JessN: Tennessee wrap-up: Bama wins, but has more on its plate to worry about

JessN · Oct 20, 2019

Tennessee wrap-up: Bama wins, but has more on its plate to worry about
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
October 20th, 2019 04:52 AM

As Randy Travis once sang, it’s not what you take when you leave this world, it’s what you leave behind. Alabama, again, took victory from Tennessee in this rivalry, a series once close enough between the two teams to be considered competitive, but now more or less as enjoyable for the Volunteers as an […]

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Jkl0802 · Oct 20, 2019

Thank You Jess. I’m not sure what to say about that game, except we won, and I hope Tua gets well soon

Toddrn · Oct 20, 2019

Great analysis Jess. This was just an ugly game. For whatever reason Jones never looks comfortable in a game, to me. Hopefully, next week we pound the ball and give him as many chances to throw the ball in easy situations to help with confidence. RTR

Saban4Ever · Oct 20, 2019

Thanks, Jess. That was a stressful game to watch.

I do not have a good feeling about the season if Tua is not healthy. Even if he does play vs LSU, he won't be 100 percent and they will try to hurt him.

I love Perine, the new punter. Saban should have put him in before Reichard, but instead Reichard is probably done for the year with the re-injury.

BayouBama75 · Oct 20, 2019

Thanks. Jones should look better with a week to prepare but he will have to thow some long passes or the D will sit on the short ones. Also the D backs Surtain and Diggs seem to panic and get their hand on guys on long passes and collect the PI calls way too much. Usually they are in good position but they don't always turn around.

Ledsteplin · Oct 20, 2019

Nice write up, Jess! Mac did ok once he settled in. A week working with the first string in practice will definitely help. Lia will likely see more reps in practice. Hopefully, we'll get to see him play some against Arky.
I thought playing Chris Owens at TE was genius. His blocking really helped the run game. Both Najee and Brian did well. While the defense continues to gel and improve, the pass rush needs to get better before Burrows and Co roll into Bryant-Denny.

NiteyNight · Oct 20, 2019

The running backs showed a burst of speed when hitting the holes that we haven’t seen all season. They looked decisive and determined.

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4Q Basket Case · Oct 20, 2019

The loss of Tua is a killer, and overshadows a lot of other stuff.

I’m not normally known as a sunshine-pumper, but I saw some positives:

The defense played better. We’re beginning to look more like Saban’s usual swarming, physical D. I’m not an astute enough student of the game to know for sure, but I’m guessing the freshmen are starting to play fast, not having to think so much. Patrick Surtain, though, had a tough game. He needs to play smarter to avoid the interference calls, especially now that he has earned a bit of a reputation with the refs.

The running game looked better, even when UT knew we were going to run. Good push from the OL, especially the right side team of Dickerson and Brown.

Look, I know UT isn’t a great team, but they’re improving themselves, and the OL looked like it knew what it was doing against them. I couldn’t say that earlier in the season, even against lesser competition.

Mac made a couple of good throws, and had a couple of drops that weren’t his fault. He’s not Tua (who is?), but I’m looking forward to seeing how he does against Arkansas with a full week of prep, both mental and physical, where he’s The Man.

We have a punter. Probably should have put him in before this. Loved Perine’s tackle on the second punt. Don’t know if they showed it on TV, but the team was doing all sorts of celebration and congratulations when he came off the field after that.

We need to expect some inconsistency. He’s a walk-on freshman, so we should cut him some slack on that. But he’s a no-foolin’ athlete, and someone the return teams have to respect. And he’s better than anything we’ve had since JK Scott went to Green Bay.

I did think it was not too bright to put Reichard in, and now it appears that he might be done for the year.

I’m under no illusions about LSU. To win, we absolutely have to have Tua at a minimum of 90%. So now we’re parsing Nick Saban’s words. Initially, he called the injury a high ankle sprain. Later, he called it a twisted ankle. Is there a difference? Does it mean the ankle might not be as bad as originally thought? We’ll know in three weeks.

