Bama Game Thread: OFFICIAL Postgame Thread - Bama @ Florida...

[colbysullivan]

Speaking of Pruitt… the last time he was on the Bama sideline vs a Mullen coached team he gave up nearly 200 yards on the ground and we needed a last minute touchdown to win…..

Not even remotely comparable. Our defense was decimated by injuries, especially at LB. Keith Holcombe started that game…Not only that, but Jalen simply would not/could not do anything on offense. Pruitt is the best DC we’ve had under Saban and it’s not even close.

 

[RammerJammer14]

I want to make it very clear... This is not on Golding. This is on the players for poor executions. They were in position to make plays several times and they didn't captilize on that. So again, this is not on GOLDING! we gotta stop blaming Golding for every single time we struggle to do this and that.

Who teaches and coaches execution though?

At this point it’s like a tobacco company scientist saying “there is no definitive proof that smoking causes lung cancer”. Sometimes correlation really does point to causation. I’ve heard “it’s the players not executing”, “it’s the players not understanding the play calls”, “the players are young”, “we have had a lot of injuries”, etc for 4 years now. Preponderance of the evidence adding up…

 

[uafan4life]

Can we expect improvement with Golding coaching the D?

Of course not. We should just forfeit the rest of our games...

 

[81usaf92]

Not even remotely comparable. Our defense was decimated by injuries, especially at LB. Keith Holcombe started that game…

You do realize that Drew Sanders is starting and our best player on defense has a nagging injury and is getting double teamed.

…Not only that, but Jalen simply would not/could not do anything on offense.

You do realize we are talking about a sophomore in BOTH situations.

Pruitt is the best DC we’ve had under Saban and it’s not even close.

Yeah and a guy who likes Happy Meals.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Who teaches and coaches execution though?

At this point it’s like a tobacco company scientist saying “there is no definitive proof that smoking causes lung cancer”. Sometimes correlation really does point to causation. I’ve heard “it’s the players not executing”, “it’s the players not understanding the play calls”, “the players are young”, “we have had a lot of injuries”, etc for 4 years now. Preponderance of the evidence adding up…

But who's responsible to execute on the field? The Player. Enough said.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Pruitt and Kirby had a predictable 3rd down defense...

Early in yesterday’s contest, Auburn was faced with multiple third-and-long scenarios in Alabama’s territory. Each time, Pruitt sent a blitz. Each time, it did not work. Coincidence? Not even close.

The first, and most obvious, time it failed was on a 3rd-and-6 screen pass to Kerryon Johnson. Alabama predictably, and without trying to disguise it, sent six guys on a blitz leaving Johnson wide open on the right side of the field to pick up a huge first down on their way to a seven-point lead. After an Alabama fumble on the following drive, Auburn was faced with a 3rd-and-5 from the 27-yard-line. Again, Pruitt sent Fitzpatrick on a blitz from his corner spot leaving Hootie Jones with no help on an easy comeback route.


Early in the third quarter, after Alabama had scored and taken the momentum of the game, Pruitt rushed Evans and Harrison – both of which were picked up – leaving a speedy Will Hastings man-to-man on a crossing route. With no help over the top, he was able to turn a two yard catch into a 20 yard gain and once again grabbed the momentum for the home team.

One of the most frustrating plays of the night came on a 3rd-and-5 play from their own 36. Pruitt opted to blitz both inside linebackers – Wilson and Evans – leaving Ryan Davis in man-to-man coverage with Levi Wallace. For as good as Wallace has been this season, man-to-man coverage on slants/crossing routes tend to spell death for a team choosing to blitz. In other words, few would even pick this play in a game of Madden. As he did all day, Davis took the ball and made another big play for his team – this time cashing it in for a 25 yard gain.

On that same drive, Auburn was faced with a 3rd-and-7 in Alabama’s side of the field. This time, Pruitt elected to send Tony Brown on a corner blitz and possibly spy Stidham with Mack Wilson. After a moment’s hesitation, Wilson, too, rushed after Auburn’s quarterback, leaving nobody past the line of scrimmage to make a play should he scramble. So, naturally, he did and picked up nine yards in the process. The blitzing speedster, Tony Brown, was ultimately the one that had to catch up with him.

