The Houndstooth Huddle

With “The Game of The Century” just a few days away, I figured it might be time to get back on the horse and start posting again.  Here are my brief, procrastinated thoughts about Bama’s 37-6 vicory over the Vols.

• That was a pretty bad INT by AJ at the beginning of the game, when he did not see the UT linebacker drop into coverage, and threw the ball right to him.  But on the bright side, it was our first turnover in SEC play, and it’s good for AJ to get that bad throw out of his system before the LSU game this weekend.
• Hightower is playing like a man possessed this year!  I thought he would have a BIG year, being two years removed from his knee injury, but he might be even better than I thought he’d be this season. 
• We’re getting better on the deep throws, but there’s always room for improvement.  By my count we were 2-4 on deep passes against UT.  I think the deep throws will be a huge factor in the LSU game.  They’ll stack the line to slow down T-Rich, so it’ll be up to AJ, Maze, Bell, or White to step up and make plays down the field.  My X-factor pick for that game is Kenny Bell (more on that later).
• For some reason we’ve had a tendency to come out flat or slow at the very beginning of games, and that was the case in this game as well.  We gave up early leads to Florida, Ole Miss, Vandy, and again against Tennessee.  Hopefully that will not be the case against LSU, but only time will tell.  One thing I will say about our team is that I love the way they respond to adversity.  If the defense gives up a big play, then the offense methodically drives down the field and responds with points (most of the time).  In this game, our defense stepped up and stopped UT after AJ threw the interception.  
• AJ seemed like he was a little off his game against Tennessee.  He played pretty well, but his throws were slightly off at times (i.e. overthrowing Williams in the endzone and not hitting Hanks in stride 3 times).  He needs to have a really good game against LSU, so hopefully he took time to clean up his mechanics during the bye week.
• CJ Mosley looks better each game, and looks to be getting back to 100%, which is really good timing.  We’ll need him to play well against LSU TE DeAngelo Peterson and some of the option runs with Jefferson.
• Like most young QBs, AJ has improved each and every game.  I loved how he ran the ball into the endzone on our first touchdown, and didn’t force the ball into coverage.  At one point in the Vandy game, AJ could’ve run the ball into the endzone but decided to throw the ball to DeAndrew White instead, and it took a heck of a catch for it to be a TD.  There’s no need to throw it when you can run it in.  AJ is learning and getting better each game.
• I also loved the call and the throw to Kenny Bell for our 2nd touchdown.  We stopped them on a 4th down play (if I remember correctly) and we decided to go with a play-action pass to the endzone on our first offensive snap.  I loved the aggressiveness. 
• Against UT we used a power formation with Fluker AND Barrett Jones lined up on the right side of the line.  I’m not sure if we’ve used that before, or if I’ve just missed it, but those run plays were money.  I’m sure we’ll see more of that against LSU.  It looks like one of those classic formations where the defense knows you’re about to run to that side, but still can’t stop it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we ran something to the left or threw out of that formation to try to catch LSU napping.  I would say we’d run a misdirection play out of that formation, but that’s not what you do against LSU.  They’re too fast for that to work.  The way to beat LSU is to run right at them, smacking them in the mouth, and running the ball north and south. 
• T-Rich’s 3rd quarter TD run was nasty!  I still don’t know how he got through that sliver of a hole in the O-line and broke those tackles to get into the endzone.