Game Thread: 2017 A-Day Game

CraigD · Apr 22, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
It was on ESPN. I'm sure there'll be replays...

5 AM ET on SECN, I think.

rgw · Apr 22, 2017

JustNeedMe81 said:
You do know it's spring? Things changes where they all of suddenly got better in the fall.

Right, the trouble with Spring games are that assessments are almost paradoxical. All the good things mean bad things, all the bad things mean good things.

I do think the thing about Diggs is a legitimate concern because we've seen this story before with Cyrus Jones. I think he's got a lot higher ceiling than Cyrus Jones though. It is all a matter of how quickly he picks up things...

WylieTexasTider · Apr 22, 2017

rgw said:
I think the way we get Najee Harris the snaps he probably deserves is by shaving snaps from Bo Scarbough and Damien Harris...saving our veterans for the "big" games. D. Harris got dinged up mid-season last year and wasn't the same after that sprain. Bo has been hurt or nursing something his entire time in Tuscaloosa. Going to a Four-Headed Monster is probably preferable given the injury history of our veterans.

I think we have 3 RB's who can start on many teams, (Bo, Harris, Jacobs) and 2 that would be solid back ups, BJ and N Harris. My thoughts are we will end up running about the same number of plays as the past few years, 75-80 per game. I also expect our offense to be pretty close to 50/50 run VS pass. Therefore, close to 40 rushes per game.

I'd expect a break down similar to:

1A and 1B Bo and D. Harris - 10-12 carries
2. Jacobs - 8-10 carries
3. N. Harris - 6-8 carries
4. BJ (Likely very little PT and will transfer out) a few carries in blowouts....

It would not surprise me if our leading rusher only averaged 70-80 yards a game. However, I can see our top 3 all average about 70 yards per game and, if we made it back to the CFP title game having 3 - 1000 yard rushers on the season.

WylieTexasTider · Apr 22, 2017

rgw said:
Right, the trouble with Spring games are that assessments are almost paradoxical. All the good things mean bad things, all the bad things mean good things.

I do think the thing about Diggs is a legitimate concern because we've seen this story before with Cyrus Jones. I think he's got a lot higher ceiling than Cyrus Jones though. It is all a matter of how quickly he picks up things...

I think Diggs will continue to improve AND we have options in case he is not ready such as Minkah or T Brown. I'm sure we'd rather be able to leave Minkah at safety or Star but, he is an option at CB should he be needed. I think this front 7 will be able to get more pressure than the 2013 group did and therefore, protect Diggs better than they did Cyrus.

gtowntide · Apr 22, 2017

Tide Rev said:
Just got back from the game also. I share some of the excitement. It is great to have competition at QB. Remember Tua has not seen College defense the way it will be thrown at him. He will be fine eventually. The 2 problems I see are possibly at CB and/or safety and in our place kicking game. This could hurt us early in the fall until we get going. I am not sure JK can handle both at the moment. Still a lot left to work on. I see 10-2 this year with hopes of 11-1 or undefeated if young folks and back end of defense develops quickly. But overall, it was a good day and fun to be at BDS.

Our place kicker we recruited in this class is in high school. He will enroll in the summer.We really need some young DB's to step up their game going into the fall. I think Diggs will be fine. The receivers he got beat by today are among the best in the country. I was really happy to see Foster make some catches and hope he has a monster senior season.

BamaMoon · Apr 22, 2017

KrAzY3 said:
Tua looks good, but if you think Hurts is doing anything to warrant losing pt, you are not paying attention. Tua is too good to waste a year of eligibility to play mop up duty.

kyallie said:
Seems to me CNS is going to have to breakdown and play 2 QBs with Hurts #1...if for no other reason, to keep Tua from insert the dreaded "T" word.

I was gone from home most of the day. Just finished watching on the DVR. Here's my airchair qb comparison.

Mr. Hurts: We now know he can throw the ball down the field and hit guys in stride. He had 3 or 4 long completions. Much improved! Hurt's is poised beyond belief in game situations, except for one thing: his biggest struggle is dealing with a collapsing pocket when we need a 5-10 yard pass to move the chains on 3rd down. It may be true his legs allow him to escape the pocket and make a big play, but right now his weakness is throwing an accurate pass in a tight window to move the chains. I really didn't see much improvement in that part of his game today.

