Our coaching staff has had two years worth of time and film to game plan against it. I believe we have some, if not the, finest defensive minds in the game. Other teams with less overall talent have handled it better than we have, I think after last night it`s safe to say we still cannot effectively control the barn O. I`m curious to know from those in the know as to why that`s so. It can`t simply be that "It`s the IB and they always play 2 levels above where they ordinarily do." It`s a mystery t me.
Difficulties with the AU Offense
- Thread starter Tideflyer
- Start date
I agree...we seem to have a mental block when playing AU. However, I will say that the last of the 3rd through the 4th qtr we shut down their running game and made passing more difficult.
What are we doing differently in the red zone that we are not doing at the 40?
I haven't looked at the stats, but based on the eye-test, I think Alabama has played fairly well against Auburn's offense if you take away the big plays. I mentioned this in another thread, but Eli mentioned last night that Auburn's rushing total in the second half was only about 40-something yards (I think...). Auburn only scored 21 points last year before the kick-six happened. This year, they kept stalling in the red zone (2 TDs and 5 FGs in 7 trips). Take away those big plays, and I'm not sure they would score anything. Auburn has the kind of offense that is always going to get yards - that's just how they're built. It'll be interesting to see how much better Alabama gets on defense next year.
Our difficulties were magnified by the inability to keep the ball on offense. The defense was behind the 8 ball all night.
This sort of overly simplistic naive insight or lack thereof is part of the problem.
We heard the same thing about Texas A&M did we not? We saw similar results for two years in a row, did we not? What happened this year? I recall a shut out, don't you? I've long argued that experience was the issue, and the third year of seeing Texas A&M's offense sure seemed to do wonders, eh?
Alabama is a young and inexperienced team, and this is perpetually the case. They are one of the most inexperienced teams in the FBS, and they will continue to be as long as they have so many guys leave early for the NFL. What this does, is it creates weaknesses on defense, in this case you had a true sophomore who has been hurt, who really got outplayed by someone who was more experienced. It's really that simple. There is nothing wrong with this defense.
I could go on to explain what it is that the HUNH does, and the type of game that it creates, but it's kind of a marvel to see people whose first instinct is to complain after Alabama scores 55 points and beats the spread. Here's another hint, the reason Auburn was able to score so many points is pretty much the same reason Alabama was able to score 55.
We heard the same thing about Texas A&M did we not? We saw similar results for two years in a row, did we not? What happened this year? I recall a shut out, don't you? I've long argued that experience was the issue, and the third year of seeing Texas A&M's offense sure seemed to do wonders, eh?
Alabama is a young and inexperienced team, and this is perpetually the case. They are one of the most inexperienced teams in the FBS, and they will continue to be as long as they have so many guys leave early for the NFL. What this does, is it creates weaknesses on defense, in this case you had a true sophomore who has been hurt, who really got outplayed by someone who was more experienced. It's really that simple. There is nothing wrong with this defense.
I could go on to explain what it is that the HUNH does, and the type of game that it creates, but it's kind of a marvel to see people whose first instinct is to complain after Alabama scores 55 points and beats the spread. Here's another hint, the reason Auburn was able to score so many points is pretty much the same reason Alabama was able to score 55.
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From the untrained eye, when in the red zone, Williams and Coates are not able to take or threaten to take the top of the defense off, but that's a WAG.
You did not face Auburn's standard offense last night. They were a pass first team last night. They knew that they were outgunned so they just decided to throw it deep early and often and hope that their WRs could make the catches. The problems with that approach are two-fold: the results are all or nothing on each drive & you can't do it anymore when you are in the red zone as there just isn't enough room to create separation.
Alabama's defense prepared for the 2013 Auburn offense and you could tell that they were not prepared for what they faced. The halftime adjustments ended that. I am actually pretty proud of the way that your defense played given the number of plays run by Auburn (90) and how tired they must have been when they clamped down. The Alabama comeback would not have been possible without the defensive effort. You went on a 34-3 run. Yes, the offense put up 34 - but the defense held Auburn to only 3 points during that stretch. Against this offense, after that many plays, that was simply amazing.
Alabama's defense prepared for the 2013 Auburn offense and you could tell that they were not prepared for what they faced. The halftime adjustments ended that. I am actually pretty proud of the way that your defense played given the number of plays run by Auburn (90) and how tired they must have been when they clamped down. The Alabama comeback would not have been possible without the defensive effort. You went on a 34-3 run. Yes, the offense put up 34 - but the defense held Auburn to only 3 points during that stretch. Against this offense, after that many plays, that was simply amazing.
