Bama Game Thread: Official Postgame Thread - Bama vs. USF...

[81usaf92]

I don’t think I am. I think you’re preconditioned to automatically blame the quarterback when he doesn’t go 20-25 and throw for 3 TDs with no interceptions.

interceptions aren’t as big of an indicator of an ineffective quarterback as people make it out to be. Case and point… does Auburn beat Alabama in 2017 if Tua starts instead of Jalen? Jalen by far was one of the safest quarterbacks in Alabama history with the ball but until 2018 was one of the most ineffective in distributing it.

I will agree with overall statement to a degree. A lot of the issues last night were due to vanilla playcalling and having to start two new offensive linemen. The latter probably was more of an issue because when Prichett gets in we magically cant stop scoring. I think much of the playcalling issues were because either the coaches wanted to see something or they didnt want to show certain things for WIsconsin.

However, saying Jalen had a great game and totally dismissing his issues is a bit much. For one thing,being at the game you could see several times where people like Benard and Dipree were running wide open and would have gotten 15-20 yards but Milroe is only looking for Ryan to strike up the band, and another reason is because these complaints arent going to matter when Wisconsin puts everyone up close to the line and go after Milroe. The thing is, as a Steelers fan I saw years upon years of Dick Lebeau defenses destroy the yard baller quarterbacks who gave everyone trouble by forcing them to actually play the quarterback position, but when they played against Brady or Manning they sucked because Brady and Manning checked down to slants, outs, and screens to take out an overaggressive defense.

I would say Jalen got a B+ overall and this ultimately is a game that we probably shouldn't read too much into like we shouldnt read too much into the WKU game. Take out a few holdings and 2 fumbles and the game is probably a blowout halfway into the 3rd. Wisconsin is where the season truly begins and we probably can judge where Alabama truly is with Milroe. I think he has improved his game some, but there are still some signs that he is still addicted to some of his worse habits. IDK if Ty is a better option but I will say until we can back people off our line then its going to be frustrating because everyone will try to replicate the Michigan game against Milroe until they respect him as a passer.

 

[gtgilbert]

It’s clear Formby shouldn’t have been on the field. I said it last night, and I’ll say it again. Proctor being out shouldn’t force us to change the entire OL. I have questions about this coaching staff now that I didn’t think I would have. I was convinced we were a top 5 staff before the season started.

Wommack certainly got his butt kicked. The innovative offense staff certainly doesn't seem to have shown up yet unless something is holding them back...

 

[JustNeedMe81]

This is totally on Jalen. The OC calls plays Jalen will actually run, and not just stand there, or worse, run backwards. You blamed Rees last year, and now suddenly an offensive coaching staff can’t call plays either? Come on

You stop them from blitzing by throwing short and quick where the blitzes come from. You know what Jalen struggles at? You guessed it, the horizontal quick throws. Take the passes to Outz and Adams, both of which were not good and cost yardage after the catch. He also missed a slant.

The offensive line will never be able to block 6 with 5, or 7 with 6, so if you’re waiting for that to happen, please don’t hold your breath. Absolutely they struggled, even when they didn’t Alabama went backwards.

Just save us all some time and just post, “Not Jalen’s fault.” It never seems to be, unless people are pointing at the scoreboard. He gets none of the blame and all of the accolades.

This post came across somewhat argumentative to me. That's not what I'm trying to say here. I looked at the film again last night and I'm still going to stand by what I said. There's lot of things that went wrong on the offense, and Not all is on Jalen. I still stand by that. This is me presenting opinion from neutral perspective. I looked at OL, QB, WR and RBs. I have to factor lot of things into the game film:

1) Play calling was very conservative. We all say, "Why not call for quick passes" For him to execute the play calling, He actually has to get that play call from OC. It's not like he can walk up to the OL and say "Hey guys, I'm throwing a quick pass slant to Williams!"

Lot of issues we had on OL were this: Inability to pick up the blitzes and Fromby struggling all night long. It starts and ends with OL.

Jalen does deserve some of the blame for some of the struggles on the offense and I did say that. People are so quick to blame Jalen, but refuse to acknowledge the fact the issues may be on OL, playcalling and etc. That's the point right there:

Bottom line: I am not concerned at all and I still stand by the fact Jalen will be just fine and will be in NYC in December.

2) The fact we moved the ball late in the game was due to taking Fromby out and replacing him with Pritchett and he was hurt but still played. Offense suddenly was much better.

Nobody has to agree with me.... and that's perfectly fine. I stated my opinion, and I based it on what I saw during the game and rewatched the game again. I took emotion out of it and looked at it from neutral perspective. I will always defend Jalen and at same time will criticize him if needed. I always find the balance in both. It doesn't do anyone good to criticize all the time and never find anything positive in a person or a team.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

We had two linemen out most of last night, reshuffling 60% of the line.

I don't think most people realizes that. It's not easy playing with shuffled lines... Chemistry is a huge factor when putting together OL group.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Plus, USF defense started to wear down. Noticed some of their players all of a sudden started having injuries or fake injuries to slow the game down and get basically a long timeout to rest. You didn't see that from them for 3 1/2 quarters until our talent level started taking over.'

So, had Pritchett not come in we still would've scored those points and the offense would've looked the same as when he did come into the game? The narrative of what had happened one minute earlier doesn't support that.

 

[colbysullivan]

Wommack certainly got his butt kicked. The innovative offense staff certainly doesn't seem to have shown up yet unless something is holding them back...

We would have lost both games against USF if Gol*ing was still the DC, but Wommack certainly got schooled as well. The defense won this game though. We would not have been able to wear them down late without the defense keeping their score so low.