Enter Mr. Tua Tag. First, his weakness was exposed in the 2nd half against the first team D. When pressured, he looked mortal. But, what we saw in the first half against less pressure is the kind of stuff you can't make up. He's a pocket passer, first and foremost (I know he's DT, but he's going ot hurt you with his arm, first)! He makes FAST decisions! Then, he's got a blazing fast release and it comes out like a rocket when it needs to or softly when it needs to. And then, his biggest strength is his accuracy. When he's got time to set his feet, he's on the money. Remember the little
7 yard out pattern on 3rd down in the first half? Hit Simmons in the hands and he dropped it. Granted, he was uncomfortable in the 2nd half with the pressure...but that's the difference I see in the two right now. TT, with time to throw, will make you pay, especially on 3rd down with his quick decisions, release and accuarcy. JH, with similar time to throw struggles to get the ball out on time with consistent accuracy.

I imagine the order doesn't change...JH looked improved just as we've heard...but TT is not your average true freshman (actually he's an EE who should be in HS right now) and all the accolades (Trent Dilfer, et al) are well deserved!

For what it's worth, I see him playing some next year not because JH may struggle, but because TT brings something that JH has not developed just yet. If managed correctly, it could be a Tim Tebow/Chis Leak 2 headed monster.

Ole Man Dan · Apr 22, 2017

TiderJ said:
FYR, his last name is spelled "Jeudy" and we all need to get used to it. Special talent. As many have said Jalen looked good and Tua looked very good considering he should stiil be a HS senior. Jalen and Tua are going to push each other which is going to make our offense ridiculous. We have a good 1 and 2 defense but Jalen and Tua looked really good against them. Our D is very good so I'm thinking our offense is going to be great (not very good). It's going to be fun to watch.

IMO: We are in great hands at QB. Our Offense has reloaded with more talent. Our Defense has a chance to be really good also. My only concern is on Special teams, and it may not be shabby either. I REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED THIS YEARS SPRING GAME...

jef0071 · Apr 23, 2017

RollTide_HTTR said:
Tua is going to be special.

Jalen looked better and his deep ball looked great for the most part.

Foster and Ridley looked good.

Jeudy is a star who I hope sees a gpod amount of playing time.

Najee is also a star and should push to for some time. Has impressive hands for such a big guy.

Diggs will get better and when he does we will be fine on D.

Hall's TD was ridiculous and he is a freak.

We have some guys on D who I think are going to be big this year. Miller being one.

We are going to be good. Good enough to beat FSU? Not sure. Probably not yet.

Oh, and Irv Smith Jr is going to be really good.

ummmm, what have you seen from FSU that would make you say something that crazy, lmbo

RollTide_HTTR · Apr 23, 2017

Padreruf said:
Totally disagree with FSU statement...we will win by 17+...otherwise I agree with all your assessments.

i don't doubt we can win. But right now we aren't good enough is wjat I meant. 1st and foremost Diggs needs to figure it out or Brown/Minkah need to be the CB.

TideMan09 said:
Just getting back home good from A-Day & y'all have everything covered in this thread..What excites me the most is Coach Daboll & what he's done already in the short time he's been here..You could definitely see a influence from The New England Patriots offense..

Agreed. I'm excited about Daboll

WylieTexasTider said:
I think we have 3 RB's who can start on many teams, (Bo, Harris, Jacobs) and 2 that would be solid back ups, BJ and N Harris. My thoughts are we will end up running about the same number of plays as the past few years, 75-80 per game. I also expect our offense to be pretty close to 50/50 run VS pass. Therefore, close to 40 rushes per game.

I'd expect a break down similar to:

1A and 1B Bo and D. Harris - 10-12 carries
2. Jacobs - 8-10 carries
3. N. Harris - 6-8 carries
4. BJ (Likely very little PT and will transfer out) a few carries in blowouts....

It would not surprise me if our leading rusher only averaged 70-80 yards a game. However, I can see our top 3 all average about 70 yards per game and, if we made it back to the CFP title game having 3 - 1000 yard rushers on the season.

