Tennessee Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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For those of you not able to attend, it was a great atmosphere on Saturday.  The Quad was full, though not quite as buzzing as it was before Arkansas. It was foggy in the early morning, and despite dire predictions of chilly weather, was almost a perfect day.  A bright blue sky, unlimited visibility after the fog burned off, little breeze….  I don’t know if they showed it on the broadcast, but the twilight fighter flyover was impressive as only such things can be.  I like that they bring the flight crews back to the stadium for a round of applause later in the game.  I like it better when they have Alabama t-shirts under their flight suits, as these guys did.  The cigar smoke started wafting through the stadium by early in the fourth quarter and the Quad, in places, was as smoky as a speakeasy after the game.  Some traditions may be endangered, but this isn’t one of them.  Tennessee’s band performed, and performed, and performed.  Perhaps they just think they won’t see very large crowds the rest of the season, but man….  The crowd was very loud and contributed to a couple of Tennessee miscues.  The last shuttle bus didn’t leave the Quad for the soccer lot till 11 p.m. and many tents were still watching the delayed Oklahoma Texas Tech game then.

I agree with the grades, Commissioner, though I might rate the coaches a little higher.  Our defensive staff, in particular, is making great adjustments and not just at half time.  If you coach one of our opponents, you’d be well-served to have a completely different game plan for the second half than the first.

Speaking of the defense, I think getting off to a slow start made what was otherwise an impressive performance not look quite as good.  I will always feel like keeping a conference opponent from scoring a touchdown is a remarkable achievement.  And one of the Tennessee scores was a 52-yard field goal.  Nothing to do but tip your cap to their kicker for that effort.

The offense was just out of sync in the first half.   Tennessee had decided that Trent Richardson wasn’t going beat them, though he pretty much did anyway.  Tennessee overloaded the tight end side on most every down and often had 9 in the box.  Richardson’s touchdown on three consecutive carries for ten yards were 10 of the hardest fought yards by a running back I can recall.  To state the obvious (and it should be stated) he is a very special athlete.  The exact problem is hard to diagnose, but saying Alabama was “flat” is not quite the explanation.  Partly there was a new player on the o-line with Steen sidelined, partly our passes were just a little out of range – my guess is the early interception was on the quarterback’s mind a bit and he was making sure the ball was where only our guys could get it.  His near-touchdown pass to Williams was high, but catchable.  Hanks bailed him out a couple of times.  On one catch Hanks was so open it looked like summer skeleton drills on the Quad, but we led him too much and he had to dive for it, probably costing a touchdown.  But the TD pass to Bell was a route Mccarron has been overthrowing.  If he was due for an off night, I’m glad it is over with.  And to be fair, it only lasted half the game.  His third quarter performance was as good as I can remember since the SEC Championship.

The kicking game was better.  We had the touchback the Commissioner mentioned, and most of the kicks at least made it to the 5.  Coverage was far better than at Mississippi.  It was good to see Foster back after the concussion and it was also good to see him hit a 45+ yard field goal.  He had a few more yards on it, actually, and after the hash he made of the attempt at Oxford, it was good to see him hit it solid.  We might need it at some point.

It has been glossed over this year, partly because the starters have gotten in the habit of taking a quarter off each game, but it is good to get to the break.  This is a tried football team, and a lot of guys are banged up.  Cyrus K-unpronounceable and Alex Watkins both did not look good after the game.   Lacy needed this game to knock some rust off – he is still not quite where he was before the toe injury.  Even Upshaw looked a half step slow in the second half.

I continue to believe that the only team I have seen (and I haven’t seen Stanford yet) that is capable of beating Alabama is Alabama.  The first half Saturday night, however, proved that we are fully capable of doing it.  I hope that an off week will provide a chance for the team, as the Head Coach put it, to chill out.  There’s some work to do in November.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store