This has been a trying season, and the adversity started in August. Really in the spring, with a couple of guys going to the NFL before they should have.

We were going to be young and thin anyway, so the incredible run of injuries to key players has been devastating, and just doesn’t seem to stop. The youngsters having to grow up before they were ready will pay dividends next year, especially on defense. But the injury bug may keep the best combination of QB and WRs we’ve ever had from realizing its full potential in the part of the season that matters.

GulfCoastTider · Oct 20, 2019

The (otherwise awful) commentationary(tm) crew in the press box mentioned that with a righty under center, the other side of the offensive line becomes the focal point of protection schemes. The blind side is on the right, now. They also mentioned how passes from southpaws spin opposite of those from earth people. They then went into a pointless discussion abouth the dearth of southpaws in the NFL... ??

Deonte Brown at RG has been a Godsend. He's punching big holes to the right of center and making the whole OL look better.

I am willing to bet that Tua comes back near full speed three weeks from yesterday.

Swanny · Oct 20, 2019

Thanks again Jess very informative as always. Couple of observations and questions. 1) They do not pay offensive coordinators in this league the amount of money they do to not figure out ways to get matchups to expose our weaknesses. Case in point: isolate #15 on Harris in the slot and one double move later almost picking up a first down on a first and 20 in the red zone. We are going to see opponents do this going forward and is what it is. 2) Chris Owens wearing number 84 and lining up as tight end for blocking purposes? Saban said in presser that we couldn't run the edges, and goodness gracious I believe I saw Forristall get knocked airborne backwards on one edge running play. 3) I believe one of our biggest problems on defense is communication in getting into the proper call/alignment pre snap. It looked like on several occasions that the LBs looked lost and were looking at the sidelines just before the snap and the DL looking back for a call- and at one point the DB's trying to make calls and helping the LBs to get everyone in proper alignment. Am I correct about that? Saban also referenced this in his presser that it is a work in progress with the "on the job training" with the LBs. I get it, these are 18 year old kids being put into a very difficult situation, and all things considered they are doing very well. Couldn't we simplify scheme a little to get everyone lined up correctly and more promptly? Maybe we are? I am surprised that we haven't seen more teams run up tempo on us. I know that Auburn will, and I am concerned that they will be successful.

JessN · Oct 20, 2019

Swanny said:
Thanks again Jess very informative as always. Couple of observations and questions. 1) They do not pay offensive coordinators in this league the amount of money they do to not figure out ways to get matchups to expose our weaknesses. Case in point: isolate #15 on Harris in the slot and one double move later almost picking up a first down on a first and 20 in the red zone. We are going to see opponents do this going forward and is what it is. 2) Chris Owens wearing number 84 and lining up as tight end for blocking purposes? Saban said in presser that we couldn't run the edges, and goodness gracious I believe I saw Forristall get knocked airborne backwards on one edge running play. 3) I believe one of our biggest problems on defense is communication in getting into the proper call/alignment pre snap. It looked like on several occasions that the LBs looked lost and were looking at the sidelines just before the snap and the DL looking back for a call- and at one point the DB's trying to make calls and helping the LBs to get everyone in proper alignment. Am I correct about that? Saban also referenced this in his presser that it is a work in progress with the "on the job training" with the LBs. I get it, these are 18 year old kids being put into a very difficult situation, and all things considered they are doing very well. Couldn't we simplify scheme a little to get everyone lined up correctly and more promptly? Maybe we are? I am surprised that we haven't seen more teams run up tempo on us. I know that Auburn will, and I am concerned that they will be successful.

Addressing a couple of things...

