Confident QB play vs Not confident QB play

[Tidewater]

It’s not that simple. There are plays within the play, and the offensive line has their own assignments depending on what protection is called. It’s usually either the center or the quarterback’s responsibility to call these protections.

Proctor absolutely could’ve done the wrong thing according to the assignment, but he also could’ve executed the protection correctly and it be a terrible protection call given the circumstances.

Thanks for that and I agree. Looking back at the play (4:31 to play in the 1st quarter, by the way). Bama has the ball 3rd and 9 with an empty backfield. The USCe right linebacker was cheated up between the Bama left guard and the center (to spy the QB as it turned out). The USCe nose was lined up on the center, so maybe Proctor was worried the LB would shoot the gap so the Bama LG would take the USCe LB and Proctor would take the USCe right tackle and the outside rusher would go free. If that is the case, the QB has to recognize the outside rusher will be unblocked and throw hot, probably to Germie in the slot.

Still any blocking scheme that leaves Kennard unblocked on 3rd and 9 probably needs to be reconsidered.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

I love the people blaming the play calling. Starts and ends with the quarterback. It didn’t matter what was called, there were certain things he could do, and when the defense stopped it, there was no adjustment.

It's not just the people outside the locker room, it's INSIDE the locker room that felt the same. We've beat the horse to the death over the last few months about Milroe and I'm not going there. I'm telling you this .. it's the combination of things that most people aren't seeing or refusing to see and it's easy to blame lot of stuff.

On @Tidewater recent post about Proctor and the Ol play... He nailed it. The OL wasn't good at times. I don't think Simpson would've had lot of success last year.

 

[gtgilbert]

View attachment 51793

ROLLTIDE!

 

[gtgilbert]

Thanks for that and I agree. Looking back at the play (4:31 to play in the 1st quarter, by the way). Bama has the ball 3rd and 9 with an empty backfield. The USCe right linebacker was cheated up between the Bama left guard and the center (to spy the QB as it turned out). The USCe nose was lined up on the center, so maybe Proctor was worried the LB would shoot the gap so the Bama LG would take the USCe LB and Proctor would take the USCe right tackle and the outside rusher would go free. If that is the case, the QB has to recognize the outside rusher will be unblocked and throw hot, probably to Germie in the slot.

Still any blocking scheme that leaves Kennard unblocked on 3rd and 9 probably needs to be reconsidered.

Good breakdown. In a situation like that, you're right, the QB has to take action. That position bears sole responsibility for that. There lots of possibilities, audible to something else, call and throw hot, shift formations, etc. In that situation, it's not the OL, or the OCs fault at all. That stuff has to happen on the field.

 

[BamaMoon]

This is the time of year I go back and watch last year's games, to reacquaint myself with players strength's and weaknesses.
I watched the Barn game.
Then I watched the Whiskie game and the UGA game.
What struck me was the difference in the play of the QB. Against UGA, QB play was pretty confident. Against the Barn, not so much.
Hard to reflect in the stats, but the QB played with less confidence. 3 fumbles (lost 2) and 1 INT. Against UGA, no fumbles lost, 1 INT.
Maybe that was a result of losing to Vandy, UTe, and Oklahoma, but man, he looked less confident against thre Barn.


And it is not my intent to restart the praise/trash JM (please don't). Just note the player's confidence.

I watched the 1st half of the UGA@Bama game yesterday. It was such a big time environment. JM was perfect on throws for most of the first half. And, while I think alot of them where hot reads/first reads there were a few times he was going past the first read. He literally looked like he had "turned the corner" but then, obvoiusly, it was just a flash in the plan. Even in the second half, IIRC, he looked like a different guy. There's no explaining it, but the difference in him, in this case, being confident vs how he looked against AU was like day and night!

 

[AlexanderFan]

Good breakdown. In a situation like that, you're right, the QB has to take action. That position bears sole responsibility for that. There lots of possibilities, audible to something else, call and throw hot, shift formations, etc. In that situation, it's not the OL, or the OCs fault at all. That stuff has to happen on the field.

No position in organized sports can make their team look better (Bryce Young), or worse (Milroe) than the quarterback.

 

[bamaslammer]

Offense is sort of like a v8 engine. when all 8 cylinders are firing and producing it's amazing but you get one or two of those with an issue and it causes a cascade of problems. You still have 6 working but they can't overcome the issue.

Last year Milro was not the only problem but he was the biggest problem. The OL didn't do that well, but they were also at times faced with a defense that was impossible to block, because the DC's had figured out that Milro through he had a big arm was not going to beat you with long throws. He'd get one, maybe two, but not enough. There was also no run game, we either couldn't do it, or the OC was not willing to commit to it.

As for Milro. Here is the thing with QB's. The good ones are not one trick pony's, and they have a way of elevating their play when things are at their worst. When things were working MIlro was your'e worst nitemare, when things started going badly, the game was already yours. He could not overcome adversity, not last year anyway.

On to this season.

