Link: Interesting Take on the Game - Narrowed down to a few key plays

[CB4]

They didn't convert third downs all day long.

They converted 9 of 18. Our defense got enough stops to win the game, despite such "poor" tackling, and as the article astutely points out, we seemed to fold up on defense after the offense kept putting them back on the field and the snap count got so out of hand against them.

Frankly, we were not healthy enough at LB, despite the guys being back, and Auburn exploited that wonderfully. Give them credit.

We did not exploit their weaknesses on defense well enough, and I'll agree that's on the coaches. But I don't think we're in as bad of shape as everyone else seems to. If we can catch a couple of breaks this weekend and get into the playoff and get healed up, I like our chances as good or better than any other team out there.

Bingo. That weakness being the secondary. They were able to get decent pressure rushing four in most cases and keeping a LB or safety to "spy" Jalen. Jamming (holding is more appropriate) the receivers at the LOS scrimmage and preventing their release downfield gave the front four a second or two more to apply that pressure. What is surprising is that evidently Auburn did the same against UGA and we seemingly did nothing to prepare for it.

 

[RTR91]

I'm not an expert on OL play, but I suspect our OL did fairly well compared to theirs when you factor in the time from the snap to throw. Stidham was getting the ball out quick. Meanwhile, we're running pass plays that take a few seconds to develop and asking Jalen to stand in the pocket.

 

[ptw1961]

You make a lot of good points with this post. But I am not sure a "Jesus Junction" is required. There are a bunch of Bama fans who are going to have a very difficult time when Nick retires ( and that is coming) and they start going 9-3. Not sure what some people will do at that point.Losing Hamilton in the middle was huge- just like last year. I said any title was just lost when I saw him throw his helmet in the LSU game.

I agree that breakdown is absolute 'bury your head' in the sand nonsense. You can play 'if's but's candy and nut's' with just about any game.

Our offensive gameplan was trash. Our playcalling was worse than trash. Our OL did not 'win' the LOS. They didn't get dominated but the trenches were a stalemate at best.

That's pretty much our philosophy on both lines.....just dance and/or mushrush around the LOS. We have absolutely NO mean streak.

But worse than the strategy and lack of adjustments... we have a fundamentals problem in quite a few areas.

Our tackling has been god AWFUL for the last few games. It barely qualifies as 'arm tackling'. It's like guys want to make a singular big hit and then expect the other guy to just go down.....and if he doesn't they watch as another teammate attempts to create a turnover....until someone else FINALLY gets them down or out of bounds.

What happened to driving through someone and wrapping up and taking their butts to the dang ground?? Remember how Landon Collins tackled.....that's how we use to tackle. They need to throw that damn 'ballout belt' in trash and work on tackling fundamentals.

That's how AU tackled in the game. There were quite a few times we had a one-on-one play and the AU defender made Landon Collins level tackles. Beautiful open field tackles. I hate them but I'm not going to take a thing away from them. They had DB's taking Bo down one on one.

They beat us with Phenomenal coaching, 3 good players, a heck of a lot of emotion, and 100% rock solid fundamentals and effort.

We lost because of abysmal coaching, keeping our best players inexplicably on the dang sideline, the absence of emotion, and shoddy fundamentals and effort.

It was a whole hell of lot of things/issues more than a few plays that decided the outcome.

I'm honestly worried about team chemistry right now. The guys that do have some fire in their belly are visibly frustrated right now and I don't blame them.

The last thing this team or the fanbase needs is to think we were 'just a few plays away'. They need to own up and correct a LOT of stuff.

It's time for a come to jesus 'Junction' and that includes the staff.

 

[BamaMoon]

You make a lot of good points with this post. But I am not sure a "Jesus Junction" is required. There are a bunch of Bama fans who are going to have a very difficult time when Nick retires ( and that is coming) and they start going 9-3. Not sure what some people will do at that point.Losing Hamilton in the middle was huge- just like last year. I said any title was just lost when I saw him throw his helmet in the LSU game.

No doubt we'll struggle with CNS going to the lake to watch the ducks....but we are simply the victim of our own success. This happens after every loss, but when it's Auburn it's worse, for a multitude of reasons.

What hurts the most about this game that we can't explain is that Auburn beat us with our own formula for victory.

