Per CBS, BY has an AC sprain

[BamaMoon]

Unless the injury was worse than CNS hinted at in the post game presser, I'll be mildly shocked if BY doesn't play.

While TAMU hasn't played well this year, go ahead and mark it down they'll bring their very best against BAMA...it's what all teams do!

If AJ is correct and it's just a matter of pain maintenance I think BY plays. And I think we need him or else this game is a lot closer than it needs to be IMO.

Which baffles the mind when you look at his passing stats. Should’ve been all out run blitzes until he got back on the bus.

I fully expect this will be their game plan if JM is the starter. I'd run blitz the mesh point every play until we adjusted. I'd make JM beat me thru the air. If you and I think this, I'd be shocked if that's not their plan.

I was able to watch the postgame presser with Saban and he alluded to Ty Simpson being a part of the plan going forward. Now, to what degree, I have no clue. Saban could mean that Simpson's weekly reps and prep for the games is increased and more involved just in case Milroe goes down, or it could mean they may have a package or three for Simpson in certain situations.

Ty Simpson is a star waiting in the wings. I know everyone is excited about JM, but IMO TS is already a much better passer than JM. This was probably the case the first day TS stepped on campus. TS is also a much better athlete than some think (he can pass and run; but not like JM can run). If something were to happen to cause BY to miss multiple games or the rest of the year, I think the staff would have to take a hard look at playing TS a lot more...perhaps making him the starter.

I love JM's athletic ability and I certainly don't think he's a bad QB, but I'm just not sure we can be as run-centric as I think we'll have to be with him to be dynamic/balanced enough on offense. As referenced above, we need to expect TAMU to bring their best game to Tuscaloosa and we already know about the reputation of their DL and their defensive secondary will be a lot better than Arkansas's.

I hope we don’t have any word on Bryce till Saturday night. If Jim has to prep for both QB’s all week he hasn’t properly prepared for either.

I don't think we'll hear a peep about BY's status until just before kick-off Sat. It's a situational advantage CNS has and I'm pretty sure he'll use it.

 

[KrAzY3]

Our running game improved with Milroe at QB. With the emphasis on the run, I think the OL was more comfortable with what they needed to do. Those two long TDs by Gibbs, he had holes big enough to drive a truck through.

For aTm, I'd put together a game plan that focused on the run, with some QB keepers by Milroe, and play-action passes to keep the defense honest. Milroe brings a different set of skills to the offense than Bryce. The game plan should be adjusted accordingly.

The timing is weird but I was talking about MIlroe in the wildcat, and Saban was talking about Milroe as a running threat the week before the injury.

When Milroe is back there, he does add another element, another big, physical guy, another great runner, it would in theory be a way to add a more physical running game if the ingredients otherwise weren't there.

But what you brought up about the OL being more comfortable is a big part of it to. To be, more so than passing, a good running game is an attitude. It's an approach. I said all along Gibbs isn't really an up the middle runner, but by that I meant he's not a physical, break tackles, fight through contact type of guy. He's incredible in space though, and if the OL really gets the right approach and starts opening these big holes he can do amazing things.

So while some parts of this can't be reproduced (Milroe adds an element) there are aspects to the run game that can continue with Young in there as well. So, here's hoping this aspect continues.

While TAMU hasn't played well this year, go ahead and mark it down they'll bring the very best against BAMA.

If AJ is correct and it's just a matter of pain maintenance I think BY plays. And I think we need him OR else this game is a lot closer than it needs to be IMO.

I honestly think Milroe and Alabama could run the ball down A&M's throats and that it would be good for Alabama long term. A&M is very good against the pass, allowing only 5.78 per attempt, 11th in the country. However they're closer to 100th against the run. So I'm much more concerned about a hurt Young out there trying to win over the air (while trying not to worsen his injury) than a dominant rushing attack just grinding down A&M lead by Milroe.

This whole situation just feels a lot like banged up Tua before his season was ended. I kept saying then Alabama needed to run more (I think up to that point it was the least rushing yards a Saban lead team had, despite having Najee) and I kind of winced each time Tua was out there taking a risk. They can alleviate this risk quite a bit...

 

[GrayTide]

TAMU will obviously scheme for Milroe and a run heavy offensive game plan. IIRC, TAMU has a pretty salty run defense, their problem area is in the secondary which I am not sure Milroe can exploit. MSU's passing game did TAMU in. We have to have some passing game.

 

[BamaMoon]

TAMU will obviously scheme for Milroe and a run heavy offensive game plan. IIRC, TAMU has a pretty salty run defense, their problem area is in the secondary which I am not sure Milroe can exploit. MSU's passing game did TAMU in. We have to have some passing game.

I think the secondary has better stats than their DL (as Krazy referenced) but this is the type of game where you throw out the stats (kinda like we have to do against Auburn each year).

I'll be shocked if their DL doesn't play their best game, especially if we try to be one-dimensional.

 

[KrAzY3]

I think the secondary has better stats than their DL (as Krazy referenced) but this is the type of game where you throw out the stats (kinda like we have to do against Auburn each year).

I'll be shocked if their DL doesn't play their best game, especially if we try to be one-dimensional.

Yeah, even if we go by total yards A&M is 97th against the run and 31 against the pass. The gap is bigger if you go by yards per attempt. They basically give up as many passing yards as rushing yards, which in this era of college football is worthy of note.

One point though, that I would make. I'm not calling for Alabama to be one-dimensional. Alabama has actually been one-dimensional early on a lot of games where they really never got the run game going and relied on the pass. One game Young lead the team in rushing. The stats evened out some because they started running late, in some cases once they already had the backups in.

