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
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
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