A Tale of Two Halves: The Tide Passing D vs FIU
by Todd on Sep 13, 2009 12:33 PM CDT
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PrintWith all of our concerns over the way FIU was moving the ball through the air early on, this quote from Saban got me to thinking:
"We played more zone in the second half on defense, probably that was the biggest thing that we did," said UA coach Nick Saban, "We played a lot of pattern match man stuff, and they were running crossers and pick routes which really wasn’t their deal coming into the game."
How much did our change in coverage affect their offense? First, let's take a look at the basic drive data:
Going from there, you can see that the difference between first and second half is night and day. Of the four FIU drives during the first half (I'm discounting the KO return for a TD) all four were six plays or more and three resulted in at least 20 yards gained. In the second half, of the seven drives FIU mounted, four of them resulted in three and outs, one only netted them seven yards, two resulted in lost yardage, and the only two successful drives of the evening ended in a turnover on downs and an INT (the last of which was against a defense consisting of mostly reserves). Looking further, the QBs numbers dropped significantly as well:
| Paul McCall | Comp | Att | Yards | YPC |
| Total | 16 | 32 | 189 | 11.8 |
| 1st Half | 9 | 16 | 135 | 15 |
| 2nd Half | 7 | 16 | 54 | 7.7 |
As you can see, McCall attempted the same number of passes in each half. Though his completion numbers dropped only slightly in the second half, his yardage was cut almost in thrice and his yards per completion were down to 7.7 from 15. Even though he was still making completions, they weren't going for the kind of big yardage that we saw in the first half. Also of note, backup QB Wayne Younger played at the end of the game and his numbers (2/6 for 24 yards and an INT) were wholly lackluster.
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I find...
I find the Saban quote very interesting.
I did not mention this in the game preview — though it should have been mentioned — but yesterday was actually the season opener for FIU. They did not play in week one, so our staff was still having to prepare off of last year’s game film.
With that in mind, reading Saban’s quote, it seems like FIU really did some things in the passing game that we did not expect coming into this game, and thus they were having success early in the first half. Once we went to halftime, however, and regrouped and made some adjustments, FIU couldn’t move the ball for anything.
It just seems to me like FIU surprised us a bit with what they did offensively, and once we really got a good look at it we stopped it with no problem. That tells me it’s less of a problem with our pass coverage and just a one-time anomaly where a good coaching staff took advantage of their opponent having not seen them yet coming into the game. Fortunately, no other team on the schedule will be able to do that to us moving forward, they will be much more well known commodities.
by outsidethesidelines on Sep 13, 2009 12:42 PM CDT reply actions
as usual...
…coach’s words make me feel better ((((deep sigh of relief))))
"You have to create 6 seconds of hell each play..."
Coach Nick Saban
I'm glad we don't have to play Arkansas this week.
I’m sure they didn’t have to show much against Missouri St and then had a bye in week 2. No way Petrino doesn’t spring something unexpected out against Georgia.
Ditto...
… hell, I’m worried about Arkansas regardless.
by outsidethesidelines on Sep 13, 2009 9:12 PM CDT up reply actions
The good thing about
our bitching yesterday is that it’s proof of how good our defense has become. Against a team with a potent offense, who returned 10 starters, had an entire summer to prepare solely for us, and could play with the total underdog chip on their shoulder, we only gave up 214 total yards. 85 of those came on the final two possessions when we had a lot of second and third teamers playing, and forty more came on one reception.
For as bad as we thought Alabama’s defense played yesterday, they actually did a heck of a job. This is proof that our expectations, like Saban’s, are through the roof. We don’t just want to win. We want perfection. That, along with injury luck, is what we’ll need to have a championship season.
MATRIX: Bennett, I thought you were--
BENNETT: Dead? You thought wrong. Ever since you had me thrown out of the unit, I've been waiting to pay you back. Do you know what today is, Matrix? Payday.
When opponents make first downs...
…I take it personally. Just goes to show how much The Process has affected us.
Roll Bama Roll - The Champagne of Bama Blogs.
Seriously guys
go watch the replay and you will feel a lot better (sounds like you do already though)….not being able to SEE what you guys were talking about last night left me very nervous. But it didn’t take long to settle me down……..
Also..look at when their passing TD came in the game…14:55 in the 2nd qtr…that basically means we shut them out for nearly 3 quarters…not bad.
Scoring against Alabama will be like birthing a child: rare, painful, and messy. - The Ghost of Jay Cutler
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