3, 2010
834
0
35
Alabama
My main concern is the offensive line...period. At all other positions, Alabama should be fine. Coach Cristobal is obviously a great recruiter, but I haven't been impressed with his ability to coach and teach our offensive line how to block effectively. I trust Coach Saban is paying attention as well, and will address the issue between now and the first game.
 

Eshad

3rd Team
Jun 20, 2007
203
0
35
My main concern is the offensive line...period. At all other positions, Alabama should be fine. Coach Cristobal is obviously a great recruiter, but I haven't been impressed with his ability to coach and teach our offensive line how to block effectively. I trust Coach Saban is paying attention as well, and will address the issue between now and the first game.
Bingo. Cristobal's recruiting prowess is excellent, but I have never seen the O-Line this maligned since Shula. Each year with new players they take some time to gel, but since Cristobal came in, they just have not looked good. Coach Pendry and Coach Stoudtland did a great job in fundamentals and coaching them up. We will see.
 

BamaJama17

Hall of Fame
Sep 17, 2006
16,365
8
47
34
Hoover, AL
Bingo. Cristobal's recruiting prowess is excellent, but I have never seen the O-Line this maligned since Shula. Each year with new players they take some time to gel, but since Cristobal came in, they just have not looked good. Coach Pendry and Coach Stoudtland did a great job in fundamentals and coaching them up. We will see.
I have a feeling this will be a make or break year for Cristobal regardless of his recruiting abilities. I'd hate for Alabama to lose him and that grip he has in south Florida.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Blindside13

All-SEC
Oct 22, 2011
1,846
1
0
Near the Barn
I think the offensive line will be fine we need to keep in mind they only had the handful of practices this spring to gel.Given time they will get better. I also think the freshmen coming in will push them and give them no choice but to get better. I also think the qb issue will work out and we will have a very capable person under center this fall no matter what his name is. I am concerned about our secondary but they will only get better the more they play. The rest of the defense is just nasty to the extreme of almost being unfair. The skill players on offense are ridiculous with talent so we should not have a problem scoring. My biggest concern is special teams if we need a field goal to win a game this year I can not say I am very confident we would win. I hope the kid coming in this fall is the real deal we have been snake bit before signing kickers.
 

CoachJeff

Suspended
Jan 21, 2014
3,596
3,654
187
Shelby County Alabama
Cristobal has only been on the job 15 months. Let's show some patience. If we can't pass block or get short yards in October and November we'll have a legit reason to complain. I really don't have any issues with the line now, at least not like some folks.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,947
15,954
282
Boone, NC
I finally finished watching the A-day game last night. I was out of town over the weekend and finally was able to watch in it's entirety between ESPNU's origninal broadcast and then the rebroadcast on Sunday night that included the entire fourth quarter.

Instead of a new thread, I thought I'd add my thoughts to this one:

OL: Lot's of handwringing over this one and they've got work to do, but I think their struggles have more to do with how good our front seven are going to be. I've read a little about Dominic Jackson and surely he's being brought in to take a spot somewhere, probably left tackle. As good as Cam will be, unless he blows up next fall, I doubt he'll start. As good as our OL recruiting has been, I think we'll have a servicable, if not very good OL by the time we hit the meat of our schedule next year...get past WVU and then a couple of cupcakes and we'll be o.k.

DL: They are going to be really good! I think we'll see a lot more push up the field with this bunch and, yes, that will help blow some of the zone read plays up against teams like TAMU, OM and Auburn. That was part of the problem last year. For instance, against Auburn, we didn't have any push into their backfield and when Marshall or Mason took off running they didn't get touched until they were at the LOS or a yard or two on our side of it. Even if our LBs make a good hit or tackle that translates into a 3-5 yard gain almost everytime.

Linebackers: We ought to be very good with the exception of an expected drop off of coverage ability that Mosely brought. I was very impressed with Reggie Ragland. I've been waiting on him to hit the field since he committed a few years ago. Rueben Foster better do what CNS said and learn to tackle with his head up! If he does, he'll be a missile!

Defensive backfield: I was so impressed with Tony Brown. He'll be a standout stud! The play where he had the INT he played it textbook CNS! He's a true freshman too!!! He'll make some mistakes, but his althleticsim and speed will allow for him to cover some of that up. I think he'll play a lot next year!!! We should be good at saftey with LC and Perry.

Kicking: I have no earthly idea what's wrong there! If that doesn't change we could easily lose 2 games just due to not having a reliable kicking game.

Running backs and receiving core: WE ARE LOADED!!!

