Things I do blame Moorhead for

[KingCharlesSpaniel]

1) This is at least the 2nd time this year he has not challenged a likely turnover. He knew the margins would be tighter than ever in this game and should have been prepared to do that.
2) Not being ready to make sure the TO got called before Fitz inevitably got delay of game near the goal line.
3) General sloppiness and ill preparedness on the sidelines. Not having the right personnel ready to go. At this point in the season we should not have to call timeouts to get a kicking unit on the field or worry about 12 men.
4) Lack of disciplined play on the OL. The false starts should be gone by now. Bad snaps should be gone by now.
5) Not recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of his QB. With the --by now well known by all-- limitations of Fitz as a QB, no real effort was made to put him into a position to succeed against a brutal rush.

Items 1-4 speak to lack of control and discipline. That is worrisome this late in the season. It makes me wonder if this will be a permanent feature of the Moorhead staff.
Item 5 causes me to fear for the future of the offense. The HC must be able to recognize and plan around the strengths and weaknesses of the AVAILABLE players. Moorhead gives me cause to doubt that he can do this.
Before the Kentucky game I hoped that we had an upgrade at coach. Now I fear we made an entirely lateral move and have more seasons of 6-8 wins with maybe the occasional 9 to look forward to.

 

[vandaldawg]

All that. All that.

And I’lll add:

6) Not lining up under center like a ******** man with a 235 pound QB on 3rd and inches and running a sneak. I don’t care what your precious scheme is.
7) I’m jealous watching Georgia run quick inside hitters and counters to the tailbacks off guard and tackle. Kylin and Aries should get 10 of those each per game. They ran well inside on Bama at times when we did hand the ball off.

 

[Drebin]

1) This is at least the 2nd time this year he has not challenged a likely turnover. He knew the margins would be tighter than ever in this game and should have been prepared to do that.
2) Not being ready to make sure the TO got called before Fitz inevitably got delay of game near the goal line.
3) General sloppiness and ill preparedness on the sidelines. Not having the right personnel ready to go. At this point in the season we should not have to call timeouts to get a kicking unit on the field or worry about 12 men.
4) Lack of disciplined play on the OL. The false starts should be gone by now.
5) Not recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of his QB. With the --by now well known by all-- limitations of Fitz as a QB, no real effort was made to put him into a position to succeed against a brutal rush.

Items 1-4 speak to lack of control and discipline. That is worrisome this late in the season. It makes me wonder if this will be a permanent feature of the Moorhead staff.
Item 5 causes me to fear for the future of the offense. The HC must be able to recognize and plan around the strengths and weaknesses of the AVAILABLE players. Moorhead gives me cause to doubt that he can do this.
Before the Kentucky game I hoped that we had an upgrade at coach. Now I fear we made an entirely lateral move and have more seasons of 6-8 wins with maybe the occasional 9 to look forward to.

This is a great post, top to bottom. Fact-based and inarguable.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

Mullen had problems with some of this early on too. I chalk it up trying to do too much, ie playcalling and running the team. And frustration, from a senior laden team used to doing things Mullen’s way.

 

[kired]

1) This is at least the 2nd time this year he has not challenged a likely turnover. He knew the margins would be tighter than ever in this game and should have been prepared to do that.

So should he just start blindly challenging any possible turnover, no matter how early it is and when he has absolutely no view of the play? If you go by what players say, you'd challenge every play when a ball comes out - even if the guy was down for 3 seconds. I think everyone is forgetting you get one challenge per game if the play isn't overturned. You hate to risk losing your only challenge 2 minutes into a game if you didn't really see the play.

If you're going to be upset with anyone, blame whoever our coaches were in the booth with a better view and the SEC officials (on the field and replay). The norm now days on a questionable fumble is let the play continue and then review. Never should have been blown dead in the first place. And even after that the replay official should have stopped the game to review.

I will agree the sloppiness yesterday on offense is my biggest concern. I had hoped even if we got shutout, we would at least look more organized. Still a long way to go...

 

[Drebin]

So should he just start blindly challenging any possible turnover, no matter how early it is and when he has absolutely no view of the play? If you go by what players say, you'd challenge every play when a ball comes out - even if the guy was down for 3 seconds. I think everyone is forgetting you get one challenge per game if the play isn't overturned. You hate to risk losing your only challenge 2 minutes into a game if you didn't really see the play.

If you're going to be upset with anyone, blame whoever our coaches were in the booth with a better view and the SEC officials (on the field and replay). The norm now days on a questionable fumble is let the play continue and then review. Never should have been blown dead in the first place. And even after that the replay official should have stopped the game to review.

I will agree the sloppiness yesterday on offense is my biggest concern. I had hoped even if we got shutout, we would at least look more organized. Still a long way to go...

I don't disagree and don't necessarily blame Moorhead for the non-challenge. I blame the officiating crew more for not calling down to review. If it were a state RB that fumbled, does anyone think they wouldn't have reviewed that one?

What Moorhead should have done, especially since it was in the first half, is call a time out to give his coaches in the booth more time to decide whether they want to challenge, or give the crew more time to decide to review it. The worst it would have cost was a first half first down, and the reward was well worth the risk. The margin is so slim when you're playing Alabama that you have to call a timeout there.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

Complaining about and citing discipline issues about false starts on the road against bama in Bryant-Denny ring hollow imo.

