Ryan Fowler's Reaction: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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.

Alabama vs. ULM

1) The Good

Alabama exploded out of the tunnel with 28 first quarter points and found the endzone several ways including Will Anderson’s interception for a touchdown and a blocked punt for a touchdown.

Bryce Young found the endzone with a touchdown through the air and another touchdown via a 7-yard rush. The Crimson Tide found a rushing attack as the game progressed and the final numbers were balanced, which I think is the key to success in current college football.

A balanced offense keeps defensive coordinators guessing and prevents the opposing defense from loading up against the rush or pass. Alabama played an array of players and this was not just garbage time in a blowout game, they mixed it up early in the game.

Experiments continue in the secondary and on the offensive line, I heard throughout the week that Tyler Booker was getting some repetitions with first-team offense, that proved to be accurate as Booker came in early in the 1st half.

Three games into the season, Jahmyr Gibbs seems to be the Tide’s “lean on” guy in both the rushing attack and the passing game. Gibbs walked out of Bryant-Denny stadium with 158 all-purpose yards. I was also impressed with Alabama’s front seven on defense, plenty of pressure from this group against inferior competition.

2) The Bad

Who is going to be the most dependable wide receiver for this Crimson Tide team? Who is going to step-up when Alabama needs a big play from this group?

At times, it looks to be Jermaine Burton, at other times it looks to Traeshon Holden, I still think they need more consistency from this group. I can see Ja’Corey Brooks having a bigger role in the passing game, he has the big play potential that this team needs. Cameron Latu can also be another big playmaker in an offense that would like to be able to feature a tight end.

Alabama’s offense was 1-6 on 3rd down, some key mistakes prevented this number from being better.

3) Ugly

I have the hardest job in Tuscaloosa coming up with an ugly from a 63-7 win over inferior competition, but I am going to highlight the sloppy play in the second quarter. Other than the final drive in the second quarter that ended in a touchdown pass from Bryce Young to Amari Niblack, the offense lacked consistency.

Coming into the final drive, Alabama had four yards of offense, it was little things that prevented the Tide from having success. ULM is no threat to benefit from these sloppy mistakes; however, when the competition improves, we will see how costly the mistakes can be.

One final ugly, away from Bryant-Denny Stadium, did Auburn really let a Big 10 team come into Jordan-Hare Stadium and completely dominate them in almost every area of the game? Another performance like that for Bryan Harsin’s team and the rumors will be flying at high speed out of Lee County.

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 prizes from Daniel Moore Art, starting at 2pm on Tide 100.9 and on the free Tide 100.9 app.