Bama Game Thread: Official Postgame Thread - Bama vs. Michigan...

[BamaMoon]

Seems to be that ultimately, there was confusion on what the play actually was. Prentice says pass, Roydell looks like he's just there to clear the LB, but who knows.....but Jalen didn't follow his blockers, he ran into Dippre turning his man inside and not behind the pulling guard.

PULLING GUARD alone tells me it was a designed run play, snap caused Jalen to panic, instead of following the pulling guard he ran into the Dippre turning block.

Pulling guard = run all the way...my take too!

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Seems to be that ultimately, there was confusion on what the play actually was. Prentice says pass, Roydell looks like he's just there to clear the LB, but who knows.....but Jalen didn't follow his blockers, he ran into Dippre turning his man inside and not behind the pulling guard.

PULLING GUARD alone tells me it was a designed run play, snap caused Jalen to panic, instead of following the pulling guard he ran into the Dippre turning block.

Then again maybe "everyone" was confused on what play was actually called?

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

On the other side of that coin: does Ty Simpson run for 155 yards and 4 TDs against LSU? Does he kill Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee over the top with multiple precise deep throws to Bond and Burton? If our defense lays a bit of an egg against Auburn like they did, does Ty make that read and that throw to the corner of the end zone to Bond? Does he play with incredible poise against UGA and help us generate an unlikely win throwing and running? He might, we don't know for sure but Jalen won the job for a reason.

I see the point you are making, we went with a guy who was more limited in terms of being able to run the entire playbook and make reads, changes at the LOS, etc.. That said, Milroe accounted for 3,365 yards and 36 touchdowns this season (and that includes missing an entire game). A number of folks will have him near the top of the Heisman list next season (he barely missed getting an invite to NYC this year).

I can't get behind the notion that the staff made the wrong call. He might not be able to audible at the LOS, and he might have to look to the sideline, etc.. but that doesn't necessarily make him any less effective. It might mean that he won't be a great NFL QB, but there are literally tons of guys who were super effective in college and weren't great pro QBs. Our objective is for him to be an elite college QB. Not sure if the guy has the skill set to be effective in the NFL but honestly that doesn't matter for our purposes - and I know the next question some may have have is "doesn't that hinder recruiting?" As in, you aren't developing NFL caliber QBs. I would usually say the answer to that is "yes" but the caveat for us is that Milroe is an outlier - it's not like we run Malzahn's offense and we can point to Bryce, Tua, Mac, etc. who all ran variants of the same offense and have been NFL starters. I think we ride Milroe as long as he's our best chance to win and be very productive on offense - and heck, if he improves as much next year as he did over the course of 2023 he may very well end up in the thick of the Heisman race.

The problem with your question in regards to would Ty do this or would Ty do that is that it doesn't seem anyone wanted to give Ty a chance to show what he could do.
Go back to the USF game and watch some of the passes Ty completed to lead the team to 2 TDs and ask yourself could Milroe have made those plays under the pressure Ty was under.

Again, we'll never be able to answer that.

I sincerely hope we have a true QB competition this spring/fall and a qb isn't chosen for any other reasons than his ability to win for the team.

 

[Coach D]

On the other side of that coin: does Ty Simpson run for 155 yards and 4 TDs against LSU? Does he kill Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee over the top with multiple precise deep throws to Bond and Burton? If our defense lays a bit of an egg against Auburn like they did, does Ty make that read and that throw to the corner of the end zone to Bond? Does he play with incredible poise against UGA and help us generate an unlikely win throwing and running? He might, we don't know for sure but Jalen won the job for a reason.

I see the point you are making, we went with a guy who was more limited in terms of being able to run the entire playbook and make reads, changes at the LOS, etc.. That said, Milroe accounted for 3,365 yards and 36 touchdowns this season (and that includes missing an entire game). A number of folks will have him near the top of the Heisman list next season (he barely missed getting an invite to NYC this year).

I can't get behind the notion that the staff made the wrong call. He might not be able to audible at the LOS, and he might have to look to the sideline, etc.. but that doesn't necessarily make him any less effective. It might mean that he won't be a great NFL QB, but there are literally tons of guys who were super effective in college and weren't great pro QBs. Our objective is for him to be an elite college QB. Not sure if the guy has the skill set to be effective in the NFL but honestly that doesn't matter for our purposes - and I know the next question some may have have is "doesn't that hinder recruiting?" As in, you aren't developing NFL caliber QBs. I would usually say the answer to that is "yes" but the caveat for us is that Milroe is an outlier - it's not like we run Malzahn's offense and we can point to Bryce, Tua, Mac, etc. who all ran variants of the same offense and have been NFL starters. I think we ride Milroe as long as he's our best chance to win and be very productive on offense - and heck, if he improves as much next year as he did over the course of 2023 he may very well end up in the thick of the Heisman race.

