Question: X’s and O’s...How does Bama matchup against LSU?

B1GTide said:

BTW, the LSU/MSU game is being replayed on ESPNU right now - just started.

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That was hard to watch the first time

mrusso said:

In reference to some of Tua's inaccuracies the last couple of games, what he talks about in this Tennessee post-game interview might have contributed to this. About 14 seconds in he talks about the "slope" on the field that he had to adjust to.

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That affected 3 passes thrown.

bamaga said:

That was hard to watch the first time

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LOL - yeah, I changed channels.

B1GTide said:

Those short passes can turn into TDs with the speed of your receivers and RBs - and your TEs have got to be keeping them up at night.

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I don't think They have anyone to keep up with Irv Smith. I wouldn't be shocked if LSU played Cover 1 defense. That means, we'll see one on one matchup andI think there is a huge risk in doing that. Also, Ed said that It probably will be Patrick Queen or Micah Baskerville replacing White for the first half. They're good, but it creates opportunities for us.

I googled last year's game stats (ESPN site came up). I know the teams are different this year but I was curious.

Etling QBR was 16.5. I expect Burrow's to be better, and he can be a run threat more than Etling was.
Jalen's QBR was 66.4

LSU's leading rusher (Williams) got 83 yards. For BAMA, Jalen had 44 yards rushing and Damien had just 33 yards rushing. I expect BAMA to have better rushing numbers this year.

Devin White had 9 TOT (1 solo); .5 sacs; .5 TFL. I guess he is better this year if they are making a big deal about his absence.
Delpit had 4 TOT
Greedy Williams had 2 TOT.

I read an article where Coach O was interviewed. He mentioned that BAMA's scouting report on LSU was embarrassing to read (apparently a UA staff member who is friends with Coach O gave it to him after the game) when he read it. Said he made sure to take care of that and find someone who can do that well for LSU to scout BAMA. I am curious how all this works, other than the normal/usual scouting reports from the staff.

Saban4Ever said:

I googled last year's game stats (ESPN site came up). I know the teams are different this year but I was curious.

Etling QBR was 16.5. I expect Burrow's to be better, and he can be a run threat more than Etling was.
Jalen's QBR was 66.4

LSU's leading rusher (Williams) got 83 yards. For BAMA, Jalen had 44 yards rushing and Damien had just 33 yards rushing. I expect BAMA to have better rushing numbers this year.

Devin White had 9 TOT (1 solo); .5 sacs; .5 TFL. I guess he is better this year if they are making a big deal about his absence.
Delpit had 4 TOT
Greedy Williams had 2 TOT.

I read an article where Coach O was interviewed. He mentioned that BAMA's scouting report on LSU was embarrassing to read (apparently a UA staff member who is friends with Coach O gave it to him after the game) when he read it. Said he made sure to take care of that and find someone who can do that well for LSU to scout BAMA. I am curious how all this works, other than the normal/usual scouting reports from the staff.

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I wonder if that UA staff is still employed with Alabama... LOL

I honestly don't get where some of you are coming from? Tua has been making check downs all year long. He's made check downs the last two games.

I agree his accuracy has been off (due to the knee affecting his planting leg) but I just don't agree that he been making horrible reads right and left and that he has 'Fallen in Love' with the Homerun to the point it's hurting drives.

Maybe that 'tendency' has occurred slightly more the last two games but I attribute it to him not being 100% comfortable. He hasn't been as mobile so maybe he's rushed a few throws instead of being patient from the extra time his elusiveness in the pocket usually buys him. But NO ONE was saying in the 1st 6 games that he was going deep too much instead of checking down....NO ONE.

Oh and just to kind of give an overview of his play in the 1st 8 games:

Tua's QBR is still 238.5!!!(1st) Kylar Murray is the only other QB above 200.

Tua's YPA is 13.6 (1st)

Tua's TD:INT is 25:0 (1st)

Tua has thrown for 2,066 yards (12th) while every QB ahead of him has averaged 135 more attempts.

Tua's 25 TD's is 3rd...... the two guys ahead of him have thrown it twice.....TWICE as many times.

The Offense is #1 in Scoring (54.1 PPG), 5th in Passing, 29th in Rushing, #1 in Total Offense (564.3YPG)

All of that work is mostly done in 2.5 quarters or less a game....

But lets circle back to the 'Homerun Ball' that he's married to because he IS 'good' at that too...

He'***** 38 plays of 20+ yards long (2nd), 21 Plays of 30+ Yards long (2nd), 15 Plays of 40+ Yards (2nd), 10 Plays of 50+ Yards (1st), 5 Plays of 60+ yards (1st), 4 Plays of 70+ yards (1st), 1 Play of 80+ yards (1st).