Najee could probably start for most teams. He's really good. Moved really well for such a big guy.

BamaMoon said:
I was gone from home most of the day. Just finished watching on the DVR. Here's my airchair qb comparison.

Mr. Hurts: We now know he can throw the ball down the field and hit guys in stride. He had 3 or 4 long completions. Much improved! Hurt's is poised beyond belief in game situations, except for one thing: his biggest struggle is dealing with a collapsing pocket when we need a 5-10 yard pass to move the chains on 3rd down. It may be true his legs allow him to escape the pocket and make a big play, but right now his weakness is throwing an accurate pass in a tight window to move the chains. I really didn't see much improvement in that part of his game today.

Enter Mr. Tua Tag. First, his weakness was exposed in the 2nd half against the first team D. When pressured, he looked mortal. But, what we saw in the first half against less pressure is the kind of stuff you can't make up. He's a pocket passer, first and foremost (I know he's DT, but he's going ot hurt you with his arm, first)! He makes FAST decisions! Then, he's got a blazing fast release and it comes out like a rocket when it needs to or softly when it needs to. And then, his biggest strength is his accuracy. When he's got time to set his feet, he's on the money. Remember the little
7 yard out pattern on 3rd down in the first half? Hit Simmons in the hands and he dropped it. Granted, he was uncomfortable in the 2nd half with the pressure...but that's the difference I see in the two right now. TT, with time to throw, will make you pay, especially on 3rd down with his quick decisions, release and accuarcy. JH, with similar time to throw struggles to get the ball out on time with consistent accuracy.

I imagine the order doesn't change...JH looked improved just as we've heard...but TT is not your average true freshman (actually he's an EE who should be in HS right now) and all the accolades (Trent Dilfer, et al) are well deserved!

For what it's worth, I see him playing some next year not because JH may struggle, but because TT brings something that JH has not developed just yet. If managed correctly, it could be a Tim Tebow/Chis Leak 2 headed monster.

This is such a werid situation. Our starting QB is great and is one of the best QBs in college football if he can keep hitting those deep balls. Hurts TD to Ridley was a thing of beauty.

But Tua looks like he could be really special. He's definitely not ready yet but he should be in HS. Some of the throws he made were just incredible. Sliding to the right and throws a strike to the left side of the field. Pressure up the middle and throws a beautiful deep ball.

I really hope Tua sticks around. To follow Jalen with Tua would just be unfair to the rest of college football.

B1GTide · Apr 23, 2017

BamaMoon said:
I was gone from home most of the day. Just finished watching on the DVR. Here's my airchair qb comparison.

Mr. Hurts: We now know he can throw the ball down the field and hit guys in stride. He had 3 or 4 long completions. Much improved! Hurt's is poised beyond belief in game situations, except for one thing: his biggest struggle is dealing with a collapsing pocket when we need a 5-10 yard pass to move the chains on 3rd down. It may be true his legs allow him to escape the pocket and make a big play, but right now his weakness is throwing an accurate pass in a tight window to move the chains. I really didn't see much improvement in that part of his game today.

Jalen is clearly your guy, and he has the talent to win the Heisman right now, but this is also my greatest concern. He had 2 real weaknesses last year - an inability to recognize and hit receivers down the field, even when they were wide open, and an inability to convert 3rd down passes anywhere on the field when under pressure. Problem 1 appears to have been resolved. He recognized mismatches and threw those long passes perfectly in this game. But he was no better on 3rd down than he was last year.

Still a long way to September, so plenty of time to get that fixed. Also, his legs will help him about half of the time in those situations. But will he be able to make those plays next year?

It was awesome to see an offense that didn't rely on receiver screens and sweeps to stretch the defense horizontally. Your offensive units moved the ball by attacking the defense. It really did look like an NFL offense. I was impressed by everything that I saw.

As for the defense - once Saban told the defenses to start pressuring the QB, it was game over. The score was 21-17 at the half (but could easily have been 21-23 if not for the 2 short FGs missed). 44 points given up in a half - 495 yards passing. The second half was totally different. There was no scoring at all in the 3rd quarter, and only 13 points scored in the 4th (3 of which were only scored because Saban didn't want the game to end in a tie).

