Game Thread: OFFICIAL POST-GAME THREAD - Bama vs. MSU...

TIDE-HSV

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I have to admit it was a little perplexing to hear that Hurts is the one that shortened Ridley's route to compensate for the blitz. That says a lot of good things about Hurts, but it leaves some other questions.

I'm not upset with the offense as of right now. They did what they had to do, despite playing behind a few times and Miss. State dominating time of possession. Later in the game I saw some good focus and willingness to stick with what was working. If not for a missed kick (not the kicker's fault, Alabama was in range and went backwards) they would have scored on three straight possessions to end the game. I'm still just not sure what's going on overall though. It is an offense capable of great things but the consistency just isn't there yet.
We improved greatly when they pulled Piersbacher and took his helmet away. When he got beaten badly on one of the sacks and it was apparent he could hardly walk, I groaned. The OL looked much more cohesive after Hassenauer came in. With an easy game to settle in, I think the OL will do better against AU...
 

Intl.Aperture

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We improved greatly when they pulled Piersbacher and took his helmet away. When he got beaten badly on one of the sacks and it was apparent he could hardly walk, I groaned. The OL looked much more cohesive after Hassenauer came in. With an easy game to settle in, I think the OL will do better against AU...
The overall progression of Pierschbacher seems to be trending backwards in his 3 years here. He seemed solid in his 1st season, a little less consistent in his 2nd season and nigh on erratic in his 3rd season. Is this my imagination? I'm ignorant when it comes to line play.
 

BamaMark.

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We improved greatly when they pulled Piersbacher and took his helmet away. When he got beaten badly on one of the sacks and it was apparent he could hardly walk, I groaned. The OL looked much more cohesive after Hassenauer came in. With an easy game to settle in, I think the OL will do better against AU...
Did Piersbacher get hurt in the game or was it an existing injury? It did not appear he got hurt in the play where he got beat badly. I agree about Hassenauer, he played pretty well. Appears to have a little more quickness than RP.
 

B1GTide

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Did Piersbacher get hurt in the game or was it an existing injury? It did not appear he got hurt in the play where he got beat badly. I agree about Hassenauer, he played pretty well. Appears to have a little more quickness than RP.
I watched the game again and it looked like he might have actually been hurt on the play before the sack allowed.
 

gumptider

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Haven't read every single comment, but I wanted to weigh in after rewatching the game (plays only). On a side note, watching just the plays eliminates some of the bias that might come from watching MSU milk the clock.

We had 10 offensive possessions in this game. One of those was at the end of the half where we started on the 1 yard line with 2:30 to go. I'm tempted to not even count that, but let's just say you do. We scored 4 TDs and 1 FG on those ten possessions. We hit the upright on another very makeable kick. In other words, I would consider us pretty efficient on offense. Sure, we stalled out a couple of times, including the first possession when we were backed up very deep and Ross P was hurt, but we were mostly successful offensively. In most games, I would take 40% TD and 20% makeable FG try.

Before rewatching, I felt like we squandered a lot of offensive opportunities and made lots of mental errors. I think that was a product of the general frustration of watching MSU hold the ball all game. I don't think the offense was the problem at all.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Did Piersbacher get hurt in the game or was it an existing injury? It did not appear he got hurt in the play where he got beat badly. I agree about Hassenauer, he played pretty well. Appears to have a little more quickness than RP.
I agree with B1G. It just became apparent how bad it was on the sack. And I.Ap, I agree that his career trajectory has not been what I would have expected...
 

JustNeedMe81

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I agree with B1G. It just became apparent how bad it was on the sack. And I.Ap, I agree that his career trajectory has not been what I would have expected...
Earle, you are 100 percent correct. We did perform lot better with JC H than we did with Ross Pier. He actually made Cotton little better in the game and it leads to a question. What really goes on with OL when they are making adjustments? Is it possible Ross make mistakes on calls and JC H is better at adjustments than Ross?
 

TIDE-HSV

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Earle, you are 100 percent correct. We did perform lot better with JC H than we did with Ross Pier. He actually made Cotton little better in the game and it leads to a question. What really goes on with OL when they are making adjustments? Is it possible Ross make mistakes on calls and JC H is better at adjustments than Ross?
I think Bozeman is making the calls. We've had to have an OG call a couple of times when we had a new, young center, but that's normally the job of the center...
 

BamaMark.

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Earle, you are 100 percent correct. We did perform lot better with JC H than we did with Ross Pier. He actually made Cotton little better in the game and it leads to a question. What really goes on with OL when they are making adjustments? Is it possible Ross make mistakes on calls and JC H is better at adjustments than Ross?
I saw LC get fired up at one point and it was good to see. We need that mean streak on the OL.
 

