Tennessee Grades

“I think great teams have great players that can make great plays in critical situations in the game and I think we had a couple of defensive lineman that made some huge plays”  Nick Saban.   

I don’t mind saying “I told you so!”

All week I’ve been saying that the Tennessee game really had me worried.  It wasn’t a “trap game”, but it was not setting up very well.  Alabama was tired.   This would be the eighth game in a row with no bye-week.  We had played two extremely physical games back-to-back.  GMac had struggled against Ole Miss and South Carolina.  UT was coming off an open week.  The last time the Vols played, they beat the stuffing out of Georgia in a game where Jonathan Crompton looked like Joe Montana. 

Sure, Bama ought to win the game.  But it was going to be a slug-fest.  The 14 ½ point betting line that favored the Tide was so out of kilter that Chase Goodbread picked the Vols to cover.

But I wasn’t prepared for the way this game turned out.

With just over 3:40 to play, Alabama had the game completely under control.  Sure, the offense had not put up a lot of points, but thanks to Leigh Tiffin having an outstanding day, the Tide had a 9 point lead and the ball with first and 10 at the Bama 38 and UT only had one more timeout to call.  Even without a first down, Bama could drain the clock, punt Tennessee deep and win the game as time expired.   But then IT happened.  The one thing that Alabama could not afford to happen.

Mark Ingram, the heart and soul of our offense, a guy who personifies all the championship qualities that Coach Saban talks about, did something that he has not done before in an Alabama uniform: he lost a fumble!

The fumble was not the result of anything other than a great play by a great player – UT’s Eric Berry.  Fueled by desperation, Berry forced the ball out of Ingram’s grip and recovered it to give the Vols possession at the Alabama 48.  The game clock showed 3:29 to play.

For the next 3:25 seconds it seemed like everything was going Tennessee’s way.  Marcel Dareus sacked Crompton for 7 yards, but on second down Montareo Hardesty gained 16 on a screen pass to set up a third down and 1 from the Bama 34.   Tennessee alternated runs by Bryce Brown and passes by Crompton to score the first touchdown allowed by Alabama in 12 quarters of play.  This was followed by a successfully executed on-sides kick and two complete passes, including a 23 yard completion from Crompton to tight end, Luke Stocker on second and 15 from mid field.

Then another IT happened.  The one thing Tennessee could not afford to happen.

Fueled by desperation, Terrence Cody ripped apart the center of the UT offensive line and blocked his second field goal attempt …. Not of his career, not of the season.  No.  This was Cody’s second blocked field goal attempt in the last  10:33 of game time.

Coach Saban said after the game: “I think great teams have great players that can make great plays in critical situations.”

By that standard, Alabama is a great team.

Cody is not the only great player that made great plays in critical situations yesterday, he is just the most obvious.  Javier Arenas played out of his mind, turning in a 13 tackle performance that included 3 for a loss and none greater than his 12 yard sack of Crompton on the 12th play of a sustained drive in the third quarter that put UT out of field goal range.  Mark Ingram gained 99 yards rushing but his greatest play-13 yards over right tackle-came with Alabama in the critical situation of first down at its own 4 yard line.

Championship teams typically become champions because they overcome adversity.   Sometimes, that adversity is a regular season  loss like Florida in 2008 and 2006 and LSU in 2007 and 2003.  Sometimes, that adversity is a regular season squeaker against an under-rated opponent; example, Alabama’s three point victory over Tulane in 1992.

Is Alabama a championship team?  We don’t know yet.  It remains to be seen how the Tide overcomes the adversity of having to block two field goal attempts in order to win by two points. 

Here’s how I grade the game:

Offense:              C --         Tennessee’s  defense is the best that Alabama has faced this season.  It might be the best that it will face from here on.   And GMac turned in his best statistical performance in the last three games.

Ingram gained 99 yards rushing on 18 attempts for an average of 5.6 yards per carry.  Trent Richardson averaged only 2.2 yards per carry on 8 runs that gained 18 net yards. 

