Question: Alabama and FSU: What, specifically, were the adjustments?

4Q Basket Case · Sep 6, 2016

I love to learn about the chess match, and am fascinated with in-game adjustments.

The first 20-25 minutes of our game, USCw dominated in both sides of the ball, but especially defensively. We were three-and-out, or close to it, for what seemed to be a half-dozen possessions. And we weren't a ton better of defense for a lot of that.

Then, something changed. USCw couldn't move, and we could.

FSU was similar, but to a greater extreme on defense.

So for the posters more knowledgeable than me, what were the adjustments?

Why did our D stone USCw after the first quarter? Why did Ole Miss run wild for a half, then was unable to move the ball for essentially half the game.

What adjustments did these teams make the the o phone to was unable to effectively center?

JustNeedMe81 · Sep 6, 2016

Nothing. I think It was the first game and everyone was trying to get their feet wet. As soon they felt comfortable, they got after USC fast. That throw on the first series... to AA that was just something that happened.

For FSU- They came unprepared, and was caught up in the moment. It took them two quarter to kinda wake up and made few adjustments. Called more blitzes often.

TideMan09 · Sep 6, 2016

That TD pass Hurts threw was a momentum changer before the half & it seemed like it woke the team up..Cause we looked like the #1 team in the country on both sides of the ball that's for sure in the 2nd half..

JBama_in_PCOLA · Sep 6, 2016

Bama woke up, Ole Miss fell asleep.

That is all.

Sent from my iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

81usaf92 · Sep 6, 2016

Bama was way more disciplined on offense and way more prepared on defense than fsu. Kelly is a better qb than Browne, but Kelly is very Jekyll and Hyde and that mostly happens when he has to win the game. Kelly was good against us last year and good in the 1st half against fsu because of what us and fsu did and lucky plays. If our defense comes out like they did against USC then I like our chances as long as our special teams don't fumble like they did the last two years.

Alasippi · Sep 6, 2016

First week of the season, hard to tell.
But it looked to me like Ole Miss got the big lead and got complacent while FSU turned up the juice.
Bama got the TD on the interception and ALL the momentum transferred to the Tide.
Pretty much that simple.

jthomas666 · Sep 6, 2016

Time of possession killed Ole Miss. At halftime, their defense had been on the field for over 20 minutes. They wore down, and Kelly started pressing.

MDB1981 · Sep 6, 2016

And Coach Freeze refuses to protect a lead. He continues to go fast no matter what his lead, so when their offense goes cold their opponents have many more possessions to get back in the game than you would usually see.

Ole Man Dan · Sep 6, 2016

MDB1981 said:
And Coach Freeze refuses to protect a lead. He continues to go fast no matter what his lead, so when their offense goes cold their opponents have many more possessions to get back in the game than you would usually see.

A Championship team needs to be able to shift gears and go from up-tempo, to a steady ground pound to eat the clock when it's necessary. When things go wrong, they don't need a couple series of three and outs.

Matt0424 · Sep 6, 2016

We never really changed on defense. We gave up a big play on defense that they took advantage of for a field goal. We didn't need to adjust because they never could move against us once we got in to the game.

Offensively, honestly, we never were in a ton of rhythm. We scored on big plays, turnovers, and great field position. I honestly don't think we made any adjustments, which is scary for everyone else, because we definitely didn't see our best game.

As for FSU, Offensively they started taking what the defense gave them. They'd pass with Cook in the game, because Ole Miss was dead set on stopping him. When they spelled cook, then they'd run.

Defensively, they started getting pressure on Kelly. Once they got pressure on him, he wasn't the same guy. Combine that with Hugh Freeze's lack of desire to slow the game down, and it was a horribly coached game on his part.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

CajunCrimson · Sep 7, 2016

Ole Man Dan said:
A Championship team needs to be able to shift gears and go from up-tempo, to a steady ground pound to eat the clock when it's necessary. When things go wrong, they don't need a couple series of three and outs.

This....

His Def was sucking wind in the third....the TOP was 2:1 or worse....

He treats the game like a series of wind sprints....and it gets him beat by teams like Arkansas that put together long drives...

NationalTitles18 · Sep 7, 2016

Pretty simple, really: Execution.

dvldog · Sep 7, 2016

Hard to slow the game down when you have no running game so adjustments by Ole Miss are somewhat limited I imagine. Their only running game, apparently, is their QB. I don't see how he makes it through the season in one piece.

bamacpa · Sep 7, 2016

The Ole Miss DL was pretty disruptive in the first half, but got gassed and couldn't maintain the effort - as others noted, they got gassed because of the HUNH and 2 consecutive turnovers. On the flip side, FSU was able to consistently affect Kelly with their pass rush ( thanks Pruitt, for stealing Demarcus Walker to FSU ). As for us, I said the game was over after Hump's TD, because USC could not consistently move the ball on us. They scored off long ball, but that was it for them in the first half.

tidefanbeezer · Sep 7, 2016

CajunCrimson said:
This....