So, your offense is totally different and much improved while your defense is still capable of mauling teams,

Con · Apr 23, 2017

I haven't finished watching the game yet but BIGTide alluded to this and it really stood out to me once I read his post. I haven't seen any jet sweeps. After seeing what I have seen we haven't wasted any downs setting things up. They attacked through the air with some runs to keep the linebackers honest. The players and coaches also seemed to be having fun on the sidelines. Lots of smiles after the trick plays even though they didn't work. Hurts looked solid and Tua looks good too. Can't wait til fall to see how this bunch gels together.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Redwood Forrest · Apr 23, 2017

B1GTide said:
Jalen is clearly your guy, and he has the talent to win the Heisman right now, but this is also my greatest concern. He had 2 real weaknesses last year - an inability to recognize and hit receivers down the field, even when they were wide open, and an inability to convert 3rd down passes anywhere on the field when under pressure. Problem 1 appears to have been resolved. He recognized mismatches and threw those long passes perfectly in this game. But he was no better on 3rd down than he was last year.

Still a long way to September, so plenty of time to get that fixed. Also, his legs will help him about half of the time in those situations. But will he be able to make those plays next year?

This was my impression also about Hurts. If he can learn how to make those short passes when facing a nine man line, then the sky is the limit.

81usaf92 · Apr 23, 2017

Padreruf said:
Totally disagree with FSU statement...we will win by 17+...otherwise I agree with all your assessments.

We probably beat FSU, but I highly doubt it's by 17. I think it's going to be the first opening week challenge we have had since 2009. Probably plays out very similar. But with the amount of holds that refs don't call on opposing offenses, our secondary problems, and Francios being a very capable qb I would say we are going to be in for a Prilosec game. Something like 27-23.

colbysullivan · Apr 23, 2017

Watching the first half now, I missed it yesterday. Interesting that we missed out on a certain left handed QB with initials "TT" in 2006, and now we have our own version of that. He's going to be special.

CrimsonNagus · Apr 23, 2017

Just a heads up, if you have access to the WatchESPN app you can watch the game whenever you want on demand.

colbysullivan · Apr 23, 2017

RollTide1017 said:
Just a heads up, if you have access to the WatchESPN app you can watch the game whenever you want on demand.

Yep, that's what I'm doing. I forgot to mention that too.

colbysullivan · Apr 23, 2017

I'm still floored by how much different Jacobs looks. He is thicker and more lean at the same time.

RollinTider1335 · Apr 23, 2017

B1GTide said:
Jalen is clearly your guy, and he has the talent to win the Heisman right now, but this is also my greatest concern. He had 2 real weaknesses last year - an inability to recognize and hit receivers down the field, even when they were wide open, and an inability to convert 3rd down passes anywhere on the field when under pressure. Problem 1 appears to have been resolved. He recognized mismatches and threw those long passes perfectly in this game. But he was no better on 3rd down than he was last year.

Still a long way to September, so plenty of time to get that fixed. Also, his legs will help him about half of the time in those situations. But will he be able to make those plays next year?

It was awesome to see an offense that didn't rely on receiver screens and sweeps to stretch the defense horizontally. Your offensive units moved the ball by attacking the defense. It really did look like an NFL offense. I was impressed by everything that I saw.

As for the defense - once Saban told the defenses to start pressuring the QB, it was game over. The score was 21-17 at the half (but could easily have been 21-23 if not for the 2 short FGs missed). 44 points given up in a half - 495 yards passing. The second half was totally different. There was no scoring at all in the 3rd quarter, and only 13 points scored in the 4th (3 of which were only scored because Saban didn't want the game to end in a tie).

So, your offense is totally different and much improved while your defense is still capable of mauling teams,

Good analysis

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DzynKingRTR · Apr 23, 2017

I see that even in a spring game the eeyores come out.

NationalTitles18 · Apr 23, 2017

Best spring game EVAAAAARRRR!!!

Ha! It was exciting to see the pass game improvement. The WR's were scrappy in going to get tipped balls. Jeudy is going to be special. So is TT. Hall has an impressive physique. Diggs needs work but looked good in his new role. Daboll's offense - I like. I am excited now for the season to start!

Game Thread: 2017 A-Day Game

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