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It was not a great night to be a Florida Gator. Once a protected species whose only enemy was a poacher with a gun, alligators made such a comeback that they became a threat. They are now harvested regularly from the wild and on farms. They are fearsome animals with great physical prowess – and very small brains. They have no instinctual response when they meet a predator with superior skills, basically because there just aren’t many of those. The Florida Gators ran into a superior group Saturday evening, and they, too, had little response.
I thought the grades were excellent, though I did not click the link for any fried Gator recipes. I enjoyed barbeque last weekend, but that’s about as far as I’m willing to go. Besides, I haven’t checked the local Kroger butcher section, but if they are stocking gator chunk my bet it is frozen, not fresh.
Offense -- The offensive line is coming into its own. You may say that Florida’s defensive line did not play as well as advertised. That would be true. Some of that may be because our players were limiting their effectiveness through skill, talent and scheme. It may be that they were “overrated” though I tend to be skeptical about that. I’m sort of getting weary of hearing that the teams we have beaten weren’t that good after all. Arkansas threw for over 500 yards yesterday just one week past being beaten like a yard pig. It is fair to ask this question: “If Florida’s D line was overrated, for which group in the conference, besides Alabama and LSU, would you trade them straight up?” In fact, going into Saturday I regularly read that their D Line was superior to ours. So hurray for this group that, as you very correctly point out, kept McCarron upright all evening and created holes that I could have run through (assuming I didn’t have my eyes shut, which I probably would). Richardson combines outstanding physical skills with more determined running than I’ve seen since, well, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this precise combination. Ingram, Alexander, Patrick, Humphrey, Davis, Musso…. Some of our readers go back further than I, but I cannot honestly say I remember one who was better. The Wildcat was a wrinkle that I presume was put in just to give Les Miles one more thing to worry about late at night. Maze’s sideline grab was Joey Jonesesque.
Defense -- There was a complaint, justified I think, not that long ago that Alabama teams lacked a certain killer instinct. I do not expect to hear that said about this year’s defense. Chapman is rapidly improving. In fact, the scary thing is that some of the defensive players probably are not yet playing to their full potential. We broke up two passes (that I can recall) after they were completed. Comparisons to the 92 or 61 defense are premature, in my opinion. However, it is not premature to say that come December, this group has the potential to invite those comparisons.
Special teams -- Punting was generally better. We averaged almost 40 yards a kick and if Mandell can keep the height he gets and go over 40 yards on average, our defense should make that serviceable. Coverage was better. Kickoffs and coverage still make me hold my breath. I’m glad our 215 pound kicker put their returner out of the game for a bit, but I hate he had to make the tackle. I continue to think there is a technique issue and we are going to pay for one of these kicks that the returners catch on the fly at the 10 to 15 yard line. Our return game continues to improve. You can almost see Maze gaining confidence with each outing. He has matured a great deal, as evidenced by his cutbacks across the grain and willingness to let slower blockers catch up and position themselves. Isn’t it nice when the biggest concern coming out of your toughest conference road game is how deep your (numerous) kickoffs went?
Intangibles – Our coaching staff outcoached theirs. By a lot. Sometimes is it said about a baseball pitcher that if you want to score on him, you need to do it early. I cannot explain why it is so, but some guys just take a little bit to get into the game and are vulnerable till they do. Our defense is like that. In this case, I think it is a matter of our defensive staff adjusting to some wrinkles adopted early by our opponents – Penn State had a good first drive, Arkansas had a receiver open behind our defense who dropped one, Florida scored on the first play and their second possession. After that, it was pretty much over. I have heard Coach Saban say that lots of teams have new plans for about the first 20 plays, then they go back to what they always do, because there is only so much you can change in a week. Perhaps that is it.
Things got a little chippy last night, as Florida got frustrated (and maybe they are a little bit of a reflection of their leadership). Alabama did not back down. It was interesting to see Saban tell our quarterback to calm down (that’s the edited version) and to go on the field to pull one of our special teams players out of a confrontation. It was also interesting to see Kirkpatrick come and rescue that same player from the coach’s wrath – especially given that #21 has spent so much time in Saban’s doghouse that he ought to pay taxes on it. No question about the leadership on this team.
Officiating -- Well, you knew this was coming, didn’t you? Marc Curles’s crew is just a disaster. This is the crew that was suspended a couple of years ago after a very questionable unsportsmanlike conduct call in the LSU / Georgia game and a similar but game-changing call in the Arkansas / Florida game. Last night did nothing to make you think they’ve improved. No one has yet explained the shenanigans that went on right before half time and resulted indirectly in UF losing Brantley for the remainder of the game. But there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind after the replay that the play should have been an Alabama touchdown instead of Florida’s ball with a time out after a five-yard loss. It was inexplicable, so that’s why they didn’t try, I guess. It was also incompetent, the back judge made the right call, threw his beanbag, moved out of the way of the play and did NOT blow his whistle. He got it right. He was the only one. The crew disagreed with each other often. The replay booth bailed them out some, but these guys need a new pastime – perhaps they could be useful training guide dogs.
And it isn’t just Alabama fans who should be steamed. After our punter was attended to by the training staff (perhaps he’s been to the B. Jones School of Penalty Taking) on the roughing call, he should have been required to sit on the bench for a down. He was not. Because I cannot even name our back up punter, this was a break. It didn’t mean beans to the outcome of the game, but…. For the second week in a row, you have to wonder how a group with this, um, resume ends up officiating the premier game of the day between two top 15 teams on national television instead of say, going to Fresno with the Rebel Black Bears (or whatever they are now).
For those of you keeping track, I timed it – Gary Danielson did not mention Tebow until the 14:50 mark – of the first quarter – ah, the pain of unrequited passion.
The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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