 

[gtgilbert]

“tErRiOn ArNoLd”

who was his partner in the endeavor?

 

[colbysullivan]

who was his partner in the endeavor?

We all know the answer, which is why I spelled it the way I did. Milroe is the driving force behind LANK.

 

[gtgilbert]

We would have lost both games against USF if Gol*ing was still the DC, but Wommack certainly got schooled as well. The defense won this game though. We would not have been able to wear them down late without the defense keeping their score so low.

almost every time Wommack pulled us out of the even front into the variant that looks kinda like a 3-3 stack, but with the OLB playing over the 2 just a yard off ball trying to shoot gaps we lost contain for big yards. That alignment needs to find it's way from the playbook to the trash bin.

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

So, had Pritchett not come in we still would've scored those points and the offense would've looked the same as when he did come into the game? The narrative of what had happened one minute earlier doesn't support that.

We probably still score points, maybe not as fast or easy.

 

[colbysullivan]

almost every time Wommack pulled us out of the even front into the variant that looks kinda like a 3-3 stack, but with the OLB playing over the 2 just a yard off ball trying to shoot gaps we lost contain for big yards. That alignment needs to find it's way from the playbook to the trash bin.

Agreed. Maybe he thought we could try that alignment against a team like USF for practice, who knows. I’m still convinced Gol*ing loses that game, so Wommack gets points for that.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I think the play calling was horrible in the 1st quarter. However, there aren't many calls for 2nd or 3rd and 20.

 

[graydogg85]

I went back and watched some highlights. There were several plays where I saw Milroe scan the field, step up into the pocket and hit a receiver on an intermediate route in the middle of the field. One was the TD pass to Prentice in the 2nd half. It’s not like he’s wholly incapable of doing that. He does it more often than perhaps we admit on this board.

I do think the offense has been heavily modified to suit not just Milroe’s strengths, but this team as a whole. Saban made a concerted effort following the 2022 season to beef the team up and get back to a more run-oriented ball-control offense. We still have a lot of those players, and DeBoer and his staff are smart enough to realize that we don’t have a guy that is experienced enough in a pass-heavy spread scheme to run it effectively. Everyone will immediately say “but what about Ty?” - and I think the answer is twofold: Ty’s game is more similar to Milroe than we’d like to admit, and he just doesn’t have anywhere near the level of game experience - and that matters. Ty was bailed out by a penalty last week but threw an ugly interception into coverage trying to make a hero throw. I don’t think he’s the silver bullet for this offense that people seem convinced he is. He’s a lot closer to Milroe than he is Mac Jones.

That said, the playcalling last night from Sheridan was inconsistent at best and bad at times. I think I understand the thought process - “let’s cater to what Milroe does well, which is the deep ball and designed QB runs”, but when you’ve seen for 2.5 quarters that the opposing defense is going to send DBs and LBs screaming off the edge on nearly every play, you’ve got to have some screens and outlet passes built in and we just didn’t see much of that. On the 20-yard sack, every receiver ran a vertical route - there was nothing underneath that I could see. Milroe needs to throw the ball away there and he still struggles with that although I think he’s gotten better.

I think they’ll continue to improve, and having a fully healthy OL and an officiating crew that’s not hell-bent on turning the grass yellow will help matters.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

almost every time Wommack pulled us out of the even front into the variant that looks kinda like a 3-3 stack, but with the OLB playing over the 2 just a yard off ball trying to shoot gaps we lost contain for big yards. That alignment needs to find it's way from the playbook to the trash bin.

The defense should have gotten a game ball and a steak dinner. The offense should have stayed and had a three hour practice. If our backups are that much of a dropoff they need as many practices as they can get.

 

[colbysullivan]

I think the play calling was horrible in the 1st quarter. However, there aren't many calls for 2nd or 3rd and 20.

A screen is one…

 

[Tide&True]

As far as our defense goes…I suppose the fact that we limited USF to field goals was good but when we face better quarterbacks that can hit their open receivers I'm not so sure we’ll keep them out of the end zone.

 

[RammerJammer14]

We had two linemen out most of last night, reshuffling 60% of the line.

Yes I know, I am speaking more generally. Oline obviously had issues last night. Hard to argue with Pritchett coming in and suddenly having a ground game.

 

[RammerJammer14]

Red zone defense bailed us out of being down multiple scores last night.

They should have pulled #75 a lot sooner. I’m sure he’s talented but he was not ready for game action.

Milroe is talented but he can’t read a defense. The OC should have called better plays to help him out on the blitz, first down short passing and TB/TE screens would have killed that rush.

I’m not sure about all the sloppy play though on offense. Shows a lack of leadership on that side of the ball.

Our corners got toasted a few times, the SF qb just couldn’t connect… thank god.

Im really not sold on Milroe’s “leadership” ability. Leadership is more than being liked. That’s just likership. Leadership is motivating people do do things they don’t want to do or don’t think they can do, especially when faced with adversity. High fiving guys as they come off the field and selling t-shirts and throwing your helmet around when things don’t go your way isn’t leadership.

 

[colbysullivan]

Im really not sold on Milroe’s “leadership” ability. Leadership is more than being liked. That’s just likership. Leadership is motivating people do do things they don’t want to do or don’t think they can do, especially when faced with adversity. High fiving guys as they come off the field and selling t-shirts and throwing your helmet around when things don’t go your way isn’t leadership.

The thing is, most college kids these days do see that as leadership. They’re wrong of course, but that’s hardly relevant.

 

[Bama197]

Do y'all think eventually we will see DeBoer call the plays from Sheridan?