GMac completed 18 of 29 pass attempts (62%) for 120 yards.  He did not throw a TD, but neither was he intercepted nor sacked.  Julio caught 7 passes for 54 yards, Darius Hanks had 3 catches for 17 yards.  Nine different players caught passes: 2 were running backs Richardson and Roy Upchurch, 3 were tight ends, including Baron Huber from Knoxville, and 4 were receivers, including the Pride of Reform, Alabama, red-shirt freshman, Michael Williams.

Bama managed only 16 first downs and 256 total yards (136 rushing), converted 5 of 14 third downs, and controlled the clock for only 27:42.  Alabama mounted only three drives in excess of 40 yards [45, 49, 64].  Two resulted in FGs, the other in a turnover on downs.  Mark Ingram’s fumble-his first in 322 touches-came after Bama had gained 39 penalty assisted yards.

I was considering a lower grade for the offense on account of the failure to score a TD.  Upon reflection, however, I think the play call on 3rd and 2 from the UT 6 is on the coaches, and the failure to call blatant pass interference is on the refs.  See more on both infra.

Defense:             A+          Yes, UT gained 341 yards, but the Vols were held to only 76 rushing.   Yes, UT consumed 32:18 of the clock and converted 6 of 15 third downs and 2 of 2 fourth downs.  But the stop-troops sacked Crompton twice for 19 yards, added 6 more tackles for loss, 5 hurries, 8 broken-up passes and an interception. 

As stated above, Arenas, who didn’t play last week due to bruised ribs, was credited with 13 tackles [7 solo; 3.5 for loss including 1 sack and a hurry].  Five linebackers accounted for 39 total tackles [Barron, Anders, Johnson and McClain each had 8, Cory Reamer had 7].  Marcel Dareus added 4 more tackles, including a sack [7 yards] and a pass break up.  

Special Teams:

Place Kicking:     A+          Leigh Tiffin moved into second place for career points scored with his 4 for 4 performance against the Vols.  He was good from 50, 49, 38 and 22.

Punting:               B+           P.J. averaged 44 yards per punt on three punts with one touchback.  Arenas returned two Tennessee punts for a total of 33 yards, and UT’s Dennis Rogan returned one punt for 23 yards.

Kickoffs:               B+           Tiffin averaged 66 yards per kick on his 5 kickoffs.  The coverage unit allowed an average of 28.4 yards per return while the Tide’s kick return game averaged 30 yards per return.  There were no penalties called on Alabama in the return game, but put an asterisk next to that stat because of the officiating.

Coaching:            C+           Alabama was penalized only once for 10 yards.  Fifty one Tide players participated in the game.  Tennessee played 58.   UT outgained Alabama by 85 yards and dominated time of possession in the third quarter.  I understand why the coaching staff went back to Julio for the fade route on 3rd and 2 from the UT 6 in the second quarter; either Julio will make the catch or draw the interference foul.  He was indeed interfered with, but there was no call.   We were running the ball extremely well at that point and the likelihood that we would pick up the first down was pretty good.  I also disagree with the decision to attempt a screen pass to Ingram on 3rd down and 4 at the Bama 23 with 3:58 to play.  Tennessee had just taken its second time out.  A running play, even if we don’t pick up the first down, continues to drain the clock or forces UT to burn its last TO.

Now for the Officials:  The SEC Central Office saw fit to suspend the crew of zebras whose inexcusable performance determined the outcome of both the Florida/Arkansas and LSU/Georgia games.  In my City Paper column last Thursday, I vented about how bad the SEC officials are as a group and called upon Commissioner Slive to clean up the problem.  But was suspension the right thing?  It has been argued, most cogently by Our Correspondent From Parkway Commons (also known as: The Commissioner’s Son and Heir) that suspension sent the wrong message.  The suspension tells the other crews that while they risk getting booted for making a bad call, they face no consequences for failing to make the correct call.  Hence, the refs are incentivized to let things slide, rather than calling correct, but game altering, penalties. 

