Would Alabama bounce back? With Trent Richardson likely unavailable, could Alabama bounce back? With only pride to play for, was there enough at stake for this young team to find a motivation, and an identity, that nine games into the season is still missing?
The sports staff at The Tuscaloosa News all predicted theTide to win, but only Cecil Hurt had the margin of victory greater than a field goal, and he predicted only a five point win. Some commentators were saying that this team was teetering on the brink of a late season melt down on the order of 2007. Which way would the 2010 Tide go, with no championship even as a hypothetical destination?
Well, the players answered all of those questions Saturday night in Bryant Denny Stadium by beating Alabama's oldest rival by twenty points, in a game that was over before the end of the third quarter.
Doubts about the players' effort and intensity were put to rest early. The offense took the opening kick off and crisply moved 59 yards for a field goal on 9 plays in a no-huddle drive that featured a variety of formations. The defense played the whole game with an intensity that was AWOL in the second half of the LSU game. The pass rush generated good pressure on the MSU quarterbacks and produced a season-high 5 sacks. In three consecutive possessions, spanning less than three minutes of game time, Alabama ran seven plays, and scored 21 points. After the first play of the final stanza, GMac trotted to the sidelines and took a well deserved bow for what might have been his best performance of the season.
There remains much room for improvement with this team. Its greatest challenge is waiting on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Explosive plays aside, the offense still lacks the sort of line play that produces success in the inside run game, and gives the quarterback time to throw. The defense must build on a good effort against a Mississippi State team that runs Auburn's offense without Auburn's hired-hand quarterback. For now, though, we know the choices this team and these players have made. They chose pride over sell-pity. They chose effort over ease. They chose intensity over indifference. Hardware and titles may be out of reach, but those choices, and many more, are what can make the 2010 Crimson Tide, a team of winners.
Here's how I grade the game:
Offense: A The Tide gained 452 yards of total offense [175 rushing] on merely 59 plays for an average of 7.7 yards per play. Julio Jones was the leading rusher with 56 yards and a touchdown on one carry. Mark Ingram found precious little running room inside but was able to gain 53 net yards on 18 carries. Eddie Lacy added 35 yards on 8 plays and GMac ran the ball 3 times for 20 yards. Freshman Jalston Fowler [6-1, 236, Mobile, Vigor HS] added 15 yards on 3 carries and would have scored his first collegiate touchdown, but his fumble into the end zone was recovered by MSU for a touchback. The fumble aside, Fowler is an impressive player who runs hard and is going to be hard for opposing defenses to stop. The running game was hampered by 7 tackles for loss of which only 2 were sacks.
GMac completed 12 of 18 pass attempts for 227 yards and 2 TDs. He threw an interception in the third quarter, the first second-half pick of his college career. AJ took most of the snaps in the fourth quarter and completed 2 of 5 pass attempts for 50 yards. His longest, a 39 yard thing of beauty to Darius Hanks, nearly scored. A bad choice that fortunately went incomplete earned him a swat on the backside from Coach Saban.
Marquis Maze had a great night. He led all receivers with 5 receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. Hanks had 3 receptions for 55 yards, and Julio added 41 yards on 3 catches. Mark Ingram caught 2 passes for 77 yards. Mark's longest reception was a 78 yard swing pass that he took the distance for a score. Julio threw a key block to spring Mark into the secondary and Ingram took it from there.
Maze was the leader in all-purpose yardage with 166 [88 receiving, 41 in kick returns and 36 in punt returns].
Bama had 6 drives that gained 40 or more yards [59, 45, 75, 78, 56 and 84] each resulting in points.
Defense: A The stop troops really got after MSU from the start of the game. Bama defenders recorded 6 tackles for loss of which 5 were sacks. C.J. Mosley was the leading tackler with 12 [1 solo] followed by Mark Barron who recorded 11 [4 solo]. Demarcus Millinor, Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower each recorded 8 tackles and Josh Chapman and Dequan Minzie were each credited with 6.
Robert Lester continued his intercepting ways, picking off 2 pass, one of which he returned for 12 yards.
Special Teams:
Punting: C- Cody Mandell only averaged 38.2 yards on 4 punts. Coverage was excellent, however, because MSU only returned 1 punt for 3 yards. Marquis Maze returned 3 of MSU's punts for 36 yards. Marquis would have returned a punt for an 86 yard touchdown but the score was nullified by a blocking penalty on the return.
Kickoffs: A Cade Foster averaged 68.7 yards gross per kickoff. Two kicks found the end zone and one was a touchback. Coverage was excellent, resulting in an average of 51.6 yards per kick. Alabama's return game averaged 20 yards per kick.
Place Kicking: A+ Jeremy Shelley was good from 36 and 28 while Cade Foster was good from 45 yards. All three PATs were good.
Coaching: A The team was ready to play and came closer to playing a complete game than at any time this season. Phelon Jones started at corner in place of Dre Kirkpatrick. According to published reports, this was a disciplinary matter. Coach Saban told reporters after the game that if players do not do the right thing they will not play. [Yes, there is a message in that statement for the folks at the Barn.] There is speculation that the coaching staff is reading The Grades, because the participation report reflects that 33 players from the bench participated in the game along with the 22 starters.
After a short week, the Tide will welcome Bill Curry back to Tuscaloosa on Thursday night. If all goes according to plan, many players will see action.
I will have more thoughts about Auburn at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is after the Tide has dispatched Georgia State. Coach Saban made it clear in his post game remarks that Alabama respects all of its opponents.
So for now, make sure to read the sports section of your local daily fish wrapper. The Newton story is evolving every day.
Our players should pay no attention to it, however. Their tasks will be focused on preparation and improvement. If the preparation and improvement that took place between the LSU and MSU games can be replicated, then we will all have a very joyous start to the Advent Season.
Stay tuned.
The Commissioner
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