X and O thread; Defense

[confucius say]

Shotgun, coach, 34, and you others who like to discuss matchups.

We have been running a 4-2-5 since troy instead of a 4-3. Cleveland was the nickel corner until Redmond went down forcing Cleveland to corner. Since then, peters has been inserted as the nickel corner. Basically we have taken Zach jackson out and put peters in, making us more athletic and allowing for more creative pressure looks.

1. Do we go back to a 4-3 look this week? I think no bc Zach jackson is not a run stopper anyway and we are not going to play a three lb set of brown, brown, and green.

2. Do you sell out to stop the run and leave yourself more vulnerable on the back end as a result? The easy answer here is yes, but there might be smn to maintaining integrity on the back end to prevent explosive plays and requiring bama to sustain drives before loading the box in the red zone.

3. I think the key defensively is to win on first down. Bama actually loves to play action on first down, so this is more complicated than just stacking the box on first down.

Thoughts on defensive alignment and strategy?

[Bubb Rubb]

Personally, I'm less concerned about alignment. I like the way Peters and Bryant are playing in there, so I wouldn't change anything. The game plan has to be stopping the run first - and that requires gap control by the defensive line, which will allow the LBs to pursue to the ball. We should also do a fair bit of run blitzing with our corners and safeties. We also should have the adjustments in place already for play action. Bama is not very deep at receiver and Coker is average at best, so their passing attack doesn't scare you - as long as we aren't overaggressive and run ourselves out of plays. I hate the bend, don't break model, but that's probably a good strategy against Bama. Very similar to how we played LSU.

Offensive strategy is much more interesting to me. Do we go five wide and try to spread the field to open up the run a little bit? Do we throw a lot of short hitches and slants, knowing that they will be heating up Dak on intermediate and deep attempts? Do we try to run Holloway into the teeth of that Bama front 7, and does he have adequate medical insurance?

[Todd4State]

1. We are a better team with Peters on the field. On the roster, Peters is only six pounds lighter and is listed as the same height as Jackson, so we really aren't losing much in terms of girth. We probably will and should leave things the same.

2. I would use pretty much whatever game plan we used against LSU. Henry is going to get yards. I'm not worried about that. We just need to focus on containing him. The worst thing we can do is change what we do best.

3. We have to be disciplined to guard against that.

[ShotgunDawg]

I'm not the best person to ask about schemes because I've never coached football, and hopefully others with more knowledge can respond.

However, in my amateur IMO, from a strategy standpoint, I'd sell out to stop the run & then play a shell over the top to prevent deep routes. I'd basically give Alabama the underneath & intermediate patterns, play a bend but don't break pass defense, & make Jake Coker be accurate with the football.

This is because I think the single greatest weakness of Alabama's team is Jake Coker's accuracy, particularly on underneath to intermediate patterns. I've seen him bounce numerous passes & throw them in the seats high. He has "shotgun" command of his passes. Due to this, if we make him consistently hit passes in the underneath to intermediate area, I think there is a great chance we get some INTs due to poor throws.

The 4-2-5 is Garry Patterson's signature defense at TCU, & was invented to stop HUNH offenses. This defense should be very successful against Ole Miss, but I'm not sure how or if it will work against Bama. My feeling is that Diaz has been scheming for this game for some time & will mix things up and have guys coming from everywhere. With that said, if it were me, I'm putting my best, most athletic defenders on the field & starting from there. If Bama is going to beat me, they will beat my best players.

[lastmajordog]

" If Bama is going to beat me, they will beat my best players."

Can I get an AMEN!!!

[archdog]

I would add, in the first half particularly, if we feel like Bama is clicking on offense, call a bloody timeout.

[archdog]

Still the best play of the year was Mullen calling timeout at the goal line against Auburn.

[FISHDAWG]

I think we have to go 4-3 ..... objective # 1 is Henry

[thf24]

I think we have to go 4-3 ..... objective # 1 is Henry

I agree, but only if Green or Gray are primarily the third LB. Might as well play another safety before putting Jackson back out there.

[msstate7]

On the first drive, bama will come out passing. Be ready, Diaz.

[confucius say]

On the first drive, bama will come out passing. Be ready, Diaz.

I tend to think so too.

[HSVDawg]

I think we have to go 4-3 ..... objective # 1 is Henry

As stated previously, the debate is between Zach Jackson and Peters. There isn't much difference between them in run support, but Peters is much better in coverage. You can call it a 4-2-5 or a 4-3 but the truth of the matter is that will vary play to play depending on how Bama lines up. We need to play our best players. Put Peters on the field.