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Study Hall: Alabama 31, Colorado State 6

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Spor

Confused? Visit the Advanced Stats glossary here. Or just skip to the words. I won't be offended. (Okay, I'll only be a little offended.)

Bleh.

Alabama 31, Colorado State 6

CSU Alabama CSU Alabama
Close % 78.6% STANDARD DOWNS
Field Position % 21.9% 54.2% Success Rate 48.5% 60.0%
Leverage % 64.7% 67.6% PPP 0.42 0.90
S&P 0.902 1.505
TOTAL
EqPts 22.1 31.8 PASSING DOWNS
Close Success Rate 37.3% 43.2% Success Rate 16.7% 8.3%
Close PPP 0.36 0.70 PPP 0.26 0.28
Close S&P 0.736 1.133 S&P 0.431 0.359
RUSHING TURNOVERS
EqPts 4.6 7.5 Number 1 1
Close Success Rate 21.7% 30.8% Turnover Pts 4.2 4.0
Close PPP 0.19 0.44 Turnover Pts Margin -0.3 +0.3
Close S&P 0.406 0.752
Line Yards/carry 2.00 2.14 Q1 S&P 0.663 1.138
Q2 S&P 0.525 1.016
PASSING Q3 S&P 0.956 1.098
EqPts 17.6 24.3 Q4 S&P 0.420 1.040
Close Success Rate 50.0% 50.0%
Close PPP 0.51 0.84 1st Down S&P 0.759 1.534
Close S&P 1.007 1.340 2nd Down S&P 0.599 0.487
SD/PD Sack Rate 6.7% / 0.0% 0.0% / 0.0% 3rd Down S&P 0.713 0.828
Projected Pt. Margin: Alabama +9.9 | Actual Pt. Margin: Alabama +25

Again, I know that Alabama typically has a game like this. And I know that I would still pick the Tide to win any single game against any team (though Oregon and LSU are each giving me pause at this point). But this was an incredibly mediocre performance by Bama, even considering the Tide were happy to cruise along in third gear. They repeatedly pinned CSU deep, kept thing relatively efficient on standard downs, and did nothing whatsoever on passing downs. If a team like LSU is able to consistently stick the Tide in second- or third-and-long situations, I'm not sure Bama can move the ball ... at least, not until Amari Cooper starts playing like Amari Cooper.

The bar's pretty high for Alabama. And the Tide failed to clear it on Saturday. (I assume they'll clear it just fine against Ole Miss, but let's not pretend that's a 100 percent certainty.)