Lane was impatient, DeBoer won with conservatism

In a game as defensive as this ended up being (until we handed Bama back-to-back 4th quarter possessions starting in the red zone), we just plain and simple got too aggressive when the offense was initially stalling.

1. The decision to attempt a 56 yard FG
While he did have the leg for it, that would have been Starzyk's career long by a few yards. Let him try FGs of that distance against LA Tech and McNeese, not against the #5 team in the country in a tie ballgame. Probably would have been safest to punt that one and let the defense continue gaining confidence with a 80-90 yard field. Instead, we gave Bama an extra 30 yards of field position to put the first TD of the game on the board.

2. 4th & 4 attempt from the 9
Down 10-3, offense is moving it well but has now stalled a few times. 3.5 minutes left in the 1st half, and we're getting the ball first in the 3rd quarter. Take your points and stay in the fight. 4th & 4 does not have a high enough probability of conversion when there's still 34 minutes left in the game.

3. 2nd & 19 at Bama 36 - Interception
The offense is once again driving, but Bama makes a big play and gets a sack. 30 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. Instead of accepting that it might be time to hit something underneath and work for a makeable field goal, we call a play to push it down the field, and Leavitt gets baited into an interception. Yes, Leavitt needs to do a better job of seeing the dropping linebacker, but Alabama was also willing to give us an underneath play to get in position for 3 points, and we opted for aggressive playcalling anyway.

4. 4th & 3 from Bama 36 - Turnover on Downs
Unlike the missed FG in the 2nd quarter, this would have been within Starzyk's career long range by a yard. 13 minutes left in the game down 17-13. This is definitely the most defendable decision of these 4 that I'm highlighting, but I would still say (as a Monday-morning quarterback) that the right move would have been to kick it when we had been struggling all day in short yardage situations.


Looking back, the issue was that we got aggressive early, and the tension just continued build as each tough situation arose, forcing Lane to lean on the aggressive side more and more as the game went along. We easily could have had 9 points at the half, and I don't believe Alabama would have drove the full length of the field had we punted instead of attempting the long field goal. We could have put our thumb on them in that 3rd quarter instead of playing catch up.

A lesson to be learned here in taking your medicine early when you're playing a defense of Bama's quality. Look at how Tennessee beat them: very very similar game flow, but Tennessee kicked 4 field goals in the 1st half and were then able to blow it open in the 2nd half because Heupel stayed patient in the 1st half.