Thoughts on Week 1

[drum2728]

This past weekend was not a good measuring stick of what kind of team that we have at Alabama. The opponent was an anomaly. We will not face an offense like that again this year. The defensive scheme that we were forced to run was about all we could do. I thought we played as good as we could considering the opponent. The defense has blazing speed that will only help make up for what they lack in experience.
The UA offense did something that has not been seen in a long time. It was able to change and be successful. JPW was steady. He did nothing to hurt us. The only pass that I felt was a bad one turned into a highlight thanks to Keith Brown. Ken Darby just had an off night. He is a hard worker and will make up for it. Jimmy Johns was a pleasant surprise and a threat for a breakaway run. The OL was great and will only improve.
The door would have been shut on this game if:
1. Tiffin makes missed FG.
2. KB's foot is in on the replay.
3. TD not safety on botched punt.

If my math is right, those 3 things resulted in a loss of 15 points. Instead of a close one, it would have been a blow out.

I am just glad we won and are 1-0 instead of 0-1 and calling for the head of Coach Shula.

 

[Dr. Van Nostran]

This past weekend was not a good measuring stick of what kind of team that we have at Alabama. The opponent was an anomaly. We will not face an offense like that again this year. The defensive scheme that we were forced to run was about all we could do. I thought we played as good as we could considering the opponent. The defense has blazing speed that will only help make up for what they lack in experience.
The UA offense did something that has not been seen in a long time. It was able to change and be successful. JPW was steady. He did nothing to hurt us. The only pass that I felt was a bad one turned into a highlight thanks to Keith Brown. Ken Darby just had an off night. He is a hard worker and will make up for it. Jimmy Johns was a pleasant surprise and a threat for a breakaway run. The OL was great and will only improve.
The door would have been shut on this game if:
1. Tiffin makes missed FG.
2. KB's foot is in on the replay.
3. TD not safety on botched punt.

If my math is right, those 3 things resulted in a loss of 15 points. Instead of a close one, it would have been a blow out.

I am just glad we won and are 1-0 instead of 0-1 and calling for the head of Coach Shula.

It should be a loss of 11 points. 4+4+3=11.

 

[GrayTide]

Good first post. I agree with most of your comments, however, the OL IMO is not great and has light years to go before we have a chance to beat the likes of UA, UF, UT and LSU on the road. I also hope that what we saw offensively Saturday night was our "plain vanilla" package, because without better play selection and execution those road trips could be disappointing. It is my opinion that we will however make significant progress between now and our trip to Fayetteville and these young players will step up a notch or two.

 

[JD95]

I can sum up my thoughts as follows:

The GOOD -- JP Wilson, Jimmy Johns, Keith Brown, good punting average

The BAD -- Kenneth Darby, missed opportunities in the red zone, poor tackling

the UGLY -- Bama's kick-off coverage

Like GrayTide, I expect progress and improvement in the next couple of weeks before we have the first big test against the Pigs in FayetteNam.

 

[kayakerjess]

It should be a loss of 11 points. 4+4+3=11.

Isn't it 12?

Missed FG is 3 pts.
Brown's almost TD would have added 4 pts.
Safety instead of TD is 5 pts.

 

[TerryP]

Good first post. I agree with most of your comments, however, the OL IMO is not great and has light years to go before we have a chance to beat the likes of UA, UF, UT and LSU on the road. I also hope that what we saw offensively Saturday night was our "plain vanilla" package, because without better play selection and execution those road trips could be disappointing. It is my opinion that we will however make significant progress between now and our trip to Fayetteville and these young players will step up a notch or two.

Here's something I haven't been able to do in a long time.

With the exception of running between the tackles, the OL looked better this game (first of the season, first time this group has played together) than it has in the last 3 years.

It's just my opinion, but the first game is way to early to be making judgements on play calling. There were a lot of things tried this weekend, and granted the successful plays weren't immediately gone back to, but we do have the knowledge of what is going to work, and work well, this season.

 

[Bama Torch in Pcola]

Here's something I haven't been able to do in a long time.

With the exception of running between the tackles, the OL looked better this game (first of the season, first time this group has played together) than it has in the last 3 years.

It's just my opinion, but the first game is way to early to be making judgements on play calling. There were a lot of things tried this weekend, and granted the successful plays weren't immediately gone back to, but we do have the knowledge of what is going to work, and work well, this season.

If we can average 24-28 points per game this year it will be a great season, and by great I mean SEC title. I could be wrong but I don't see many teams that are capable of putting up big numbers on our D.