QB: I've never thought Blake Sims was going to be the answer at qb, and now I'm even more convinced. I saw what I've seen in his limited fill in duties the last year or two. His arm strength is not the problem. He is just terribly inaccurate. He often throws a 10 yard pass 2 yards ahead or behind of a streaking receiver or sometimes he'll throw it at their feet. I lost count how many times he did this. And when he throws long it's almost like punting. Perry just flat out dropped another INT on one of his long throws or BS would have had three INTs.

I was hoping to see a little of David Cornwell, and the fact we didn't can be blamed on BS. He struggled so badly that I think the staff kept trying to leave him in there so maybe something good might happen. It finally did on the last couple of drives, but the damage had already happened. I refuse to believe that he wasn't comfortable because we didn't have designed roll outs and the option for him to run/scramble was hindered by A-day sack rules. Several times CNS reminded him he could run. But, when he would try to pass he showed us that he is just terribly inconsistent.

The one pass Cornwell tried to throw, he made a great decision to basically throw it into the ground because the receiver in the flats was covered tightly and was in position to make an INT and it would have been a pic six. I really wish we could have seen Cornwell thrown a few more passes. If Coker wasn't coming, I'd think Cornwell might have a real chance of meaningful playing time next fall.

I was fairly impressed with Bateman and I think if we had to use him next year he could possibly be as good as Gmac with some playing time and experience.

BUT I'M GLAD JAKE COKER IS COMING IN THE SUMMER TO COMPLETE!

Righ now the DEFENSE > the OFFENSE. The vanilla scheme was by design and we all know that we'll push out some new looks next year, as has already been reported. Get the OL firmed up and a reliable qb and we'll be better than most!
 
Last edited:

BamaInMo1

All-American
Oct 27, 2006
2,012
481
102
53
Cumming, GA
To be fair to the o-line, the offense was hampered by the qbs not really being able to scramble and run. There were a few times when the qbs would have run for yards but because they were touched by a defensive player the play was blown dead. The defensive line was simply able to pin their ears back more often. Also, the play calling was very simple. That having been said I do think the line play has to improve (and I think it will).

The defensive front 7 looked stronger, faster and quicker than last years front 7. Things are looking better there.

The d-backs looked better. They looked like they knew where they were supposed to be.

QB play left a little to be desired (on face value) but, as stated above, they were a little hamstrung as far as being able to scramble/improvise.

The running backs ran hard and TJ seemed to be healthier, Henry is still a beast, Fowler still a good option, Drake will be a monster if he can get it all together.

One thing that really encouraged me was a few plays called to get the running backs out on the edge to take more advantage of both speed and power.

Don't know if we'll win a NC this season but we should be in the running all season.

Just my $.02 worth
 

257WBY

Suspended
Aug 20, 2011
2,077
1
0
Replacing an NFL QB and O linemen isn't easy. A lot of new QBs in the SEC, so defense will have to carry the season.
 

4Q Basket Case

FB|BB Moderator
Staff member
Nov 8, 2004
9,569
12,865
237
Tuscaloosa
Concerns and strengths:

OL, as everybody has said, is a huge question mark. Last year's OL was never all that good when the heat was on, especially in short yardage. In the last two games, it was significantly deficient in the run game (barn), and abysmal in pass protection against Oklahoma.

I know he's giving his all, but our LG has physical limitations in anything other than straight-ahead run blocking, and is bad to flinch. The fact that the staff clearly thinks he's one of our best five is telling, as is the fact that we have no idea who the LT will be. Of course, that might not matter all that much because.....

QB is a problem, unless Coker wins the job. Sims simply isn't good enough as a passer to run this offense on an every-down basis.

Kicking is a real problem. I had good information on two scrimmages, and Griffith was the same in both. It's a mental thing, and unless he gets square between the ears, we may never attempt a PK...just go for it on 4th down, and go for two after every TD.

Punting is only marginally better. Morris is incredibly inconsistent. He has a strong leg, and can boom, but even when he hits it a long way, it's sometimes low and extremely vulnerable to returns. I like the fake potential with him back there, but you can't build a season-long strategy around fakes. I expect the true freshman will be the regular guy, and that presents its own set of issues.

Good news:

DL is greatly improved. We have push up front again.

Kiffin will make good use of OJ Howard -- if somebody can just get the ball to him.

Secondary will be strong by mid-season. Expect some freshman mistakes early, but growth out of that. WVU may burn us more than once in the first game. Going from first year to second at DB, I also expect Cyrus Jones to be greatly improved. Collins takes over as the leader for his final year.

RBs and WRs are loaded. I do worry that that will be somewhat wasted if we can't find a QB.

We have undeniable talent everywhere. But we did last year, too, and nowhere near the questions at QB and the kicking game.
 

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