That front 7 is nasty and the crowd is loud as ****, can’t expect perfection in that environment.

I agree about the QB sneak on 3rd or 4th in inches. Lining up under center and sneaking it should be in everybody’s playbook. Seems obvious.

 

[Drebin]

Complaining about and citing discipline issues about false starts on the road against bama in Bryant-Denny ring hollow imo.

You realize we are a veteran-heavy team, right? There should be no discipline issues, no matter where we play.

And if you think Bryant-Denny is an overly intimidating place to play, you've never been there before. The crowd there is pretty docile, and was especially docile yesterday. They only get worked up there when LSU or Auburn come to town, and even then, it's not nearly as intimidating as other environments.

 

[Clarence Boddicker]

And if you think Bryant-Denny is an overly intimidating place to play, you've never been there before. The crowd there is pretty docile, and was especially docile yesterday. They only get worked up there when LSU or Auburn come to town, and even then, it's not nearly as intimidating as other environments.

Dear God you are an idiot. I don’t care how long you have posted on this board or how much internet credibility you think you have.

One thing you certainly don’t have is experience in game attendance, which likely explains all your baseless armchair theories.

 

[Drebin]

Dear God you are an idiot. I don’t care how long you have posted on this board or how much internet credibility you think you have.

One thing you certainly don’t have is experience in game attendance, which likely explains all your baseless armchair theories.

I've been to every stadium in the SEC more than once. I went almost a decade not missing a game home or road. I've been to Bama several times. That's a strange melt you have going there.

 

[CagerMania]

Everyone wanting us to line up closer to Center must’ve missed the center being blown up all night. I’d be afraid to line up any closer to the line for fear that the D would get to Fitz before the snap did.

 

[Seinfeld]

I think that even qualifying the current staff as a lateral move is at least questionable at this point. I’m going to have to see how these last two games play out

The other thing I’ll add is that we knew good and well going into this game that Hill was going to be our best option to break one, and he proved that by having our longest play from scrimmage. In spite of that, he touched the ball exactly 8 times. I’m running out of ways to say how ridiculous and inexcusable this is

 

[KingCharlesSpaniel]

So should he just start blindly challenging any possible turnover, no matter how early it is and when he has absolutely no view of the play? If you go by what players say, you'd challenge every play when a ball comes out - even if the guy was down for 3 seconds. I think everyone is forgetting you get one challenge per game if the play isn't overturned. You hate to risk losing your only challenge 2 minutes into a game if you didn't really see the play.

If you're going to be upset with anyone, blame whoever our coaches were in the booth with a better view and the SEC officials (on the field and replay). The norm now days on a questionable fumble is let the play continue and then review. Never should have been blown dead in the first place. And even after that the replay official should have stopped the game to review.

I will agree the sloppiness yesterday on offense is my biggest concern. I had hoped even if we got shutout, we would at least look more organized. Still a long way to go...

You are correct. Normally a coach should not potentially waste a TO on a challenge, especially that early in a game. I just think that Bama is different. We need every opportunity against them, however tiny. I should have considered the coaches in the booth on this one tho. You are correct that it was really their job to make this kind of call. I did not think that thru.

 

[HuskyBDawg]

The performance of the football team is ultimately Coach Moorhead's responsibility, but he has to rely on the entire coaching staff to do their jobs with intensity and attention to detail. Some of the issues brought up in this thread lead me to believe that the coaching staff is enjoying a great work/life balance that would be impossible in Tuscaloosa.

Nick Saban went for the touchdown on fourth and goal because he is Nick Saban. He will do anything in his power to win a national championship. If adding a second stripe to the Alabama helmets would result in 10 more yards passing per game, you can bet that someone would be painting the stripes on at this moment. Is he fun to work for? Ask Joey Freshwater. That type of leadership is not effective with everyone.

It would be interesting to learn more about Coach Moorhead's leadership and management style. I had thought that having multiple former head coaches on staff would bring about great results, but now I wonder if some of the men lack intensity in their jobs because it is something of a demotion. Does anyone on the offensive staff own a stopwatch?

Thanks to Bob Shoop and the team on his side of the ball. The defense has made the games fun to watch despite the lack of offensive production.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

You realize we are a veteran-heavy team, right? There should be no discipline issues, no matter where we play.

And if you think Bryant-Denny is an overly intimidating place to play, you've never been there before. The crowd there is pretty docile, and was especially docile yesterday. They only get worked up there when LSU or Auburn come to town, and even then, it's not nearly as intimidating as other environments.

So since our OL are veterans and played 3 or 4 years in college, I guess there should never ever be a false start in the NFL by that logic? You see how that’s not realistic?


And please, Saban has lost exactly 7 games by a combined 32 points in Bryant-Denny in 11 years. If you think that place is “docile” and just an average road game, you’re an idiot.

 

[Drebin]

So since our OL are veterans and played 3 or 4 years in college, I guess there should never ever be a false start in the NFL by that logic? You see how that’s not realistic?


And please, Saban has lost exactly 7 games by a combined 32 points in Bryant-Denny in 11 years. If you think that place is “docile” and just an average road game, you’re an idiot.

You're a troll.