JessN: Ole Miss wrap-up: Bama avoids disaster with a lowercase “d”

[JessN]

Ole Miss wrap-up: Bama avoids disaster with a lowercase “d”
by Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
October 11, 2020

On one hand, Alabama has frequently had a case of the yips under Nick Saban in the second or third game of the season, which Saturday’s game against Ole Miss was. On the other, this is an all-SEC schedule in 2020, without many breaks, so if giving up 48 points and 600-plus total yards of offense to the Rebels qualifies as the “yips,” then Alabama might be in for real trouble in the coming weeks.

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[78Alum]

Thanks for the write-up, Jess!. Great job as always Last night was a surreal night for me, someone who grew-up idolizing Coach Bryant and his stifling defenses. My earliest memories are of the 1961 championship. Pretty crazy that Ole Miss and Bama combined for 1,370 yards of offense, the most in any SEC game. Ever! But, it was pretty amazing that no matter how things were looking, to feel like all we need is to be within one score and have one more chance at the ball. As much as I love defense, I have come to love great offense also. That last night was examples of that on both teams. I will be in the stadium for the UGA game. Please let the defense make some progress (they haven't in a long time) and please let the streak get to 22...

 

[BayouBama75]

Great article... I have thought so many of your points... lack of edge discipline drive me crazy, Safety play this year has been very weak, Battle is the stronger of the two but definitely not the hard hitting safeties we have had in the past 10 years. I do think the DC has to take some of the blame. When Pruitt was here running some of the same schemes, we didn't have near as many busts.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Dang Jess, reading that was almost as hard as watching the d perform on the field last night. You know, that is the second time we have faced Kitten as a head coach. He almost beat us at UT and last night...head scratcher indeed. We cannot discount his genius for uncovering our weaknesses. These are weaknesses we need to address and I mean in a hurry. Schematically, you may be right and we could be in the market in the offseason for a straight up guru the likes of what Clemson has pacing the sidelines.

 

[aerospace_ray]

Another quality write up. Thank you. IF the rules are truly benefiting the offenses there may indeed need to be a re-thinking of defense strategy and possibly the type players recruited per position. For example if one our bigger/slower linebackers can not cover these "scat back" (smaller/faster) backs out of the backfield this may drive different approach to scheme and type player needed in certain positions. Not claiming to be a defensive genius or second guessing the staff but the numbers don't lie and our issues with linebackers is more than sloppy tackling. They are getting beat in the middle of the field and out in the flats at times.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Another quality write up. Thank you. IF the rules are truly benefiting the offenses there may indeed need to be a re-thinking of defense strategy and possibly the type players recruited per position. For example if one our bigger/slower linebackers can not cover these "scat back" (smaller/faster) backs out of the backfield this may drive different approach to scheme and type player needed in certain positions. Not claiming to be a defensive genius or second guessing the staff but the numbers don't lie and our issues with linebackers is more than sloppy tackling. They are getting beat in the middle of the field and out in the flats at times.

We've already done this. We have leaner, more agile, LB's, DL etc. We're getting our butts kick on the schematic side, discipline side and just straight up fundamental of tackling side. We're currently a train wreck on defense and this started after Pruitt left and Golding started. The stats and the pattern is there for you to see. There's currently a thread showing it.

 

[Saban4Ever]

Thanks again for your insightful writeup and your wording of it. Not sure why the defensive issues were not fixed over the off season. Instead, Golding got a raise.

I do think there are many factors. Saban knows it too. But, I think he is stubborn about some things... just like it took a few years for him to realize he needed to change the offense. Lack of coaching on that side of the ball plus the scheme, etc will not win another championship against teams like Clemson and Ohio State. It will be hard to fix it during this season with an all SEC schedule I think.

 

[The Ols]

Every Championship season we have a game that makes us collectively shake our heads...Hopefully this is that game...That was an all-time performance by CLK and his running rebel colonel bear sharks...We won't see an offense like that that will execute that well again (my opinion).

Learn from it...

We'll score more points than our opponents...especially if we learn how to make a stop or two...

My glass is FULL...No.18 is still a very real possibility this year!!!

 

[USCBAMA]

Good writeup. Watching game I had trouble telling who was playing worse, the LBs or the safeties, but it's kind of like trying to tell which poo stinks worse. Meanwhile offense was the opposite, a joy to watch.

 

[NationalTitles18]

We're getting our butts kick on the schematic side, discipline side and just straight up fundamental of tackling side.

It truly is an "all of the above" type of answer, excepting talent - and I'm not even sure we have the "right kind" of talent at times. I'm still not sure we're fast as we need to be; but the bigger problems are scheme, discipline, and fundamentals.