I mean Simpson did have the longest run of the year right? It’s impossible to speculate. I don’t know how Simpson would have done and no one does. I do know I saw him make passes look easy that Milroe struggled with all year. I think people just want a fair open QB competition. If Milroe improves and can actually throw a guy open and stuff then watch out he could be almost unstoppable. That’s to me is almost as big an if as if Simpson could run the offense more efficiently.

 

[UAH]

The problem with your question in regards to would Ty do this or would Ty do that is that it doesn't seem anyone wanted to give Ty a chance to show what he could do.
Go back to the USF game and watch some of the passes Ty completed to lead the team to 2 TDs and ask yourself could Milroe have made those plays under the pressure Ty was under.

Again, we'll never be able to answer that.

I sincerely hope we have a true QB competition this spring/fall and a qb isn't chosen for any other reasons than his ability to win for the team.

My comment would be that I would consider it to be completely unethical to promise Ty that the position is open next year and that not be an accurate statement. Obviously that would be an attempt to prevent him from starting with one of Bama's opponents. Frankly that would be a last straw for me in terms of the chaos that has developed in College football.

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

My comment would be that I would consider it to be completely unethical to promise Ty that the position is open next year and that not be an accurate statement. Obviously that would be an attempt to prevent him from starting with one of Bama's opponents. Frankly that would be a last straw for me in terms of the chaos that has developed in College football.

I agree.
If we do not have an open competition ( a TRULY OPEN competition) in the off season then next season will be really bad.

If I'm the coaches, I advise the team that ALL positions are open and it will not be A POPULARITY CONTEST and whichever qb, rb,OL, etc is the best player that is who plays. Anyone not buying in can hit the portal.

 

[RammerJammer14]

So you were willing to live with a possible 3 or 4 loss season to have another QB running the offense? I'm not sure many Bama fans would be willing to do that.

I mean that is just pure speculation. Ty played Ok in the USF game. Good enough to win and led us to all 17 points and he only played about a half. The real weak link in that game was the O line. Atrocious. People were also convinced that Milroe would lead us to a 3-4 loss season. Saban hasn’t lost 3 or more games in the regular season since 2010, no matter who was starting. So I’m not exactly convinced that but for Milroe we were going to be a 3-4 or more loss team this year. It’s certainly possible, but I think unlikely. From my completely uninformed vantage point, I don’t think Ty got an entirely fair shake once the season started. We wasted a lot of time with Buchner. I was surprised to see Milroe get the start back after USF but it more or less worked out and Milroe did show more improvement than anyone anticipated. Point being, we really can’t say how it would have played out differently if different decisions had been made. Maybe Milroe was the best choice. I’m just saying that starting Ty was not an automatic 4 loss season.

 

[davefrat]

I think there are many that say we were "lucky". I'm not one that believes in luck. To me luck is what happens when "Preparation meets Opportunity". It goes both ways during competition.

You don't luck your way to beating GA for an SEC championship.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I mean that is just pure speculation. Ty played Ok in the USF game. Good enough to win and led us to all 17 points and he only played about a half. The real weak link in that game was the O line. Atrocious. People were also convinced that Milroe would lead us to a 3-4 loss season. Saban hasn’t lost 3 or more games in the regular season since 2010, no matter who was starting. So I’m not exactly convinced that but for Milroe we were going to be a 3-4 or more loss team this year. It’s certainly possible, but I think unlikely. From my completely uninformed vantage point, I don’t think Ty got an entirely fair shake once the season started. We wasted a lot of time with Buchner. I was surprised to see Milroe get the start back after USF but it more or less worked out and Milroe did show more improvement than anyone anticipated. Point being, we really can’t say how it would have played out differently if different decisions had been made. Maybe Milroe was the best choice. I’m just saying that starting Ty was not an automatic 4 loss season.

Anything other than reality is speculation.

 

[RammerJammer14]

Anything other than reality is speculation.

Wow, really?

 

[graydogg85]

The problem with your question in regards to would Ty do this or would Ty do that is that it doesn't seem anyone wanted to give Ty a chance to show what he could do.
Go back to the USF game and watch some of the passes Ty completed to lead the team to 2 TDs and ask yourself could Milroe have made those plays under the pressure Ty was under.

Again, we'll never be able to answer that.

I sincerely hope we have a true QB competition this spring/fall and a qb isn't chosen for any other reasons than his ability to win for the team.

I mean Simpson did have the longest run of the year right? It’s impossible to speculate. I don’t know how Simpson would have done and no one does. I do know I saw him make passes look easy that Milroe struggled with all year. I think people just want a fair open QB competition. If Milroe improves and can actually throw a guy open and stuff then watch out he could be almost unstoppable. That’s to me is almost as big an if as if Simpson could run the offense more efficiently.