 

[Con]

You make a lot of good points with this post. But I am not sure a "Jesus Junction" is required. There are a bunch of Bama fans who are going to have a very difficult time when Nick retires ( and that is coming) and they start going 9-3. Not sure what some people will do at that point.Losing Hamilton in the middle was huge- just like last year. I said any title was just lost when I saw him throw his helmet in the LSU game.

No doubt about it. You lose leadership and a quarterback on defense. #18 will be a stud, but he still has to get more experience.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

I just wanted to come back and say that I'm not trying to put the blame on any one side of the ball. I mentioned the tackling specifically because it's just so glaring and worrisome.

What is underneath the surface of everything I said is this intangible ingredient we are missing. With the exception of something like a Vandy player calling us out our 'Edge' or 'Fire' or 'Passion' or whatever you want to call it is lacking.

Even if we gloss over the technical issues and fundamentals of OL blocking or LB/DB tackling......where is our DESIRE to absolutely destroy the opponent?? To just flat WHIP the guy across the line?

Neither of our Lines are Mean or Nasty. I'm not saying they aren't trying... but it does look like many guys are just 'going through the motions' like robots.

Part of the reason that 2012 OL and other past lines were awesome was because all 5 guys wanted to pancake the dude opposite of them every play. I don't think they wanted to even run passing plays. They would have been happy blowing up dudes all game for RB's to run wild.

Our LB's and DB's wanted to just annihilate anyone with the football. When guys like Rolando McClain, Mark Barron, Kirkpatrick, Landon Collins, Vinnie Sunseri, Reggie Ragland etc were out there headhunting you better believe when they hit a guy at the point of attack that dude went down.....immediately.



It feels like we've picked up a bad habit as a result of the NOT's from 2016 and the 'Ballout' belt. Guys are too preoccupied trying to cause fumbles or make a big hit that they aren't making fundamentally sound tackles and it's letting opposing players get extra yardage. Those extra yards start piling up after a while.

We also don't seem to have a vocal leader on either side of the ball for some reason. Usually when things haven't gone right in the past we have players almost going at it with EACH OTHER with fisticuffs to resolve it.

Guys don't even seem to be bothered?? I mean my goodness AJ and Barrett Jones almost came to blows over audibles/line checks (while ND was already beaten) because they were perfectionist who wanted to beat the opponent as thoroughly as possible with NO mistakes.

I guess the word I'm looking for is complacency with a little bit of entitlement. It looks like they think the other team is just going to roll over because 'We're Alabama'. That they can go through the motions and just beat teams on talent because we are just better.

Well newsflash other teams don't care. They aren't scared. We get everybody's best shot. They want our recent success and they play like they are trying to take it.



I don't like the sound bites coming from players after the close games and losses either. This 'we lost or didn't play well because we just didn't execute like we should' junk is getting old with a quickness. 'We just gotta execute our plays'.

No mention that the other team just out hustled you or flat outplayed you and beat you and that it's inexcusable so you plan on working harder to outplay the opponent and beat them next time.

We are riding a fine line of almost just flat out arrogance.

I don't want to hear too many more 'I was born for these moments' type comments either. Some heads are getting too big.

It's cold shower wake up time.



EDIT: We do have players with some FIRE.

One of them is #34. He runs like a bull in a china shop with incredible vision. If he finds a lane you can tell he's running his butt off. If he scores it looks like he could rip his jersey off and turn into the Incredible Hulk.....yet we keep him caged up on the sideline.

#3 has FIRE. He's trying to make a play so bad when he gets the ball it almost gives me anxiety watching him twitching and jerking and juking trying to get extra yards and break loose. He's doing everything he can to score a TD every time he touches the ball.

Those are just two guys who BADLY want to score to help the team for unselfish reasons. You can tell both are incredibly frustrated right now.

 

[92tide]

I just wanted to come back and say that I'm not trying to put the blame on any one side of the ball. I mentioned the tackling specifically because it's just so glaring and worrisome.

What is underneath the surface of everything I said is this intangible ingredient we are missing. With the exception of something like a Vandy player calling us out our 'Edge' or 'Fire' or 'Passion' or whatever you want to call it is lacking.

