JessN: Oklahoma Wrap-up: Team-wide breakdown ends Bama's title chances

[Rocky Mtn Bob]

Good piece, Jess. [I'm still grinding my teeth!]

I returned home from a fabulous dinner with the kids and the grands, celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary (Actually today) and watched the recorded game. Almost ruined a really special night....

Kudos to OU's Defensive Coordinator. That scheme was tuned to perfection to ... take away Milroe's time to make a decision ... to keep our OL on its heels the entire game (How the heck did THAT happen??!!!) ... to collapse the pocket on Jalen DOZENS of times ... to tackle like an SEC defense should ... with DBs who could catch throws right to them, to boot!

I'm trying to remember any game where so many of our starters had such rotten individual performances -- each in the same game. The QB played like he'd just stepped onto the field from high school. I haven't seen Pritchett so over-matched ... ever. Proctor, on the other side, didn't have a good game either -- he just didn't play as poorly as Pritchett. Each time our Guards pulled, two OU defenders flew through those gaps as if they were the Guards' shadows. Dropped passes -- with the best catch by Williams brought back due to one of the most stupid zebra calls in the history of the game. The DL played a mediocre game, and BAMA DEFENSIVE LINES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO PLAY "MEDIOCRE" FOOTBALL, period.

We lost the Defensive Quarterback. As a former coach (not football; volleyball and tennis) has the Alabama team NEVER practiced adjustments to losing a key player??!!! Sadly, coaches *should* practice for such events. It didn't look as if our Defense has ever considered this possibility. [I'm grinding my teeth again!]

IT SHOULD BE NOTED Brailsford played a solid game at Center. We cannot blame him for this one, fans.

 

[RollsTide]

I'm still in shock. However when I saw other visiting teams going down, I felt It was a bad omen. I can't write anything that hasn't already been said except, I'm not entirely surprised by the OU defense. I remember the problems he gave us facing his defense at Clemson as the DC.
He had his team prepared and ready to play, ours was not.

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

N

This is one of the most significant paragraphs in the article. Don’t get me wrong, Bama prepared and played poorly in last night’s effort but officiating should not affect the game outcome and kill progress as often as it does.

“For the SEC to hire eight full crews of officials making $80,000 per year for each official would cost $5,120,000 per season. That’s couch-cushion change for this league. It’s past time to demand the same attention to detail from officials that we demand of players and coaches.”

I don't disagree with your premise, but rather with your math assumptions. NFL referees average $205k per year. I don't see how we'd solve the evident quality officiating problem we have at 1/3 of that rate.

 

[CrimSonami]

N

I don't disagree with your premise, but rather with your math assumptions. NFL referees average $205k per year. I don't see how we'd solve the evident quality officiating problem we have at 1/3 of that rate.

I can see your point. But I think the $80k might have been a reference number. Regardless the starting salary it could escalate on performance scale and tenure as well as a steppingstone to the NFL. $80-100k is an attractive half year salary for many people in my circles.

 

[FF4bama]

N

I don't disagree with your premise, but rather with your math assumptions. NFL referees average $205k per year. I don't see how we'd solve the evident quality officiating problem we have at 1/3 of that rate.

Quadruple that number then. It's still pocket change relative to how much revenue the SEC generates.

 

[BamaHoopsBoi]

What a great write up. It is crazy to see us run pretty much the exact same gameplan on offense for 3 games straight. But of course, if that's the only gameplan our QB CAN run, well then it starts to make sense... CKD is stuck between a rock and hard place, has been all season. Pull starting QB and lose the team to the portal or just loyalty in general or leave him in and incur tough losses bc of how limited his offense is with JM. Danged if you do danged if you don't.

It may not be this simple but this is what my limited knowledge and common sense tells me. If/when we make a QB change after JM's departure this offseason, then we can start making assumptions about CKD's regime. I think it is still too early to tell. I hope TS works out or one of our other QBs is the answer.

These past two years have been tough to watch just because of what could have been if we'd made a change earlier. RTR anyway.

 

[M2J]

I have issues with Jalen and wish the coaches would've tried something else. However, the coaches, his teammates also let him down a lot too. They couldn't stop the pass rush, he had little time. That pick on the wideout screen... Prentice gave horrible effort and allowed that to be an easy pick. 2nd pick was poor vision of the playmaker, but a great play by the defender too. Last pick was 4th and 10 on their last drive and he had to get the ball out in under 3 seconds. 4 dropped passes in the first half.

The defensive gameplan was ridiculous when you knew all they could do was run. Offensively, they still can't figure out how to get the running backs involved. Didn't have a terrible plan in running Jalen, but 15 carries for the backs when they clearly planned for Jalen is problematic. Stop the run with a gameplan that's not 3 down linemen, run the ball and they likely win by 10. Run at the injured team, hit some playaction .

