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Lets get this out of the way. Alabama is so damn good. Just so good. They were good with Jalen but Tua just takes them to a different level. Just so so good.
That being said this game was kind of a good news bad news kind of thing. Despite the 22 point loss, there were some good attributes...but man there are a ton of things we have to clean up. Let’s break it down:
GOOD
Kellen Mond is a gamer at QB. Despite playing behind a struggling OL (more on that later), Kellen stood in the pocket and made some great throws...not to mention him beating the Alabama defense with his legs. This team goes the way Kellen does (who knows if he doesn’t throw two INTs) if he has time and a clean pocket he’s gonna win the game for you. If he doesn’t have time, we’re likely gonna lose the game. The defense isn’t there yet (more on that later too)
The front 7 is solid. Our defensive line played really well today. Alabama only rushed for 109. That’s a pretty dang good for our front 7. Defensive line played well and linebackers did a great job in run fits.
Special teams played well too. Seth Small has taken over the kicking job and Braden Mann did a great job punting the ball.
BAD
Woo buddy. That secondary is bad. Really really bad. The Elko honeymoon is over...and maybe that’s unfair given who we were playing but we gotta fix that back 4. I dont know that it’s just talent either because the run fits by our secondary were awful too. Bad coverage, bad tackling, just bad. Bad bad bad. Granted Tua is throwing to at least 3 NFL WRs but we need to better than what we were.
Same thing with the offensive line. We have to be better there. I think Alabama had 8 sacks. You cant win like that. Just can’t. Sure this is the best defensive line we’ll play all year, but we have got to be better than that.
OVERALL
I guess this game went about how everyone thought it would. Came out strong, but then mistakes and talent by the other side just kicked our ass. I’m really frustrated though...maybe winning wasn’t a realistic expectation, but I think we were better than a 3 TD loss to them. This team has talent. This team has pretty good coaching. This team was better than a 22 point loss to Alabama, and I’d bet Jimbo feels the same.
BTHO arkansas.