Even if we gloss over the technical issues and fundamentals of OL blocking or LB/DB tackling......where is our DESIRE to absolutely destroy the opponent?? To just flat WHIP the guy across the line?

Neither of our Lines are Mean or Nasty. I'm not saying they aren't trying... but it does look like many guys are just 'going through the motions' like robots.

Part of the reason that 2012 OL and other past lines were awesome was because all 5 guys wanted to pancake the dude opposite of them every play. I don't think they wanted to even run passing plays. They would have been happy blowing up dudes all game for RB's to run wild.

Our LB's and DB's wanted to just annihilate anyone with the football. When guys like Rolando McClain, Mark Barron, Kirkpatrick, Landon Collins, Vinnie Sunseri, Reggie Ragland etc were out there headhunting you better believe when they hit a guy at the point of attack that dude went down.....immediately.



It feels like we've picked up a bad habit as a result of the NOT's from 2016 and the 'Ballout' belt. Guys are too preoccupied trying to cause fumbles or make a big hit that they aren't making fundamentally sound tackles and it's letting opposing players get extra yardage. Those extra yards start piling up after a while.

We also don't seem to have a vocal leader on either side of the ball for some reason. Usually when things haven't gone right in the past we have players almost going at it with EACH OTHER with fisticuffs to resolve it.

Guys don't even seem to be bothered?? I mean my goodness AJ and Barrett Jones almost came to blows over audibles/line checks (while ND was already beaten) because they were perfectionist who wanted to beat the opponent as thoroughly as possible with NO mistakes.

I guess the word I'm looking for is complacency with a little bit of entitlement. It looks like they think the other team is just going to roll over because 'We're Alabama'. That they can go through the motions and just beat teams on talent because we are just better.

Well newsflash other teams don't care. They aren't scared. We get everybody's best shot. They want our recent success and they play like they are trying to take it.



I don't like the sound bites coming from players after the close games and losses either. This 'we lost or didn't play well because we just didn't execute like we should' junk is getting old with a quickness. 'We just gotta execute our plays'.

No mention that the other team just out hustled you or flat outplayed you and beat you and that it's inexcusable so you plan on working harder to outplay the opponent and beat them next time.

We are riding a fine line of almost just flat out arrogance.

I don't want to hear too many more 'I was born for these moments' type comments either. Some heads are getting too big.

It's cold shower wake up time.



EDIT: We do have players with some FIRE.

One of them is #34. He runs like a bull in a china shop with incredible vision. If he finds a lane you can tell he's running his butt off. If he scores it looks like he could rip his jersey off and turn into the Incredible Hulk.....yet we keep him caged up on the sideline.

#3 has FIRE. He's trying to make a play so bad when he gets the ball it almost gives me anxiety watching him twitching and jerking and juking trying to get extra yards and break loose. He's doing everything he can to score a TD every time he touches the ball.

Those are just two guys who BADLY want to score to help the team for unselfish reasons. You can tell both are incredibly frustrated right now.

sounds a little bit like the 2010 and 2013 teams, at least to me

 

[RTR91]

I just wanted to come back and say that I'm not trying to put the blame on any one side of the ball. I mentioned the tackling specifically because it's just so glaring and worrisome.

What is underneath the surface of everything I said is this intangible ingredient we are missing. With the exception of something like a Vandy player calling us out our 'Edge' or 'Fire' or 'Passion' or whatever you want to call it is lacking.

Even if we gloss over the technical issues and fundamentals of OL blocking or LB/DB tackling......where is our DESIRE to absolutely destroy the opponent?? To just flat WHIP the guy across the line?

Neither of our Lines are Mean or Nasty. I'm not saying they aren't trying... but it does look like many guys are just 'going through the motions' like robots.

Part of the reason that 2012 OL and other past lines were awesome was because all 5 guys wanted to pancake the dude opposite of them every play. I don't think they wanted to even run passing plays. They would have been happy blowing up dudes all game for RB's to run wild.

Our LB's and DB's wanted to just annihilate anyone with the football. When guys like Rolando McClain, Mark Barron, Kirkpatrick, Landon Collins, Vinnie Sunseri, Reggie Ragland etc were out there headhunting you better believe when they hit a guy at the point of attack that dude went down.....immediately.



