Lots of fun lurking on the big Bama board today... The Turders say Alabama lost the game on account of five turnovers and two fluke plays..one which was obviously illegal...
The editor of the Tidefans site posted this reply... I'll emphasize a couple of points:
Guys, I'm going to do this as sort of a "group reply..."
You can't take away this play or that play or this turnover or that turnover. That's not how the game works.
I figured this column was going to ruffle some feathers because it points out a long-term trend in defending spread teams and goes back 10 games. But anything related to defense puts it in Saban's lap and Smart's lap, which is sort of taboo because no one wants to think Saban is anything but infallible.
Please note that the standard Five-Point Breakdown at the end of the article talks about turnovers, playcalling, the Bateman/Coker decision, etc. But the defense played its part. On the two goofball plays -- the deflected pass for a TD had DB hands on it. If you can get your hands on the ball, you can make a play on the ball, and UA didn't. What happened to it after the deflection is almost irrelevant; the play simply didn't get made.
On the downfield play, if the complaint is about linemen downfield, I am seeing literally every officiating crew in the country missing that call. The refs missed one in UA's favor against Wisconsin (Ryan Kelly was almost to the secondary). Do we take that play off the board for UA's offense, too? The real issue here is that there was a coverage bust. That sprint-out/sideline pass is being used against UA by all teams running the HUNH at this point, so UA is going to have to develop a combo coverage that takes it into account. Otherwise you will see it again.
Again, there are two discussions here: What caused the OM loss, and the defense-of-the-spread trend. They just happen to intersect today because Ole Miss is one of those spread teams.
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After more questions and comments, the editor posted this:
UA allowed 340 yards in the second half. If you want to basically say that fluke plays don't count for defensive analysis, I'm not getting on that bus. The reason the first fluke play happened to begin with was because two DBs interfered with each other's ability to make the play. Ergo, it's their fault. Whether it's a talent issue or a coaching issue is not the issue. The issue is that it happened in the first place. I don't hate them, mind you, but the reason that play happened was defensive failure.
On the illegal pass, if it's going to be missed with the frequency it's currently being missed, then UA is negligent in not running it 5 times a game, too. The real issue, though, on that play concerned a DB who broke off his assignment and came down to take the QB. He never took note of the linemen downfield so, illegal or not, it didn't affect his technique. The guys who were being affected by linemen downfield on that play weren't anywhere around the ball at the time. I agree that it sucks, but as I said before, UA has benefited from that play itself in 2015, so do we need to refigure Alabama's offensive output, too? I don't see a rush to do that from Alabama fans, I'll leave it at that.
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In his column breaking down the game, editor Nicholas said this:
Ole Miss, of course, is a good spread team. Here are some other good spread teams: Ohio State, Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Missouri. Including Ole Miss, Alabama is an aggregate 4-6 against those teams over the last 10 games.
Here is the yardage allowed against those teams: Ohio State (537), Auburn (630 and 393), Mississippi State (428), Texas A&M (177 and 628) and Ole Miss (433 and 327), Oklahoma (429) and Missouri (313).
Points? Try an average of 30.6, and that includes the 2014 shutout over Texas A&M.
The editor of the Tidefans site posted this reply... I'll emphasize a couple of points:
Guys, I'm going to do this as sort of a "group reply..."
You can't take away this play or that play or this turnover or that turnover. That's not how the game works.
I figured this column was going to ruffle some feathers because it points out a long-term trend in defending spread teams and goes back 10 games. But anything related to defense puts it in Saban's lap and Smart's lap, which is sort of taboo because no one wants to think Saban is anything but infallible.
Please note that the standard Five-Point Breakdown at the end of the article talks about turnovers, playcalling, the Bateman/Coker decision, etc. But the defense played its part. On the two goofball plays -- the deflected pass for a TD had DB hands on it. If you can get your hands on the ball, you can make a play on the ball, and UA didn't. What happened to it after the deflection is almost irrelevant; the play simply didn't get made.
On the downfield play, if the complaint is about linemen downfield, I am seeing literally every officiating crew in the country missing that call. The refs missed one in UA's favor against Wisconsin (Ryan Kelly was almost to the secondary). Do we take that play off the board for UA's offense, too? The real issue here is that there was a coverage bust. That sprint-out/sideline pass is being used against UA by all teams running the HUNH at this point, so UA is going to have to develop a combo coverage that takes it into account. Otherwise you will see it again.
Again, there are two discussions here: What caused the OM loss, and the defense-of-the-spread trend. They just happen to intersect today because Ole Miss is one of those spread teams.
-------------------------------------------------------------
After more questions and comments, the editor posted this:
UA allowed 340 yards in the second half. If you want to basically say that fluke plays don't count for defensive analysis, I'm not getting on that bus. The reason the first fluke play happened to begin with was because two DBs interfered with each other's ability to make the play. Ergo, it's their fault. Whether it's a talent issue or a coaching issue is not the issue. The issue is that it happened in the first place. I don't hate them, mind you, but the reason that play happened was defensive failure.
On the illegal pass, if it's going to be missed with the frequency it's currently being missed, then UA is negligent in not running it 5 times a game, too. The real issue, though, on that play concerned a DB who broke off his assignment and came down to take the QB. He never took note of the linemen downfield so, illegal or not, it didn't affect his technique. The guys who were being affected by linemen downfield on that play weren't anywhere around the ball at the time. I agree that it sucks, but as I said before, UA has benefited from that play itself in 2015, so do we need to refigure Alabama's offensive output, too? I don't see a rush to do that from Alabama fans, I'll leave it at that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In his column breaking down the game, editor Nicholas said this:
Ole Miss, of course, is a good spread team. Here are some other good spread teams: Ohio State, Auburn, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Missouri. Including Ole Miss, Alabama is an aggregate 4-6 against those teams over the last 10 games.
Here is the yardage allowed against those teams: Ohio State (537), Auburn (630 and 393), Mississippi State (428), Texas A&M (177 and 628) and Ole Miss (433 and 327), Oklahoma (429) and Missouri (313).
Points? Try an average of 30.6, and that includes the 2014 shutout over Texas A&M.
