You know, I think the whole "the good, the bad, and the ugly" thing is dumb. That's two bad categories to one good. Instead I'm going to do "the good, the bad, the realistic."
GOOD:
Our defense played great. There is no other way to portray that. They played winning football. And this is the unit that really deserved the criticism for the Tech loss, where we just got out schemed and our DB's weren't up to the challenge. And Greenlaw wasn't ready. Well, Greenlaw has come a million miles. I thought Eugene played well too. And Ellis was a stud. Our linebacker corp is on the verge of being very good. Next year they will be very very good.
The D-line played really well too. We still miss last year's two difference makers. But, Ledbetter is on the verge of becoming a difference maker himself. And our good but not great defensive lineman all played their best football last night. Very proud.
I thought our corners played well. As did Gaines. Ramirez got torched in a game where one big play could win the game. Otherwise he played well too. He is very green back there. But he has big time ability. Even the best bite on play action sometime. Hate to say it. But its the truth.
Overall, our defense played well. Winning football. Which is two weeks in a row.
Amidst the good, I'm going to include Brandon Allen's grit. He made plays with man eating animals clawing all over him all night. He took some vicious shots. One should have been a targeting penalty. Helmet to helmet. I really don't get the continues criticism of him. He's not a great QB. But he is better than the Bama QB. And the LSU QB. And the Auburn QB. And ANY QB in the Eastern division...possibly excepting the UGA QB...who ALSO looked terrible against Bama. (In fact....UGA looked terrible against Bama).
Some of the criticisms about Brandon reeks of only watching the ball...and watching too much pro football. Sure...he fails when compared to NFL QB's. But given what he has to play with...the only real valid criticism I see is the inability to make the clutch throw. THAT'S a legit complaint/observation. Some of the other might as well be 'I want Tom Brady as our QB."
Now, the BAD:
First, the fake punt was a desperate move. There's no other way to portray it. The staff is tired of losing just like everyone else. It was a desperate attempt to grab the momentum back after it had slipped. It also speaks volumes about how they felt about the Bama defense. And how we could not move the ball. It was a bad call.
The next bad...our run blocking. I said before the game, we needed to be able to throw well enough to make them play somewhat honest, then be able to run well enough to keep them from teeing off on BA. We certainly failed in the second area. Probably the first area too. I knew going in that our D-line was nowhere near quick enough to pass block if Bama was able to play with their ears laid back. That's Saban's specialty. Confusing your WRs and QB, and unleashing the hounds on 3rd and long. Our only hope was to run it a little. And we couldn't. Which surprised me.
Fact is, their front 7 whipped our o-line. I am puzzled at some of the criticism of Alex Collins. Or folks saying we missed JWill. What in the world would JWill or any other elite back have done with nowhere to go? Leap over people? Dig a tunnel? Outrun them to the sideline? I think not.
I think many in our fan base need to really try to take their eyes off of the ball and watch the line play. Or, in games like this one, get the ESPN spider cam up on a PC and watch it some. You will see how the Bama run defense filled every gap on virtually every play. No matter what scheme we ran. And lots of times just whipped the man in front of them. Like...threw them down and made the play. The fact is Smothers and Skipper are not elite talents. Ragnow probably is...but isn't there yet. That leaves Tretola and Kirkland versus EVERYONE being elite on their front.
Another bad was WR's not really knowing where to be. I think most on here understand that we are running some reasonably nuanced pass concepts that require the WR's to make reads as well as the QB. That's what Coach B means when he talks about 87 and 17 needing to be more reliable in their routes and reads. There were more than one occasion that I can think of right now where the route ran was not what BA expected. Fact is we really missed Cornelius and Keon last night. No way around that.
THE REALITY
We should be 4-2. We should have beaten Toledo and the aggies. But, we didn't. Thankfully, I believe each of our remaining games is winnable.
The offensive line has not been what it was cracked up to be. But the season isn't over. The coaches moved some people around, Ragnow has not blossomed like anyone hoped (though I'm confident he will eventually be a stud). Looking ahead, this is where Bielema will make or break his program. Many think that he will never recruit and develop offensive lineman good enough to battle with Bama/LSU/etc in the trenches. I disagree. I think he will. But this is only year 3. Developing lineman takes time. You need 4th and 5th year guys up front. One thing for sure. We will find out if he can do it. Because Long is gonna give him time.
Losing our top 3 WRs hurt BADLY. We really missed them yesterday. We obviously miss JWill being able to split carries with Alex. BUT...Alex Collins hasn't been a problem. Not this year. He has had good ball security with a high volume of carries. And he has really run well when the line has given him any room at all. If you ask me he's elite. And will have a good NFL career. I'm hoping against hope that either he or JWill will be back next year.
Speaking of losing people, its pretty obvious that the reason the defense has taken so long to blossom is it missed (and still misses to a slightly lesser degree) the FIVE starters that either graduated of left for the draft. 5 of 11 starters not coming back was obviously too much to allow a good start of the year. The good news is we lose MUCH less for next year. Assuming the juniors stay put. And I imagine they all will on the defensive side.
Finally...this: there is an old saying for people building a program. Season 1 lose big. Season 2 lose small. Season 3 win small. Season 4 win big.
Going by that we actually came out ahead last year....by coming on strong and managing a 7-6 record. This was supposed to be the win small year. And we can still do the win small thing with another strong finish. No one as good as Bama is left. LSU and Ole Miss are both beatable.
NEXT YEAR is the year we should expect a legit run at the division title. So long as a quality QB emerges. And we have 4 that will vie for it...and 2 of those have waited and learned for a good while now.