But I doubt Ty Simpson survives the right side of that oline pass protection vs Oklahoma or any good defense. It can't just be that the running QB (who also has thrived in the air vs many teams) sucks vs good defenses and the pocket QB who sucks vs good defenses was let down by oline and receivers and lack of run game support... That can and did happen with the running QB too

 

[64 Grad]

OU is not a good offensive team. Their defense has been decent. No excuse for this total beat down. Their only win in the SEC was against Auburn and they should not have won that game. They probably think they own the state of Alabama. Concerning professional referees I have wondered for years why the NFL did not have them. In the NFL it should be a full time job with the off season used to improve their abilities. Baseball umpires are professional so why not football? I am not sure about college. The interest and desire coupled with training on the way up to doing college games could be enough. Maybe if you have professional players you need professional refs. A ref once told me they did a good job when nobody know they were there.

 

[64 Grad]

Basing your offensive on how well your quarterback runs the ball is not smart. Building your offense around this is folly. Your offensive should not be based on doing one thing well. For years a team that had the leading passer, rusher or receiver did not win the Super Bowl. Their opponent took that away. It has happened some recently. You have to be able to take what the defense gives you. To do this you have to have a good quarterback. He does not have to be stellar but solid. Do our coaches know this?

 

[gtgilbert]

I have issues with Jalen and wish the coaches would've tried something else. However, the coaches, his teammates also let him down a lot too. They couldn't stop the pass rush, he had little time. That pick on the wideout screen... Prentice gave horrible effort and allowed that to be an easy pick. 2nd pick was poor vision of the playmaker, but a great play by the defender too. Last pick was 4th and 10 on their last drive and he had to get the ball out in under 3 seconds. 4 dropped passes in the first half.

The defensive gameplan was ridiculous when you knew all they could do was run. Offensively, they still can't figure out how to get the running backs involved. Didn't have a terrible plan in running Jalen, but 15 carries for the backs when they clearly planned for Jalen is problematic. Stop the run with a gameplan that's not 3 down linemen, run the ball and they likely win by 10. Run at the injured team, hit some playaction .

But I doubt Ty Simpson survives the right side of that oline pass protection vs Oklahoma or any good defense. It can't just be that the running QB (who also has thrived in the air vs many teams) sucks vs good defenses and the pocket QB who sucks vs good defenses was let down by oline and receivers and lack of run game support... That can and did happen with the running QB too

That's not the issue you think it is. He should almost ALWAYS get the ball out in less than 3 seconds. Most QBs average 2.5 seconds. No one let JM down but him. He simply doesn't have 'it'. Want the deets? See this;

Jalen Milroe 3.45 Second Time To Throw

Watch seven games of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe during 2023 embedded into this article.

firstroundmock.com

but this is the most telling part:

"

In 2023, NFL QB times to throw were between 2.36 seconds and 3.23 seconds (Next Gen Stats).

Maybe part of it is my evolving as an evaluator too. I feel like I am becoming more in tune with the traits it takes for college QBs to successfully transition to the NFL and ‘processing time’ (time to throw) is near the top of that list.

Milroe’s 3.45-second average time to throw was the slowest time to throw in the FBS."

and
"

I’m not a big analytics guy, but what scares me most about Milroe’s ‘time to throw’ number is that’s exactly what it looks like on film.

• Short
• Intermediate
• Deep

IT DIDN’T MATTER.

A slower release time threw everything off and caused average-looking ball placement because too often the timing was off between Milroe and his targets.

Milroe threw 12 pass breakups (1.71 per game average). He also wasn’t throwing with much anticipation at the intermediate route level (11-19 yards). He tended to throw to wide-open targets or receivers after they made their breaks at route break points. While his forte is the deep ball, I tallied 8/21 (38%) completions. Even that wasn’t what it needed to be.

Holding the ball too long also caused Milroe to take 44 sacks in 2023. In addition, he ran A LOT, with 161 rushing attempts. Too often bailing out of a crumbling pocket because there is only so long the line could hold up"

"

A television announcer stated Alabama has had to adjust their offense by creating more designed runs for Milroe and ‘flood concepts,’ which are multiple receivers running routes on one side of the field so he doesn’t have to read the whole field.

During that same Kentucky game, the announcer said, “Tommy Rees [Alabama offensive coordinator] mentioned when we talked to him, ‘I want to take some of the quick decisions off his plate and just let him be an athlete, give him a couple lead blockers, get into some green grass and let him take over.'”

It's all he CAN do.

 

[BamaMoon]

That's not the issue you think it is. He should almost ALWAYS get the ball out in less than 3 seconds. Most QBs average 2.5 seconds. No one let JM down but him. He simply doesn't have 'it'. Want the deets? See this;

Jalen Milroe 3.45 Second Time To Throw

Watch seven games of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe during 2023 embedded into this article.

firstroundmock.com

but this is the most telling part:

"

In 2023, NFL QB times to throw were between 2.36 seconds and 3.23 seconds (Next Gen Stats).