JustNeedMe81

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I think Bozeman is making the calls. We've had to have an OG call a couple of times when we had a new, young center, but that's normally the job of the center...
let me clear up what I was trying to say. I was saying that if Bozeman is making calls... and Ross isn't picking up on it, or just simply wasn't up to challenge. I really think It took a game for them to realize they can perform better. we'll see Saturday if OL plays lot better... and if it does... They might hold Ross out another week.
 

Intl.Aperture

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let me clear up what I was trying to say. I was saying that if Bozeman is making calls... and Ross isn't picking up on it, or just simply wasn't up to challenge. I really think It took a game for them to realize they can perform better. we'll see Saturday if OL plays lot better... and if it does... They might hold Ross out another week.
It'll be tricky to get a true reading against Mercer. I'm sure the coaching staff will be able to gauge some things but the fire won't get hot enough to know if it's a great fit.

I actually think the defense will be ok in the Auburn game but if the o-line doesn't have their best game of the season it could get ugly. If the I-line does their job the whole game then I honestly expect to win by 21.

I'm thinking it'll be an improved but still uneven performance against a very good Auburn defense.


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ccc2259

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Injuries or not MSU played a great game. They are a much better team than I thought. Hats off to the clangers.
This........they've only lost to UGA, Auburn, and us..........might be the best 3-loss team in the country. How they finish the year will tell us that for sure.
 
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LA4Bama

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OK, I've watched the game now from last night.

Let's just say it wasn't as bad as I was suspecting given all the hand-wringing. In fact, two State fans (one who was at the game) posted on my Facebook that it wasn't "really" as close as the end and a couple of things would have given us the game easily.


1) LSU Hangover

It's a real thing, folks.


In 2011, we lost to LSU in the infamous 9-6 game. Someone looking at the box score and seeing we beat State 24-7 would say, "See, no problem." But remember that MSU was a 5-4 team entering the game and we only led 10-0 entering the fourth quarter. We looked a little lethargic on offense for three quarters.

In 2012, we had the awesome screen to Yeldon.....and lost to Manziel the next week after falling behind 20-0 three possessions into the game.

In 2013, we played a classic with LSU that we pulled away from in the second half. MSU was a 4-5 team, but the game was 10-7 us with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. And we never looked that good against Auburn and, of course, we lost to Oklahoma.

In 2014, we climbed off the canvas when we were as good as dead in Red Stick and actually DID play well in the MSU game, the final score was artificially close.

OK, we did fine the last two years but more often than not, we've had trouble.

2) Close Games Concern Me

The thing is, we just don't play that many close games. And you HAVE to be able to win close games in order to win it all because you'll ALWAYS have "that one."

Go back and look at the scores of our close games since the 2010 Arky game.

2010 LSU, L
2010 Auburn, L
2011 LSU, L
2012 LSU W
2012 ATM L
2012 UGA W
2013 Auburn L
2014 Ole Miss L
2014 Arky W
2014 LSU W
2014 Ohio St L
2015 Ole Miss L
2015 Vols W
2016 Ole Miss W
2016 Clemson L

We're 6-9 in close games. (I did not count the 13 ATM, 14 MSU, or 15 Clemson games because they were truly artificially close in that the scoreboard looked closer at the end than the actual game....Clemson scored a TD in the final seconds to make the point margin five, for example).


Last year we only had one close game and even that one only got close at the very end - prior to Clemson. They played several close games and the difference was obvious. Same thing with 2013 Auburn, they lived on the edge all year so no big deal in a close game.


3) Jalen Hurts Is Clearly Developing



Just wow. He's doing better, and he never was bad.


Anyway, we still have some issues to fix and injuries to overcome, but I do like our chances.
I agree, it wasn't nearly as bad as one would think from the game thread melting.

There was something though about the end if the third quarter we did appear to be on the ropes. Then their quarterback started losing his guts on the sideline after their touchdown. There's still a mystery there to me. Did he experience fatigue? Nerves? Was he hit in the head? Does anyone know? We may never know but after that they were way less effective and his passing and choices were far worse than before.

I want to add, 2015 Clemson was very close in several ways. It took the onsides kick and Drake's return to give us the cushion, but without those we were in a bad spot. Regardless of how the score finished with them narrowing the margin, it's fair to say those teams were in a one score type game throughout.
 

Cruiser

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A BIG deal to me was Jacobs as a change of pace. He would come in for a couple of plays with a totally different style and then DH or Bo would be more effective to follow. That will be needed against the barn D; he could be the X factor.
 

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