He's completely transformed the entire offense to the point we are a 60/40 passing team now and that's including 1.5+ quarters every week where we stop throwing completely and just run, run, run.

He makes us at least 20 PPG better than CNS's yearly avearage. It would be 30-40 if he played longer.

Even the last two weeks in spite of some inaccurate throws here and there he's still made WOW throws only he could make.

Maybe it's just me but I'll take a 75-80% Tua over a 100% anybody else in the country.


Oh and while It's all on my mind he's spreading the ball around like crazy too for someone just chucking it up.

We have FOUR WR's over 400+ yards and Irv isn't far behind.

Jeudy: 31 Rec's for 777 Yards (25.1 YPC) 10 TD's
Waddle: 21 Rec's for 457 Yards (21.8 YPC) 3 TD's
Ruggs III: 24 Rec's for 444 Yards (18.5 YPC) 7 TD's
Smitty: 21 Rec's for 409 Yards (19.5 YPC) 3 TD's
IRV: 22 Rec;s for 384 Yards (17.5 YPC) 5 TD's

Here's the RB's..... Pretty sure most of these are check downs but I could be 1000% wrong cause Tua don't check down.

Damien: 13 Rec's for 160 Yards
Josh: 6 Rec's for 68 Yards

So I dunno.... I guess people can nitpick whatever they want but I'm pretty damn impressed with Tua's whole body of work and his progress as the season has developed.

The only thing slowing him down a little bit is the knee the last 2 games and the coaching staff in general as far as the year goes.. But LSU ain't stopping him and neither is anyone else as long as we keep his Jersey clean.

tusks_n_raider said:

I honestly don't get where some of you are coming from? Tua has been making check downs all year long. He's made check downs the last two games.

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Is that all that you see in this thread? Every person who has said that about Tua, including me, has extolled his virtues at the same time. But if you can't see that he loves the long ball, you are trying not to see it, IMO.

B1GTide said:

Is that all that you see in this thread? Every person who has said that about Tua, including me, has extolled his virtues at the same time. But if you can't see that he loves the long ball, you are trying not to see it, IMO.

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He loves the long ball because it's generally open or he throws it open with a high degree of success. What's not to love?

tusks_n_raider said:

I agree his accuracy has been off (due to the knee affecting his planting leg) but I just don't agree that he been making horrible reads right and left and that he has 'Fallen in Love' with the Homerun to the point it's hurting drives.

Nobody said that. We are simply saying that he has been going for homerun plays often and sometime he should've made a better decision. Go back to Tennessee game, and look at the first 3 touchdowns of the game. Pay attention to the other receivers and the defense. You'll see what we meant by that.

Maybe that 'tendency' has occurred slightly more the last two games but I attribute it to him not being 100% comfortable. He hasn't been as mobile so maybe he's rushed a few throws instead of being patient from the extra time his elusiveness in the pocket usually buys him. But NO ONE was saying in the 1st 6 games that he was going deep too much instead of checking down....NO ONE.

He has been doing this the last six games of this year. People don't notice it because He's making the throws and receivers are catching it. If they had dropped it or resulted in an interception, then this would be the same issue. Remember, what was said about Tua last year and how he was throwing the ball reckless in the practices last year? he's just little better at this...


Tua's TD:INT is 25:0 (1st)
Saban said in the interview that one of his pass last week should've been intercepted.




He'***** 38 plays of 20+ yards long (2nd), 21 Plays of 30+ Yards long (2nd), 15 Plays of 40+ Yards (2nd), 10 Plays of 50+ Yards (1st), 5 Plays of 60+ yards (1st), 4 Plays of 70+ yards (1st), 1 Play of 80+ yards (1st).

He's completely transformed the entire offense to the point we are a 60/40 passing team now and that's including 1.5+ quarters every week where we stop throwing completely and just run, run, run.

He makes us at least 20 PPG better than CNS's yearly avearage. It would be 30-40 if he played longer.

Even the last two weeks in spite of some inaccurate throws here and there he's still made WOW throws only he could make.

Maybe it's just me but I'll take a 75-80% Tua over a 100% anybody else in the country.

But look at the teams we've played to this date with average defense. We will see if this still hold up after LSU Game.



So I dunno.... I guess people can nitpick whatever they want but I'm pretty damn impressed with Tua's whole body of work and his progress as the season has developed.

The only thing slowing him down a little bit is the knee the last 2 games and the coaching staff in general as far as the year goes.. But LSU ain't stopping him and neither is anyone else as long as we keep his Jersey clean.

Nobody is nitpicking on what he is and isn't doing. We are simply saying that as we face better defenses, Tua may not be able to do similar things that he has been doing for the last 6 games. At this point, teams now know what he likes to do and they will try and force him to keep doing it and bait him into a bad throw. I just want him to find a balance next weekend and play smart. He can still throw 350 yards and 4 touchdowns against LSU, just make right decisions.. especially with how good LSU Secondary is.

