alabama

Essentials

Overview

In the period between the end of Michigan's regular season and the announcement of their bowl matchup, 93% of the fanbase was of the opinion that Michigan did not, in fact, want 'Bama. Michigan got Bama anyway.

Your author is part of that 93%. Bama missed the playoff for the first time ever but still checks in #2 in the SP+ rankings. Their two losses are by five to LSU, which will play for the National Championship on some daft date like the 12th of January, and a flukefest against Auburn in which Alabama outgained the other Tigers by almost 200 yards. Per Bill Connelly's reckoning, Alabama had a 94% win expectancy in that game.

SP+ thinks the spread should be 11, FWIW. Personally, I can't figure how Michigan's going to not get stomped by Najee Harris.

[Hit THE JUMP for five stars]

Resources: My charting, Alabama game notes (Michigan's not yet available), Alabama roster, CFBstats

The film: The Iron Bowl for all the reasons, including the German one:

Personnel: My diagram:

PDF version, full-size version (or click on the image)

Yes, Alabama has a lot of star players. That's what happens when you go to the playoffs every year and flaunt the rules to such a degree that paying players through your assistants' salaries is called the "Alabama System" in football circles. Tuscaloosa Football Inc. has had first pick of high school talent for a decade; hanging onto it is a challenge because the NFL takes those who are eligible and those who aren't starting can usually transfer somewhere where they will, however, so there are no seniors.

If you pay attention at all to college football outside of the Big Ten, you know that 5-star QB Tua Tagovailoa pipped incumbent star Jalen Hurts, who transferred to Oklahoma. That left QB Mac Jones, a barely top-400 player, the lead backup when Tua's Heisman campaign was cut short with a hip injury this season. Jones is your standard pre-Hurts Alabama quarterback: a stiff "game manager" who wouldn't look out of place at Michigan State. It's a big deal.

Tight end is the other position causing fret. Nominal starter/former Michigan target TE Major Tennison (+3/-3 in this game) hasn't developed into more than just a guy. He's only on the field a third of the time as they make heavy use of specialists. These are a moonlighting offensive lineman, Kendall Randolph (+6/-2, no bad pass pro events) and still-receiver-sized true freshman TE Jahleel Billingsley, who's rather like Devin Funchess was when he was wearing #19. Backup C Chris Owens will occasionally don a #84 jersey and add to the beef. Owens will also snap a few as a sixth OL, pushing the C, RG, RT, and TE one job to the right.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the breakdown.]

#AllGroundingOffense probably doesn't work as well as #AllPIOffense, but…

I have a question for the football brain trust at Mgoblog.
Should the quarterback always intentionally ground ball to avoid a sack?
It seems like a good idea to me. What is the downside?

Phillip

Uh. I mean… he's not wrong? Since the penalty is "lol no this is still a sack" without anything extra tagged on, grounding is a penalty that's not really a penalty.

The main thing keeping quarterbacks from attempting any desperate chuck to avoid a sack is the potential for a turnover. I'm pretty sure Patterson's first fumble against Army happened because Patterson was trying to get the ball out after he saw the guy coming, and later in that game the MTSU QB's attempt to ground the ball should have been a pick six punt directly at Lavert Hill.

FWIW, I think grounding should be harsher. If you're in someone's grasp and you aren't making a genuine attempt to complete a pass that should be grounding. That includes booting the ball six yards OOB, throwing the ball to a running back in pass protection, and throwing the ball aimlessly in the middle of the field with no one within five yards.

[After THE JUMP: MSU twelve-man-on-the-field radio call]