Analysis from Shabutie

He posted on 247 and gave perm to post this. Figure our staff will post up something but wanted to give some perspective.

Seems LT haters should be quiet based on his review

I am going to review each passing attempt we had in the game.

1st Half:

1. 2nd and 10 throw to Coles who was inside receiver in trips. Coles ran an 8 yard stick route and was slow getting his head around, ball bounced off his chest for a drop.

2. 1st and 10 WR screen to Knowles. Very tough play to run against that secondary as they reacted very quickly. Knowles catches the pass and hops backwards for no gain. He just looked scared after he caught the ball.

3. 3rd and 14 Coles, who is again the inside receiver on the trips side runs a deep in route. Thomas has a good pocket, steps and delivers the ball on the money for a long gain. Execution was perfect on this play all around.

4. 1st and 10 we go hurry up play action and Thomas has nothing down the field and throws the ball away.

5. 2nd and 10 we go play action off of a zone read look in the shotgun and Thomas throws a 9 route to Knowles. Thomas throws the ball in the only place he can while under pressure from two defenders. Knowles who was covered well drops a 28 yard-gainer. This was probably the best throw from Thomas in the game, considering the circumstances and although it would not have been an easy catch, it is a catch that has to be made.

6. 3rd and 10 Alabama brings a blitz that we pick up decently and Thomas throws an 8-yard hitch route to Knowles, who again drops the ball. I am pretty sure the route was supposed to be run at 10 yards and Knowles cut it short as well.

7. 3rd and 4 we have a tight trips bunch to the left and the outside receiver Knowles come across on a crossing route. Very good play call here and a good design. Knowles is open for an easy 1st down and drops a ball that is thrown right into his stomach. Thomas overreacted to the rush on this and threw it off of his back foot, but still put it on Knowles, although didn't lead him. Huge dropped pass to stop the drive.

8. 2nd and 7 Alabama brings 6 men on a blitz and Thomas goes to his hot read, which is Coles on a slant. Coles looks back and forth at the defender 3 times on his route, runs half-speed and then completely stops on his route. He was loafing and scared to get hit and this ended up being a pick 6 for Alabama's Sunseri.

9. 1st and 10 we go play action and Knowles runs a double move. Great protection up front and Knowles beats his man deep. Thomas overthrows him by a couple of yards and we miss out on a huge play. So far this has been Thomas' worst throw of the game.

10. 3rd and 6 we run two crossing routes underneath. Coles, slows down on his route, which causes Thomas to lead him a bit too far. Thomas throws the ball low to Coles, which where he is supposed to throw it, which the way the coverage was converging. If Coles doesn't slow on his route and actually makes a good effort to catch the ball, we have a completion. Because of Coles loafing, the pass would have been a yard short of the first down. If he just runs his route here, the ball is on him. Even then, the ball bounces off of his hands on a ball he should have caught. Thomas got the blame from the announcers but should not have on this play.

11. 3rd and 1 we go play action and Miller and Wang get split by the DT without even touching him. Thomas is forced to roll right and throw the ball away as the only receiver on that side is blanketed.

12. 1st and 10 Thomas goes play action and is looking deep. Redman gets absolutely manhandles in pass pro and Thomas is forced to get rid of the ball to Edmunds on a check down. Edmunds makes a nice grab for a 5-yard gain.

13. 3rd and 9 Redman again gets destroyed in pass pro and gives up immediate pressure and a big hit on Thomas. Thomas tried to hit Knowles on a corner route in the end zone. Again, on this route, Knowles thinks he is covered and slows down on his route before gearing up again. The Alabama defender drops an INT in the endzone.

14. 3rd and 8 Alabama blitzes and just about every OT gets beat. McLaughlin gets beaten immediately and gets away with a huge facemask. Wang doesn't see the blitz and blocks nobody and Miller is put in a bad position because of Wang. The forces Thomas to immediate role the opposite direction where this play is going. He escapes pressure and throws the ball away.

