Alabama vs. Florida Atlantic: A View from the Stands

I was able to attend Alabama’s first home game of the 2014 season, and saw the Crimson Tide beat Florida Atlantic in a 41-0 blowout.

After what felt like a million degree weather and not getting drenched in the rain, I survived so I could write this article. So here’s a few notes after the Tide victory.

Regardless of quarterback, Alabama is Stacked

Don’t worry, we’ll be talking about the quarterbacks plenty, but what popped out to me early in the game was everyone else on offense. Clearly the strategy today was to get more reps for Blake Sims and Jake Coker. Alabama had 33 carries, but only 26 came from the running back position. Kenyan Drake and T.J. Yeldon led the team with seven carries each. Despite the not-so-exciting screen passes and dump offs, they worked today. Amari Cooper busted out a 52-yard touchdown run and Drake had a 39-yard screen pass as well. We’ll see how effective these plays are when we reach October, but right now it’s all about getting the ball into the hands of our top athletes. ArDarius Stewart had a nice game (three receptions, 63 yards) and it was great to see Chris Black receive a lot of playing time (three receptions, 45 yards). No matter who the signal caller is, he’ll have a lot of weapons to work with.

Amari Cooper on pace for historic run

In just two games, Cooper has 25 receptions for 319 yards and one touchdown. At least both quarterbacks are smart; they’re looking for Cooper early and often. Julio Jones, if you remember him, is the current single season record holder for receptions (78) and yards (1,133). Yeah, we may have a new record holder by the end of this season. If Cooper can stay healthy this season then the offense should continue to thrive. Oh also, over/under on a 100 screen passes this year?

Welcome back Eddie Jackson

My man crush has only grown. Eddie Jackson made an immediate impact with some big hits and a forced fumble. According to Nick Saban, the plan was to give Jackson 40 snaps but only reached 35 today. As Jackson continues to regain his stamina he will become more and more of an impact player. Jackson may be the first cornerback since Dre Kirkpatrick that actually welcomes contact. He’s plenty more physical than Cyrus Jones and Bradley Sylve. Even though FAU isn’t very daunting, the pass defense looked a whole lot better today. Trey DePriest made his return as well and made a few tackles today. The front seven seemed a bit more confident and I didn’t see too many communication breakdowns. Like I said last week, with all this talent the defense can only improve. Maybe a West Virginia scare was what the unit needed.

Lane Kiffin and the Red Zone

I’m not slamming Kiffin, I understand why Alabama threw the ball a lot. The quarterbacks needed more reps. However, I hope this trend doesn’t continue. The back-to-back screen passes to Cooper weren’t very successful in the second quarter, and an argument could be made running the ball more in that area could open up the pass game a bit more. Coker, specifically, didn’t look very comfortable in the first half. You kind of understand now when Saban talks about “feeling the offense” and “knowing the playbook.” So with Coker, let him air it out and then turn it over to the run game when we get near the red zone. The FSU transfer needs the experience and those kind of reps, but if it was a close game, I hope the play calling is a bit different. Overall, Kiffin did another great job calling plays. Getting Kenyan Drake the ball and finding Amari Cooper out wide usually results in big plays. Still waiting on O.J. Howard to get the ball, which is very frustrating when you look at how talented he is.

Let’s talk Jake Coker

There’s no mistaking Coker’s talent. He has a great arm, steps up in the pocket, good size, and enough mobility to even be a threat outside the pocket as well. Watching the game, he just didn’t look 100 percent comfortable. He overthrew a screen pass, missed a couple reads, had a little miscommunication on some routes, and made a couple dumb plays like the sack at the end of the half. Coker could just be shaking the rust off, but there’s also a reason why Sims shot up the depth chart. If you’re Saban, do you roll with the vet who is a little limited in the passing game? Or how about the better passer who is still adjusting? With Florida two weeks from today, it’s still a very hard call. I’m still not totally confident in Blake Sims. Looking at the box score you see 11/13 for 214 yards and three total touchdowns and it sounds like a great game. Well, Sims did have a good game, but most of the big plays were yards after the catch. He threw high percentage passes and kept the passing game short. That’s great, that’s usually all you need to win a game at Alabama. But when A&M comes to town or even Auburn, is he going to progress enough to become more of an aerial threat when we really need a score? Defenses will start to key in on our screen passes, they’ll continue to stack the box, and the safeties will inch up closer. Can Sims make the defense pay? I’m not sure yet. Coker has the higher potential but if Coker looks uncomfortable again next week, then I’m not sure how Sims doesn’t win the job.

Crowd Was great

People made way too big of a deal last season over Alabama’s attendance, specifically near the end of the games in the student section. Now I’m not going to dive into that today but I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the stadium. An 11 a.m. kick off, a non-SEC opponent, and chance of storms later on. The student section was still packed at kick off and the rest of the stadium was pretty full. Of course you’re going to have the mad dash to the exits at halftime from some. It was hot as Hades and a 31-point cushion. Plenty of people stayed for the second half and hopefully we don’t have any drama this season over something that’s pretty pointless. Also, maybe don’t go out all night before an 11 a.m. kick off or tailgate too hard in the morning. Saw quite a few sick students holding rails or needing medical attention. Nice practice for the bigger games later on; good job guys.