JessN: Ole Miss wrapup: If Alabama wants to be the best, it must play that way

Iirc you you called this preseason.

Sir, I've been reading your posts for many years now and don't recall a wrapup where I absolutely agreed 100% until today. Thank you, Roll Tide.

You're right. It's the little things. Just frustrated.

Glad you pointed out the missed opportunity on the last play. Play-makers have to make plays.

It still baffles me that our CB's will not turn to find the ball. This along with KO coverage, penalties, and turnovers makes for a long, disappointing day. Anyone that has watched our games this year could see these trends mounting. If it wasn't Ole Miss, it was going to be someone. That being said, we can still make the playoff and have a great year.

Sad that it got this way but we just picked a bad year to have these issues. The West is cut throat.

At least we're not LSU, right?

Thanks, Jess and I have echoed your comments in other posts. There are many issues with this team and it is hard to define them, but unless we correct them we are looking at at least two more losses. Both the offense and defense look confused and tentative, not good in SEC play.

OJ may have not made enough effort on the INT play, but Blake Sims threw the ball on the wrong side of his shoulder. Better placement and that might have been six.

Blake was off, but that was probably the environment and better secondary/defense. It was kinda to be expected at some point with him being a first year starter.

I think he'll grow from it and get better, which is what we'll need moving forward.

BamaMoon said:

OJ may have not made enough effort on the INT play, but Blake Sims threw the ball on the wrong side of his shoulder. Better placement and that might have been six.

Blake was off, but that was probably the environment and better secondary/defense. It was kinda to be expected at some point with him being a first year starter.

I think he'll grow from it and get better, which is what we'll need moving forward.

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I don't make 7 million per year but my pass would have gone towards #9 even if he had 4 guys on him. 88, time to man up. Go get that pigskin!

Too many mistakes by too many people.
Problem is some of the same people keep making mistakes.

Too many penalties.

Turn overs.

Injuries to key people.

In Man coverage our receivers fail to break free too often.

Bubble Pass, along the line won't be very effective against the speed of SEC defenses.

Seems as thou our FG problems have set back in.
Punting was generally great...

Part of our Defense had a problem sustaining a Block.

I agree with JessN... We may have guys who either believe we will win, cause it's what the press has said, or they don't give their best effort for some other reason.
It's important that everyone gives their best effort on every play. That's the way to win.
We need to instill an attitude that makes our guys believe and work as one.
We need guys who can't stand the taste of defeat.

Lots of little things contributed to our defeat today.
Take away a couple of the little things and we would have won.

Pretty much right on. The improvements in the left side of the O-line and D-line in general were nice. Back seven failures are getting endemic. Poor decisions and lack of fundamental football by role playing skill player cost as well. Sims also regressed in some decision making in the game - though I don't fault him for the final INT as I believe you have to go for it and OJ was a favorable match-up. OJ may no longer be considered a favorable match-up any longer though. Sims two near INTs and his consecutive loss of yards pushing us out of FG range made me cringe...it was the kind of thing he did during the Spring Game. Hopefully, we get Good-Sims the rest of the year, and not Bad-Sims.

So is this team an example of what Herb Brooks of the Miracle on Ice used to say? To win you did not need the best players, you needed the best players for the team? Has CNS's staff's recruiting prowess led to a highly talented roster of prima donna all stars that do not gel as a team? Or is the issue coaching? Has the pendulum swung too far towards a staff adept and collecting top drawer recruits and away from people capable of melding them into an effective team that does all the little things necessary to win championships?

Things in the past two years have just not looked like they did in 2008-2012. Something's not right.

this was a total team defeat. coaching, preparation, attention to details, penalties, mistakes, lack of playmakers in key situations. their defense shut down any medium to deep threats. not good, cant get ready for big game. long season and miss st, auburn, and texas A&M looming.

bamanix said:

this was a total team defeat. coaching, preparation, attention to details, penalties, mistakes, lack of playmakers in key situations. their defense shut down any medium to deep threats. not good, cant get ready for big game. long season and miss st, auburn, and texas A&M looming.

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Another 1 loss, 2 loss season? Oh the horror. It used to annoy me hearing CNS talk about reality and expectations. Now I realize he was dead freaking spot on. The SEC is the closest thing to the NFL there is outside of the league. Even truly great teams get beat there but it is allowed and expected to happen from time to time. The reality is that the other schools stepped up and said we are going ALL in or we will be destroyed in the SEC. Bama and LSU and Oregon and others set the trend and how to succeed. The talent is flooding, absolutely flooding our conference. We have to realize that games and teams like we lost to yesterday are here to stay. Now we have to adjust and try to set a new bar. It's is TOUGH being king cause everybody wants what you got.

bamacon said:

Another 1 loss, 2 loss season? Oh the horror. It used to annoy me hearing CNS talk about reality and expectations. Now I realize he was dead freaking spot on. The SEC is the closest thing to the NFL there is outside of the league. Even truly great teams get beat there but it is allowed and expected to happen from time to time. The reality is that the other schools stepped up and said we are going ALL in or we will be destroyed in the SEC. Bama and LSU and Oregon and others set the trend and how to succeed. The talent is flooding, absolutely flooding our conference. We have to realize that games and teams like we lost to yesterday are here to stay. Now we have to adjust and try to set a new bar. It's is TOUGH being king cause everybody wants what you got.