Throughout the rest of the game there were more examples, but the point has been made crystal clear. While Pruitt is far from a bad defensive coordinator, his decision making has been ousted over the last few weeks. On Auburn’s weekly coaching talk show, Gus Malzahn even laid out what he felt about Alabama’s defensive coordinator, whom he lost to in the National Championship game when Pruitt was at Florida State.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Right now, everyone is overreacting to the game. We went through this with Ole miss last year and we played better. This game is no different.

 

[RammerJammer14]

But who's responsible to execute on the field? The Player. Enough said.

Ok then I guess we just perpetually have players who don’t execute, don’t know what the plays are, are incapable of understanding plays, and don’t know how to call a defense. For the last 4 years straight across different groups of starters.

 

[colbysullivan]

You do realize that Drew Sanders is starting and our best player on defense has a nagging injury and is getting double teamed.




You do realize we are talking about a sophomore in BOTH situations.




Yeah and a guy who likes Happy Meals.

One player being out is nothing compared to the 2017 game. You need to go look at the players we were missing. I don’t know what your problem with Pruitt is, but he runs circles around Golding. Golding had no answer for Ole Miss last year, and it almost cost us. He has not had any noticeable improvement in 4 years.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Ok then I guess we just perpetually have players who don’t execute, don’t know what the plays are, are incapable of understanding plays, and don’t know how to call a defense. For the last 4 years straight across different groups of starters.

This is not just Golding defense. Pruitt had same situation, and so did Kirby. It's more of Saban's defense that has evolved, but few things Saban hasn't really let go was the mush rush and the way we call plays on 3rd downs...

Missed tackles.... That's on players. They have been working on that in practices.. and Players aren't executing it.

Dropped passes- That's on players. they work on that.. and it happens.

Busted coverages- that's on players. they work on that. Coach can do all they can during the week. Rest is up to the players in the game.

The team is young and inexperienced and folks on here keep forgetting that. Saban even said that there will be rough patches for this team and that the team needs leadership. It's easy to blame on coaches, but nobody wants to dissect the situation and take a deep look at what's going on. Next coach that coaches defense for alabama.. he will have same issue.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

“They had a great plan offensively against us,” Saban said. “Took us out of a lot of things that we wanted to do. They kept running the speed options all the time.”

THey did change up lot of looks and once we adjusted, they threw another curveball. Dan is known for that. he did that to Alabama over the recent years... and Lane Kiffin will do the same thing.

“I think we got tired in the second quarter,” Saban said. “We played a lot of plays when [the offense] went three-and-out three times in a row. So, we either got to play more players or have more opportunities, but we had a difficult time stopping the run.”



The humidity that draped the fifth-largest crowd in the history of the venue seemed to render Alabama’s defense more vulnerable in the second half. After scoring nine points in the first half, the Gators burst out of halftime with three consecutive touchdown drives on sustained possession of 10, 11 and 11 plays.

I agree. He really need to develop more players... rotate more people in... WE will see more of that going forward. Will Anderson was gassed at the end of the game. The team was TIRED.

“What concerned me most was that we could not sustain our intensity, especially on defense,” Saban said. “We had a lot of mental errors. They did a good job, they did a really good job, had a good plan.



“When you’re playing the option, everybody’s got to be disciplined. Somebody’s got the quarterback, somebody’s got the pitch. Because we weren’t doing that correctly, I think we were afraid of doing a lot of other things that we had planned in the game.”

Again, this is on players. They didn't trust the game plan.

 

[bamaga]

I'm not worried about the offense - I think if they remain focused they can score on anyone.

I am worried about the defense, which is returning a ton of experience and is in year four under our DC yet seems to lack fundamentals - is often out of position or taking wrong angles, even lacks leverage at times. These are all coaching issues.

