Alabama Football: What I Learned Watching Alabama Beat Washington

The 2016 Alabama football team claimed another entry into college football’s National Championship game with a win over the Washington Huskies. But what did we learn watching the play unfold in Atlanta?

With each passing week we’ll learn more about the 2016 Crimson Tide squad. We’ll spot trends as they emerge and puzzle at both the positive and negative outliers throughout the Alabama Football season.

In this weekly feature I’ll highlight a handful of the lessons this team is teaching me.

Again, Don’t Fret the Slow Start

I suppose I could have won a lot of money had a bet my hunch going into Alabama’s first round playoff match up with Washington. Of course Washington was going to score first, Stevie Wonder could see that coming.

Not dissimilar to the Florida game, Washington – with more time and better coaching – scripted a nice set of opening plays. They moved the ball around and attacked where and how they saw their best opportunities for success. This all while the Alabama defense was getting a sense to the game and before adjustments were made.

However, following the early scoring drive, Washington didn’t cross the 50-yard line again until their final possession of the game.

Hello Bo

The Bo Scarbrough we witnessed Saturday night is what many Bama fans expected to see early in September. I’ll plea a little guilt on that front too.

However, it takes time for a player coming off injury to regain their athletic form and mental toughness. During the season we’ve watched as Bo was removed from play on more than one occasion after a big hit or physical play. It was only in November against LSU that we saw Bo actually return to a game in which he exited with what appeared to be a injury.

That’s not a comment to Bo’s courage but rather an appreciation for the rigors of the game, both physically and mentally.

Now we have Bo’s coming out party. His 19 carries represent not only his high water mark but also better than 17% of his workload for the season. Bo’s production on Saturday is even more telling as his 180-yard performance represents a full quarter of his 719 rushing yards on the season.

Scarbrough has found his comfort zone and threatens to become a force not only in the championship game but for at least another season.

Hello Bo Indeed!

Overly Conservative

There’s a thread we’ve been tracking on the podcast this season that reared its head again on Saturday. Alabama coaches, mostly on defense, have over reacted to a perceived tendency for a given opponent – see Arkansas, TAMU, and Florida for examples.

This week the offense took a turn as Alabama ran the ball 80% of the team – 50 of 64 to be exact. I understand Washington has a tendency for creating turnovers, as does young Mr. Jalen Hurts, but land locking the offense seemed an extreme solution. Quick developing intermediate routes, screens, or simply tossing one up for the physical Ardarius Stewart were all available and could have easily been integrated into the flow of the game.

Perhaps we’ll see some movement on this with the sudden, but not completely unexpected, early transition to Sark.

Saban-isms Rule the Day

If you listen close enough to coach Saban he’ll tell you exactly how he’s going to win games. If you watch closely enough, he’ll make you a smarter fan in the process.

Of his many mantras, two were on display against the Huskies – Affect the Quarterback and Drive Start.

Alabama sacked Jake Browning 5 times and were mere steps away from doubling that number, in what was arguably his worst performance of the season.

Drive Start is code for smart special teams and it works both ways. Where does Alabama start their drives and where do they allow the opponent to start their drives.

JK Scott was instrumental in ensuring Washington suffered through miserable field position most

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of the evening. Eight times the Huskies began a possession inside their 20, and 3 of those initiated within the 10. That already creates a long field but doubly so with the Tide defense standing in your path.

Depth Watch

This has been a surprisingly fun feature this season. Admittedly it has roots in panic and the concerns remain legit, but the fun has been in watching individual players rise to the occasion – check out this week’s podcast for some Tony Brown love.

But in a single moment against the Huskies this feature flashed before my eyes as a trio of Tide defenders lay prone of the ground after converging on a play – Reuben Foster, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Ronnie Harrison.

All quickly returned to action, Reuben sporting a significant brace, and none seem significantly hampered.

Good news for a team with one more hill to climb in route to perhaps being recognized as one of the best college football teams to ever grace the field.

Next: The 50 Best Players In Alabama Football History

Check back as I continue to track these and new items as they emerge from the field. Also be sure to check out our podcasts as I explore and debate these topics and many more in a more animated format.

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