Ryan Fowler’s Reaction: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Alabama v Miami Edition

Every Monday, Nick Saban spends part of the afternoon showing his players the good plays, bad plays, and ugly plays from the previous Saturday.

The good section highlights what the team did well in the game; individual plays, series of plays, moments of the game that went good for the Crimson Tide.

The bad section focuses on plays that were run incorrectly, maybe a play designed to pick up more yardage but failed. It might include simple mistakes, a turnover or just a simple missed block or tackle.

The ugly section could also be called the disaster section, plays that went completely wrong or injuries. Ugly plays are learning moments for the team. Part of discussing the bad and ugly plays includes thinking through what they could have done differently.

Week 1: Alabama vs. Miami

Good: Nick Saban extends his streak to 15-straight opening season wins with another dominating performance. In opening games, Alabama outscored opponents 610-176, the Tide averaging 40.7 points per game while only giving up 11.7 points.

Will Anderson picked up were he left off last season with nine total tackles, one sack, and one tackle for a loss. Anderson has a chance to be a top-five player in college football, his performance in Atlanta was a good start for his sophomore campaign.

Bryce Young wins the good category with a record setting day for the most passing touchdowns in a starting debut for the Crimson Tide. Young showed plenty of poise for any quarterback but exceeded most people’s expectations in his first career start. Nick Saban said Young took what the defense gave him throughout the game, this is big praise for a first time starter. Saban usually saves that comment for veteran quarterbacks but wasted no time describing Young’s performance with the comment after a 27-for-38, 344 yard, four touchdown performance.

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Bad: Saban told Rashad Johnson at the halftime interview on Tide 100.9(CTSN) that Alabama lost momentum at the end of first half, back-to-back series for the offense and defense. This happened again in a second half that enabled Miami to find the endzone with D’Eriq King’s only touchdown pass.

Alabama’s offense did not reach perfection with multiple missed assignments on a play that allowed Miami’s turnover chain to make one appearance in Atlanta. Saban will use these moments to teach a young team to remain focused for all 60 minutes, not just the 55 minutes that happened Saturday afternoon.

Ugly: Nick Saban said in the post-game press conference that Chris Allen has a significant foot injury and may be lost for the season. Coming into the season, pass rush was going to be a strength for Alabama, in 2015 Alabama had 52 sacks which lead the country in sacks. I thought Alabama had a chance to get close or even surpass that number. The Crimson Tide can still get there but will have to do so with other 5-star talent stepping up. Drew Sanders definitely has the athletic ability to match Allen but will lack in experience that an upper classman brings to an explosive defense. My prediction is the pass rushing production will not drop too much, but the depth takes a major hit with Allen’s injury.

Former players seemed to enjoy these film sessions, I was also told the players enjoy the recognition as this serves as another level of competition inside the locker-room among players. Competition is one of the threads that separates Alabama from other college programs. I am told almost everything they do inside the building is a competition, from the practice field to the good, bad, and ugly film session.

Coming up Monday on The Game with Ryan Fowler on Tide 100.9, we will discuss the good, bad, and ugly. You will also have a chance to win a framed Daniel Moore print, “ Unrivaled,” which recognizes Alabama’s 18th National Championship, starting at 2pm on Tide 100.9 and on the free Tide 100.9 app.