Examples abound in yesterday’s game:  (i) the failure to call pass interference when Julio got body-checked in the end zone; (ii) the failure to call holding when Kareem Jackson was practically undressed as Hardesty turned in the big run on the screen pass in the fourth quarter that ultimately led to the UT touchdown; and worst of all (iii) the failure to call the illegal block on Julio Jones where UT recovered the on-sides kick.  Notwithstanding what Gary Danielson said, the rule is clear:  the kicking team cannot block a player on the receiving team until (a) the ball has gone 10 yards, AND (b)  the ball has either touched the ground or a player of the receiving team.   Yesterday, Julio was in position to field the kick, the ball had gone about 7 or 8 yards at that point, and Dennis Rogan tagged Julio, knocking him out of position and the ball down field.  The correct call was for a penalty to be assessed against UT for the illegal block.  By rule, the ball should have been awarded to Alabama, 1st and 10 at the spot of the foul on Julio.  UT had no right to the ball on that kick and if the refs had been doing their jobs correctly Tennessee would never have been in position to attempt the second blocked field goal.            

I think that the SEC ought to implement a grading system for officials that is like that used in the NFL.   Crews are graded not only on what they call, but also on what they miss.  Then, the SEC ought to tell its officials that at the end of the season the two lowest graded crews are fired.

And speaking of people who deserve to be fired, allow me a couple of words about Vern Lundquist and Gary Danielson.

Lundquist:           Can that guy get any fatter?  Dear God, the man needs a membership in a health club. I’ve got a wide-screen TV but it is barely large enough to encompass all of Lundquist’s corpulent girth.   I know Sonic is a sponsor of the broadcasts, but does their contract with CBS require them to supply Lundquist with all of his meals?   And one more thing:  Vern, you were calling the game between Tennessee and ALABAMA.  How is it possible that more than 3 hours into the broadcast you could think that the home team was AUBURN???

Danielson:           You know, I really don’t mind Gary Danielson’s opinions.  I disagree with most of them.  But I don’t mind them.  Everyone has opinions, especially when it comes to college football, and sometimes opinions are ignorant.  What I can’t stand is his ignorant assertions of fact!  A perfect case in point is his absolute certainty that the on-sides kick, with its illegal block on Jones, was an excellent play.  Likewise, the blatant interference on Jones in the second quarter.  First he says “The ball was uncatchable”.  Then when he realizes that the only thing that kept Julio from being in position to make the catch was the shove from the Tennessee DB, he says “Julio Jones quit on the route.”  Give me a break! 

Last night, LSU continued the exposure of Auburn as a total fraud.  Florida and Mississippi State put on a classless display of sportsmanship that was unworthy of the league that considers itself to be the premier conference in the college game.   Thus did Alabama’s remaining conference opponents acquit themselves.  Alabama finally has its much-needed bye-week.   The players need to get their legs back, to get the remaining kinks ironed out, and to steel themselves for the stretch run of LSU, MSU, UTC, Auburn and Florida.

This season has gone past the tipping point where a champion can overcome a loss.  For Alabama’s championship drive there is but one course to follow: win them all.  It is a rugged course.  To run this gauntlet undefeated and land a birth in the BCS Championship Game, everyone associated with the Alabama program, from players to coaches, from trainers to administrators, must take the adversity of yesterday’s narrow win, and learn the many lessons that it can teach.  That is the way to overcome.  That is the way to win the rest.

There will be many more critical situations for Alabama to confront in the remaining games.  By Nick Saban’s standard, Alabama is a great team.  I believe it is great enough to be a champion.

The Commissioner

  

South Carolina Grades

Even watching in person, without the benefit of instant stats updates from the ESPN data mine, you knew you were watching something really special.  Alabama’s normally potent offense was not merely sluggish.  It was downright awful.  Through a combination of interceptions and fumbles, Alabama turned the ball over to South Carolina more than it did in the previous six games of the season combined.  Our inability to produce points that emerged last week against Mississippi, morphed into seven straight quarters with only a single offensive TD.  GMac was hurried and making poor decisions.  Penalties routinely wiped out positive plays, especially in the return game.  And all the momentum in the game belonged to South Carolina.

In many respects, the game was reminiscent of the South Carolina / Mississippi game earlier in the year, this time with the Chickens playing the part of the Rebs; smothering the opposing offense, keeping the score close, and threatening at any moment to break a big play.  But unlike that earlier game, Steve Spurrier was not going to make the same coaching blunders by which Houston Nutt doomed Ole Miss. 

The second ranked team in the country faced the very real prospect of being pushed into overtime on Homecoming.

Then, the coaches put the ball into Mark Ingram’s hands.