2nd Half:

15. 3rd and 5 we give up some pressure and Thomas has nowhere to throw the ball. Redman looks like he is trying to stay stuck to his defender, they had a robber playing underneath the crossing route (Coles, who is again worried about getting hit) and Knowles, who the play was cleared out for, runs the wrong route and isn't even an option. In fact, he doesn't run any route on the play. Thomas is forced to throw the ball away.

16. 2nd and 11 we go play action and there is quite a bit of pressure. Thomas gets his leg hit as he is throwing it and the ball sails out of bounds. I think Thomas could have moved around in the pocket better on this play and bought himself some more time.

17. 3rd and 11 Thomas gets some late pressure and throws another 9 route to Knowles. The ball is thrown outside, where it has to be with the safety coming over the top. Knowles doesn't concentrate at all and the ball bounces off of his facemask. He wasn't even close to catching this pass that would have went for 40 yards and a big first down.

18. 2nd and 9 good protection up front but everyone is being sent deep downfield. He tried to throw a long ball to Parker who is just eaten up on his 9 route and falls down on the play. No chance to complete a pass anywhere on this play, just well defended.

19. 1st and 10 we get an illegal motion, which was also an illegal formation (We had a few others that they somehow missed) and we get a penalty. On the play Thomas scrambles for a 1st down but it gets called back.

20. 2nd and 12 good protection and Stanford runs a really nice quick corner route. Thomas steps into it and puts it right on the money for a 16-yard gain.

21. 3rd and 2 Alabama brings a blitz and we run another crossing route to Knowles. Thomas puts it on the money under pressure and Knowles hangs on for a 1st down, thanks to a generous spot.

22. 1st and 10 great protection up front (probably the best all game) and Thomas throws a deep ball to Knowles who is blanketed. Thomas just puts it out of reach were it can't be intercepted. Every other receiver is double covered on the play.

23. 1st and 10 Coles runs a crossing route and again half-asses and alligator arms the throw. The ball was thrown exactly where it was supposed to be and Coles decided not to catch the ball.

24. 2nd and 10 Good protection, Coles runs a 13-yard curl and drops a perfectly thrown ball.

25. 3rd and 10 We run crossing routes and Alabama is just sitting behind them in a zone. They knew exactly what was coming and Thomas was forced to avoid some pressure and threw a pass to Edmunds in the flats, who again dropped the football to complete the very rare 3 drop, 3-and-out series.

26. 2nd and 9 Great protection and Thomas throws a deep in route to Knowles, who drops a another pass. This one was a higher throw but should have been easily caught.

27. The freshmen gets beaten badly on this play and gets beat inside on a play where he had a running back helping him outside. Probably would not have mattered anyways as there was nothing downfield. Play results in a sack.

I can't seem to find one play but I remember it being a throw to Stanford where Thomas had to put it just over an LBs hand and try to drop it in. Stanford didn't jump or put his hands up on the play and pass almost got intercepted by the safety. Without him trying to make a play on the ball, it is hard to know if the pass was catchable. I do know if he threw the ball even a couple of inches lower, it would have been tipped.

That was the final throw of the game for the team. All in all, there were 11 drops or receivers stopping on routes leading to incomplete passes or an INT. Five of the plays Thomas had the throw the ball away and one play he was hit while releasing the ball and the ball sailed out of bounds. On one incomplete pass the primary receiver ran the wrong route and n another play the WR fell down on his route.

As for positives in regards to Thomas, his mechanics were much better than last year and he did a much better job keeping his eyes down the field. He struggles some with pocket awareness and movement and missed the big deep ball to Knowles. He also threw some long throws that people would have been raving about, had receivers not dropped the passes. His reads in the zone running game were accurate. A couple of times, plays were blown up and probably looked like bad reads but it was due to an inside blitzer disrupting the play, in which there is nothing he can do because he is reading the DE.