JessN: Tennessee wrap-up: Bama squeezes Big Orange hearts with late win

JessN · Oct 25, 2015

Tennessee wrap-up: Bama squeezes Big Orange hearts with late win
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
October 25th, 2015 02:25 AM

By Jess Nicholas TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief Oct. 25, 2015 A game like this was almost expected, the result of Alabama being faced, week after week, with a gauntlet of rested teams, thanks to the SEC office’s inability (or lack of desire) to address unfair scheduling practices. And in this case, the Crimson Tide nearly paid the […]

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bigjue24 · Oct 25, 2015

Good read, Thanks Jess. Just want to echo the frustration with the offensive line. I wasn't convinced Bama could win out with Coker at QB, but I'm now convinced Bama can. All Coker and Henry need at this point is a crease for a run and average pass protection to get the job done. I don't care if you have Tom Brady back there if he is constantly under pressure he won't be effective either. The secondary is extremely solid and the front seven is NFL level. The WR's are coming into there own as they gain more experience. The talent was always there. The kicking game is rounding into shape which has helped me breathe easier. The whole season now hinges on what the oline can do. I didn't see this coming before the season started. I expected the oline to be a point of strength for this team, but that's just not happening. Mel Tucker has been a great breath of fresh air for the secondary and they have responded really well. I am now beginning to think the same may be true for the offensive line. Don't be shocked when a new guy is in that spot next year. I hope Cristobal gets it straightened out and the Oline performs great the rest of the year, but if they don't I just don't see him returning. CNS will go throw some big money at a really good Oline coach in January or late December.

Ole Man Dan · Oct 25, 2015

Great read. Today Tennessee is no doubt going thru the ritual blame game that comes with a close loss.
A close loss can be gut wrenching. I agree completely that our OL allows too many guys to penetrate. Jake Coker took a lot of abuse from the Tennessee pass rush guys. Good thing he's a big strong guy.
IMO... If we had FRESH LEGS this wouldn't have been a contest.
Still, 'A Wins A Win'...

RTR.

I still have complaints about SEC Officiating. We seem to always get the short end of the stick.

TideEngineer08 · Oct 25, 2015

It was a most satisfying win despite the sluggish play at times.

I'm blaming most of it on the mental and physical exhaustion of the scheduling. However, there is no doubt that the OL is a liability at this point. Robinson can't be playing at 100% right now but there are also too many penalties being called on the OL. Of course good luck getting SEC refs to flag the other team.

We're a great but flawed team. But would you point out another playoff contender that isn't?

tide power fan · Oct 25, 2015

Good write up, I'm thinking that Drake looked better, quicker I should say. It was a tough game the vols came to play the extra week had to help them, since they lost good thing they don't have a tough game this week see Ga, Ta&m.

JBama_in_PCOLA · Oct 25, 2015

[emoji106]

We beat a big rival. No complaints here.

Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus RTR

davefrat · Oct 25, 2015

Personally I think this is just the kind of struggle we needed going into the LSU bye week.

Good resilient win boys!

TideMom2Boys · Oct 25, 2015

Great read! The way we won the game is more beneficial than a game put away at the half. IMO

It gave them the chance to play from behind and have a championship drive. Both the offense and defense had their championship drives at the end. HUGE momentum going into these next two weeks.

BamaPokerplayer · Oct 25, 2015

Bye weeks are killing Alabama. Now we have our bye and get to play another team coming off a bye. Why can't we have the fresh legs for a change.

RollTide1224 · Oct 25, 2015

Number five is so true. The part about better substitution patterns is the part I agree with most. The coaching staff deserves great credit for that. The blend of players we are able to run out there is insane.

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

formersoldier71 · Oct 25, 2015

I'd rather win every game comfortably, but I'm happy with adding to Tennessee's record of not finishing games this year.

TrueCrimson7 · Oct 25, 2015

bigjue24 said:
Good read, Thanks Jess. Just want to echo the frustration with the offensive line. I wasn't convinced Bama could win out with Coker at QB, but I'm now convinced Bama can. All Coker and Henry need at this point is a crease for a run and average pass protection to get the job done. I don't care if you have Tom Brady back there if he is constantly under pressure he won't be effective either. The secondary is extremely solid and the front seven is NFL level. The WR's are coming into there own as they gain more experience. The talent was always there. The kicking game is rounding into shape which has helped me breathe easier. The whole season now hinges on what the oline can do. I didn't see this coming before the season started. I expected the oline to be a point of strength for this team, but that's just not happening. Mel Tucker has been a great breath of fresh air for the secondary and they have responded really well. I am now beginning to think the same may be true for the offensive line. Don't be shocked when a new guy is in that spot next year. I hope Cristobal gets it straightened out and the Oline performs great the rest of the year, but if they don't I just don't see him returning. CNS will go throw some big money at a really good Oline coach in January or late December.

Just as a side note, I like Coach Cristobal. We've had some injuries to deal with on the O-line. I certainly hope he returns. We should also take into account that there are several BIG 4 and 5 star playmakers on Alabama's roster that are here because of his recruiting.

Jess, your write-up is great. I am so glad we have this bye week before LSU because that one is ALWAYS a grind. I still have concerns about facing mobile quarterbacks, but the vast improvement from last year in the secondary makes that less of an issue. We are doing much better at stopping the big pass plays. Also, I feel that if one or two of those early dropped interceptions is made yesterday, we would have had our second string in by the fourth quarter.

rgw · Oct 25, 2015

We've been rolling with a hurt guy at LT seemingly the whole time Cristobol been here...its a tough break. If he could keep a unit mostly together for across two seasons, I think people would sing his praises. Lets not forget that he's probably gonna get some interest for the Miami opening if for no other reason than his connections to the program, connections in recruiting, etc.

bigjue24 · Oct 25, 2015

rgw said:
We've been rolling with a hurt guy at LT seemingly the whole time Cristobol been here...its a tough break. If he could keep a unit mostly together for across two seasons, I think people would sing his praises. Lets not forget that he's probably gonna get some interest for the Miami opening if for no other reason than his connections to the program, connections in recruiting, etc.

I just know that the offensive line has been an issue on some level for the last three years. This was not the case in the five years before this. I want him to stay and get it fixed but a change was made at another position and it has seemed to pay off. The top level talent is playing really well now. I just want the same thing with the offensive line. I keep hearing this year they will be dominate and that never seems to really happen. I was very excited about this group and they haven't performed consistently at all.

BamaDMD · Oct 25, 2015

I went back after reading your take Jess and looked at what the vols have done with offensive production in their other games. We've held them to the lowest point total of the season thus far and that is pretty impressive considering some of the teams they've played.

Alanbama27 · Oct 26, 2015

Great stuff Jess! Interestingly enough even sitting in the stands it seemed as though Tennessee had just enough offense to hurt us, while in hindsight most of their success came at the expense of missed assignments and poor angles. In the running game especially we took poor angles at the LOS and gave up some runs to the outside that should have and could have been no gain or maybe a few yards at most.

As for the offensive line that too was a case of really poor missed assignments! Too often did we allow rushers to come untouched but the really good news is that the LSU defensive line will likely do exactly what UT did and I'm betting that between next Sunday and the game that will be fixed.

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