More to the point, they bet the game, maybe even the future course of this season, on Mark Ingram’s hands, his legs, and his heart.  The drive chart records that Alabama gained 68 yards on 6 plays that took 3:01 off the clock.  The drive chart doesn’t tell the whole story.  Neither does the play-by-play:  Ingram at right tackle for 24 yards, Ingram up the middle for 4, Ingram-right guard-5, Ingram-right  guard-9, Ingram-left end-22, Ingram-left end-4 TOUCHDOWN! 

For the 87 years that football has been played in the coliseum now known as Bryant-Denny Stadium, no Alabama running back has amassed more yards in a single game at that facility than Mark Ingram did last night against South Carolina.  In the 117 years that Alabama has played organized football, only two other Tide players have rushed  for more yards in a single game.

Mark Ingram didn’t win the game all by himself.  Mark Barron got the first “pick-six” interception of his college career.   Leigh Tiffin added two field goals when Tide drives stalled.  Ingram would tell you that his offensive line, especially starting right tackle Drew Davis, and wide receivers Marquis Maze and Julio Jones, made key blocks that allowed him to gobble up yards in chunks.  And, for the second straight game, the Alabama defense denied an opponent the endzone.

If you didn’t care who won, it was probably a highly entertaining game.  Since you did care, it was ugly and frustrating for most of the night.  But all the ugly and all the frustration was washed away by those six plays, those 68 yards, and more importantly , those 6 points, that Mark Ingram ran, made and scored.

Here’s how I grade the game:

Offense:              D+          It takes a whole lot of bad to offset the whole lot of good that comes from a running back gaining 269 all purpose yards [246 rushing] and beating an SEC opponent by 14 points.  Well, the Alabama offense dished up plenty of bad. 

GMac completed only 10 of 20 pass attempts and threw two interceptions.  He also fumbled twice-both lost to SC- but one of the two was a bad snap that cannot be laid entirely at GMac’s feet.  Only one wide receiver caught a pass.  It was Marquis Maze, who caught two.  Tight end  Colin Peak caught two.  The other 6 completions were to running backs.  The leading receiver?  Do you really need to guess?  Mark Ingram.

The ten offensive possessions that preceded Ingram’s final game-clinching drive ended in two interceptions, two lost fumbles, three punts, a missed field goal and two made field goals.  Alabama had 4 drives that gained in excess of 40 yards [46, 44, 62 and 68] but only two produced points. 

Alabama converted only 3 of 10 third downs and surrendered a sack.  The Chickens possessed the ball for 3:30 more than Alabama, but time of possession was equal after Ingram scored his touchdown and the defense traded space for time after the ensuing kickoff.

Defense:             A+          The stop-troops turned in another stellar performance against a ranked team that had been averaging 27 points per game.

Alabama’s pass rushers were in the Gamecocks’ backfield so much that they are going to be added to the South Carolina census totals.   Garcia was sacked 5 times and hurried 8.  He was hit on practically every play and by the end of the game was noticeably limited in his mobility. In addition, Bama tackled SC running backs for loss four times.

Mark Barron led all tacklers with 8 [4 solo] and he returned an interception 77 yards for a TD on the game’s second play. Rolando McClain, Tyrone King and Eryk Anders each had 7  tackles.

Marquise Johnson, playing in place of Javier Arenas, was challenged all night, but broke up 6 passes in an outstanding performance.
Marcel Darius was not credited with any tackles.  That’s understandable.  Since all of the tackles he was involved in were plays were he was tackled by an offensive lineman [see comment on officiating infra]

Special Teams:

Place kicking:     B      Tiffin was good on 2 of 3 FG attempts, his only miss coming on an attempt of 49 yards. 

Punting:               B             P.J. had a good average [45.3 / 43 net].  Javier did not play due to injury [he was dressed on the sideline but saw no action].  Julio did a good job with shagging kicks, making people miss and picking up yards.   One punt return was limited by a penalty.

Kicking:               F              Because there is no lower grade I can award.   We only averaged 36 net yards per kick and could not seem to return a kick off without incurring a blocking or holding penalty.

