Self Scout - How would you attack Alabama?

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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No, I understand that Milliner is a tremendous corner - quite possibly the best in America. And I'm not saying Eifert is more athletic than Milliner. What I'm saying is that Eifert is maybe 5 inches taller, 50lbs heavier and plenty athletic as well - which is why he too may very well be drafted in the first round. Kid can get up, knows how to high point the ball and has strong hands.

Point being - I think asking a great corner to cover a great tight end is a tough assignment, regardless of individuals involved. If Eifert can use his body to protect the ball and Golson can place the ball in the proper spots, I would think there are opportunities for Eifert to make plays. On the other hand, I'm sure Milliner can use his advantage with speed and quickness to beat Eifert to spots and try to negate the size advantage.

Not knowing much, I would have thought Alabama would try and jam Eifert off the line with their LBs and let Milliner pick him up if Eifert tries to get vertical.
Well, although it appears to be an impossibility, I guess we will just have to try to cover him, and my guess is with Milliner. Yes, he will get jammed, as will all ND's receivers. I'd guess by CJ at the line and then released to Dee...
 

RammerJammer91

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Nov 27, 2012
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Deion Belue. Deion Belue. Deion Belue. He scares the you know what out of me. He'll either make a nice play or get burned. Too inconsistent for my liking. Idk, maybe that's just me.
 

NDinNYC2

BamaNation Citizen
Dec 28, 2012
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Retreat and fight another day...like, say, in 2048...


Seriously though, I would probably try to work a fast-paced offense with a lot of short passes, slants/screens, etc. to get my QB in rhythm. I would try very hard to avoid any WR screens where the receiver gets the ball behind the line of scrimmage (envisioning Madden say "You can't throw passes for none yards!"). We're too good against the run to work the inside run and then attack with play-action, so I'd go the opposite route. It seems to me that we've had the most trouble against QBs who have been accurate with short-to-medium throws on quick plays. Manziel had some ridiculously lucky slow-to-develop plays against us, but otherwise the plays that stood out to me were the 5-7 yard gains that came in rapid succession. If you have enough success on a drive to run 6-7 plays in rapid succession, any defense will get winded. The offense may be tired too, but they have the advantage of knowing the next play.

On defense, I'd try to run some new blitzes early, hoping that my corners/safeties can hang on for long enough and try to rattle AJ (physically rattled; I'm not sure he'll get very rattled from a few scary moments, just from pain). I think the bend-but-don't-break tactic is a reasonable move against our offense, although we are more explosive than in years past. Alabama is going to get yards against anyone, so you focus on not giving up the big plays and substitute out as much as possible to reduce fatigue when Alabama is grinding out long drives, both early in the game and late.

Perhaps I'm looking at things bass ackwards, but that's my casual-fan assessment of what I'd try to do.
This sounds about right to me. Couple small points: on offense: what is it about WR screens behind the LOS that concern you in particular from an opponent's point of view? On defense - ND tends not to blitz too much. So that would be a bit of departure. But I wouldn't be surprised to see a few new wrinkles on that front. Can't just sit back and play 2-deep all day. It works against most teams because the D Line / OLBs can get pressure on their own but this Bama O Line is obviously a different animal. Irish will have to mix it up, at the very least.
 

NDinNYC2

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Dec 28, 2012
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I think you have to try to create a mismatch with Eifert. Early passing will open up the running game. Also, with Golson's ability to extend plays, he can create problems. The only team that's been able to do this is aTm. Is Golson as good as Manziel? That remains to be seen.
Early passing to open up with the run is a common theme from fans on both sides and analysts as well. If it's that obvious to us, it must be to Saban and Kelly as well. Having said that, I still think it makes sense. It may just boil down to whether or not Golson can be as accurate as he'll need to be to make that work.
 

jps1983

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Early passing to open up with the run is a common theme from fans on both sides and analysts as well. If it's that obvious to us, it must be to Saban and Kelly as well. Having said that, I still think it makes sense. It may just boil down to whether or not Golson can be as accurate as he'll need to be to make that work.
Yeah, the way a team attacks is it that they can be two-dimensional. UGA had success because Murray could throw it well and Gurley/Marshall (mainly Gurley against us) ran it fairly effectively. We try to force third and long and try to force the offense to be one-dimensional (that's true of almost every team that plays any semblance of defense).
 

NDinNYC2

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Dec 28, 2012
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Boot legs and roll-outs as well as screens and draws will bring some success vs our 3rd down blitz packages but you MUST read where the blitz is coming from correctly. You must be patient and be willing to play field position.

What you must avoid: We get an early lead on you.
I expect to see a healthy dose of boots and roll outs by ND. Totally agree re field position. If Golsn gets greedy in the pass, he'll get picked. If gets greedy in the run, he'll get his head taken off and / or fumble.

Turnovers killed ND last year. KILLED them. Coming into the season, Brian Kelly talked a LOT about the importance of getting his QBs to understand that he can live with a play that yields nothing (i.e. throw the ball away) but negative plays and turnovers will not be tolerated. Golson has improved along those lines as the year progressed. Will be interesting if he can maintain that because getting behind schedule could lead to turnovers while 2nd and manageable / 3rd and short will allow ND to get a lot more creative and actually attack Alabama as opposed to hanging on for dear life.