 

[CraigD]

About the Harris fumble, I agree that “forward progress” could have been called and the play stopped before the ball was ripped from his hand. However, consider this scenario:

Harris runs into the pile - a mass of humanity to be sure. There’s a momentary stalemate but Harris keeps driving his legs. Maybe an offensive lineman comes in to help push. Another moment passes and then the pile begins moving toward the end zone, ending with Harris crossing the goal line to score an apparent touchdown. ...only then do we find out that the officials had blown the play dead because his forward progress had been stopped. No TD. We would be FURIOUS. “They always blow the whistle too quickly... Harris was still pushing”, we’d say. We wouldn’t be wrong necessarily.

That’s why I don’t disagree with the way the play was officiated. Harris should have protected the ball. Play to the whistle. He was still pushing, trying to back into the end zone. It was his job to protect the football above all else, and he didn’t. Had he pushed across the goal line we would have happily accepted the TD. But he didn’t. He fumbled. There was no whistle. I was bummed but I agreed with the call and still do.

RTR

 

[Swanny]

" It’s been an issue for Alabama many times since 2007, but has also been covered up many times by players simply making plays when they had to. "

I think this is an excellent and relevant point. I remember on many occasions when Dre Kirpatrick, Minkah Fitzpatrick, etc. made a tackle out in space and I said "boy I'm glad he made that tackle cause there was a lot of green behind him."

 

[GrayTide]

I have thought for a number of years that the complexity of CNS's defensive schemes may be a drawback to some of the defenders, especially the younger, inexperienced players. I understand football is about discipline, but sometimes I believe the players might respond better to a more simplified approach. IIRC, CNS, when interviewing Golding, was impressed with his understanding of what he(CNS) wanted and they spent a long time on the chalkboard. I am not questioning Golding's knowledge of defensive scheming, but you have to be able to communicate and coach it to 18-21 year olds.

 

[imauafan]

We've already done this. We have leaner, more agile, LB's, DL etc. We're getting our butts kick on the schematic side, discipline side and just straight up fundamental of tackling side. We're currently a train wreck on defense and this started after Pruitt left and Golding started. The stats and the pattern is there for you to see. There's currently a thread showing it.

This. Our players didn't have much problem with the scheme under Smart or Pruitt. They had times when they were running the defense when things didn't go well but it was nothing like the train wrecks that we've seen from Golding's defenses the past 2+ years (PG actually started running the D mid--to-late season in 2018, if I remember correctly) ago. We blamed injuries and inexperience last year but we're seeing exactly the same thing with veteran players this season. I don't think there is anymore defense (no pun intended) for PG, that was beyond awful last night. I had a hunch that Lane's offense would light up the defense but even so I wasn't expecting that debacle that we saw last night.

 

[trenda]

It truly is an "all of the above" type of answer, excepting talent - and I'm not even sure we have the "right kind" of talent at times. I'm still not sure we're fast as we need to be; but the bigger problems are scheme, discipline, and fundamentals.

Agree. It doesn't matter how fast, slow, strong or weak you are -- if no one picks up the back coming out of the backfield, we're going to get beaten on the play most of the time. It's either scheme or the players aren't disciplined enough to be where they're supposed to be. Either way, that ultimately falls back on the coaches. The porous tackling also ultimately falls back on the coaches. They recruited them, they coach them. The play on the field is a reflection of the leadership and coaching they are getting.

As good of a leader as Saban is, I'm amazed that he's apparently not seen this coming. But . . . we've also seen him be slow to pull the cord when a change is needed.

The good news is that, in the past, we've had games like this that have resulted in a loss. That didn't happen this time. Hopefully, we'll begin to see improvement from week to week now.

 

[Krymsonman]

If Golding does understand the scheme that CNS wants, he sure doesn't seem to be able to implement it on the field. The thing that drives me the craziest is the way running back after running back comes out of the backfield and absolutely no one picks them up. I think we had Ole Miss in 3rd and 12 or so one time last night and all they did was flare it to the back. Based on all of the space, I knew he had the first down before he caught the ball. Fix it!

 

[CrimsonTheory]

Too often, sophomore Christian Harris could be seen telling Moses and the others where they should have been, despite Harris being the deputy and not the sheriff.

Maybe Harris should be the sheriff and Moses the deputy?

 

[B1GTide]

Maybe Harris should be the sheriff and Moses the deputy?

He has about the same amount of experience calling the defense as Moses.

 

[Chukker Veteran]

It's very good news that the new strength & conditioning coach is working out well. As popular as Coach Yeah Yeah was, it sounds like we are better off.

Edit: It's been a tough year and is a very welcome thing to get back to the normalcy of a well written game review. Many thanks.

 

[Padreruf]

Before we jump off the ledge, remember the late 60's teams before we went wishbone? Our defense was often inept...teams ran rampant over us. CPB said that when you primarily pass that is what you practice...and the defense's loses its "toughness." Just a thought as we look ahead...thanks for a great review Jess. Some really good food for thought.