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I don't see any horror in 1 or 2 loss seasons (or 3 for that matter). However, over the last seven games, Bama is 4-3 with two of those wins coming against FAU and USM. It's getting hard to chalk it up as "one loss." Some of our issues are recurring now over a two season span, which make them a trend moreso than a 'one-time thing.'

Some of our issues we keep saying are 'correctable' and due to 'inexperience;' but we've had issues in our kick coverage for several years now and through multiple classes of players. We continue to struggle kicking FGs, through various kickers. We're seeing more penalties called on our OL the past two years than probably the previous 3-4 combined (generalization).

I agree with Jess here, we either have a case of having a coaching staff that may be strong at recruiting but poor at developing or we have a team full of players who really need to step up and be the playmakers they were recruited and developed to be. It's probably a combination of both. Either way, as has been stated, the flood of talent - on the field and on the sidelines - in the SEC is ridiculous right now. It's time for the Tide to make the necessary adjustments - mentally, physically and schematically - to keep up (and hopefully stay ahead).

Sloppy. Just sloppy. From the coaches down to waterboy. I don't know the cause of this. But ever so often, Bama just comes out and lays a ..... It's shocking because it's rare. Hopefully, we won't see this again this year.

trenda said:

I don't see any horror in 1 or 2 loss seasons (or 3 for that matter). However, over the last seven games, Bama is 4-3 with two of those wins coming against FAU and USM. It's getting hard to chalk it up as "one loss." Some of our issues are recurring now over a two season span, which make them a trend moreso than a 'one-time thing.'

Some of our issues we keep saying are 'correctable' and due to 'inexperience;' but we've had issues in our kick coverage for several years now and through multiple classes of players. We continue to struggle kicking FGs, through various kickers. We're seeing more penalties called on our OL the past two years than probably the previous 3-4 combined (generalization).

I agree with Jess here, we either have a case of having a coaching staff that may be strong at recruiting but poor at developing or we have a team full of players who really need to step up and be the playmakers they were recruited and developed to be. It's probably a combination of both. Either way, as has been stated, the flood of talent - on the field and on the sidelines - in the SEC is ridiculous right now. It's time for the Tide to make the necessary adjustments - mentally, physically and schematically - to keep up (and hopefully stay ahead).

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Of those games Bama has lost over the past 42 years I have been a fan, I wonder how many of them Bama has been favored? I know a lot of games Bama was not favored, Bama has stepped up and won. These men are such good/great athletes that the pundits tell them they are going to win, and to some, that means it's a given. So, the team goes through the motions and assumes the game is in the bag. Especially when they have gotten a lead. I would like to see them come out with a 'Killer' look in their eyes and an attitude of 'How dare you think you can get on the same field with us'! And maintain that attitude throughout the entire game, no matter which string is in the battle. When we start seeing that, we will know the other team is in big, BIG trouble. In this conference, going through the motion is not enough, I don't care how good you've been told you are. That being said...Bama is my guys!

Roll Tide!

Bamabuzzard said:

I agree with what you're saying for the most part. But when the competition catches up, in order to stay on top or get back on top the "king" has to make adjustments. Not keep making the same mistakes over and over and over. It seems we've gotten into a pattern of play and other teams have adjusted, improved, whatever you'd like to call it. It's time we did the same.

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Ths. It feels as if there is more going on here than simply losing the occasional hard-fought game. Everyone knows and understands that happening. College football appears to be in a transitional period and we seem to be (along with LSU) behind the curve. It's ironic, in a way, because I think Coach Saban had maxed out what a traditional team can look like and do.....no one could do it any better. However, because of the monster he built and the enormous success he had, other teams had to figure out another way to go. In essence, our own success bred what is happening now. They could not beat us doing what we were doing. With the rules now favoring the offense 70/30 and coaches using the hurry-up to further hamstring the defenses, for many teams the fundamental approach to game strategy has shifted. It is a true professional challenge for the "old school" coaches to decide how to deal with these changes. It will, no doubt, all come back around, but for right now, our coaches still seem to be unsure of how to approach the new reality we are facing. Coach Saban, for a number of years, was on the cutting edge of college football from how to put a program together (The Process), to how to recruit, etc., to how to win championships. I'm an enormous fan of Coach Saban,his program and his family, but it no longer feels as if we are "leading" the sport. I think he is one of the greats and it is going to be intriguing to watch how he ultimately deals with what is happening.