No one has served Tide athletics longer than his 42 years. No one active in college football has been a part of more national championships than his 8, earned as a player, coach and chief executive. Only one other University official, Dr. Denny, has hired as many head football coaches as his 4. And few people have been the target of so much caustic criticism from pundits and fans as he has been. But through it all, the good times and the bad, Mal Moore has persevered to become one of the legendary personalities of Alabama football.
And last night, shortly before the 2010 Crimson Tide charged onto the field, his image appeared on four enormous HD plasma screens welcoming the largest gathering of spectators ever to watch a game in the state of Alabama, to the newly renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium. This monument to one of the greatest programs in college football bears the names of two of the most important figures in Alabama sports history. But posterity will record that it was Mal Moore who shepherded the transformation of BDS into what is undeniably the sport’s greatest venue.
Coach Moore’s image was replaced by what has become the familiar line-up of jersey numbers corresponding to the Tide’s records of bowl appearances, bowl victories, SEC titles and national championships. This gave way to a live feed from the home dressing room tunnel as Coach Nick Saban led the team onto the field.
Where can the Alabama football program go from here? What can its players and coaches accomplish that will match the grandeur of the house that Mal has built? No program in the modern era has ever captured three consecutive national championships. No coach in Div I-A has ever been able to achieve this trifecta. If ever there was a man and a moment coming together, this is the time, and Nick Saban is the man. Nothing could establish Mal Moore’s place in the pantheon of Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul Bryant, Gene Stallings, George Denny and, yes, Robert Witt, than for the last coach he hired to achieve what none before him has done, and to do it in a stadium as spectacular as the new Bryant-Denny.
A team can’t win three consecutive national crowns if it doesn’t first win two. And last night, the 2010 season began as it must if Alabama is going to achieve what no other program has. Alabama, favored by 39 points, beat San Jose State the way it had to. Several question marks were replaced with exclamation points. And spectators were treated to a display of what this team can do, as well as a preview of what is in store in 2011.
Here’s how I grade the game:
Offense: B+ Quality of opposition requires a one grade reduction. No defending SEC, BCS and NCAA Champion can earn an A playing the San Jose State’s of the world. That said, the Tide offense is potent and explosive. GMac threw the ball further and more accurately than in any game last year. His first 6 passes were all complete and in the first quarter he completed 8 of 9 including a 48 yard TD to Marquis Maze. In the first quarter his only incompletion was a drop by a wide-open Julio Jones who started to run before he caught the ball. Jones more than made up for this miscue with a spectacular one-handed TD catch in the second period, a reception that gave A.J. McCarron his first collegiate touchdown pass. On the night, GMac completed 13 of 16 for 218 and a TD. His longest pass was the 48 yarder to Maze. He was sacked once. A.J. added 9 completions on 14 attempts with the TD to Jones. His longest was 34. Trent Richardson had 146 all purpose yards [66 rushing 46 receiving and 34 in returns]. Eddie Lacey had 114 all purpose yards [111 rushing on 13 carries and 3 yards receiving]. Julio caught 6 passes for 93 yards and a TD to lead all receivers. Maze had 3 receptions for 68 yards and Hanks added 66 yards on 3 catches.
Alabama had 8 drives of 40 or more yards [71, 77, 54, 40, 49, 92, 67 and 55] each concluding with a score [6 TDs and 2 FGs]. Bama’s first 5 possessions resulted in 4 TDs and a fumble at the SJS goal line. The fumble was forced by a fortuitous helmet his on the ball; however, on Friday, Nick told a luncheon gathering that while Eddie Lacey has all the size, speed, and quickness to be a great running back, Nick was interested in seeing whether Lacey would be able to hold onto the ball in game situations. Published reports suggest that ball security was an item of emphasis at half-time.
Defense: C+ In Friday’s Q&A session, Coach Saban was doing his best to dampen expectations about the defense. It is no secret that the Tide has to find replacements for departed impact players and it was obvious on the SJS opening drive that there is room for the young stop-troops, especially in the secondary, to mature. The Spartans had the greatest success, and only points, on their opening drive. And although the D pitched a shutout for the rest of the game, there were plenty of times that SJS had receivers open in gaps in the coverage. Rest assured, if you and I could see those gaps, Coach Saban and the staff can see them as well.
True Freshman linebacker, C.J. Mosley [6-2, 225, Theodore] led all defenders with 7 tackles [3 solo] and broke up 3 passes in the bargain. Junior LB, Chris Jordon [6-3, 234, Brentwood, TN] added 6 tackles [2 solo] and Juco Transfer DB, DeQuan Menzie, had 5 tackles [3 solo]. Soph. DB, Robert Lester [6-0, 206, Foley] had the Tide’s only takeaway, an interception returned 15 yards. Lester also had a 9 yard sack of the Spartans QB and broke up a pass. In total, the Tide broke up 6 passes, hurried the SJS QB once and twice tackled Spartans for lost yardage.
Special Teams:
Kicking: A Special Teams were a question on everyone’s mind going into the season opener, and with good reason. Alabama lost its punter, place kicker, snapper and return specialist to graduation, and the performance of the newbies in the A Day Game provided no sense of comfort. The kicking game has obviously been an area of coaching emphasis and the performance against SJS proved it. In this category, there is no automatic grade reduction based on quality of opposition, because whether you are kicking against an SEC opponent or air, it’s still 70 yards from your 30 to the opponent’s goal line. True Freshman Cade Foster kicked off 8 times for an average of 67 yards and found the end zone 5 times, a feat that caused Our Correspondents From The Real Thing and From The State Capital as much unbridled joy as Julio’s one-handed circus catch. Kick coverage was also very good. It’s amazing how much better a kick that his high and deep can be covered.
Punting: A Cody Mandell averaged 40.7 yards on three punts, and had 2 punts in excess of 50 yards. His average was adversely affected by an attempt to kick into the corner that went out of bounds after only 18 yards in the air. Snaps were a little high and to the right all night, but he managed to get the ball off without encountering any pressure. Whether that will be the case against SEC defenses remains to be seen. Punt returning is a job where we still have the “Help Wanted” sign out. Darius Hanks probably hopes that he does not get the assignment, especially if the kind of blistering coaching he got in the second quarter come with it.
Place Kicking: A Foster was good on each PAT and on both attempted FGs [41, 24]. His kicks wouldn’t win any prizes for style but each one went between the uprights and over the cross bar.
Coaching: B+ Alabama did what it needed to do. It played lots of players [63] including the 4th running back, and 5th receiver. It beat an inferior team by a wide margin in a game where the outcome was never in doubt. If you don’t think that’s important, think how folks in Oxford, Mississippi are feeling right about now. Coach Saban said that mistakes would be made in this game, and there were. The challenge, he said, was to make sure that these mistakes were stepping stones and not stumbling blocks.
This coming Saturday, Alabama renews a rivalry with one of the most respected programs in the game. Nearly every game that Alabama and Penn State play against each other is a classic. This coming Saturday may be no different. We will be without the services of Mark Ingram and Marcel Darius, but if the saying holds true, that a football team makes its greatest improvement between the first and second games of the season, then, based on what we saw yesterday, the Nitney Lions had better bring their A-game. They will need it if they hope to stop the Alabama offense. PSU may have some success moving the ball and scoring points. But a true freshman playing only his second collegiate game is not going to be able consistently to take advantage of youthful defensive mistakes, especially after Saban has a week to work on those stepping stones.
The Commissioner
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