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Just got home (to Arkansas) from Tuscaloosa and rewatched the game

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Khallos

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Sep 16, 2011
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I was planning on this posting on our board, but our fans tend to be like Chicken Little after any loss and calling for Petrino's head, etc...

So I thought I'd post it here ;)

You guys have a crazy fast, well coached and well disciplined defense. I can't believe how many times we threw a screen and had all our blockers in position, just to have them all get blown up and being stopped for a loss. There's not much you can do about that. I also don't think you guys missed a tackle the entire game. Our main source of offense this year has been getting the ball to our players in space and making the first guy miss and taking it for tons of YAC. That was obviously completely shut down by what I said before.

Not only that, but the matchup that you have on us is scary. I honestly think that you guys are very susceptible to being beat by a good running team--which we are not. I could see a Mississippi State team coming up to bite you, or South Carolina in Atlanta. All that being said, great job, you have a great team, but I have no choice but to root against you vs LSU and hope for the 3-way tie.

On a side note, this was my first trip to Tuscaloosa, and we were treated great and very, very impressed by the atmosphere around the stadium, as well as the stadium itself. Tons of people were going out of their way to come up and thank us for coming, wishing us well, and talking some football X's and O's. Great experience, except for the final score of course.

Good luck the rest of the season.
 
I gotta ask....... what gave you the impression this D(built to stop the run first) could/can/will be run on effectively?
 
buzzincuzzin said:
I gotta ask....... what gave you the impression this D(built to stop the run first) could/can/will be run on effectively?
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GOOD QUESTION. Not to be a nittpicker but from the game I watched well all of them this year, This D is ready for just about anything. Scary Good.

Now forget us & put up 60 on the Barn. Roll Tide.
 
Nice, gracious post overall, but given that your team had 5 yds net rushing through 3 qtrs of play, please explain your rationale for why we don't have a great run D. I know you were without Niles at RB, but Ronnie Wingo is no pushover and a very capable back, IMO.
 
Based on the stat CBS put up, there seems to be some historical reference to his point. Miss St won't be much of a problem because they aren't a threat in the passing game. A one dimensional offense, either pass or run, has no shot against this D if the D plays well.But a team that can be balanced, which is what you see when an offense throws ~20-25 times a game, has a small chance. If Saban and Smart know what you are going to do, its over. But if you can keep them guessing a bit, you might can score enough to win.So, I disagree with his point that a predominantly run oriented offense will be a threat, but somebody like SC this year or LSU that has a little more balance has a chance to be successful.
 
I agree with all of your comments above. I was a t the game and saw very little effective running on us from Ark. So ?????? on the first post. I talked to a very nice Ark. fan after the game ( as were all that I had contact with) he said TR was scary good and our D is great. Kudos to Ark. and best of luck here on out. Roll Tide
 
OpsCon said:
Based on the stat CBS put up, there seems to be some historical reference to his point. Miss St won't be much of a problem because they aren't a threat in the passing game. A one dimensional offense, either pass or run, has no shot against this D if the D plays well.But a team that can be balanced, which is what you see when an offense throws ~20-25 times a game, has a small chance. If Saban and Smart know what you are going to do, its over. But if you can keep them guessing a bit, you might can score enough to win.So, I disagree with his point that a predominantly run oriented offense will be a threat, but somebody like SC this year or LSU that has a little more balance has a chance to be successful.
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Yes, we were talking a lot about that during the game. If a team is one dimensional, either by choice or us forcing them into it, our defense becomes scary good. The teams that have balance with a strong running game and solid passing game are much more difficult to defend. I think Florida will present those problems this week if we don't shut down their running game with Demps and Rainey. If we force them to pass a lot, then we will be able to rough up their QB like we did Wilson. I'll bet Wilson is very sore today, but he was a tough customer and hung in there and took some shots.

Khallos, I am glad that you had a good trip, and I hope you guys have a great season the rest of the way.
 
OpsCon said:
Based on the stat CBS put up, there seems to be some historical reference to his point. Miss St won't be much of a problem because they aren't a threat in the passing game. A one dimensional offense, either pass or run, has no shot against this D if the D plays well.But a team that can be balanced, which is what you see when an offense throws ~20-25 times a game, has a small chance. If Saban and Smart know what you are going to do, its over. But if you can keep them guessing a bit, you might can score enough to win.So, I disagree with his point that a predominantly run oriented offense will be a threat, but somebody like SC this year or LSU that has a little more balance has a chance to be successful.
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I agree, but you could say that about any team's D. A balanced O--which by the way is something WE'VE always strived to have under Jim McElwain--is ALWAYS more difficult for any D to defend, if for no other reason less predictability.
 
deliveryman35 said:
I agree, but you could say that about any team's D. A balanced O--which by the way is something WE'VE always strived to have under Jim McElwain--is ALWAYS more difficult for any D to defend, if for no other reason less predictability.
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It's more difficult, but not always necessary. See Auburn, 2011 (or 2010 or 2009, basically any year that defensive guru Gene Chizik has been head coach). A one dimensional offense like Miss St or Arky will give them trouble. Don't have to be balanced against them. My point was an attempt to put some context around the numbers CBS put up and to dismiss the idea that a primarily run-based offense like Miss St (whom the writer specifically called out) would be a trouble spot for our D.
 
teamplayer said:
Yes, we were talking a lot about that during the game. If a team is one dimensional, either by choice or us forcing them into it, our defense becomes scary good. The teams that have balance with a strong running game and solid passing game are much more difficult to defend. I think Florida will present those problems this week if we don't shut down their running game with Demps and Rainey. If we force them to pass a lot, then we will be able to rough up their QB like we did Wilson. I'll bet Wilson is very sore today, but he was a tough customer and hung in there and took some shots.