I am worried about the Oline On offense. Which means I’m worried about the running game! Which means I’m worried about the offense

 

[colbysullivan]

Ok then I guess we just perpetually have players who don’t execute, don’t know what the plays are, are incapable of understanding plays, and don’t know how to call a defense. For the last 4 years straight across different groups of starters.

Yeah it’s not like we suddenly stopped pulling in top 1-2 recruiting classes. Players are CONSTANTLY out of position under Golding. We all know about “3rd and Kirby/Golding”, but ain’t nobody ever heard of “3rd and Pruitt”. I really miss his aggressive blitzes on 3rd down.

 

[RammerJammer14]

This is not just Golding defense. Pruitt had same situation, and so did Kirby. It's more of Saban's defense that has evolved, but few things Saban hasn't really let go was the mush rush and the way we call plays on 3rd downs...

Missed tackles.... That's on players. They have been working on that in practices.. and Players aren't executing it.

Dropped passes- That's on players. they work on that.. and it happens.

Busted coverages- that's on players. they work on that. Coach can do all they can during the week. Rest is up to the players in the game.

The team is young and inexperienced and folks on here keep forgetting that. Saban even said that there will be rough patches for this team and that the team needs leadership. It's easy to blame on coaches, but nobody wants to dissect the situation and take a deep look at what's going on. Next coach that coaches defense for alabama.. he will have same issue.

Yep exactly what I said earlier. “Players are young”, “players didn’t execute”. Same excuses I’ve heard for 4 years. I’m sure we will hear it all season, and next season, and next season, forever.

I’m not saying the players didn’t make mistakes. I’m saying it is the job of the Coach to set the players up for success. Putting it all on the players is a cop out, and I find it hard to believe that every single defensive play caller we’ve had under Golding/Lupoi has just so happened to personally be unable to grasp what calls to make and to be out of position.

 

[81usaf92]

I don’t know what your problem with Pruitt i.

Personally I don’t care. But there are several who view Pruitt as God. I view him as a good coach that made a serious mistake that probably killed his career.


QUOTE="colbysullivan, post: 3778675, member: 16022"]
but he runs circles around Golding. Golding had no answer for Ole Miss last year, and it almost cost us. He has not had any noticeable improvement in 4 years.
[/QUOTE]

You act like Kiffin didn’t play a large part of that game.

I honestly don’t care one way or another but if we want to bash Golding for today then we must first bash O’Brien before we even consider it. Because the offense totally checking out after the 3rd drive had far more to do with the course of the game than anything Golding didn’t do.

 

[colbysullivan]

I don’t want to get into a sparring match. I just want our defense to be good. On paper this should be our best defense since 2016, by a long shot. So far they appear to be a typical soft Golding defense.

 

[colbysullivan]

You act like Kiffin didn’t play a large part of that game.

Obviously Kiffin was a huge part, but Golding literally stood there dumbfounded while Saban was yelling at him to adjust. To do something, ANYTHING.

 

[CajunCrimson]

You act like Kiffin didn’t play a large part of that game.

I honestly don’t care one way or another but if we want to bash Golding for today then we must first bash O’Brien before we even consider it. Because the offense totally checking out after the 3rd drive had far more to do with the course of the game than anything Golding didn’t do.

Two bad DPI calls changed the whole game. Those calls don’t happen, Bama wins by 3 TDs.

I truly believe that. It changed the crowd. It changed Jones’ confidence.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Yep exactly what I said earlier. “Players are young”, “players didn’t execute”. Same excuses I’ve heard for 4 years. I’m sure we will hear it all season, and next season, and next season, forever.

I’m not saying the players didn’t make mistakes. I’m saying it is the job of the Coach to set the players up for success. Putting it all on the players is a cop out, and I find it hard to believe that every single defensive play caller we’ve had under Golding/Lupoi has just so happened to personally be unable to grasp what calls to make and to be out of position.

If that's the case, then Why did we have same issue stopping run under pruitt/smart at times?

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Two bad DPI calls changed the whole game. Those calls don’t happen, Bama wins by 3 TDs.

I truly believe that. It changed the crowd. It changed Jones’ confidence.

Thank you!