Coaching:            C --         The coaches made the right call with Ingram running out of the Wild Tide formation on the final drive [who was that knucklehead who wrote after the Va. Tech game about not wanting to see that formation again?] and the call on the final play that scored the TD was perfect.  Half of the Carolina defenders bit on the three-wide set.    We had 10 penalties for 113 yards, 5 of which were on special team plays.  Some would argue that this grade should be lower.  However, Alabama did beat a ranked team that came into the game with a record of 5-1.

As an aside, you should know that Dont’a Hightower was on the sidelines.  He was in a jersey and sweats.   He was engaged with his teammates, encouraging the defense.  During  TV timeouts when up-tempo recorded music was played over the PA, Dont’a would dance.  This earned him the fond nickname “Dancing Dont’a” from the Youngest Daughter.  From all appearances his rehab from surgery is going very well. 

A brief word on officiating:  I’m not sure what was worse; the calls the zebras made or the one’s they missed.  This was a disgraceful performance by the officials.  There were several flagrant fouls – mostly involving clipping or chop-blocks – that 92,138 people in Bryant Denny Stadium saw.   Evidently, none of these people were wearing white and black striped shirts.  Also, while I’m on this topic, let’s talk about pass interference.  If you saw the Ole Miss game last week, you will recall that any assault on a receiver that didn’t involve a firearm was permissible coverage.  Against South Carolina last night, merely making a great play on the ball was considered a foul.  This has got to stop.  Does the SEC Office not understand that the rules of the game ought not to be different depending on which crew of officials is calling a given game?

Bama is now ranked first in the BCS poll.  My superstitious side wishes that we were number 2 or 3.  But it really doesn’t matter.  Irrespective of where we are in the top 3, our future is a series of one-game seasons.  We have to win them all.

Can we do it?  There’s no doubt in my mind that we can.  I’m also starting to think that we will win the rest.  And I base that thinking on a couple of things.  First, I point to what GMac had to say to the media after Saturday’s game.  He didn’t get all worked up and teary-eyed like Tim Tebow, but his message was clear and unmistakable.  He put the responsibility for our lack of offensive spark squarely on his own shoulders.   He pledged to “sleep in the football complex” if necessary in order to correct the errors that he recognizes have been made.  What player could not want to follow this kid?  Second, I have to come back to what we witnessed last night from the team as a whole, and from Mark Ingram in particular, when Alabama needed to put the game out of reach and the goal line was 68 yards away.  When he was hired, Coach Saban famously said that everyone associated with the Alabama program had to be a champion in everything they did.

What does that mean? 

Look at Mark Ingram.  Do your part the way he does his.

The Commissioner

Ole Miss Grades

What a glorious morning this is in Middle Tennessee!

As I walked out of the house this morning to pick The Daily Fishwrapper off the driveway, the air was crisp and cool, the sky was deep blue and the birds sang gleefully in the tree tops.  The subtle changes in the tint of the leaves provided a harbinger of more vibrant hues, arriving perhaps as early as St. Crispin’s Day, but certainly not later than All Saints.  It’s one of those soul-refreshing mornings where all of nature is in harmony.  It’s a morning after Alabama has won and Auburn has lost in football.

That’s good news in and of itself.  But what is even better news, is that from the way Alabama won, and the way Auburn lost, we are going to enjoy many more Sunday mornings just like this one.

Alabama demolished the Ole Miss offense in front of the largest crowd ever to attend a college football game in the State of Mississippi, and Arkansas, which was only able to score 7 points against the Tide, rang up the Awbs for 44.  By the time Alabama was finished with the Rebs, the team that once was ranked as high as number 4 in the polls lay in ruins and head coach Houston Nutt had twitched himself into a state of exhaustion.  Over in the Ozarks, the “Spread Eagle” offense had managed to score 23 points, including 20 in a flurry of big plays, but the Tiger defense was shredded for nearly 500 total yards and Coach Gene Chizik’s quest to achieve a career coaching win-percentage of .500 has been deferred until next season.

