Ole Miss/Blake question

It's going to be a new challenge for sure, but nothing I've seen makes me think he isn't ready. The poise he showed in his very first game as a starter really impressed me and the poise he showed against UF after we continually shot our ourselves in the foot was very impressive too. On the 2 INT's he has thrown this year he has came out played lights out on the very next drive. Honestly, his poise under pressure and against adversity has been even more impressive than how well he has thrown the ball with only 4 starts to his credit.

I'm expecting him to play very well.

TideFan in AU said:

Honestly, his poise under pressure and against adversity has been even more impressive than how well he has thrown the ball with only 4 starts to his credit.

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This. He's obviously made some game mgmt. mistakes based on some things CNS has said in various pressers. Even so, Blake hasn't appeared to be rattled by that, or anything for that matter. I'm genuinely impressed with his poise.

10Bama54 said:

How do you think that Blake will handle the noise at Ole Miss? He hasn't really faced the noise and distractions that go with an away game. The WVA game was more neutral as I imagine we had more people there than WVA.

He has done so well so far all year and I hope he handles this with the same calm that he has everything else. What do you think?

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Not to be a worrier, but it's a concern to me. We've really had trouble with communication from sideline to huddle and even when we go no huddle we aren't getting into formation until there is only 10-15 seconds left on the play clock. Then if we have to audible it's getting really close to expiring.

I imagine we'll have a few delay of game calls, but hopefully he manages the clock and huddle and audibles better.

Ole Miss will rush him....big time. Their defense is fast.

GP for Bama said:

Ole Miss will rush him....big time. Their defense is fast.

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I don't believe they will. Blake can kill them with his legs.

10Bama54 said:

How do you think that Blake will handle the noise at Ole Miss? He hasn't really faced the noise and distractions that go with an away game. The WVA game was more neutral as I imagine we had more people there than WVA.

He has done so well so far all year and I hope he handles this with the same calm that he has everything else. What do you think?

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I assume you must not have been to a game at Ole Miss. Stadium is very small for SEC standards, and one end zone is open with just bleachers. I've been about 4 times in the past 10 years. Not very intimidating at all, as far as loud crowd.

One thing I will say this: I wouldn't be too concerned about Blake this weekend. He'll be fine. He already played away from home in Atlanta. I don't think he'll get rattled or anything like that. Now, if Ole Miss Blitzes, definitely expect our WRs to have field day, or Sims to be running a lot... Now, if they don't blitiz, I think we'll be okay... balance on pass/run. I will say we'll use Drake/Howard a lot.. cuz if they blitzes, guess who's going to be open.. or force Defense to shift certain way Cooper/Drake/Yeldon/Fowler motioning...

JBama_in_PCOLA said:

I don't believe they will. Blake can kill them with his legs.

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I think they may try that early but Blake is quick enough to make people miss.

Just Win said:

I assume you must not have been to a game at Ole Miss. Stadium is very small for SEC standards, and one end zone is open with just bleachers. I've been about 4 times in the past 10 years. Not very intimidating at all, as far as loud crowd.

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That's what I was going to say. I'm sure the crowd will be screaming at the top of their lungs but 60k can only do so much compared to 90k or 100k.

BamaJama17 said:

I think they may try that early but Blake is quick enough to make them miss.

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If the OL blocks even better it won't matter. They've done a good job this season.

A few designed QB draws right up the gut will slow that pass rush down a little bit. I think OM's defense will be pretty good, but they have not played an offense even remotely close to ours. They've played Boise St ranked at #38, Memphis at #76, La-Lafayette at #91, and Vandy at #121, so they have not been tested like they will be tested Saturday.

JBama_in_PCOLA said:

If the OL blocks even better it won't matter. They've done a good job this season.

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Exactly. 2 weeks ago everybody was saying Florida's pass rush was going to expose us, but our guys did great for the most part. Ole Miss is ranked 101st (1.2 per game) in sacks through 4 games, so its not like they have been tearing it up, even against a cupcake schedule. The only team we've played with less sacks per game than OM this year is WVU.

OM is also ranked 101st in INT's thrown. Wallace has thrown 6 so far this year, against defenses that are nowhere near as good as ours.

Just Win said:

I assume you must not have been to a game at Ole Miss. Stadium is very small for SEC standards, and one end zone is open with just bleachers. I've been about 4 times in the past 10 years. Not very intimidating at all, as far as loud crowd.

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^ This. ^

With all due respect to Ole Sis..... I mean Ole Miss. It's not like we're going to be visiting Baton Rouge on a Saturday night.

There will be more noise in the grove than the stadium. Whatever defensive plan they were starting on us a couple weeks ago is now history.

I've been to Ole Miss three times. It is not very loud. The crowd noise will not decide this game.

Two things come to mind for me. 1st I hope our 10k+ fans will neutralize some of that noise and 2nd, should they 'all out' rush him, he might just set a QB rushing yards record....
**But I hope we play awesome D and establish a running game. We do that, we will be fine. RTR

In any "championship run", there are going to be a series of tests which seem like a definitive test of something or other. If they go well, then each tend to seem like they were overestimated in retrospect. They're all important, but the most important part is simply passing them. Notre Dame in 2012 managed to squeak by time after time, and managed to have the good fortune of playing in the BCSCG. Florida St. might do that sort of thing this year. Auburn's had a couple of runs in which they squeaked by time after time...

So, it's easy to overestimate games, but while very difficult, Alabama's schedule ramps up fairly well. West Virginia was a completely legitimate test against a HUNH offense, Florida is obviously a talented (but perhaps inept team). I don't buy the talent gap thing playing a team like Florida, the problem isn't talent. Ole Miss is a huge test because they appear to be the most balanced team, they run an offense that Alabama might not be best suited against, and Alabama will be playing them on the road. I think we will learn a lot, but ugly or pretty, Alabama just needs to win.

Hopefully, there is a very good reason but I am kind of curious to why the line is so low this week. I know Miss is undefeated. But this line is one of the lowest we have had in a few years. I have not heard anything specific out of T-town but I hope Blake is going to be close to 100% and that's not the reason for the low number. Just a thought.