1) Freshman LBs have been lost all year, sometimes worse than others. Saban made a great point in his (testy) press conference talking about how with McMillon and Moses out, the young players have no veteran players ahead of them in practice to compare their games to. They're doing the best they can do but they're limited. I thought Benton did a better job as the dime WLB this game. Unlike the others he should really know the defense; it's his third year. Yet, he was pretty lost himself early against Texas A&M. Lee has picked things up faster than Harris, IMO. What you see is what you're going to have for the remainder of the year there. Remember that Dylan Moses was quite ... well, bad for much of his true freshman season due to the same deal. We ask a lot of our ILBs and Saban has plainly showed he will not "dumb down" the defense very much just because a starter got hurt.

2) McKinney is much better in run support than in coverage. He compares favorably to Marcus Spencer during Spencer's senior year, but offenses are different now. But there's no one else who can play that hybrid dime/LB position he's so good at playing. On the flip side, this was Mayden's best game and the first time I've seen him look better than Carter. It seems when we're facing a run-oriented team (which UT basically is), Mayden has better game; when the opposition comes in wanting to throw it 50 times, Carter has the better day.

3) The worst blocker of the tight ends in the rotation is Forristall. I like him as an H-back but have never liked him as a Y and anyone who's been reading my stuff since the spring knows I've been consistent about that. Tennison is a better Y from a blocking aspect, but he had a drop in this game and he can't do that going forward. Unfortunately what we have now is a tight end group that is highly specialized. You have the starters who can help out in the passing game (Forristall, Tennison), then you have two converted OL (Owens, Randolph) who may or may not be able to catch the ball. Until they've proven they can, wearing jersey numbers in the 80s is just window dressing; we're basically playing Ace with seven OL. And that's fine, but I don't think Mac Jones has the combination of skill and confidence yet to throw out of that formation when there are just 2-3 guys in the pattern. Billingsley, Latu and Amos apparently are more like Forristall/Tennison than Owens/Randolph. It's sort of crazy that we've got eight guys on scholarship at TE right now (remember Parker is also on the team) but we're having to platoon them like a baseball team.

B1GTide · Oct 20, 2019

JessN said:
Addressing a couple of things...

1) Freshman LBs have been lost all year, sometimes worse than others. Saban made a great point in his (testy) press conference talking about how with McMillon and Moses out, the young players have no veteran players ahead of them in practice to compare their games to. They're doing the best they can do but they're limited. I thought Benton did a better job as the dime WLB this game. Unlike the others he should really know the defense; it's his third year. Yet, he was pretty lost himself early against Texas A&M. Lee has picked things up faster than Harris, IMO. What you see is what you're going to have for the remainder of the year there. Remember that Dylan Moses was quite ... well, bad for much of his true freshman season due to the same deal. We ask a lot of our ILBs and Saban has plainly showed he will not "dumb down" the defense very much just because a starter got hurt.

2) McKinney is much better in run support than in coverage. He compares favorably to Marcus Spencer during Spencer's senior year, but offenses are different now. But there's no one else who can play that hybrid dime/LB position he's so good at playing. On the flip side, this was Mayden's best game and the first time I've seen him look better than Carter. It seems when we're facing a run-oriented team (which UT basically is), Mayden has better game; when the opposition comes in wanting to throw it 50 times, Carter has the better day.

3) The worst blocker of the tight ends in the rotation is Forristall. I like him as an H-back but have never liked him as a Y and anyone who's been reading my stuff since the spring knows I've been consistent about that. Tennison is a better Y from a blocking aspect, but he had a drop in this game and he can't do that going forward. Unfortunately what we have now is a tight end group that is highly specialized. You have the starters who can help out in the passing game (Forristall, Tennison), then you have two converted OL (Owens, Randolph) who may or may not be able to catch the ball. Until they've proven they can, wearing jersey numbers in the 80s is just window dressing; we're basically playing Ace with seven OL. And that's fine, but I don't think Mac Jones has the combination of skill and confidence yet to throw out of that formation when there are just 2-3 guys in the pattern. Billingsley, Latu and Amos apparently are more like Forristall/Tennison than Owens/Randolph. It's sort of crazy that we've got eight guys on scholarship at TE right now (remember Parker is also on the team) but we're having to platoon them like a baseball team.