The Tide faced a team that was determined to play a physical game; a team that was literally one play away from winning each of its last five meetings with Alabama.  By the end of the first quarter yesterday it was clear that, barring some alteration of the laws of physics, Alabama would win the slug-fest.   The Ole Miss defense is the best that Alabama has faced so far this season; better even than Virginia Tech.  It particularly made things tough close to its goal line.  The Rebs coaching staff did an excellent job game planning for Alabama’s offense.  GMac had his worst statistical performance of the season due mainly to the pressure generated by the Ole Miss pass rush.  But Jevan Snead would have gladly traded places with him.   Bama’s receivers were limited as well by a hard pressing Ole Miss secondary that was determined to take away Alabama’s big play potential.  Either that, or else street crime has reached epidemic levels in Oxford, because Julio Jones was mugged a half dozen times yesterday.

The odds-makers handicapped this game to be another close one, with Alabama a 4 ½ point favorite.   To beat a good SEC team 22-3 is no small accomplishment.   After the Kentucky game a week ago, defensive captain Rolando McClain, vowed that the Bama defense would work hard and improve.  It was a statement that didn’t get anywhere near the media attention of Tim Tebow’s “I Promise You” speech last year, but the teams that Alabama will face the rest of this season had better take notice.  Alabama is coming …. and their bringing a 55 gallon barrel of Whoop-ass with them.

Here’s how I grade the game:

Offense:              B--          Despite Mark Ingram’s outstanding performance [28 carries, 172  yards, 1 TD, 3 catches for 16 yards] Alabama got into the end zone only once.   But it was a great play. Ingram took a pitch and ran 36 yards untouched through a gaping hole created by an unbalanced line and an excellent block by Julio Jones on the cornerback.  Julio drove his guy so far out of the play that he had to buy a ticket to get back in the stadium.

The Rebs have a very good defense, and generated a lot of pressure on GMac with a combination of outside rushes and creative blitzes.  The O Line had a hard time handling what Ole Miss was bringing; a fact that will not be overlooked by future opposing coaches.  GMac completed only 15 of his 34 pass attempts [there were at least 2 drops by receivers] for 147 yards.  He did not throw a pass for a touchdown, but neither did he throw an interception.  Trent Richardson gained 40 yards on 9 carries, but his performance was marred by a forced fumble at the Ole Miss 10 yard line.  For whatever reason, Ingram and Richardson got all of the rushing calls.  My guess is that the Ole Miss defense presented such a challenge up front that the coaching staff decided to stick with the two players that gave us the best chance to make plays.

Alabama gained 354 total yards [200 rushing], earned 17 first downs, and converted only 4 of 20 third downs; but was perfect 4 times on 4th down conversions including a faked punt [that makes 8 successful conversions on 20 “possession” downs]. 

Marquise Maze and Julio each had 4 receptions, Collin Peek and Mark Ingram each had 3.  Ole Miss was determined to take away the big play and they were successful.  The longest pass play gained only 16 yards.

Bama’s offense mounted three drives that gained 40 or more yards [12 plays 58 yards, 4:01, FG; 6 plays, 61 yards, 2:49, TD; 10 plays, 45 yards, 6:30, end of game] and  two resulted in points.  But it also had two more drives that nearly reached the 40 yard threshold [38, 36].  Bama scored 5 times in 6 trips into the red zone.  The lone failure to score was the consequence of Richardson’s fumble.  The second quarter was Alabama’s most prolific from a scoring standpoint as the Tide scored 13 points [2 FGs, 1TD] in three consecutive possessions starting with 8:24 left to play in the half.  After the defense held Ole Miss on downs with 6:30 to play in the game, the Tide offense did not surrender the ball again as it drained the clock on 10 running plays that gained 45 yards.

Defense:             A+          There is no other grade that is appropriate.         

Ole Miss had 8 possessions in the first half.  It managed to run only 20 plays that gained a total of 19 yards and four “drives” gained zero.  That’s right: zilch.  Zip.  Nada.  The second half was a bit more productive for the Rebs as they managed a FG on a 10 play 60 yard drive on their second possession of the third quarter, but with 6:30 to play and Bama with the ball, Ole Miss allowed the game to end with timeouts to spare [Note to Houston Nutt:  Time outs are not like AT&T “roll-over minutes”; you don’t get to keep them for next week].
 

Bama held the Ole Miss offense to a grand total of 212 yards  and intercepted Jevan Snead 4 times [Kareem Jackson, McClain, Justin Woodall, Javier Arenas].  Jackson returned his interception 79 yards.  His pick was a drive-killer and came when it looked as if Ole Miss might be finding some offensive momentum.

