Final thoughts on Sugar Bowl...

ptw1961

1st Team
Dec 8, 2011
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I know this thing has been analyzed and re-hashed to death. But I finally sat down after 3 days and watched the game again to fully understand what really happened. It is my form of closure. Observations before I close the book on this one:

- amazing how a couple of plays can change a game. White's drop of a 3rd down pass right before halftime and Cyrus Jones drop of an interception on OSU's 20 in the 3rd quarter were game changers. Last TD before half would have never happened and Jone's drop took points off of board.

- clearly the interceptions were huge. A 14 point swing. 1st interception return for a TD against the Tide in 7 years. Amazing

- who could have known that OSU would have a 3rd string QB that looks like Cam Newton ( although not as fast) with an even better arm? Would start for 10 teams in he SEC. They may have been a better team with him- plus the fact there was so little film on him.

- really stung to see Vonn Bell make that last key interception. He seemed firmly on his way to Bama before some signing day circumstances sent him north. Great player we missed on that we should have had.

-still perplexed why we did not take some vertical shots to Cooper during the course of he game. Had single coverage at times. Simply never did it - sure Kiffin has some regrets there.

Great Season by a bunch of kids who represent themselves and the school very well. We just seem to get everyone's bet shot lately.

The highs are many for us Tide fans- but the disappointments are bigger because so much is on the line. Thanks to all for letting me use this site.
 

alabama mike1

All-American
Jul 12, 2013
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Overall, I think it was a good season, especially with question marks at QB, a new offensive system and coordinator and some key people to replace on defense.

Here is my take:
1. We ran the ball well in the first quarter to the left, why stop until they stop it?
2. We relied on A. Cooper too much all season. This is to take nothing away from this young man, he is an outstanding player.
3. Defense giving up big 3rd down plays and not being able to get off the field.
4. Having the ball in OSU territory on a poor punt a we throw 2 out of 3 downs.
5. Not being able to covert on 3rd down consistantly.
6. OSU beat us in every offensive category.
7. OSU made plays when they had to do so and we didnt.
8. We did not play well but had a chance to tie late in the 4th quarter.
 

Bruce014

1st Team
Aug 29, 2012
752
82
52
Alabama
The safety that was not a safety (I am still mad about that) really seemed to take away our defense's momentum. And it should have. We were up 21-6. The safety would have made it 23-6. If we could have gotten a TD from the free kick that would have put us up 30-6, which would have been a much steeper hill for OSU to climb.
 

TiderMan

All-SEC
Feb 5, 2005
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With our defense not playing very good, we should have run the ball more with Derrick Henry to control the clock and keep OSU off the field. Henry only got 15 touches the entire game and gained 149 yards (13 rushes for 95 yards and 2 receptions for 54 yards). He should have gotten 30 touches with the way he was playing and the way OSU was playing him.
 

TiderMan

All-SEC
Feb 5, 2005
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Moody, AL.
The safety that was not a safety (I am still mad about that) really seemed to take away our defense's momentum. And it should have. We were up 21-6. The safety would have made it 23-6. If we could have gotten a TD from the free kick that would have put us up 30-6, which would have been a much steeper hill for OSU to climb.
We were only up 14 to 6 at the time of the near safety. It was late in 1st quarter when that happened.
 

RollTide1224

All-American
Feb 18, 2008
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Spartanburg, SC
The two drops you mention are huge. I recalled the Cyrus Jones one but had somewhat forgotten the D White one. The Cyrus Jones one was a pick six if he had caught the ball so the impact is obviously huge. The D White one as you say is huge because of what it allowed OSU to do. The final touchdown they scored before half was HUGE in this game. The game would have had a much different feel if time just ran out without either team scoring or we had driven and knocked in a field goal.
 

TiderMan

All-SEC
Feb 5, 2005
1,360
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Moody, AL.
The two drops you mention are huge. I recalled the Cyrus Jones one but had somewhat forgotten the D White one. The Cyrus Jones one was a pick six if he had caught the ball so the impact is obviously huge. The D White one as you say is huge because of what it allowed OSU to do. The final touchdown they scored before half was HUGE in this game. The game would have had a much different feel if time just ran out without either team scoring or we had driven and knocked in a field goal.
The drop by White was bad as you mentioned, really no excuse there. The one that Cyrus dropped was a very poorly thrown ball by the OSU QB. Cyrus broke on the ball and would have caught the ball and walked in for a TD had it been thrown to the wide receiver. However, the OSU QB missed the receiver and the ball ended up a little bit behind Cyrus. He had to slow up and reach back for the ball. If he does catch it then, he gets tackled at the 20. Great field position but not a pick 6.
 

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
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I think injuries played a bigger role that we care to give credit for. I dont think we just mysteriously went away from the toss sweep left. Cam was playing on bad ankle and a bad left shoulder. I am sure pulling out to make downfield blocks ahead of Henry had to be painful. Doing it more may have likely impacted his ability to pass block. Also, Vogler's injury on the other side limited our ability to run right as well and DH has just shown himself to not be as effective between the tackles. I think you can take all that surmise why we had the playcalling we had.

However, when we had the ball on their 23 yd line after their own turnover and we basically give it right back to them with an INT. I would have found some way some how to run the ball in that instance to assure ourselves of at least a makeable FG and rest for our defense. Even moreso than the drop by White, I think this was the ultimate turning point in the game. We really should have tried to give Tyren Jones some carries as he has shown that he has the quick first step to find the hole between the tackles.

Normally, when you have lack of focus you have a lot of pre-snap and junk penalties as evidence. Except for Smith's taunting penalty, we really didnt have a whole lot of that. We just had a lot of poor execution on offense imo and characteristic big play breakdowns on defense. All of which I think is emblematic of a tired worn out team. I just dont think we could have matched UO blow for blow considering all the injuries we have sustained.
 

Bamaro

TideFans Legend
Oct 19, 2001
26,558
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Just heard something interesting on Finebaum from Gary Danielson. "Why did Henry rush for 56 yards in the 1st quarter and then not touch the ball again until into the 3rd quarter"?:eek:
 

PA Tide Fan

All-American
Dec 11, 2014
4,442
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I guess it's tough for coaches to change the game plan after you win 12 games one way (getting the ball to Cooper). If we would have went to a running game and lost I guess we'd all be asking " Why did we get away from what got us here?"
 

ron70

New Member
Nov 23, 2014
10
0
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i said it the night of the game White's drop was huge. Haven't seen it mentioned lately but for all the promise he had shown earlier in his career Christian Jones
basically became a non factor as a return man and receiver after his fumble problems.
 

braggtd

Suspended
Sep 25, 2011
2,549
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i said it the night of the game White's drop was huge. Haven't seen it mentioned lately but for all the promise he had shown earlier in his career Christian Jones
basically became a non factor as a return man and receiver after his fumble problems.
No doubt. I have been telling my ole man all year long how disappointed I was in the return game. We may never know what happened to Christian, but I assume injuries played a role in his lower numbers.
 

alabama mike1

All-American
Jul 12, 2013
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One other thing I would like to add to my list on page one is:

The taunting call was a major turning point with momentum.
 

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