A lot of people want to find something our D did wrong, but IMO the Barn has some really good players especially the WR's. They just were faster thn our db's & Marshall threw good passes.
But give our D some credit 5 FG's? We did something right.
i don't want to sound like an excuse maker but the WC game hurt a lot of really good players for us. When they dais Devall would not play I was worried.
but hey good guys pulled it out.
But give our D some credit 5 FG's? We did something right.
i don't want to sound like an excuse maker but the WC game hurt a lot of really good players for us. When they dais Devall would not play I was worried.
but hey good guys pulled it out.
I disagree - Auburn knew what Alabama was going to do and they simply had no answer. Auburn threw Alabama a major curveball and Alabama had to make major adjustments to compensate, but once you did, you shut them down.
i'ts just a scheme issue. sometimes certain schemes are mismatches. and we all know we dont switch our scheme for just one team.
It's hard to run 40yd deep streaks from the red zone. That is their bread and butter. Shear speed and hail mary like passing.
Yeah, who would of thought that? Eddie Jackson had a horrible game. He has been the most solid corner. Teams just didn't throw at him this year. Auburn plays an almost sandlot style of football and Eddie had the guy running the go route on every play. Maybe his Knee just wasn't up to it? Maybe he was winded, or maybe it was just a bad day.
Up until the garbage time TD they scored late, their second half on offense consisted of 10 points, and interception that set us up inside the 30 and a turnover on downs in the redzone.
The first half was an avalanche, but we regrouped and made adjustments.
Plus next years Auburn offense will have different players, no dual threat QB like Marshall.
The first half was an avalanche, but we regrouped and made adjustments.
Plus next years Auburn offense will have different players, no dual threat QB like Marshall.
I had pace of play in mind when I said that, I think it's noteworthy that part of the change Alabama made was using the huddle a bit more. Alabama slowed things down a bit and this helped stabilize things, but that overall pace of play heavily favors the offense. The defenses have to defend more plays, and they also tend to get less rest between possessions. There's no way that many points are going to be scored with two teams playing possession control ball for instance. It just makes the defenses look worse than they actually are.
Marshall has a lot of trust in Coates, they play sandlot football, the QB just puts it up and trusts his receiver to come down with it in traffic. Having said that, most of the big completions last night were just very good throws to a big receiver who had already beaten his defender, coupled with a lack of hurry from the D line. You can't defend everything, and who among us would have complained before the game at a 3.7yd rushing average, Auburn's bread and butter.
It is striking to me that we managed to keep up and overtake in a high scoring game, and that the D was so good in the red zone. Auburn needed 3 (!) picks to even stay in the game.
Looking forward, we will be playing very good competition from here on out, and 3 picks will probably not get it done. Of all the possible contenders, the Ducks worry me the most, and it would not hurt my feelings to see them lose their champ game. However, I'd say the most likely outcome right now is an Alabama-Oregon finale, and I still think we win that game.
It is striking to me that we managed to keep up and overtake in a high scoring game, and that the D was so good in the red zone. Auburn needed 3 (!) picks to even stay in the game.
Looking forward, we will be playing very good competition from here on out, and 3 picks will probably not get it done. Of all the possible contenders, the Ducks worry me the most, and it would not hurt my feelings to see them lose their champ game. However, I'd say the most likely outcome right now is an Alabama-Oregon finale, and I still think we win that game.
I'm not convinced that we have a clue as to how to stop this offense yet. The barn has an excellent offensive line and that is one reason they do very well. They have been coached how to hold and get away with it which makes them very effective. When we use speed players, we get much better results.
Some sort of combination. Coates is just flat out fast sub 4.3 would do it to just about anyone.
I am more of an O-line guy, but I'll give the OP's question a shot. I think the problem with stopping the Barn's O stems from the threats they present: video game offense, quick QB that can throw decently, decent RB, and two good WR's. That makes for a lot of field to defend. They use enough "eye candy" to tempt defensive players to abandon their keys and go with the instinct of what they are seeing elsewhere. The Barn wants teams to roll their safeties up a little due to their capacity to run the ball. Basically, they are saying the Coates can beat your best with no one over the top. Combine the necessity of playing assignment football against an offense that run/pass keys built into to most plays with tempo and mentally/physically tired defenders and its 'tough stuff' to defend.
Seems like we brought a lot of third down pressure during the first half. That didn't work out. We played a little more conservative on 3rd downs as the game went on and it worked out. Wrong or right, that's my guess based on what I saw.
Seems like we brought a lot of third down pressure during the first half. That didn't work out. We played a little more conservative on 3rd downs as the game went on and it worked out. Wrong or right, that's my guess based on what I saw.
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