It feels like we've picked up a bad habit as a result of the NOT's from 2016 and the 'Ballout' belt. Guys are too preoccupied trying to cause fumbles or make a big hit that they aren't making fundamentally sound tackles and it's letting opposing players get extra yardage. Those extra yards start piling up after a while.

We also don't seem to have a vocal leader on either side of the ball for some reason. Usually when things haven't gone right in the past we have players almost going at it with EACH OTHER with fisticuffs to resolve it.

Guys don't even seem to be bothered?? I mean my goodness AJ and Barrett Jones almost came to blows over audibles/line checks (while ND was already beaten) because they were perfectionist who wanted to beat the opponent as thoroughly as possible with NO mistakes.

I guess the word I'm looking for is complacency with a little bit of entitlement. It looks like they think the other team is just going to roll over because 'We're Alabama'. That they can go through the motions and just beat teams on talent because we are just better.

Well newsflash other teams don't care. They aren't scared. We get everybody's best shot. They want our recent success and they play like they are trying to take it.



I don't like the sound bites coming from players after the close games and losses either. This 'we lost or didn't play well because we just didn't execute like we should' junk is getting old with a quickness. 'We just gotta execute our plays'.

No mention that the other team just out hustled you or flat outplayed you and beat you and that it's inexcusable so you plan on working harder to outplay the opponent and beat them next time.

We are riding a fine line of almost just flat out arrogance.

I don't want to hear too many more 'I was born for these moments' type comments either. Some heads are getting too big.

It's cold shower wake up time.



EDIT: We do have players with some FIRE.

One of them is #34. He runs like a bull in a china shop with incredible vision. If he finds a lane you can tell he's running his butt off. If he scores it looks like he could rip his jersey off and turn into the Incredible Hulk.....yet we keep him caged up on the sideline.

#3 has FIRE. He's trying to make a play so bad when he gets the ball it almost gives me anxiety watching him twitching and jerking and juking trying to get extra yards and break loose. He's doing everything he can to score a TD every time he touches the ball.

Those are just two guys who BADLY want to score to help the team for unselfish reasons. You can tell both are incredibly frustrated right now.

Going into the season, I was worried about not having an alpha-dog type guy on defense with Foster, Allen, Jackson and Anderson gone. Turns out, that's what we missed. We didn't have a vocal guy (SDH and Minkah don't give off the vibe the others do) to keep guys accountable and get ready for a game.

While some guys might have the fire, how they use it is the bigger thing IMO. What good is that fire if a player uses it to cause problems within the locker room? One thing to be frustrated in how you're playing. Another thing to be frustrated in how another player is playing and taking that frustration out on a teammate or someone else.

 

[Rama Jama]

There is something that most people don't consider when talking about the Auburn game, about half or more of our players are from out of state which can diminish the significance of this rivalry to those kids.. We've also sort of given them a lot of good in-state players who we pass on because we have another kid higher on our board. Coach Saban builds teams to compete with anyone in the country. Auburn builds teams specifically to beat us. We consider a national championship our birthright where they look beating us as a successful season. Anything they win after beating us on is gravy to them. I watched the game and I just don't think we wanted it as bad as they did. Malzahn also was looking at the possibility of losing his job if we beat them again too.

 

[TideEngineer08]

sounds a little bit like the 2010 and 2013 teams, at least to me

Here's hoping we can corrected it before our postseason, wherever it may be. And it is correctable. If all of this is true, then it will run its course and get fixed. They will hit the breaking point and realize they've got to "get back to basics" so to speak. And if it is true, hopefully that breaking point was hit this past weekend.


I do wish we'd run our offense through #34, though. He's worthy of it. Similar to what we did with Henry although maybe not that amount of carries. Maybe more like 2012 with Lacy and Yeldon. Or 2009 with Ingram and Richardson.

 

[Rama Jama]

Here's hoping we can corrected it before our postseason, wherever it may be. And it is correctable. If all of this is true, then it will run its course and get fixed. They will hit the breaking point and realize they've got to "get back to basics" so to speak. And if it is true, hopefully that breaking point was hit this past weekend.


