The SEC schedule continues to be wild ride. After the first possession of the game yesterday on which the defense showed no resistance whatsoever, it was reasonable to fear whether Alabama was going to get run out of Faurot Field. Fortunately things settled down and the Tide rose in the end. A few impressions:
This team makes mistakes, but they battle.
Last year’s team felt like a bunch of underachievers, but it’s fair to say that this one has done a complete 180. At times, they show flaws that could still prove fatal to their championship
hopes: bad run fits, failure to set the edge, coverage busts, dropped passes, whiffed blocks. They consistently seem to make life hard on themselves, but ever since the opener they have battled to overcome the adversity. If you want to wear Crimson glasses, the resilience is more critical as the rest can be improved in film study. The team is in great position at this stage but the schedule will continue to be a grind.
The defense has to cash in on more opportunities.
Alabama’s turnover luck in the game finally evened out late when Bray Hubbard and Dijon Lee came down with interceptions, but they could have put Mizzou to bed in the first half with a bit better awareness. Lee had another interception hit both of his hands, but he dropped it. And, Mizzou fumbled the football twice in the first half but managed to fall on it both times. Meanwhile, Simpson fumbled it once in the game and Mizzou took advantage. Fumble recovery luck tends to be just that in many cases, but they need to take full advantage of every opportunity.
It wasn’t Ty’s best day, but he made championship level plays.
Sometimes, the other team is able to make life rough on a quarterback. Mizzou was relentless with the pressures yesterday, and at times Ty seemed to struggle in his reads. As a result, he held onto the ball too long on a few occasions including the fumble. But, they say the speed of the leader is the speed of the team, and Ty is the poster child for consistently getting up off the mat and making big plays when it’s time to win the game. He was nails on the clinching drive where he converted the 4th and 8 to Lotzeir Brooks and then the 4th and goal to Daniel Hill. He is now dropping dimes against both manufactured pressure and zone coverage. Quarterbacks who do that can quickly get into unstoppable territory, but for that conversation Ty still needs to find more explosive plays down the field.
Red zone efficiency was technically good yesterday because the Tide fizzled out a couple of times just before reaching the 20, but stalled drives continue to be an issue and this is where Ty and the passing game can improve. It’s always tougher to throw the ball in condensed areas, and Ty did have the one beautiful touchdown rip up the seam to Horton in addition to the clincher, but finishing drives is still an area of opportunity. The good news is that 3rd/4th down conversions continue to be a strength, which is often cited as a key marker of QB play.
Lotzeir Brooks and Isaiah Horton stepped up as Mizzou took away Germie and Ryan.
Coming into the game, most Alabama fans would probably have assumed a loss if told that Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams would combine for 20 total yards. Missouri was able to take away both of Ty’s top two targets, but other stepped up. Brooks, who I refuse to call “Lotty” as the broadcast team insisted on doing yesterday, led the way with 4 catches for 58 yards including the aforementioned clutch play that was as great a catch as it was a throw. The preseason buzz on him was clearly justified. Horton continues to make contributions including the TD grab. Simpson demonstrated his command of the offense by distributing his 23 completions to nine different players if you count the hilarious one to Parker Brailsford.
Running the ball and stopping the run continue to progress.
Jam Miller had a solid, workmanlike 110 yards on 24 touches before going down with a late concussion, outshining Mizzou’s Ahmad Hardy who came into the game with some darkhorse Heisman hype. Neither Kevin Riley nor Daniel Hill were able to match that level of success, which is concerning next week with Miller likely to miss at least one game. The line has made progress when it comes to road grading, but that progress will need to continue as they aren’t yet where they need to be.
Defensively, the busts were reduced again, but not eliminated. On the opening drive, nobody set the edge on two consecutive explosive runs. And, later in the game Alabama allowed Jamal Roberts to get loose for 40. Outside of that single run, however, Roberts and Hardy were limited to 63 yards on 16 carries. That isn’t a complete shutdown, but considering the success Mizzou has enjoyed on the ground this season including 285 yards gained against South Carolina, it has to be considered a win.
Wilkin Formby and Domani Jackson are under fire.
You hate to call out individual players, but both of these guys had an awful day yesterday. Jackson started things off with an inexplicable effort on the opening touchdown pass where he seemed to track the ball three yards out of bounds to open an easy path into the end zone. He was pulled on the next series, and Lee seemingly got most of the action in his spot. On Mizzou’s last scoring drive, Jackson got lost on an underthrown deep ball and allowed an explosive play. Domani has struggled mightily in run support as well, so the bigger Lee may be squeezing him out.
Right tackle was a major problem yesterday, including one whiff for a sack where Ty never had a chance. Nothing will put a damper on explosive pass plays like subpar pass protection. Freshman Michael Carroll is waiting in the wings if Formby can’t improve on what we saw yesterday. Film study will not be kind to him.
The dynamic in the SEC is much like the NFL these days: the theme is simply to survive and advance each week against a difficult schedule full of teams who can beat you if you don’t have your A-game. Alabama has now banked two road wins, which is huge. Thankfully next week’s game against Tennessee is in Tuscaloosa, but that offense is never easy to deal with and they will likely be without Jam.
Ty will likely have to play a great game to win that one. Fortunately he has shown us the ability to do just that. Hope for the best.
Roll Tide.