Khallos, I am glad that you had a good trip, and I hope you guys have a great season the rest of the way.
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IIRC, Demps and Rainey are smallish, very fast backs. Those kind of backs haven't had a ton of success against our defense, because we have large fast guys. One remark I saw on a Hog board last night was something to the effect that a 6'4" 240 lb guy able to run stride for stride with a wideout should be against the law. I think it's going to take someone with some size to run on us, and I'm not sure that would work, either...
 
Yeah, I guess it's a good point that even a one-dimensional running offense would be shut down by your defense too. But it just felt to me like your biggest strength was your secondary and the ability of your linebackers to cover our WR's. Add that to the pass rush you can get with only rushing four and no one-- NO ONE is going to be able to pass the ball on your defense. So, my main point was IF someone comes up and beats you, it will be because they ran the ball, not passed it. I know the stats may not show it, but I felt like we ran the ball as well on you as we did on our first three 1-AA opponents, except for Troy which looked like our whole gameplan was: "win or lose, we WILL run the ball".

I will be the first to say that our running game is one of the worst in the country (I don't think Knile Davis would have fixed it either), so it's hard to say either way from this game how you will do in the running game this year. However, I fully expected to be leaving Tuscaloosa with a negative net rushing game, the fact that we didn't was surprising.
 
One real down note for us was losing Mosely to the dislocated elbow, which has been reported as pretty bad. He is arguably our best pass coverage LB. We're lucky to have as much depth as we do at LB, but in this age of the limit of 85, no one can afford to lose very many LBs...
 
Khallos said:
Yeah, I guess it's a good point that even a one-dimensional running offense would be shut down by your defense too. But it just felt to me like your biggest strength was your secondary and the ability of your linebackers to cover our WR's. Add that to the pass rush you can get with only rushing four and no one-- NO ONE is going to be able to pass the ball on your defense. So, my main point was IF someone comes up and beats you, it will be because they ran the ball, not passed it. I know the stats may not show it, but I felt like we ran the ball as well on you as we did on our first three 1-AA opponents, except for Troy which looked like our whole gameplan was: "win or lose, we WILL run the ball".I will be the first to say that our running game is one of the worst in the country (I don't think Knile Davis would have fixed it either), so it's hard to say either way from this game how you will do in the running game this year. However, I fully expected to be leaving Tuscaloosa with a negative net rushing game, the fact that we didn't was surprising.
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Rational up until the point you compared our defense against 1-AA opponents. It's not hard to say how we will do against the run, historically we have allowed one one hundred yard rusher in almost 3 years. And given the fact that Saban will always stop the run first, it is probably unrealistic to expect any team to come out and have a great deal of success. To expect to come out of Tuscaloosa with negative rushing totals was probably as unrealistic as expecting to come out having rushed for 150. Neither happen very often.
 
TIDE-HSV said:
One real down note for us was losing Mosely to the dislocated elbow, which has been reported as pretty bad. He is arguably our best pass coverage LB. We're lucky to have as much depth as we do at LB, but in this age of the limit of 85, no one can afford to lose very many LBs...
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I think Saban is blowing a little smoke on day-to-day. In the NFL, Mosely would "doubtful" right now with full expectation to be "out" by Wed.
 
Khallos, it's a shame the Hog fans you spoke of don't realize what an AMAZING coach you have in Petrino. I truly hope you guys rally and do well the rest of the season. As many have said, ESPECIALLY against the our little brother down the road.
 
No one will have much success running on us. Our front seven is tailor-made to stop the run. And no one will pass well on us either. Arkansas probably had more success through the air than any other team will this year, unless we play Oklahoma.
 
ART said:
Khallos, it's a shame the Hog fans you spoke of don't realize what an AMAZING coach you have in Petrino. I truly hope you guys rally and do well the rest of the season. As many have said, ESPECIALLY against the our little brother down the road.
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They understand, and they will come around, it's just hard the day after a blowout if you know what I mean :wink:
 
jeffs4thetide said:
The stats CBS put up don't mean jack. Those four games stats were not against this teams defense. The stat didn't make much sense to me.
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Agreed it was comparing this year's team to last year's stat.

I think the point they were getting at was that if a team is able to throw as few as 20 or 25 times against us that prolly means they are having some success running against us and ergo have the best shot at winning.

Good luck with that is my response. :)
 
Chukker Veteran said:
Agreed it was comparing this year's team to last year's stat.

I think the point they were getting at was that if a team is able to throw as few as 20 or 25 times against us that prolly means they are having some success running against us and ergo have the best shot at winning.

Good luck with that is my response. :)
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at least the three losses last year each featured one or more "bust" pass plays that went for scores, iirc

and at least in the aub and lsu game our o went into hiding in the second half
 
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