McClain, Javier, Corey Reamer and Jackson each had 4 solo tackles, and Mark Barron, Woodall, and Marcell Dareus each had 3 solo.  McClain, Reamer, Barron and Dareus were each credited with a tackle for loss.  I dare say that Ole Miss waterbug Dexter McCluster will have PTSD from the hit that Dareus laid on him.

Officially, Snead was hurried only 5 times and was not sacked.  Those stats do not convey adequately the relentless pressure that Alabama put on the Ole Miss signal caller who managed to complete only 11 of 34 pass attempts. 

Special Teams:

Field Goals          A+          Leigh Tiffin was perfect on 5 FG attempts [25, 21, 22, 21, 31] and his lone PAT.

Punting:               A+          Fitz averaged 40.8 yards on 6 punts, one of which pinned Ole Miss inside their 10.  The return effort only gained 5 yards on two returns.  But the outstanding grade comes from Corey Reamer’s block of Tyler Campbell’s attempted punt in the second quarter and the take-away fumble recovered during a punt return in the third.

Kicking:               C             Tiffin averaged 64.7 yards per kick off and got a touchback.  But the coverage allowed an average of 24 yards per return including one return for 34.  Javier would have had a return of 61 yards but it was wiped out by a holding penalty.   I find myself holding my breath every time we kick off.  It remains the one aspect of our game where the Tide has glaring weaknesses. 

Coaching:             A             It is a mark of how far Alabama has come under the coaching of Nick Saban that I actually had to think about whether to ding the coaches for only scoring 22 points in a road game against a nationally ranked SEC West team.  Bama gained 478 all-purpose yards and controlled the ball for 38:19.    We were penalized 4 times for 30 yards.

We have arrived at that tipping-point in the season where a team that aspires to compete for the BCS Championship cannot overcome a subsequent loss.  Virginia Tech, despite its opening game loss to Alabama, has a path it can follow that, with some luck, could lead to a birth in the BCS Championship Game.  Florida might conceivably overcome a loss to either South Carolina or Florida State but only if it won convincingly in the SEC CG, the poll voters surrender to their man-crush on Tim Tebow and it somehow manages to be a stand-alone one-loss team.  For Alabama, however, there is only one path and that is to win them all.  Coach Saban analogized Alabama’s situation to that of a mountain climber: “The higher you go the tougher it gets.”

Is Alabama tough enough to reach the summit?  Let’s ask those guys in Oxford who, for the first 30 minutes yesterday, managed to gain less than 3 feet on every play.

The Commissioner

Kentucky Grades

Officially it was second down and twelve.

Actually it was more like second and a grunt shy of thirteen.  For all practical purposes it was the second time in consecutive games for Alabama to make a statement about the kind of football team it claims to be.  The first opportunity came last week against Arkansas, and the Tide made the most of it with a 99 yard,  13 play scoring drive.  This week, Alabama repeated last Saturday’s performance.  The drive chart will reflect that Alabama gained 97 yards in 13 plays and consumed 6:50 off the clock.  But the stats fail to convey the reality of what happened.
 

On first down, Trent Richardson was tackled for a loss of two yards, two feet and six inches.  Few running backs have the strength that allowed Richardson to avoid the safety.  Richardson gained five yards on second down, and on 3rd and 7, GMac found Colin Peek for a perfect 21 yard pass that earned a first-down; the first of four in the drive.  Over the next ten plays from scrimmage, GMac completed passes to three of his wide receivers-Julio, Darius Hanks, and Earl Alexander-while Mark Ingram rushed for 19 yards, Richardson added 4 more and Peek snagged another reception to end the drive with a touchdown.  Along the way, the Tide offense converted three third downs and GMac completed 5 of 7 passing attempts.  An offense that had been AWOL since scoring on its opening possession had come to life.  Alabama had imposed its will on home-standing Kentucky.  And momentum in the game turned completely in Alabama’s favor.

Coach Saban, in his locker room interview with Eli Gold, said the long drive was the turning point of the game.  Indeed.  It was the hinge around which the rest of the game turned.  Without the long drive, Rolando McClain does not force the fumble that Courtney Upshaw returned 45 yards for 6 points a mere 14 seconds later. 