This is truly the worst TE class that I have ever seen on a championship contending team. They can't block and they are not great receivers. Just sit them on the bench and play Owens and Randolph.

Gallowglas · Oct 20, 2019

My brother and I were at the game. Unfortunately, he is a Tennessee fan. I think it's because I clubbed him once too many times in the head when we were kids. That and people get indoctrinated here if they're not free-thinking enough.

Anyway, I always get a glimpse into the delusional every time our teams play. It's always an excuse why they didn't win. The UT fans are sooooo busy right now talking about how different the game would be if Mauer weren't injured, but completely ignore how badly they would have been torched if Tua stayed in. They downplay Tua's talent to an absolutely absurd degree. They act like they had the answer to locking him down based on a single sack. It's really kind of sad.

I loved, loved, LOVED getting to finally see a Bama/UT game in person. It's only the second game I've ever gotten to attend. But man...I really need to find someone else to go with next time. My sanity can only take so much and I was stuck in a car with that nonsense for hours with no way to escape.

Ole Man Dan · Oct 20, 2019

GulfCoastTider said:
The (otherwise awful) commentationary(tm) crew in the press box mentioned that with a righty under center, the other side of the offensive line becomes the focal point of protection schemes. The blind side is on the right, now. They also mentioned how passes from southpaws spin opposite of those from earth people. They then went into a pointless discussion abouth the dearth of southpaws in the NFL... ??

Deonte Brown at RG has been a Godsend. He's punching big holes to the right of center and making the whole OL look better.

I am willing to bet that Tua comes back near full speed three weeks from yesterday.

I sure hope so. I wouldn't hurt if we caught a couple of breaks against LSU too.

JessN · Oct 21, 2019

Gallowglas said:
My brother and I were at the game. Unfortunately, he is a Tennessee fan. I think it's because I clubbed him once too many times in the head when we were kids. That and people get indoctrinated here if they're not free-thinking enough.

Anyway, I always get a glimpse into the delusional every time our teams play. It's always an excuse why they didn't win. The UT fans are sooooo busy right now talking about how different the game would be if Mauer weren't injured, but completely ignore how badly they would have been torched if Tua stayed in. They downplay Tua's talent to an absolutely absurd degree. They act like they had the answer to locking him down based on a single sack. It's really kind of sad.

I loved, loved, LOVED getting to finally see a Bama/UT game in person. It's only the second game I've ever gotten to attend. But man...I really need to find someone else to go with next time. My sanity can only take so much and I was stuck in a car with that nonsense for hours with no way to escape.

If Tua doesn't get hurt, Alabama probably hits our pregame prediction (52-14) on the nose. If he doesn't throw that interception at the 2 -- worst pass I've yet to see him throw at Alabama, for that matter -- then Alabama might have gotten into the 60s unless Saban had purposefully throttled down.

I don't know what the future holds for the Tennessee program. Their best bet is to bring Pruitt back for a third year just so Hugh Freeze can get clear of his past, hire him, and then let him do exactly what he got in trouble for doing at Ole Miss. It's really the only shot they have. Then they also have to hope that Mack Brown's return to Chapel Hill is short, Smart doesn't get 10 years at Georgia, and Saban plans to retire sooner than we think. Otherwise they're getting scalded pretty badly on the recruiting trail as is, compared to their peers.

JessN · Oct 21, 2019

B1GTide said:
This is truly the worst TE class that I have ever seen on a championship contending team. They can't block and they are not great receivers. Just sit them on the bench and play Owens and Randolph.

I don't worry about Forristall catching (he's been tried as a semi-WR in practices) but there's some film of this game with him trying to set the edge against a DT and it's ugly.

