9/14 Penn State Game
Sorry it took me so long to post this blog; work is pretty demanding these days. That being said, I didn’t want this week to pass without talking about the Penn State game, because even though this wasn’t the game to tell us whether or not we’re going to compete for the national championship, I thought it told us quite a bit about our team that we maybe didn’t know before.
It’s amazing how much my viewpoint has changed since Saban’s arrival. If we had beaten a Penn State team, regardless of how highly regarded they were, 27-11 during Shula’s regime, I would be gushing about how we have the ability to beat anybody, and how we’re finally turning a corner, etc. But Saban has gotten us to a point where even when we look good, I tend to see vulnerabilities that might get exploited against future opponents. On Saturday, even though we dominated pretty much from start to finish, I’m still left with some concerns, primarily regarding our offense.
Maybe I’m crazy, but it seems like an offense that’s returning 4 OL starters, a first-team All American at running back, 2 starting receivers, and seemingly dozens of prep-All Americans waiting in the wings at WR shouldn’t be struggling like ours is. I used to think that the problem was simply the play of the offensive line, but I’m starting to think that the problem lies deeper within our offensive design. It seems like every time Trent touches the ball, he gets popped immediately. He’s good, so he can break a lot of tackles and still gain yards, but I can’t understand why we can’t get him any room to make it past the line of scrimmage before first contact. And you’d think that if so many defenders are there to defend the run that our receivers would be open, but it seems like every one of our receivers is double covered. Our first TD against Penn State was a short pass to Michael Williams, but even though you’d think that they would have been concerned about Richardson running so close to the goal line, there were still three defenders surrounding Williams. When you watch Arkansas or Auburn or other good offensive teams, it seems like the RBs have much more room to run, and the receivers are much more open than ours. I just don’t understand why our offense struggles so much to move the ball.
Still, even though our offense struggled to move the ball against what appeared to be a very physical Penn State defense, we still managed to take a 17-3 lead into halftime, and roll to a 27-11 final score. Penn State scored a FG on their first drive, and a TD on their last drive. Other than that, they really couldn’t do much with the ball. And that’s where I start to get worried. I never felt terribly threatened on Saturday, because I knew that PSU wasn’t very dangerous on offense. Once we got a 17-3 lead, I didn’t see any way for them to come back. Against some of our future opponents, specifically Arkansas in two weeks, I don’t think we’ll be able to shut them down like that, and if our offense can’t move the ball any better than what we saw on Saturday, the pressure on our defense will be tremendous. As good as our defense is, they’re going to need more help from the offense.
Here are some specific observations from Saturday’s game. First, like I said last week, I still think that Eddie Lacy is our best running back. I know that sounds like sacrilege, and I’m certainly not campaigning to get Richardson on the bench, but I’m just saying that I feel better about our offense when Lacy is in there. He seems to have better vision than Trent; if there is a hole, Lacy seems to find it. Second, did you guys notice how tremendous Maze’s first-quarter catch was? It was a crucial third-down, and even though he was single-covered, the defender was absolutely blanketing Maze, and actually got his hands on the ball, but Maze made a great play to rip the ball away. That was the real turning point of the game to me. Third, I know I’ve heaped praise on our linebackers before, but holy smoke, are those guys good! And true freshman Trey DePriest from Ohio looks like the next in our line of superstar middle linebackers: DeMeco, Rolando, Dont’a, CJ, Trey, Reggie, Reuben … (Reggie and Reuben aren’t on our team yet, but just wait!). Our secondary is similarly talented, and I expect them to gel more as the season progresses. Finally, wasn’t it cool to be playing Penn State? There is a certain sense of majesty when you see that navy blue jersey with the classic white trim. Of course, Joe Paterno is as close to college football royalty as there is, and it will be a very sad day when he is no longer on the Penn State sideline. We’re very lucky to be college football fans during the time when he is coaching. We love you JoePa!
That’s it for now. This week should be a breather as we face North Texas, but then we face the gauntlet. Hopefully we get through this week healthy and ready to start the real season. As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments, and until next time, Roll Tide!
Kenny
|