Alabama Football: The Hot Read: The Tide Euthanizes Bulldogs

There is always some concern for Alabama Football about the immediate game after the traditional SEC West clash of the titans with LSU, as that game is so physical players have to come in on Sunday for treatment and stretching. The concern was again valid this year as the Mississippi State Bulldogs came to Tuscaloosa following a stunning upset of them #4 ranked Texas A&M the week before in Starkville.

Alabama had beaten LSU 10-0, but the offense had looked completely inept. Legitimate questions were being asked about Bama quarterback Jalen Hurts‘s development as a passer. During his game week press conferences, Nick Saban had stated that this week in practice was spent working with Hurts on his development in the passing game in regards to downfield accuracy and going through his progressions. Saban said Hurts ” had a really good week” , but we had heard that before so what did it really mean. Would it transfer to the game ?

Lets delve into some points and find out:

Passing Game

Hurts finished the game 28-37, for 347 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. By stats alone, this is much better and without a doubt on of his best passing efforts of the year. However if you look deeper into it, the stats and actual game flow show a different side. 67 yards came on a jet sweep pass to Ardarius Stewart that actually tracked about 6″ in the air. This is basically a glorified shovel pass and Stewart did the rest.
The INT was horribly under-thrown as Stewart had his man beaten deep and the ball was under thrown by a good 10 yards. If the members of Duck Dynasty had been in attendance they would have had another trophy for the wall. Hurts has to learn when to out air under it and when to drill it in on the deep balls. Touch and timing is a huge step and can’t be overstated enough.
On two of his TD passes however, Hurts showed off his cannon for an arm and amazing accuracy and fearlessness as he threw darts in between multiple defenders. This is what frustrates Bama fans so much with him as you can see what he is capable of.
Hurts and Kiffin made a much more concerted effort to drive the ball vertically and it showed. He had a lot of passes completed 15-20 yards down the field while hitting receivers in stride.
He also made a lot of check-down throws and did not see open receivers deep. This goes back to seeing the field and making progressive reads. That will come with time and reps, but again it doesn’t seem to be a natural thing for him at this point.

FG Kicking

Adam Griffith was 3/3. If you’re a Bama fan and have a pre-game Saturday ritual, please keep it up for the rest of the season. This was perhaps the most amazing development of the game as the field goals were not chip shots.

Defense

For the second consecutive game, Alabama did not record a NOT (non-offensive touchdown). Fire Jeremy Pruitt. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. The streak was broken last week at LSU and was amazing while it lasted. Bama will get more this season.
The D line harassed MSU QB Fitzgerald repeatedly. He picked himself up off the turf numerous times and was blasted at least twice.
Tim Williams had two sacks early, but left with a minor injury. The nature of it was undisclosed but it didn’t seem serious.
Tony Brown had an INT and seems to be acclimating to the CB position while Fizpatrick moves to safety to replace the injured Eddie Jackson.

Passing Game

FG Kicking

Defense

Miscellaneous