Job number 1, commit to the run period... That's going to look ugly at times but I believe we have the talent to run on people. It's not a natural act. You get better by doing it and doing it and doing it. To do that you also have to have to be able to snap off a few screens, a few draws. The intermediate passing is what we lacked the last two years and we need to be better at that and you don't need an NFL arm to make that happen. It's a college offense, do that well and confidence will come. After that it's up to the QB. He's got to be that sort of guy where you're down by 6 on your own 20 and the guys in the huddle look in his eyes and see not just confidence, excitement, we about to ruin their day.

 

[BamaMoon]

No position in organized sports can make their team look better (Bryce Young), or worse (Milroe) than the quarterback.

Yeah, I think we forget how many times BY bailed us out with his quick read/release/retreat in '22. He had a processor between his ears that was like a flash of lightning. JM, by all accounts, was a smart guy/good student but he needed more time to realize/read/reaact!

But the point is, these OL breakdowns have been a multiyear breakdown.

Certainly hoping this is the year that stuff gets fixed!!!

 

[Tidewater]

It's funny when you see other QBs and their self-confidence. In many cases it looks cocky, but you need your QB to have a little swagger and to other teams it probably looks cocky or arrogant.
I think effective head coaches know how to manage that, to gently correct (when mistakes are made) without crushing the young man's ego. A QB with a crushed ego will probably go back out there for the next possession, but won't play well.

 

[AWRTR]

I know my confidence level was extremely low. I haven’t rewatched any of last year’s games. Even the wins. Once was enough. Looking forward to the start of the season. Shockingly my confidence is fairly high.

Same. I'll go back and watch old games on Youtube from time to time, but can't do that with last year.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

It's funny when you see other QBs and their self-confidence. In many cases it looks cocky, but you need your QB to have a little swagger and to other teams it probably looks cocky or arrogant.
I think effective head coaches know how to manage that, to gently correct (when mistakes are made) without crusshing the young man's ego. A QB with a crushed ego will probably go back out there for the next possession, but won't play well.

Confidence bordering on Cocky is a desirable trait for a QB most of the time.

I can’t really touch on anything regarding this for ‘23-‘24 because it’s not possible to stay in the lane/guardrails of this intended topic.

But I’ll say our most recent couple of QBs who embodied Confident bordering on Cocky play at QB were AJ and Mac.

Those 2 left Alabama with 5 NC Rings Total.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

The thoughts on OL performance are fascinating. I learn so much reading these posts. I too would have thought the sack Tidewater described was a total bust by Proctor. I now understand better that while Proctor might have busted on the play, there were other factors entirely out of his control that also could have caused it.

The more I read and the more I think about it, it seems to me that the OL's play is the key to the season -- because it depends on not only the OL itself, but also the QB.

As in, if the OL is looking sound, the QB is probably calling the right protections and/or checkdowns. And he's probably executing the quick-hitting counterpunches necessary to make defenses pay for stacking the box. Which means the D is likely to back off and we're no longer having to block 8 or 9 defenders with 6 or 7 guys. Which means the running game should open up.

Whether all that happens, we'll have to see. But I'm thinking the OL play is at least as important as QB play because it indicates whether the QB is executing the mental part of the game well.

 

[dtgreg]

When the opposing D stacks the line with 8 or 9 in the box, with safeties cheating up, I just want us to snap the ball on a silent count and hit a quick slant for 8 yards. Or complete a quick pass to the RB / safety valve and have a TE set the edge (I'd settle for just slowing down the opposing OLB), and a WR make a block.

Do that for a couple of first downs, and you won't see a stacked box nearly so much. Which will open the running game.

Other than the silent count, none of that is more complicated than what decent HS teams run. But we haven't seen any of it in years.

Remember the '92 Ole Miss game where Billy Brewer said "Alabama cain't throw. We're gonna stack the line and dare Jay Barker to beat us." So Mal Moore had the perfect game plan. He lined out split ends on both sides and called pass to right and pass to left. 5-7 yards a catch-and-run, minimum. So great!

 

[Tidewater]

The thoughts on OL performance are fascinating. I learn so much reading these posts. I too would have thought the sack Tidewater described was a total bust by Proctor. I now understand better that while Proctor might have busted on the play, there were other factors entirely out of his control that also could have caused it.

The more I read and the more I think about it, it seems to me that the OL's play is the key to the season -- because it depends on not only the OL itself, but also the QB.

As in, if the OL is looking sound, the QB is probably calling the right protections and/or checkdowns. And he's probably executing the quick-hitting counterpunches necessary to make defenses pay for stacking the box. Which means the D is likely to back off and we're no longer having to block 8 or 9 defenders with 6 or 7 guys. Which means the running game should open up.

Whether all that happens, we'll have to see. But I'm thinking the OL play is at least as important as QB play because it indicates whether the QB is executing the mental part of the game well.