If Bama comes out hot, I don't see ND coming back without a pile of Tide turnovers and miscues. And my guess is Saban and your QB wll be too smart / disciplined to let that happen.
 

NDinNYC2

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Dec 28, 2012
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Okay...

Don't play bend but not break between the 20's. If you allow us to get into the redzone, we'll score. You can't rely on having the best redzone defense in the country against such an efficient offense.

If Sunseri is in the game, he struggle in pass coverage (just watch the A&M game).
Interesting comment re bend but don't break. I see your logic but I think that's exactly what ND will do. It is who they are. I think you sort of have to do what you've done all year, broadly, otherwise you might come out of the gate stuttering and thinking too much.

Seen a lot of talk about Sunseri as the weak point in coverage. I wonder what ND will do to try and isolate him and what Bama will do to try and protect him.
 
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NDinNYC2

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Dec 28, 2012
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On offense:

- Attack the use of man coverage with crossing patterns and deep corner routes.

On Defense:

- Temper the rush to contain the screen game. Keep gap integrity and don't allow short passes turn into huge gains.

- Be aware of Cooper's alignment. He's the only deep threat currently, safety help should always be to his side.
Crossing routes are something I hadn't thought about too much. But it makes good sense. Only problem is you need time for that to develop - ND O Line will have to allow for that.

Bama screen game scares me to death. Really impressed with Cooper's physical skills but, even more so, his tenacity. That guy looks like he wants the ball and is willing to fight for it. I expect to see safety help sliding in his direction as well.
 

capnfrog

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I would try to pick out a receiver that will be covered by a linebacker and make it my go to on 1st down. Delayed draws seem to work well and on defense pick out the players on OL playing injured and double team them to get to AJ. Barret Jones is gimpy so he should be a pushover. Blitz on 2nd and long and 3rd and long right smack over the gimpy center. Piece of cake.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Interesting comment re bend but don't break. I see your logic but I think that's exactly what ND will do. It is who they are. I think you sort of have to do what you've done all year, broadly, otherwise you might come out of the gate stuttering and thinking too much.

Seen a lot of talk about Sunseri as the weak point in coverage. I wonder what ND will do to try and isolate him and what Bama will do to try and protect him.
Basically, Geno Smith has taken over his role on passing downs...
 

rgw

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Sunseri won't play much besides dimeback against 4+ WRs...and he'll be more protected by the scheme in that role. He's a better fit for the 6th DB because it is more of safety/LB hybrid. Sunseri was out of place at Star because the duties require some things a safety would do but corner-like ability to cover in man. He was about half of what the position needed and it showed against LSU and TAMU. Geno doesn't have a lot of experience but he's been on the hip of slot receivers underneath.
 

Alasippi

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Aug 31, 2007
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First of all, Texas A@M's hurry up offense didn't bother us. We were flat as a pancake in the first quarter after a huge win in Baton Rouge.
That got us behind 20-0, but in all honesty, Texas A@M could have run slow tempo QB sneaks and gotten the same result. We simply didn't show up emotionally. Once we adjusted, we pretty much shut them down the rest of the game but it was a bit too late.
Yes, Georgia ran the hurry up at the end of the game...but we were in a prevent and killed ourselves with missed tackles.

Now, that being said, the biggest vulnerability our defense has shown since Coach Saban's arrival has been passes to backs out of the backfield and quick passes across the middle or in the short zone to the tight end. In each case the coverage has been by a linebacker.
Our backers are recruited and geared to stop the run and they're not the best in coverage. I'd attack that in a big way. The problem is that Coach Saban already knows this and has probably made adjustments...lol...so who knows what we'll do. I'd expect a lot of blitzes by the backers with the short coverage switching to a corner. We'll see.

As far as attacking our offense I'd not only stack the box but I'd run blitz and pass blitz. A.J. has a tendency to lock on one receiver and he has a tendency to hold the ball too long. He is not very good when under intense pressure, but then, not many QB's are.
The problem again however is that our offensive line is so good that, if you blitz, and one guy misses a tackle or an assignment, or blows a man to man coverage, that A.J. may end up on his butt, but one our running backs will be racing untouched to the goal line, or catching a screen a racing to the goal line, or one of many capable receivers will completely burn the secondary for a long TD pass.
Not many people understand that we're far from one dimensional. We probably have more dimensions than most teams in the country and we are EXTREMELY hard to defend.
Ultimately though Notre Dame has no choice but to try and stop the run first because, if they can't do that, they don't have a prayer.
Ironically...if they do stop the run, then A.J. may pass for 400 yards and five touchdowns.

I think Brian Kelly poses the biggest challenge Bama has faced as far as being an outstanding coach. He reminds me a lot of Saban actually. The question is, do they have the horses?

We'll see on Monday Night and may the chips fall where they may.

RTR!

sip
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
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Geno's emergence has been great for the secondary issues, such as Nick and Vinnie.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, so my post may not be what I typed thanks to auto correct. Also, I may need an emoticon but cannot use one in this post.
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
12,875
2
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We are missing that dominant pass rusher.
That's the one guy Coach S. has never been able to recruit, and NO, Dareus and Upshaw weren't "dominant" pass rushers.
You put Clowney at right defensive end on our current team and they may very well have called the BCS Championship Game off because of lopsidedness :)
 

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