Go Hogs.
GOOD:
Our defense played great. There is no other way to portray that. They played winning football. And this is the unit that really deserved the criticism for the Tech loss, where we just got out schemed and our DB's weren't up to the challenge. And Greenlaw wasn't ready. Well, Greenlaw has come a million miles. I thought Eugene played well too. And Ellis was a stud. Our linebacker corp is on the verge of being very good. Next year they will be very very good.
The D-line played really well too. We still miss last year's two difference makers. But, Ledbetter is on the verge of becoming a difference maker himself. And our good but not great defensive lineman all played their best football last night. Very proud.
I thought our corners played well. As did Gaines. Ramirez got torched in a game where one big play could win the game. Otherwise he played well too. He is very green back there. But he has big time ability. Even the best bite on play action sometime. Hate to say it. But its the truth.
Overall, our defense played well. Winning football. Which is two weeks in a row.
Amidst the good, I'm going to include Brandon Allen's grit. He made plays with man eating animals clawing all over him all night. He took some vicious shots. One should have been a targeting penalty. Helmet to helmet. I really don't get the continues criticism of him. He's not a great QB. But he is better than the Bama QB. And the LSU QB. And the Auburn QB. And ANY QB in the Eastern division...possibly excepting the UGA QB...who ALSO looked terrible against Bama. (In fact....UGA looked terrible against Bama).
Some of the criticisms about Brandon reeks of only watching the ball...and watching too much pro football. Sure...he fails when compared to NFL QB's. But given what he has to play with...the only real valid criticism I see is the inability to make the clutch throw. THAT'S a legit complaint/observation. Some of the other might as well be 'I want Tom Brady as our QB."
Now, the BAD:
First, the fake punt was a desperate move. There's no other way to portray it. The staff is tired of losing just like everyone else. It was a desperate attempt to grab the momentum back after it had slipped. It also speaks volumes about how they felt about the Bama defense. And how we could not move the ball. It was a bad call.
The next bad...our run blocking. I said before the game, we needed to be able to throw well enough to make them play somewhat honest, then be able to run well enough to keep them from teeing off on BA. We certainly failed in the second area. Probably the first area too. I knew going in that our D-line was nowhere near quick enough to pass block if Bama was able to play with their ears laid back. That's Saban's specialty. Confusing your WRs and QB, and unleashing the hounds on 3rd and long. Our only hope was to run it a little. And we couldn't. Which surprised me.
Fact is, their front 7 whipped our o-line. I am puzzled at some of the criticism of Alex Collins. Or folks saying we missed JWill. What in the world would JWill or any other elite back have done with nowhere to go? Leap over people? Dig a tunnel? Outrun them to the sideline? I think not.
I think many in our fan base need to really try to take their eyes off of the ball and watch the line play. Or, in games like this one, get the ESPN spider cam up on a PC and watch it some. You will see how the Bama run defense filled every gap on virtually every play. No matter what scheme we ran. And lots of times just whipped the man in front of them. Like...threw them down and made the play. The fact is Smothers and Skipper are not elite talents. Ragnow probably is...but isn't there yet. That leaves Tretola and Kirkland versus EVERYONE being elite on their front.
Another bad was WR's not really knowing where to be. I think most on here understand that we are running some reasonably nuanced pass concepts that require the WR's to make reads as well as the QB. That's what Coach B means when he talks about 87 and 17 needing to be more reliable in their routes and reads. There were more than one occasion that I can think of right now where the route ran was not what BA expected. Fact is we really missed Cornelius and Keon last night. No way around that.
THE REALITY
We should be 4-2. We should have beaten Toledo and the aggies. But, we didn't. Thankfully, I believe each of our remaining games is winnable.
The offensive line has not been what it was cracked up to be. But the season isn't over. The coaches moved some people around, Ragnow has not blossomed like anyone hoped (though I'm confident he will eventually be a stud). Looking ahead, this is where Bielema will make or break his program. Many think that he will never recruit and develop offensive lineman good enough to battle with Bama/LSU/etc in the trenches. I disagree. I think he will. But this is only year 3. Developing lineman takes time. You need 4th and 5th year guys up front. One thing for sure. We will find out if he can do it. Because Long is gonna give him time.
Losing our top 3 WRs hurt BADLY. We really missed them yesterday. We obviously miss JWill being able to split carries with Alex. BUT...Alex Collins hasn't been a problem. Not this year. He has had good ball security with a high volume of carries. And he has really run well when the line has given him any room at all. If you ask me he's elite. And will have a good NFL career. I'm hoping against hope that either he or JWill will be back next year.
Speaking of losing people, its pretty obvious that the reason the defense has taken so long to blossom is it missed (and still misses to a slightly lesser degree) the FIVE starters that either graduated of left for the draft. 5 of 11 starters not coming back was obviously too much to allow a good start of the year. The good news is we lose MUCH less for next year. Assuming the juniors stay put. And I imagine they all will on the defensive side.
Finally...this: there is an old saying for people building a program. Season 1 lose big. Season 2 lose small. Season 3 win small. Season 4 win big.
Going by that we actually came out ahead last year....by coming on strong and managing a 7-6 record. This was supposed to be the win small year. And we can still do the win small thing with another strong finish. No one as good as Bama is left. LSU and Ole Miss are both beatable.
NEXT YEAR is the year we should expect a legit run at the division title. So long as a quality QB emerges. And we have 4 that will vie for it...and 2 of those have waited and learned for a good while now.
Go Hogs.
