Let’s discuss our defense...so many injuries, so many freshmen.
- Thread starter Tide&True
- Start date
no doubt.
there were several plays against SC where the defender tried to knock the ball carrier down rather than tackle him...totally unacceptable.
He has changed his style in the NFL, but agree that his old style would have been problematic today.
After 3 games against competition no where near what we will face later on, it certainly makes one take a lot of interest in the development of the young talent. My concern is the appearance of less push by our DL than prior years and consequently, the secondary is allowing way more pass completions than we have been accustomed in the past. I certainly hope the young freshmen come on soon. No use wringing our hands over the injuries; it is what it is.
I always try to be optimistic and I’ll never question the ability of CNS to coach and prepare but I think the days of having a defense like Alabama did in ‘92, ‘05, & ‘11 etc... are gone. Football has changed way too much. More games are played. Defenses play 1-2 dozen more snaps on average. The rules show more favor towards the offense and targeting and the emphasis of roughing the passer against the defense make it that much harder.
Maybe, but your defense in 2017 was very, very good - as was Clemson's defense last year.
Yes they were...however while I think Bama would have handled Oki Lite and Baylor much easier in “11, idk how they would have handled OU or Ohio State in 2017 with everything I just mentioned in the previous post plus the injuries Bama had in defense by the time of the postseason.
To be fair, USC also lost what should've been an earned TD right before half, so that kind of offset the late TD.
Given USC offense came in having performed poorly vs UNC, was starting a true freshman qb, & has above-average skill players but still racked up 459 yds & 31 1st downs while only having to punt once, it is fair to say that the Bama D struggled a bit. In addition to 23 pts, USC fumbled once at midfield when driving, threw an interception in the endzone when driving, and lost ball on downs at goal line after a nice drive. And this was a Will Muschamp coached offense. TAM, LSU, Auburn, and whoever Bama might face in post season will be better offensively than the Gamecocks. Without improvement on D Bama will struggle to win out.
Only if Will Muschamp had used his TOs like an above average coach that can keep his composure.
But the RB's knee was down anyway.
I think it was focus since I know all our players are coached up. I think the coaches are going to get their attention this week and have them focused.
BamaJama17... I think I understand your question. If not, please let me know.
I trust our rush defense to improve. The freshmen ILBs will get better as they get more game experience. The opposing team's pass defense may be able to defend Tua and our receivers in some isolated situations, but I see no one being able to play pass defense to the point of shutting Tua, Jeudy, Smith, Ruggs or Waddle down. If all stay healthy, we will not be denied in the passing game. I have no trust in the opposing team's pass defense...
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In recent history we typically have an early bad defensive game with the 3rd game being the worst so I am not going to totally judge this defense right now since we typically improve.
2015 Game 3 Ole Sis 43-37 loss
2016 Game 3 Ole Sis 48-43 win
2017 Game 3 Colo St 41-23 win
2018 Game 4 A&M 41-23 win
2015 Game 3 Ole Sis 43-37 loss
2016 Game 3 Ole Sis 48-43 win
2017 Game 3 Colo St 41-23 win
2018 Game 4 A&M 41-23 win
Muschamp definitely screwed that. Even if play was not not gonna be overturned, he had 2 TOs left & a freshman qb who had not taken a meaningful snap under center in a game (always shotgun). The TO was a huge no-brainer as it lets officials review and gives him time to come up with a play & settle his young qb.
But that's pretty much the story on Muschamp, misses the obvious too often.
My point wasn't about the call, it was that USC's average to above-average offense moved the ball fairly well vs Bama D, and better offenses will score more pts with that kind of production. Improvement is needed.
My point is that the rush defense may not be as suffocating like in years past. Alabama just does not have a Rolando McClain, Dont’a Hightower, or a CJ Mosley at MLB this year. However this year the QB play is good enough to mask the deficiencies and keep the defense from having to play 90+ snaps. Alabama will probably have win a few games by shootouts.
Conversely, Alabama's offense can score too fast like it did last year. We have seen a few times already in 2019 the WRs' ability to take a quick, short pass the distance.
The only team I see capable of that in the SEC is UGA. I think many are overreacting because they can’t see we were dealing with a desperate coach willing to take chances with a qb that we had little film on.
LSU perhaps. Georgia, OU, Ohio State, and/or Clemson perhaps in the postseason. That is if we expect Bama to play in the NC again...
"Improvement is needed." Good summation and no one would question that, but USC punted twic, had 2 TOs and turned it over on downs, they only had 1 TD til garbage time. They definitely moved the ball better than expected but part of that was the game plan: keep everything in front and prevent long plays. This Alabama did well but tackled poorly, thus were unable to get off the field as quickly as possible. But the overall plan worked well.
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