I do wish we'd run our offense through #34, though. He's worthy of it. Similar to what we did with Henry although maybe not that amount of carries. Maybe more like 2012 with Lacy and Yeldon. Or 2009 with Ingram and Richardson.

Totally agree. We've gone to the taking what the defense gives us rather than using what this team is best at. By that, I mean we throw when there are too many men on the box and run when there is not. Sometimes you have to run or pass regardless of whether the box is loaded or not. The 1st drive of the 2nd half was an example of that. They were still stacked up and we still ran it down their throat. Imagine if we hadn't done that in the SEC championship Vs Georgia. We would have lost.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Going into the season, I was worried about not having an alpha-dog type guy on defense with Foster, Allen, Jackson and Anderson gone. Turns out, that's what we missed. We didn't have a vocal guy (SDH and Minkah don't give off the vibe the others do) to keep guys accountable and get ready for a game.

While some guys might have the fire, how they use it is the bigger thing IMO. What good is that fire if a player uses it to cause problems within the locker room? One thing to be frustrated in how you're playing. Another thing to be frustrated in how another player is playing and taking that frustration out on a teammate or someone else.

Well I agree things need to be channeled in a way that is healthy for the team and not disruptive.

In #34's case the frustration is obviously from feeling helpless on the sideline when he KNOWS he could go in and really HELP. The thing there is he's right. Every time he comes in for an extended time he rips off big runs that give the whole offense momentum. But if he doesn't happen to 'house it' he gets yanked for ridiculous stretches of time and just so coincidentally we struggle MIGHTILY.

But that's on the coaches and for the life of me I can't understand it at all. I kept hoping we were 'saving him' for this crunch time final season stretch but then he only gets SIX carries against AU. At least 3-4 of those were BIG runs.

As for #3 or any other WR's I guess they could easily get frustrated because of another player because they rely on someone getting them the ball by nature of the position. Hopefully that's not spilling over vocally in the locker room though.

I just feel bad for those two especially because their body language doesn't look like selfish 'feed me the ball for stats' frustration but more 'please let me help....I can help us....get me the ball and we will start moving the chains and score'...'coach??...anyone??...please let me help the team'.

 

[BamaMoon]

I just wanted to come back and say that I'm not trying to put the blame on any one side of the ball. I mentioned the tackling specifically because it's just so glaring and worrisome.

What is underneath the surface of everything I said is this intangible ingredient we are missing. With the exception of something like a Vandy player calling us out our 'Edge' or 'Fire' or 'Passion' or whatever you want to call it is lacking.

Even if we gloss over the technical issues and fundamentals of OL blocking or LB/DB tackling......where is our DESIRE to absolutely destroy the opponent?? To just flat WHIP the guy across the line?

Neither of our Lines are Mean or Nasty. I'm not saying they aren't trying... but it does look like many guys are just 'going through the motions' like robots.

Part of the reason that 2012 OL and other past lines were awesome was because all 5 guys wanted to pancake the dude opposite of them every play. I don't think they wanted to even run passing plays. They would have been happy blowing up dudes all game for RB's to run wild.

Our LB's and DB's wanted to just annihilate anyone with the football. When guys like Rolando McClain, Mark Barron, Kirkpatrick, Landon Collins, Vinnie Sunseri, Reggie Ragland etc were out there headhunting you better believe when they hit a guy at the point of attack that dude went down.....immediately.



It feels like we've picked up a bad habit as a result of the NOT's from 2016 and the 'Ballout' belt. Guys are too preoccupied trying to cause fumbles or make a big hit that they aren't making fundamentally sound tackles and it's letting opposing players get extra yardage. Those extra yards start piling up after a while.

We also don't seem to have a vocal leader on either side of the ball for some reason. Usually when things haven't gone right in the past we have players almost going at it with EACH OTHER with fisticuffs to resolve it.

Guys don't even seem to be bothered?? I mean my goodness AJ and Barrett Jones almost came to blows over audibles/line checks (while ND was already beaten) because they were perfectionist who wanted to beat the opponent as thoroughly as possible with NO mistakes.

I guess the word I'm looking for is complacency with a little bit of entitlement. It looks like they think the other team is just going to roll over because 'We're Alabama'. That they can go through the motions and just beat teams on talent because we are just better.