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Hope I explained

dvldog said:

He loves the long ball because it's generally open or he throws it open with a high degree of success. What's not to love?

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LOL - he is certainly good at it.

B1GTide said:

Is that all that you see in this thread? Every person who has said that about Tua, including me, has extolled his virtues at the same time. But if you can't see that he loves the long ball, you are trying not to see it, IMO.

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Of course he likes deep shots..... everyone does. Most of the time this year they have been there for the taking and he's made them.

What I disagree with is this new narrative/thesis that as a SEASON LONG flaw he goes to that well too often at the expense of taking the check-down.

The 1st 6 games he almost always threw to the best WR/TE/RB choice. He moved all around in the pocket buying time to get it to whoever got open and if no one got open he dumped it down or scrambled.

It's only been the last 2 games with the knee injury that he has seemingly 'got greedy' a few times. I agree that's happened and especially in several of the goal line situations 2 weeks ago vs Missouri.

He's forced some throws, he's floated high balls, overlooked safer underneath routes etc etc....

But it's my opinion that it's a new occurrence symptomatic of his knee taking him out of his comfort zone. He's having to get rid of it sooner because he can't extend plays a few secs longer and he's pressed a bit trying to make up for missing throws he normally makes.

But this has not been his MO all year..... it just has not.

tusks_n_raider said:

But this has not been his MO all year..... it just has not.

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JMO, but I think that it has been his MO all year and it has not been discussed because he was having great success doing it. Alabama receivers have HUGE air yardage stats compared to the rest of college football because Tua has done this. It became more noticed when the passes failed to connect (for various reasons).

But, to be clear, this is just my impression from watching the games. And I recognize that he has always thrown the other passes, too. But it appears to me that he looks for a long pass connection first. Not a problem if you have time. Can become a problem if you don't.

B1GTide said:

JMO, but I think that it has been his MO all year and it has not been discussed because he was having great success doing it. Alabama receivers have HUGE air yardage stats compared to the rest of college football because Tua has done this. It became more noticed when the passes failed to connect (for various reasons).

But, to be clear, this is just my impression from watching the games. And I recognize that he has always thrown the other passes, too. But it appears to me that he looks for a long pass connection first. Not a problem if you have time. Can become a problem if you don't.

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They also have huge air yardage because he'***** them in stride on short to intermediate routes and they've hauled tail post catch.....

But I'm not going to argue about it.

It's my impression that Tua goes though his progessions in order. Sometimes Route 1 may be Deep, sometimes it might be a Slant off the RPO if the LB's bite on the fake etc.

But I've seen multiple plays (1st 6 games) where he looked off the 1-2 and even 3-4 reads and dumped it down to the 5 (Damien, Josh) OR after going through that progression Read 1 or 2 eventually get open and he goes to where ever they are in the open field.

It's jmo that the last 2 games specifically has made it look like there is an issue when it's really just a byproduct of Tua learning how to adapt his game on a Knee that's bothering him during his planting and delivery.

Honestly some of his shorter throws the last two weeks have been the least accurate because he's throwing almost flat footed and sailing them...... especially the screen and swing in flats stuff.

It's the intermediate to deep throw where he can step into it a bit at 75-80% that are a bit more like normal..... but when he's forcing that into double coverage that's not good either.

In any case he will figure it out..... or hopefully get back close to 100% and make this all moot points.

If we disagree on any of this..... well I agree to disagree... but I appreciate being able to discuss it in a civil way and respect your opinion on the situation.

tusks_n_raider said:

They also have huge air yardage because he'***** them in stride on short to intermediate routes and they've hauled tail post catch.....

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That is YAC (yards after catch), not air yards. Alabama receivers have the most air yards (yards the ball travels down the field before it is caught) than any other group by a large margin.

Just watched the Film Room episode from last night with Saban and it was great.

Looking over stats, I see that on offense, Alabama is the least sacked team (5) in the conference and has the fewest interceptions thrown (2)in the league. I also saw this week that TUA has been blitzed more than any other qb, 39.4% of dropbacks.
That brings 2 things to mind, one that our offensive line has played pretty good this year, and backs have been good picking up blitzers . Two, that at some point teams will give up trying to pressure Tua, because that’s obviously not working, and drop into coverage.

I also noticed that Alabama is leading the conference in Sacks and second to LSU in interceptions. There may be plays to be made on Burrow with pressure.

For all the hoopla about LSUs secondary, it took 4 interceptions against MSU to overtake Alabama for the SEC lead in that category

B1GTide said:

Just watched the Film Room episode from last night with Saban and it was great.

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Link???

Bama_N_Va said:

Link???

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Sorry, I recorded it on the SECN earlier today.