I'm not a "forever Milroe" guy, nor am I suggesting that there shouldn't always be an open competition for any position. But that said - Ty completed 5 passes for 73 yards and no scores against USF. He was sacked 5 times. Yes, the offense had sustained drives while he was in the game. None of this information suggests to me that he was a better option than Milroe - if anything, it simply states that Ty was easily a superior option to Buchner. The offensive line played a truly putrid game that day, but taking 5 sacks in one half, against the USF defense, is indicative of a guy that hasn't developed good pocket awareness and can't feel pressure. Granted we had the same issues with Milroe, but he had a bigger arm, better legs and more experience. Milroe was the obvious choice after that game. I suspect he had an attitude problem and the USF game was probably a little bit more than "we just wanted to see what we had and give the other guys a shot" as Saban indicated. I also think it was pretty clear after that game what we needed to do.

Ty looks great on paper. He was a "can't miss" recruit, and he throws beautiful intermediate routes and has pretty decent wheels. That's all we really know about him. Obviously there are issues with him managing pressure, managing the offense, etc.. I suspect the staff wanted him to win the job as it would require less modification of the existing scheme, but that just didn't materialize for whatever reason.

Speculating what the season would have been like with Ty starting is just that, speculation. My overarching point was that Jalen was very productive this season, regardless of his issues with technique, reads, etc.. 3,300 yards and 36 touchdowns is a huge season for a QB facing the quality of schedule that we faced. Could Simpson have equaled or bettered that? Who knows. I personally think it's unlikely.

We can speculate all we want, but I think our coaches made the right call. I also hope Ty knows what he's doing - he's talented enough to start for a number of P5 schools and might be a better fit in some of their schemes, and if Julian is as good as we think he is then I don't see much room for Ty to get on the field past 2024.

 

[B1GTide]

Who knows if Simpson will even be the back-up next year? He might have his own battle for the back-up slot with Sayin. What about Lonergan? Simpson may the Ashley Wilkes of Bama fans, but he's no shoe-in for number 2!

Agreed, but Ty really knows the offense and ran it well this year. He has the edge going in.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743341481165820084

 

[crimsonaudio]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1743341481165820084

It doesn't have to be either / or.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Who knows if Simpson will even be the back-up next year? He might have his own battle for the back-up slot with Sayin. What about Lonergan? Simpson may the Ashley Wilkes of Bama fans, but he's no shoe-in for number 2!

Granted you could end up being right. But I think Ty Simpson will make enormous strides in development because it was more than obvious when he came in he had gotten A LOT better at the position. Yes, it was in mop up duty and against a crappy USF team. But, the progress was still evident.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

It doesn't have to be either / or.

I was mainly capturing the "32 off target" snaps! Simply incredible for one game!

 

[editder]

Now we find out it wasn't the call, but an errant snap caused the problem...! So what's new...! One of the WR's - Kobe Prentice I think - cleared that up, the player it was supposed to go to - on an RPO - was wide open, but Jalen didn't have time to do anything, bad snap + O-Line inability led to a one yd. run into a wall...

If you’re referring to Roydell Williams, there was an edge rusher right there who would have either batted the ball back into Milroe’s face or tackled him before he even got the pass off.

 

[RammerJammer14]

I was mainly capturing the "32 off target" snaps! Simply incredible for one game!

I’m curious how they measured “off target”. IMO an “off target” snap would be anything outside the torso. So basically top of the numbers to belt and inside the shoulders would be the “snap zone” if you will. Just curious if there is some standard for this because I have no idea. Or did some guy just watch film and use his gut to count which ones were off?

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

Then something worse happened. Jalen Milroe sat right beside CNS and they both looked into the eyes of the press and told outright lies. Jalen even "bragged" that he appreciated the coaches trusting him on the last play to put the ball into his hands.

If Jalen is so fragile that he can't admit he messed up (if that's what happened) or that Coach can't say the play that we were supposed to run was a pass but the snap was bad and threw off the timing then we know the real issue with this team is not physical, but mental. Mentally/emotionally weak.

I just see no reason to create a false narrative under these conditions. Either way the play failed. There's no honor lost in failing. Just take ownership. Simple as that.

Recipe for Instant Conspiracy Theory:

Start with two scoops of pure fanboy conjecture, then bring them to a slow boil under a week of post-game disappointment and recrimination belched out on multiple online threads. Better yet, skip the pan and serve it raw. Salt and pepper to taste. Yum.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

SM's decision to enter the portal is interesting. Either he's been "encouraged," or, judging from post-game behavior, feels as if he's had enough blame and wants out of the pressure cooker. Either way, I don't blame him...