Arkansas Grades

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It was just about a perfect day.

In Tuscaloosa, the first Saturday in the fall of 2011 was about as perfect a day as you could ask for. The weather was splendid; a blue sky, plenty of sunshine, a temperature in the low 80s at kick-off. The crowd on the Quad was large and lively. Friends gathered in the tent-city that occupies the central green-space of the Alabama campus on home game days to eat, drink, and enjoy the fellowship of like-minded people. Old friends were reunited. New friendships were made, and above all, it was great just to be an Alabama football fan.

Oh, and I almost forgot: on this splendid early fall day in West Alabama, the Crimson Tide beat the Hogs 38-14. It was just about a perfect game. Tie Tide scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams. The Hogs offense, considered by many to be the best in the SEC, which had averaged 47 points per game in compiling a 3-0 record, was held to 14 points, 14 first downs [half the Hog per game average] and 17 net yards rushing.

It wasn't a perfect game. Alabama was denied a touchdown on three snaps inside the Arkansas one yard line in the second quarter, and kickoffs were chronically short [40.7 yards net per kick]. Apart from that, Alabama dominated Arkansas. The Hogs managed only two drives of 40 or more yards. They couldn't run. They couldn't pass. They couldn't consistently stop Alabama.

In the second half, the Hogs allowed their frustration to manifest itself in some very chippy play, which the officiating crew, supplied by the Hellen Keller Institute, failed to correct. It got so bad, that at one point Dre Kirkpatrick had to intervene with his teammates and become the peace-maker. As one sage observer remarked: "Who saw THAT coming?"

There were several plays that will make the season highlight reel. Trent Richardson reaching between the hands of a defensive tackle to snag a screen pass from AJ, then turning up field and racing for the end zone is certainly one of them. But Marquis Maze's electrifying punt return should be added to the pre-game video with the tag word: "Undeniable." Maze fielded a 43 yard punt on Arkansas' first possession of the second half. From the Alabama 17, he cut left, broke a tackle, split a crease, cut right to the hash-marks, jukes another Hog, cut to his right, stopped, tied his shoe laces and ate a Snicker's bar while Tide blockers knocked Arkansas players to the ground, reached down, helped them up and knocked them down again. Rest, refueled and with his shoes securely tided, Maze shot to his left, got the the 10 yard line, waived more blockers over, and angled back to his right and crossed to goal line in front of the student section which, by this time, was exploding in a wave of sound that made your ears hurt. It is the best punt return I have ever seen in person. Period. Paragraph.

On a day that was just about perfect, Maze's House Call was perfection writ large. As outstanding as his effort was, he could not have scored without excellent and smart down field blocking.

Alabama kicked off after Maze's return. Arkansas ran three plays, lost there yards and punted. From that point, the game was over. The Hogs were never going to come back. The remainder of the game was a formality.

There were still nearly 11 minutes to play in the third quarter.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: A The failure to get a touchdown with first-and-goal at the 1 keeps the Offense from getting a +. The O Line played like it was mad, something that it has needed to do. The results are revealed in the rushing yards per quarter: 47, 49, 49, 52.
Bama held possession for nearly 33 minutes, compiled 397 yards of total offense, and converted 5 of 13 third downs.

AJ was a perfect 6 of 6 in the first quarter and finished the game 15 of 20 for 200 yards, 2 TDs and no interceptions. However, one incompletion could easily have been intercepted but was dropped by a DE who sniffed out a screen pass. AJ's first TD pass came on a trick, 4th down play. Having lined up in FG formation with AJ at holder, the Tide shifted into a two-tightend set with Cade Foster split to the left. The play was a pass all the way. Foster took a LB out of the play and Michael Williams ran a deep fly route with a defensive lineman trying to cover him. He was open by at least 10 yards when AJ laid a perfect pass into his hands.

Trent Richardson rushed for 126 yards on 17 runs. His longest was 31. Eddie Lacy scored Alabama's lone rushing touchdown and gained 61 yards on 13 carries. Jalston Fowler added 11 yards on 4 attempts.

Maze caught 3 passes for 40 yards. Richardson accounted for 85 yards receiving and Darius Hanks caught and ran for 13 yards on 2 receptions. In total, 8 Alabama players caught passes.

The Tide offense had 4 drives that gained 40 or more yards [80, 77, 64, 56] resulting in 3 TDs and 1 FG. The offense surrendered no turnovers. Trent Richardson gained 235 all-purpose yards.

Defense A+ Tyler Wilson, the Hogs' QB, was hurried and harassed all day and was limited to completing 22 of 35 pass attempts. He was intercepted once. The Hog QBs were hurried 4 times and intercepted twice while 5 passes were broken up. Arkansas' offense posed the ball 13 times during the game. These opportunities resulted in 2 TDs, 2 Interceptions, a turnover on downs and 8 punts.

Dre Kirkpatrick had an outstanding game [perhaps a break out game]. He was credited with 6 tackles, all solo, and he broke up 3 passes. But what was really obvious was the velocity and power of his hits. By the middle of the third quarter, Arkansas receivers obviously wanted no more of Number 21.

Dont'a Hightower led all defenders with 9 tackles, [4 solo] 2 for loss. Mark Barron made 6 stops [1 solo] and broke up a pass. Jesse Williams-the pride of Melbourne Australia-is starting to come into his own as a force on the D Line. He made 5 tackles [4 solo] and Robert Lester made 5 tackles [3 solo].

Dequan Menzie returned his second-quarter interception 25 yards for a touchdown, and Dee Milliner intercepted back-up QB Brandon Mitchell on the Hogs' final possession.

Special Teams:

Punting: A Maze's return for a touchdown has already been discussed. Cody Mandell averaged 37.5 yards per punt and the coverage unit allowed only 6 return yards.

Place Kicking: A Jeremy Shelley was god from 20 yards on his lone FG attempt and was perfect on 4 PATs.

Kickoffs: C Arkansas averaged 48 net yards per kick and had 2 touchbacks. Alabama averaged slightly more than 40 net yards per kick and had only 1 touchback.

Coaching: A Alabama came ready to play in all phases of the game. The offense was visibly improved over its previous games. Bama was penalized 5 times for 55 yards. Some false start penalties early in the game were called when we were checking out of one play and into another. More about that later. And the hit out of bounds call on Dont'a Hightower was bogus. The participation report lists 58 players who saw action against the Hogs. Coach Saban went certifiably ape on the officials when they failed to flag Arkansas' safeth who tried to yank Barret Jones' head off by the face-mask after a play was blown dead. It was shamefully bad play and equally bad officiating. The thug should have been ejected. Saban was richeously indignant.

On the subject of false starts, how teams like Auburn and Oregon [just to name two] can get away with all 11 guys coming out of their stances to look at the side lines in order to read the pictures that signal the play without a false start penalty is beyond me. And what's up with those pictures anyway? I'm sorry, but it just seems goofy to me that you have to use cartoons to communicate with your players.

Yesterday's game was a big win in more ways than the score. Arkansas was believed to be a threat to play for the SEC West. By physically dominating a good SEC team with a legit defense and high-octane offense, Alabama has made a statement about itself and its trajectory for the 2011 season.

Having smoked the Porkers, Alabama travels to Gainesville this week. I suspect that the equipment staff will be packing the deep-fryer for use on the Gators. Nothing short of a perfect season will get the Tide in position to play for its 14th National Championship. That goal can only be achieved if Alabama wins the next one, but won't that be just perfect?

The Commissioner