My biggest fear about the o-line play is not replacing Booker (who was pretty darn good), but Proctor's weight. Last year he was too big to be fast enough to block the outside speed rushers. The simple formula for beating him was put your fastest outside rusher outside of Proctor and go around him.
And I've heard that that dude has put on even more weight over the summer. Yikes.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

My biggest fear about the o-line play is not replacing Booker (who was pretty darn good), but Proctor's weight. Last year he was too big to be fast enough to block the outside speed rushers. The simple formula for beating him was put your fastest outside rusher outside of Proctor and go around him.
And I've heard that that dude has put on even more weight over the summer. Yikes.

Agreed.

Like you, I'm a bit concerned about Proctor's weight & conditioning. Once is a freshman. Twice is a material question. Leading up to a third year in which you have a chance to be a top draft choice is a way of life.

That doesn't count a commitment to Iowa. Then a flip to us. Then a transfer to Iowa. Then a flip back to us less than a semester later. The guy is clearly physically talented. Whether he has the mindset to persevere, fight the easy temptation, then succeed, I don't know.

Regardless of who performed how well for what reason, our OL has underachieved its talent level (or, at the very least, it's recruiting hype) for several years now.

I'm reminded of one of Saban's best quotes -- though it didn't originate with him: "What you do is so loud I can't hear what you say."

 

[BamaInBham]

I watched the 1st half of the UGA@Bama game yesterday. It was such a big time environment. JM was perfect on throws for most of the first half. And, while I think alot of them where hot reads/first reads there were a few times he was going past the first read. He literally looked like he had "turned the corner" but then, obvoiusly, it was just a flash in the plan. Even in the second half, IIRC, he looked like a different guy. There's no explaining it, but the difference in him, in this case, being confident vs how he looked against AU was like day and night!

Are you talking about 2024? I know stats can be misleading but he was 18-24, 1 int, 274 and ran for 3 TDs. I watched the game but am not as astute as many but I don’t remember thinking he was confused. Also, I did not rewatch it in slow motion.

Just a general observation: I thought Alabama was clearly the superior team.

 

[92tide]

I will never understand how this past season went. I've had few conversations with some of people that had sources and all I can say is that it wasn't just about Milroe and his performance. His situation was confidence related. It's not just him, the culture in the locker room, the play calling wasn't good at times. It's combination of lot of stuff and it was a storm waiting to happen.

Milroe struggled after Vandys game and he did for a while and he never got back on track. It's easy to blame him for everything but honestly, we have to look at other things as well. The play calling in Vanderbilt and Oklahoma was ugly. SC game too.

I have every confidence to believe that Ty Simpson along with new OC and new personnel (Horton, Bernard, Williams, Scott). It's gonna be fun to watch the offense being explosive this fall. One thing I do caution everyone is that do not be so quick to label Ty Simpson to previous QBs. Let him establish his own identity.

I think we will see lot of questions answered by fourth game in terms of how the playcalling is and how much it will change from last year.

well, the puppies probably think that this is going to be the year they dominate us on the field. so im hoping we have some stuff ironed out by week 5, or whenever we’re going to the athens motor speedway

 

[gtgilbert]

Are you talking about 2024? I know stats can be misleading but he was 18-24, 1 int, 274 and ran for 3 TDs. I watched the game but am not as astute as many but I don’t remember thinking he was confused. Also, I did not rewatch it in slow motion.

Just a general observation: I thought Alabama was clearly the superior team.

Almost all those stats came in the first quarter, and then the first 2:30 of the second qtr and UGA had not figured out the script and we went up 28-0. Once they adjusted here's how our drives went for pretty much 3 qtrs of play

7 plays, T/O on Downs
3 plays, interception
6 plays, fumble
3 plays, punt
7 plays, FG
3 plays, punt
6 plays. punt
1 play, prayer throw for TD to Williams

so 2 TOs, 2 more 3 & out drives, and only 2 drives of 7 plays (that's one the new metrics for drive success).

So we won the first quarter by a huge margin, but then UGA won the rest of the game, and we narrowly snatched victory thanks to an otherworldy catch and ballet-on-the-field moves by Williams.

 

[BamaInBham]

Almost all those stats came in the first quarter, and then the first 2:30 of the second qtr and UGA had not figured out the script and we went up 28-0. Once they adjusted here's how our drives went for pretty much 3 qtrs of play

7 plays, T/O on Downs
3 plays, interception
6 plays, fumble
3 plays, punt
7 plays, FG
3 plays, punt
6 plays. punt
1 play, prayer throw for TD to Williams

so 2 TOs, 2 more 3 & out drives, and only 2 drives of 7 plays (that's one the new metrics for drive success).

So we won the first quarter by a huge margin, but then UGA won the rest of the game, and we narrowly snatched victory thanks to an otherworldy catch and ballet-on-the-field moves by Williams.

I was talking about the AU game. The passing yards were 256 not 274 like I originally posted.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

It’s not that simple. There are plays within the play, and the offensive line has their own assignments depending on what protection is called. It’s usually either the center or the quarterback’s responsibility to call these protections.

Proctor absolutely could’ve done the wrong thing according to the assignment, but he also could’ve executed the protection correctly and it be a terrible protection call given the circumstances.

Exactly the same problem I've had. I can see the breakdowns, but I can't determine what's between their ears, or the coaches, for that matter...