So basically I'm just calling for a balanced approach, and the same goes for Milroe. He can pass, he should pass. If he goes out there it obviously shouldn't be as a wildcat QB, it should just be as a QB. But with Milroe, you know it can be like we saw last game, where the running game should get going. With Young, if he's out there, you would just be nuts in my opinion to try to be a "passing team" as Alabama was called going into the game (he got hurt in a passing play, the most dangerous play for a non-running QB). You can't afford to worsen the injury and you can't afford to overly rely on a hurt arm to win the game.

So either way Alabama had better make running a priority in my opinion, but once again not to become one-dimension but to avoid being one-dimensional like they have been early in games and were in 2019.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

I've had it and it took me longer than a week...but then I'm not a finely tuned athlete.

Same here.

 

[TexasBama]

So how do current warming trends compare with the Miocene era?

The Chicxulub Asteroid was really neat to watch

 

[BamaMoon]

Yeah, even if we go by total yards A&M is 97th against the run and 31 against the pass. The gap is bigger if you go by yards per attempt. They basically give up as many passing yards as rushing yards, which in this era of college football is worthy of note.

One point though, that I would make. I'm not calling for Alabama to be one-dimensional. Alabama has actually been one-dimensional early on a lot of games where they really never got the run game going and relied on the pass. One game Young lead the team in rushing. The stats evened out some because they started running late, in some cases once they already had the backups in.

So basically I'm just calling for a balanced approach, and the same goes for Milroe. He can pass, he should pass. If he goes out there it obviously shouldn't be as a wildcat QB, it should just be as a QB. But with Milroe, you know it can be like we saw last game, where the running game should get going. With Young, if he's out there, you would just be nuts in my opinion to try to be a "passing team" as Alabama was called going into the game (he got hurt in a passing play, the most dangerous play for a non-running QB). You can't afford to worsen the injury and you can't afford to overly rely on a hurt arm to win the game.

So either way Alabama had better make running a priority in my opinion, but once again not to become one-dimension but to avoid being one-dimensional like they have been early in games and were in 2019.

I agree we need to be "balanced" no matter who plays QB. My concern is JM hasn't proven (yet - not saying he can't) that he's the type of QB than can lead a balanced attack, which of course must involve a downfield passing threat.

At this point, we don't know if it's a matter of experience, arm talent (accuracy more than arm strength), ability to go thru progressions, or ability to audible. It's probably a combination of all to some extent considering he just hasn't played that much.

Considering CNS's tendency to avoid turnovers (and the worse thing we could do is have a couple of pick-sixes against TAMU), my concern is a JM led offense could possibly be too one-dimensional. It's what we saw in the 3rd quarter Sat. The question is could one week of practice change that significantly?

I obviously don't want BY in harm's way, but if there's no danger of making it worse by normal throwing, I'd play the Heisman QB. JMO.

 

[MILEHIGHTIDE]

IMO Milroe starts the game this week regardless.

Every player is fully aware given the probability that BY is not going to be the primary option or quite possibly not an option at all, that they need to step their play up. Heck they strive to get better every week anyway.

This is especially the situation for the defense, since the offense and team is down a leader. Which by the way we currently rank #1 in total defense nationally.

Also, it is not like there was not already significant motivation for us to pound tam due to last year’s loss and the comments made about Coach Saban from jimbub and the drama surrounding recruiting.

So hopefully this just helps them to hyper focus on execution and the process.

RTR

 

[Cruloc]

If we come out with Milroe and Bama mashes them, leans on them and runs away with this game....A&M is at 3 losses, 2 in conference.....the wheels may start coming off for Jimbo since the kids won't have anything meaningful to play for other than for themselves. We could see defections and his seat start to get a lot warmer.

 

[jjv0004]

When I saw Bryce going down and extend that right arm, I thought, "oh no, don't put that right arm out when falling to your right!" Glad to hear not a torn rotator cuff. I like Milroe but man does he seem very limited throwing it. I know Simpson is a true freshman but I would love to see him got some run against A&M. Definitely more of a danger throwing the ball. I am not sure Bama beats Tennesee on the road without Young. Not saying they will lose but I think they need Young to win.

 

[bamaslammer]

The one thing I got from this thread is that there are a lot of banged up old guys on this forum.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Well, this is as good a news as I could have hoped for:

Bryce Young injury update as shoulder evaluation continues

Nick Saban addressed Bryce Young's injured shoulder ahead of the visit from Texas A&M.

www.al.com

 

[TideEngineer08]

The one thing I got from this thread is that there are a lot of banged up old guys on this forum.

A man has to know his limitations. It appears many of us do not.

 

[Cruloc]

A man has to know his limitations. It appears many of us do not.

We'll have a back injury for forum members thread soon.

 

[92tide]

i saw where branch should only miss one day or so. so that is good news too

 

[MikeInBama]

We'll have a back injury for forum members thread soon.

You joke but I threw mine out yesterday.

 

[Cruloc]

You joke but I threw mine out yesterday.

I've had trouble putting my socks on for 2 weeks after installing a new washing machine. I wasn't joking.

 

[TideEngineer08]

I've had trouble putting my socks on for 2 weeks after installing a new washing machine. I wasn't joking.

I feel bad for laughing at the post now. Back issues are no joke.

 

[Cruloc]

I feel bad for laughing at the post now. Back issues are no joke.

Nah, I meant the post about the back injury thread as a joke.....but I have had a rough couple weeks.....I just manage it. So its fine to laugh at the original post.....I did.