Well newsflash other teams don't care. They aren't scared. We get everybody's best shot. They want our recent success and they play like they are trying to take it.



I don't like the sound bites coming from players after the close games and losses either. This 'we lost or didn't play well because we just didn't execute like we should' junk is getting old with a quickness. 'We just gotta execute our plays'.

No mention that the other team just out hustled you or flat outplayed you and beat you and that it's inexcusable so you plan on working harder to outplay the opponent and beat them next time.

We are riding a fine line of almost just flat out arrogance.

I don't want to hear too many more 'I was born for these moments' type comments either. Some heads are getting too big.

It's cold shower wake up time.



EDIT: We do have players with some FIRE.

One of them is #34. He runs like a bull in a china shop with incredible vision. If he finds a lane you can tell he's running his butt off. If he scores it looks like he could rip his jersey off and turn into the Incredible Hulk.....yet we keep him caged up on the sideline.

#3 has FIRE. He's trying to make a play so bad when he gets the ball it almost gives me anxiety watching him twitching and jerking and juking trying to get extra yards and break loose. He's doing everything he can to score a TD every time he touches the ball.

Those are just two guys who BADLY want to score to help the team for unselfish reasons. You can tell both are incredibly frustrated right now.

SPOT. ON.

 

[TomFromBama]

They didn't convert third downs all day long.

They converted 9 of 18. Our defense got enough stops to win the game, despite such "poor" tackling, and as the article astutely points out, we seemed to fold up on defense after the offense kept putting them back on the field and the snap count got so out of hand against them.

Frankly, we were not healthy enough at LB, despite the guys being back, and Auburn exploited that wonderfully. Give them credit.

We did not exploit their weaknesses on defense well enough, and I'll agree that's on the coaches. But I don't think we're in as bad of shape as everyone else seems to. If we can catch a couple of breaks this weekend and get into the playoff and get healed up, I like our chances as good or better than any other team out there.

Just my 2 cents - and a "Peanut Gallery" opinion, but I SUSPECT that if someone had told us, last Friday, that we would hold aub's offense to 26 points (more than 10 points BELOW their season average prior to last weekend), I bet MOST of us would have assumed that meant we'd get a 3-10 point WIN.

26 was their LOWEST score since their LSux game (23 vs. LSux) and 3rd lowest scoring of the season, after only Clempson and LSux. AND we did it with a Defense DECIMATED by multiple injuries to key players.

So While we ALL Agree that our Defense didn't seem to play all that well, and certainly was capable of a much better performance - I'm NOT sure we could really say that the Defense was the "Weak Link" in our game, or necessarily "Cost" us the win.

By the same token, we did really seriously BOTCH one fairly long FG attempt - and that was just a five-star disaster of a screw up. So we can't say "Special Teams" played anywhere close to their capability. But by the same token, we had one realy GOOD KO return, and otherwise decent KO and Punt returns (didn't put the ball on the ground, at least), really good punting, good PAT's. So I'm NOT sure we could really say that the Special Teams overall was the "Weak Link" in our game, or necessarily "Cost" us the win.

That leaves the Offense. . . . .

27 points - All we needed to win - WOULD have been near our season LOW on Offense. We've (previously) failed to hit 27 points only TWICE this year- and both times we scored 24 - against FRU in the opener and LSux. 14 was BY FAR our Season LOW in scoring, and in fact, Prior to Saturday, going back to the start of the 2008 season, Nick Saban's teams had been held to 14 points or less scored only FOUR TIMES in TEN seasons.

LSu in 2016 - 10 pts; Ark in 2014 - 14 pts; LSu in the 2011 reg season game - 6 pts; Tenn in 2009 - 12 pts.

The last time aub held us to 14 or less was 2007. And that includes TWO subsequent barn teams that paid.. errr. I mean "Played" in NC games.

Soooooo.........

 

[TomFromBama]

There is something that most people don't consider when talking about the Auburn game, about half or more of our players are from out of state which can diminish the significance of this rivalry to those kids.. We've also sort of given them a lot of good in-state players who we pass on because we have another kid higher on our board. Coach Saban builds teams to compete with anyone in the country. Auburn builds teams specifically to beat us. We consider a national championship our birthright where they look beating us as a successful season. Anything they win after beating us on is gravy to them. I watched the game and I just don't think we wanted it as bad as they did. Malzahn also was looking at the possibility of losing his job if we beat them again too.