Maybe part of it is my evolving as an evaluator too. I feel like I am becoming more in tune with the traits it takes for college QBs to successfully transition to the NFL and ‘processing time’ (time to throw) is near the top of that list.

Milroe’s 3.45-second average time to throw was the slowest time to throw in the FBS."

and
"

I’m not a big analytics guy, but what scares me most about Milroe’s ‘time to throw’ number is that’s exactly what it looks like on film.

• Short
• Intermediate
• Deep

IT DIDN’T MATTER.

A slower release time threw everything off and caused average-looking ball placement because too often the timing was off between Milroe and his targets.

Milroe threw 12 pass breakups (1.71 per game average). He also wasn’t throwing with much anticipation at the intermediate route level (11-19 yards). He tended to throw to wide-open targets or receivers after they made their breaks at route break points. While his forte is the deep ball, I tallied 8/21 (38%) completions. Even that wasn’t what it needed to be.

Holding the ball too long also caused Milroe to take 44 sacks in 2023. In addition, he ran A LOT, with 161 rushing attempts. Too often bailing out of a crumbling pocket because there is only so long the line could hold up"

"

A television announcer stated Alabama has had to adjust their offense by creating more designed runs for Milroe and ‘flood concepts,’ which are multiple receivers running routes on one side of the field so he doesn’t have to read the whole field.

During that same Kentucky game, the announcer said, “Tommy Rees [Alabama offensive coordinator] mentioned when we talked to him, ‘I want to take some of the quick decisions off his plate and just let him be an athlete, give him a couple lead blockers, get into some green grass and let him take over.'”

It's all he CAN do.

You've been all over this from the very beginning.

It's 100% factual.

 

[M2J]

You've been all over this from the very beginning.

It's 100% factual.

That's not the issue you think it is. He should almost ALWAYS get the ball out in less than 3 seconds. Most QBs average 2.5 seconds. No one let JM down but him. He simply doesn't have 'it'. Want the deets? See this;

Jalen Milroe 3.45 Second Time To Throw

Watch seven games of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe during 2023 embedded into this article.

firstroundmock.com

but this is the most telling part:

"

In 2023, NFL QB times to throw were between 2.36 seconds and 3.23 seconds (Next Gen Stats).

Maybe part of it is my evolving as an evaluator too. I feel like I am becoming more in tune with the traits it takes for college QBs to successfully transition to the NFL and ‘processing time’ (time to throw) is near the top of that list.

Milroe’s 3.45-second average time to throw was the slowest time to throw in the FBS."

and
"

I’m not a big analytics guy, but what scares me most about Milroe’s ‘time to throw’ number is that’s exactly what it looks like on film.

• Short
• Intermediate
• Deep

IT DIDN’T MATTER.

A slower release time threw everything off and caused average-looking ball placement because too often the timing was off between Milroe and his targets.

Milroe threw 12 pass breakups (1.71 per game average). He also wasn’t throwing with much anticipation at the intermediate route level (11-19 yards). He tended to throw to wide-open targets or receivers after they made their breaks at route break points. While his forte is the deep ball, I tallied 8/21 (38%) completions. Even that wasn’t what it needed to be.

Holding the ball too long also caused Milroe to take 44 sacks in 2023. In addition, he ran A LOT, with 161 rushing attempts. Too often bailing out of a crumbling pocket because there is only so long the line could hold up"

"

A television announcer stated Alabama has had to adjust their offense by creating more designed runs for Milroe and ‘flood concepts,’ which are multiple receivers running routes on one side of the field so he doesn’t have to read the whole field.

During that same Kentucky game, the announcer said, “Tommy Rees [Alabama offensive coordinator] mentioned when we talked to him, ‘I want to take some of the quick decisions off his plate and just let him be an athlete, give him a couple lead blockers, get into some green grass and let him take over.'”

It's all he CAN do.

Cool read, but truthfully. I think he's grown since 2023 when this article was written... and the team around him is very different for better and for worse in many spots. OU was a complete team breakdown, and certainly not the place to prove this narrative. Pretty much none of this is relevant to now

 

[BamaInCummingGA]

Basing your offensive on how well your quarterback runs the ball is not smart. Building your offense around this is folly. Your offensive should not be based on doing one thing well. For years a team that had the leading passer, rusher or receiver did not win the Super Bowl. Their opponent took that away. It has happened some recently. You have to be able to take what the defense gives you. To do this you have to have a good quarterback. He does not have to be stellar but solid. Do our coaches know this?

I've said it before and will say it again: You can't take what the defense gives you if you don't have a qb who can do that. OU knew that just like other teams that JM is either gonna throw it 60 yrds down the field or likely take off running and if you can get JM running sideways you can stop him fairly easily.
Can't make prime rib out of chopped steak.