Some Game Thoughts

[PirateVOL]

Overall:
Get this out of the way first: The SEC refs were INCOMPETENT (at best) and I’m not even talking the two (IMO) blown calls that cost us dearly.  Hell, the C ref couldn’t even mark the ball position properly (appeared confused, couldn’t take direction from the white hat, etc) CONSISTENTLY!  He unnecessarily DELAYED the spotting of the ball REPEATEDLY!  The white hat should be flat FIRED for incompetence!  The white hat ran to the replay phone for direction from Birmingham during the delay.  The ref team seemed to be a scratch team that had NEVER worked together.  This had to have been the WORST ref team in the SEC, and that is saying something!

Offense:
The OL seemed to take a step backward, even before Cade’s injury.  Very inconsistent and run blocking, for the most part, wasn’t effective.  After Cade’s injury it got worse but to give the line and Ellerbe credit they improve significantly in our last possession in the 1st half and the 2nd half overall.  They missed a couple of obvious (hell I could see where the blitz was coming from (they flip sides on one play after one of the ole piss players took a “knee”) blitzes in the 4th quarter that hurt us.  BTW, Carvin’s hold was at least 2 orders of magnitude less than their holds they got away with in pass pro all night.

Small is not Evans.  Good, but doesn’t have that “wiggle” in the hole that Evans has.  We are incredibly thin at RB

WR had difficulty getting open at times against press coverage.  Something that has been an issue at times.  When Hyatt is in the game we are not utilizing him effectively IMO.

Hooker was far less consistent than he had been the last three games.  There were times his vision of the field weren’t up to his standards (he missed a wide open (before the throw) Payton once, could have been a TD (had to beat the opposite side safety who maybe might have had an angle on him).  It seemed till late he had been reigned in a bit in running.  In the end his running gave us a chance late till his injury.  It looked like they were treating him for a knee injury in the limited time I looked to the sidelines while watching Milton saunter out of bounds after the clock had hit 00:00.  I’m afraid it is 5% and Bailey the rest of the season.  BTW, Bailey seems still fully involved in the team, a good thing because I think he will end up being QB1 at some point.

Coaching wasn’t up to the usual standards, probably due to the limitations on the OL that weren’t run or pass blocking effectively for long stretches.  Our last TD was a beautifully designed play that worked to perfection. To my knowledge we had not run that all year before then.

Defense:
Good scheme except for one glaring exception – QB containment. 
Held then to 7 points in the 2nd half, played well enough to win.

DL was getting pressure more consistently last night but there were a few times we looked more like a Pruitt DL.  Byron Young had, by far, his best game last night.  He is going to be a force once his skills are more developed.  He is the edge rusher that we have been looking for.  Interior had their moments and for the most part bottled up their (no QB) running attack.  Young got to the QB once but he got there because the left side DL got a good push and contain of the QB, well played.

LB:  Had a lot of tackles but most were down the field.  Beasley flat whiffed on Corral in the backfield at least once but had several good plays.  Banks kept being blocked and unable to get off the block on several of the QB runs, till the QB was 20 yards downfield. Had some issues in pass coverage but was far better than his predecessor at Mike/Will. 

DB
I hope Taylor’s injury isn’t that bad.  As I posted last night I am surprised the Lane didn’t go after his replacement Hadden.  Hadden is not as good in run support and appeared confused at times in coverage but seemed to recover quickly.  I find it interesting that George didn’t see the field last night.  Both Taylor and Burrell had their best nights in coverage.  Closest we have looked at having SEC caliber corners in a bit.  Theo played well, mostly in pass support.  Our safeties are a weakness but have improved.

Special teams:  Improved over the last couple of games.  Holiday had a good night on ST.  Covered well and had a couple of good blocks.
Jones, when we needed it, had a nice punt return to set up the last drive.  Aided by an excellent block as he turned the corner (unfortunately did not get the number).
Our punts last night were outstanding.
Kickoffs were weird and interesting at the same time but in general effective.

[BanditVol]

Definitely hope Alontae is okay. He is our best DB for sure, and right now our best defensive player overall. I've always like him (other than for a minute after that BYU game lol) and IIRC he was a frosh AA and all SEC, one of the promising young guys Pruitt brought in.  Hope he recovers completely and gets a pick or two vs bammer.

[10EC]

The QB containment.  I think the D staff made a choice to have Corral not beat us with his arm.  It is the only thing I can think of to justify the runs.

[PirateVOL]

The QB containment.  I think the D staff made a choice to have Corral not beat us with his arm.  It is the only thing I can think of to justify the runs.

and he didn't beat us with his arm.
Also we brought probably the most pressure he has faced this year.  He seemed unsettled in the pocket, throws just off.
A lot of the runs could, and should have been stopped far shorter - missed a lot of tackles on him plus our inability to get off blocks
The one run we never had an effective counter for was the backside roll out - we NEVER had anybody on the backside to stop him

[BanditVol]

and he didn't beat us with his arm.
Also we brought probably the most pressure he has faced this year.  He seemed unsettled in the pocket, throws just off.
A lot of the runs could, and should have been stopped far shorter - missed a lot of tackles on him plus our inability to get off blocks
The one run we never had an effective counter for was the backside roll out - we NEVER had anybody on the backside to stop him

The color guy - Jordan Rodgers - was constantly praising our coverage.  Hated seeing him run wild on us all day though.

[Tnphil]

For 4 fricking quarters time after time after time and could not stop him. He set his all time record....we allowed the other team to break a record again.

[BanditVol]

For 4 fricking quarters time after time after time and could not stop him. He set his all time record....we allowed the other team to break a record again.

And almost won anyway. 

[murfvol]

Giving up 31 against Ole Miss qualifies as good work, especially with 7 coming from the muff.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

Giving up 31 against Ole Miss qualifies as good work, especially with 7 coming from the muff.

I think that’s the second lowest scoring output for then this season, behind only Bama.