Happy Labor Day, everyone. Wish we had more fun things to discuss, but Saturday happened. Let’s discuss it, shall we?
The broken offseason promises of a new day rob this coaching staff of the benefit of the doubt they were receiving.
Perhaps it’s an overreaction to say this alone requires a change at the top but it’s reasonable to dig up contracts and do some buyout math.
There are also 11 games left to prove this was an anomaly that doesn’t warrant the panic it’s currently receiving.
But the runway’s
shrinking and the locals are restless.
If they thought mistakes were amplified before, bow up for the next few months because it’ll take something significant to wash away the sour taste of Tallahassee.
That about sums it up. There is so much that needs to get better. Nick Kelly has this note on Ty Simpson’s play.
“I’ve got to make sure I run on the third and fourth downs when I can,” Simpson said, “and not try to throw the ball and just get the first down.”
Simpson didn’t have a bad first start overall. He didn’t have any turnovers, and he threw for two touchdowns. The offense moved the ball somewhat effectively to the tune of 341 yards and 18 first downs. Both were just shy of what Florida State tallied (382 yards, 20 first downs).
But he only completed 53% of his passes. And the Alabama offense struggled to finish at times. Too often, the Crimson Tide gained yards but not points.
“He’s got to just trust his reads and just cut it loose sometimes,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Just let it fly. He can make the throws. Just let it fly.”
Ty made some fine throws in the game, but he did show some indecision. This rep is making the rounds as a whiff by Kadyn Proctor, and it absolutely was a whiff. However, check out the defensive look pre-snap. What do you see?
Here’s what I see: soft single coverage to the field side and three defenders on two receivers to the boundary. I don’t know if Josh Cuevas is running an option route or a called route here, but it’s baffling to me why Ty’s eyes ever made it to the boundary side. On first and ten, Ty had an easy completion for probably 5-6 yards with a little bit of YAC. Instead he held the football and got sacked while looking to the “bad” side.
That isn’t to excuse Proctor, by the way. He let a man cross his face, and that’s the cardinal rule in pass pro. But it wouldn’t have mattered had Ty thrown the ball when he should have.
While we’re at it, may as well address the play that everyone seems to be talking about.
For whatever reason, Bray Hubbard has been the featured whipping boy here, but he really wasn’t the issue. In fact, he did his primary job on the play which was getting into his run fit on the front side of the play. If you want a primary culprit here, it’s #11 Yhonzae Pierre. The best way to shut down a speedster is to keep him from getting a full head of steam.
As the backside edge defender, Pierre has contain responsibilities. The left tackle appeared to fool him by feigning the pull. Ideally, Pierre would have taken that guy on and tried to stand him up to force the runner inside where the help is. Even if the tackle successfully got out, at the very least Pierre needed to stay home and protect his outside shoulder as the guard engaged him. Justin Jefferson was where he needed to be if Pierre had been able to turn the play upfield, and there was plenty of other help there as well. Keon Sabb and Red Morgan didn’t help matters by whiffing on the play. Seems odd that Morgan and Pierre were in the game that early based on the depth chart issued to media. Would starter Qua Russaw have made the play?
As an aside, it was ten yards downfield but Zabien Brown got held on the play. The block was absolutely fine until the runner got to him, but the blocker did have a handful outside the shoulder pads and didn’t release when he tried to disengage to make the tackle. Bray Hubbard was held in similar fashion on Castellano’s first touchdown run, a couple of plays after Domani Jackson had been called for a third down defensive hold to extend the drive that we still haven’t seen a replay of to my knowledge.
Look, Alabama showed an awful lot of deficiencies on Saturday, but the game still ended up coming down to a few plays, per usual. If they played the starters as they usually would in a big game, would it have made a difference? In addition to the play above, the deep shot that led to the first touchdown came against Dijon Lee and Zavier Mincey. They rotated similarly in the opener vs WKU last season, but of course the Hilltoppers weren’t good enough to challenge them. Frankly, it was pretty arrogant to think that they could rotate backups at Florida State, as if it were a joint practice.
Shorten up the rotation and have Ty grow a bit from the film study, and they still have an opportunity to play much better than what we saw. Whether they will is the $10.875 million dollar question. The Kalen DeBoer era is unquestionably at a crossroads, 14 games in.
CBS gave Alabama a failing grade, as they should.
Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos repeatedly gashed Alabama’s defense with his legs as he scored a touchdown and picked up five first downs as a runner. The Crimson Tide became totally one-dimensional offensively, but playing hero ball with quarterback Ty Simpson proved unfruitful as Alabama turned it over on downs three time in the second half.
Last, Will Miller over at SI has a few keys to the game for you as well.
Player of the Game: Wide receiver Germie Bernard was, by a wide margin, Alabama’s most productive pass-catcher in Tallahassee. The senior had eight catches for 146 yards, bringing his per-catch average to 18.3 yards. Tight end Josh Cuevas had the second-most receiving yards for the visitors, with 31 on three catches.
Play of the Game: Only 8:42 remained on the fourth-quarter clock when, trailing 24-17, the Alabama defense stopped Castellanos on second down to set up what would have been a third-and-long, if it hadn’t been for a personal foul penalty incurred by Crimson Tide defensive lineman James Smith for hitting Castellanos when he was already down. The flag moved the sticks, and Florida State scored the game-winning touchdown on that drive.
Germie did in fact have himself a day. Parker Brailsford was another player who got good marks in the game.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