I'm going to pay very close attention to Owens and Randolph in warm-ups next Saturday and see if any of them can catch. I have a feeling it's going to be the football equivalent of "Hoosiers" when Norman Dale tells Strap not to shoot the ball unless he's all by himself underneath the basket.

What's maddening is the lack of potential. Unless Jahleel Billingsley can do miracles with a box of protein supplements this offseason, all of Alabama's future talent at the position look like H-backs: Forristall, Billingsley, Latu. Tennison is a possible exception but he's not better than Forristall by enough as a blocker to justify what Alabama loses as a route runner by taking Forristall off the field.

And yet, we've got 8 of 85 scholarships (9.4%) tied up in a single position right now without a real X-factor in the bunch.

rgw · Oct 21, 2019

Forristall is not providing OJ Howard or Irv Smith levels of production as a receiver. Each became adequate to good blockers by the time they were on the field regularly. I don't think either would make you think they were Travis McCall or Michael Williams but they were adequate overall and maybe even quite good at some aspects of blocking. What production Forristall has provided would best be described as "schemed open" rather than talent. Some of his best plays have been in some variety of a bunch formation where 2 or more WR+RBs clear the defense out and allowed him to fill the void left by the pattern. His touchdown v. Tennessee was literally an aw shoot type trick play. To use baseball metric parlance, that is replacement level production.

USCBAMA · Oct 21, 2019

JessN said:
I don't worry about Forristall catching (he's been tried as a semi-WR in practices) but there's some film of this game with him trying to set the edge against a DT and it's ugly.

I'm going to pay very close attention to Owens and Randolph in warm-ups next Saturday and see if any of them can catch. I have a feeling it's going to be the football equivalent of "Hoosiers" when Norman Dale tells Strap not to shoot the ball unless he's all by himself underneath the basket.

What's maddening is the lack of potential. Unless Jahleel Billingsley can do miracles with a box of protein supplements this offseason, all of Alabama's future talent at the position look like H-backs: Forristall, Billingsley, Latu. Tennison is a possible exception but he's not better than Forristall by enough as a blocker to justify what Alabama loses as a route runner by taking Forristall off the field.

And yet, we've got 8 of 85 scholarships (9.4%) tied up in a single position right now without a real X-factor in the bunch.

Maybe Billingsley can get ahold of some of those special Clemson "bath salts".

JessN · Oct 21, 2019

rgw said:
Forristall is not providing OJ Howard or Irv Smith levels of production as a receiver. Each became adequate to good blockers by the time they were on the field regularly. I don't think either would make you think they were Travis McCall or Michael Williams but they were adequate overall and maybe even quite good at some aspects of blocking. What production Forristall has provided would best be described as "schemed open" rather than talent. Some of his best plays have been in some variety of a bunch formation where 2 or more WR+RBs clear the defense out and allowed him to fill the void left by the pattern. His touchdown v. Tennessee was literally an aw shoot type trick play. To use baseball metric parlance, that is replacement level production.

We're going to find out for sure against Arkansas, I think. Every QB seems to have "his guys" and when Jones is in trouble he starts looking for the tall guys (i.e., the TEs). There's a school of thought that says Tua has been bypassing the TEs because he's capable of fitting one within tight windows to the receivers. Jones can't, so he has to make use of his outlets. Assuming 30 throws this game I would look for 20 completions with the backs and TEs getting half or more of that number.

B1GTide · Oct 21, 2019

JessN said:
We're going to find out for sure against Arkansas, I think. Every QB seems to have "his guys" and when Jones is in trouble he starts looking for the tall guys (i.e., the TEs). There's a school of thought that says Tua has been bypassing the TEs because he's capable of fitting one within tight windows to the receivers. Jones can't, so he has to make use of his outlets. Assuming 30 throws this game I would look for 20 completions with the backs and TEs getting half or more of that number.

That would mean that the coaches failed him this week. Get the ball in the hands of your speed guys, even if it is in sweeps. They can take any catch to the house.

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