His Def was sucking wind in the third....the TOP was 2:1 or worse....

He treats the game like a series of wind sprints....and it gets him beat by teams like Arkansas that put together long drives...

TOP

Ole Miss: 17:21
FSU: 42:39

The Ole Miss defense was on the field for 70% of the game. They were worn out. Anyone who wonders if the speed of the offense impacts the defense, Ole Miss is your case study.

skrayper77 · Sep 7, 2016

dvldog said:
Hard to slow the game down when you have no running game so adjustments by Ole Miss are somewhat limited I imagine. Their only running game, apparently, is their QB. I don't see how he makes it through the season in one piece.

Perhaps, but you can still milk the playclock if you're willing to do so. Freeze steadfastly refused to do this. I'd love to see the amount of remaining play clock he averaged on each snap. Probably pretty dang high.

Tradition4ever · Sep 7, 2016

jthomas666 said:
Time of possession killed Ole Miss. At halftime, their defense had been on the field for over 20 minutes. They wore down, and Kelly started pressing.

This is what I saw as well. After the consecutive turnovers to start the 2nd half, Kelly really started pressing instead of working within the offense. The great thing about having a guy like Kelly is that he can make the great plays and wow you with his arm and talent, but he seems to feed off the big plays. When the big plays aren't happening, he, and Freeze, tend to start pressing. Their possessions get shorter as this happens, which leads to their defense spending more and more time on the field. In fact, I feel that Ole Miss's entire identity is the big play, turnovers on defense and big pass plays on offense. They want to overwhelm you. They did that to FSU in the 1st half. The offense scored quick, which allowed the defense to attack and overwhelm with QB pressures. It's the same thing that happened to Bama last season. The turnovers put Ole Miss into attack mode, where they were able to build a big lead. They almost couldn't sustain that lead either...

UAinAthens · Sep 8, 2016

Didn't see enough of the OM FSU game to describe any changes.

For us, agree, defense changed little, they had one contested completion early, and then they couldn't keep it up for rest of the game. Pressure got to QB and he got more inaccurate as game went on.

On our side, combination of two things that I saw. The OL got better, whether that was simplification or just execution. Second, the deep throws forced USC to adjust, they started running safeties into the box. Early they had 8-9 on the line by the time the RB got there. After the two TD throws, the safeties got more cautious, which opened up more on the running game.

Sometimes, you just got to throw deep, even if you don't complete it, to make the secondary back up.

BamaFanOnBeach · Sep 8, 2016

well, here is my take on the FSU- OM game:

Ole Miss looked like they stacked the box early, expecting FSU to run the ball heavy with a freshman QB. They were successful in stopping the run, and FSU committed a lot of penalties hampering their early drives. Once they settled down and the passing game started taking over, they had to adjust their defense which opened up the running game. Ole Miss defense wasn't very good against a balanced attack. On the offensive side of the ball, OM got most of their yards passing the ball. Once FSU adjusted the defense to stop the pass, but when OM couldn't run the ball against only a 4 man front, FSU started to have their way with them.

Bama USC wasn't too much different IMO, in that USC stacked the box early and was going to make a freshman QB beat them. Bama settled in and once our O-line starting wining in the trenches, it was over. Our D Line manhandled them out of the gate - they really only made a few plays all night.

Based on the one game from each, I don't expect OM to be able to run the ball on Bama's defense so look for OM to again become one-dimensional. If our QB has a good game and we don't lose the turnover battle, we should beat them. Same could be said for the last two years though, we just can't keep giving them the game.

Probius · Sep 8, 2016

jthomas666 said:
Time of possession killed Ole Miss. At halftime, their defense had been on the field for over 20 minutes. They wore down, and Kelly started pressing.

That's the problem with the HUNH offense. Even if the offense is moving the ball and scoring, it wears out the defense. If the first play doesn't gain good yardage, the offense is likely to go 3-and-out, and that puts the defense back on the field that much quicker. The HUNH offense is a great way to wear out your own team.

Question: Alabama and FSU: What, specifically, were the adjustments?

FB|BB Moderator

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

TideFans Legend

TideFans Legend

Suspended

Hall of Fame

BamaNation Citizen

Hall of Fame

All-American

Moderator (FB,BB) and Vinyl Enthusiast

TideFans Legend

Hall of Fame

All-American

All-American

All-American

1st Team

Scout Team

BamaNation Citizen

Hall of Fame

TideFans.shop - NEW Stuff!