All of what you say is true, and I agree with most all of it. (except the last line - Gus' job was 100% safe for at least another year thanks to beating UGa, even if we had Routed them.)

The thing is, I could understand if we had just played "Flat" against a poor aub team - sorta the case most of the times Saban has played aub since 2008-ish. In that case, I could get the argument that we didn't "dominate" because the game's just not that important to 50% of our players.

But here's the thing - we were playing a CLEAR CUT ELIMINATION GAME - and there was No Doubt About it. EVERY Guy on our team knew this was a "Playoff" and the loser was "SOL" for the SEC Championship OR a National Championship. aub was ranked #6? and had just DESTROYED #1 UGa.

That's what's so stunning. I simply Cannot understand How ANY Guy on that team could NOT have been mentally prepared to play this game - whether the opponent was aubarn or "East Popcorn State". Ditto for the coaches. How on earth do we come into a game of this magnitude with such a woeful game plan, and (apparently) no "Plan B" on either side of the ball???

 

[92tide]

Just my 2 cents - and a "Peanut Gallery" opinion, but I SUSPECT that if someone had told us, last Friday, that we would hold aub's offense to 26 points (more than 10 points BELOW their season average prior to last weekend), I bet MOST of us would have assumed that meant we'd get a 3-10 point WIN.

26 was their LOWEST score since their LSux game (23 vs. LSux) and 3rd lowest scoring of the season, after only Clempson and LSux. AND we did it with a Defense DECIMATED by multiple injuries to key players.

So While we ALL Agree that our Defense didn't seem to play all that well, and certainly was capable of a much better performance - I'm NOT sure we could really say that the Defense was the "Weak Link" in our game, or necessarily "Cost" us the win.

By the same token, we did really seriously BOTCH one fairly long FG attempt - and that was just a five-star disaster of a screw up. So we can't say "Special Teams" played anywhere close to their capability. But by the same token, we had one realy GOOD KO return, and otherwise decent KO and Punt returns (didn't put the ball on the ground, at least), really good punting, good PAT's. So I'm NOT sure we could really say that the Special Teams overall was the "Weak Link" in our game, or necessarily "Cost" us the win.

That leaves the Offense. . . . .

27 points - All we needed to win - WOULD have been near our season LOW on Offense. We've (previously) failed to hit 27 points only TWICE this year- and both times we scored 24 - against FRU in the opener and LSux. 14 was BY FAR our Season LOW in scoring, and in fact, Prior to Saturday, going back to the start of the 2008 season, Nick Saban's teams had been held to 14 points or less scored only FOUR TIMES in TEN seasons.

LSu in 2016 - 10 pts; Ark in 2014 - 14 pts; LSu in the 2011 reg season game - 6 pts; Tenn in 2009 - 12 pts.

The last time aub held us to 14 or less was 2007. And that includes TWO subsequent barn teams that paid.. errr. I mean "Played" in NC games.

Soooooo.........

that is what could be called an anomaly

 

[RTR91]

Are we still in junior high? What's up with this LSux and Clempson nonsense?


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[BamaBrass]

The poor tackling stood out for me, especially early. The play that really cost us was the tackle of Bo Scabrough that was a yard short of the first down. We had just ran it down their throats the previous possession.

 

[TideEngineer08]

The poor tackling stood out for me, especially early. The play that really cost us was the tackle of Bo Scabrough that was a yard short of the first down. We had just ran it down their throats the previous possession.

That was a great play, really well set up, and #14 for Auburn just closes on that play amazingly fast. I've wondered, could Harris or Jacobs have been quick enough to make that play and I'm really not sure. Auburn's guy came from out of nowhere in a flash on that play.

 

[92tide]

That was a great play, really well set up, and #14 for Auburn just closes on that play amazingly fast. I've wondered, could Harris or Jacobs have been quick enough to make that play and I'm really not sure. Auburn's guy came from out of nowhere in a flash on that play.

yep, on that one and foster's 4 down route where he was short, when i saw the play occurring, i was thinking we were golden.