Alabama State Football: Much Work to do on Bye Week

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Alabama State is currently on a bye week as they sit on a comfortable 1-1 record. Over the past two games, they have shown some promise. Winning their week one matchup against Miles College in an overtime thriller 14-13 was a good morale booster with the defense holding their own preventing big plays. One would think defeating a rival opponent in your home stadium gives your team that extra juice going into next week, no matter who your opponent is right? Well, when you’re used to playing FCS talent, suddenly playing an SEC school is a big challenge. The Hornets looked to hold their own as the defense allowed just two field goals after the first quarter opening a lot of eyes on the potential of this football team.

But the Hornets have a lot of work to do. The offense has really been the Achilles heel of it all. Through two games you can see scoring points is not a strength. Zero passing touchdowns and only two rushing is a terrible stat for any coaching staff to look at. Rushing yards is not much better with just 169 gained on 61 attempts and an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. The passing game is not bad stat-wise; 39 completions on 59 attempts and 327 yards but you can tell they are not aggressive because the average passing yards per attempt is 5.5 yards. This brings me to my next point about what the Hornets should work on moving forward.

Lack of aggression is going the kill Alabama State and if they don’t fix it fast, it will be the team’s defense having to play not to lose games. Whether it’s offensive coordinator Joe Blackwell or quarterback Ryan Nettles, someone has to address this problem. The times the quarterback took shots downfield, on most occasions, the passes were overthrown. Even though running back Jacory Merritt scored the game-winning touchdown to seal the game against Miles, just a few plays before Nettles overthrew tight end, Terrance Ellis, on a corner route by about 10 yards. These are the type of key plays, especially in clutch moments that you can’t miss. But you can still see the fear of losing on the offense. Against Auburn, playing in their house also, you cant show that you are scared. Watching the game the Tigers looked to have a feast while the Hornets looked to not get injured. Auburn had four passing plays for 15+ yards totaling 121 yards gained and 10 rushing plays for 10+ yards totaling 287 yards gained. The Hornets…. Just two passing plays for 37 total yards and two rushing for 22 yards. Adopting an aggressive playstyle offensively is a must if they intend to compete for a conference title.