How many times has Coach Saban talked about the need to “finish”?  The 2009 Crimson Tide has proven that it knows how to do just that.

This was not a pretty game.  Alabama played poorly at times in all phases of the game.  But when Bama can play poorly and still beat a conference team on the road by 18 points, there’s something happening in the program that promises greatness.

Here’s how I grade the game:

Offense:              B             After the first quarter, the offense was working on a D+. From the 12:07 mark in the first quarter to the 8:21 mark in the second, Alabama’s offense had four consecutive possessions that went three and out. During this dismal stretch, the Tide had only 61 yards of offense and GMac completed only 4 of 9 pass attempts.  For the rest of the game, Bama made the most of its seven possessions, scoring 5 TDs, and a field goal while only punting once.

GMac completed 15 of 26 attempts with 2 TDs and no interceptions. The passin game earned 148 yards and surrendered one sack. Seven players caught passes and Colin Peek led all receivers with 6 receptions for 65 yards and a TD. Darius Hanks caught GMac’s longest pass of the day, 27 yards.

The running game netted 204 yards. Mark Ingram gained 140 on 22 carries. Richardson added 28 on 13 attempts.

Defense:             B             You would think that four take aways [three interceptions and a forced fumble] would earn any defensive unit an A.  But this is Alabama and the defense has played at such a high level that standards are higher and when the defense gives up 20 first downs, 133 yards rushing and 301 total offensive yards, a full grade deduction is deserved.

Rolando McClain was selected Player of the Game and he richly deserved that honor. Number 25 had 12 tackles [8 solo], a forced fumble, an interception a pass breakup and a QB hurry.  Stop Troops were credited with 5 tackles for a loss of 20 yards including 2 sacks. Courtney Upshaw added a sack and a hurry and  4 tackles to his TD scored on  the fumble return.Mark Barron and Eryk Anders each contributed interceptions to give the Tide its highest number of take aways so far this season.

Special Teams:

Punting:               C+           Fitz averaged only 39.8 yards per kick on 5 punts and for the first imte in memory, Javier Arenas did not return a single punt. The coverage unit gave up 58 yards on 4 returned punts.

Kickoffs:               C+           Leigh Tiffin averaged less than 38 net yards per kick off. Javier had an electrifying 60 yard return to start the game, but the coverage unit continues to be an area of concern as Derrick Locke returned one kick for 39 yards and Randall Cobb returned one for 34.

Place Kicking:      A+          Tiffin was 5 for 5 on PATs and made his only attempted FG.

Coaching:              B             Alabama gained 520 all purpose yards, was penalized 6 times for 47 yards.  The participation report lists 53 players who saw action against the Cats. I was surprised that the play calling in the first half appeared to favor passing plays against the Kentucky defense that is among the worst in the league against the run. Coach Saban’s post-game comments were all about improvement. The same is true for Roland McClain. To listen to his answers to a reporter’s questions you would never have guessed that he had turned in such a monster day. He was more focused on the fact that the defense had been vulnerable to Kentucky’s running game.  It was as if he anticipated what his head coach would say 15 minutes later.

Around the league, as I write these grades, Georgia lost to LSU after the officials imposed a ridiculous celebration penalty after the Dawgs scored to take the lead with barely a minute to play in the game. That sort of absurdity has to stop. Arkansas is pounding the stuffing out of Texas A&M proving that a team in the middle of the SEC West is way better than its Big 12 counterpart.  Auburn is shredding the UT defense late in the 3rd quarter. There is still time for a piece of space junk to fall from orbit and smash into big “T” at the 50, but short of that, it looks as if the Tigers are going to beat the Vols with an offense that is better than any to come out of the Village in several years.

In Nashville, Bama’s next opponent, Ole Miss, is taking care of business over on West End Avenue as it has a sufficient lead over Vanderbilt. The Rebs have talent, and have played Alabama close every year for the last several.  The Tide needs to stay focused on the task of getting better every week. If it does, there isn’t a team on the schedule that Alabama can’t beat. And won’t THAT be a statement about the kind of program Alabama football has become again.
 

The Commissioner