Iron Bowl Grades

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I swear I saw it.

I haven't gone to the DVR and watched the end of the broadcast, but I'm positive that I saw Nick Saban smile. No, really, I did. I realize that's hard to believe, but trust me on this. As Tracy Wolfson interviewed him after the Tide's 42-14 Iron Bowl victory Nick Saban smiled.

OK, it's wasn't much of a smile by ordinary human standards; the ends of his lips were ever so slightly tilted up, and his eyes crinkled just a little bit. But for Coach Saban it was the equivalent of an ear-to-ear toothy grin.

And who can blame him? The Tide had just turned in its best all-around game of the 2011 season. Trent Richardson had a career-high performance, rushing the ball for 203 yards against the Tide's most bitter rival. Brad Smelley had played the game of his Bama career leading all receivers with 6 receptions for 86 yards and a TD. By half time, AJ McCarron had thrown for three TDs, and joined the elite company of Freddie Kitchens, Steve Sloan and Jeff Rutledge as the only Alabama quarterbacks to complete three touchdown passes in an Iron Bowl. And when the game clock reached all zeros, the Alabama defense, which last year surrendered 28 points, including 21 in the second half, had so thoroughly dominated the Auburn offense, that one Subscriber to this blog quipped: "Auburn football: 'This year we are playing for free .... and it shows.' "

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: A+   Yes, the lost fumble which resulted in Auburn's first points was the kind of play that typically eliminates the + grade; however, the successful two-point conversion play operates as a push for the turnover. Plus, this was Auburn we were playing. That justifies maybe a little bit of grade inflation.

Alabama gained 397 yards of total offense [213 rushing], made 19 first downs, converted 7 of 13 third-downs, and was a perfect 4-4 in the red zone. AJ went the distance for the Tide and made his inaugural Iron Bowl start one for the record books, completing 18 of 23 pass attempts for 184 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. He handled the AU pass rush like he had ice-water in his veins.

Brad Smelley caught 6 passes for 86 yards including a 35 yard reception for a TD where he was at least 15 yards behind the coverage. Smelley was so open that another Subscriber wrote: "The defensive coordinator told the Auburn players to 'cover all 11 guys' ... since Smelley was wearing number 17 they just let him go."

Marquis Maze caught 4 passes for 18 yards, mostly on screens. Brandon Gibson, Michael Williams and Kenny Bell each caught 2 passes. Bell's longest reception came on a flea-flicker where Trent got the hand-off, took two steps, then turned and lateraled back to AJ. By this time every Tiger DB had committed to the run and Kenny looked like he was out to practice early. The play was good for 41 yards and a TD. In all, 7 different players caught passes.

Trent, of course, led all rushers with 203 yards. His longest run from scrimmage was a thunderous 57 yard power run in the 4th quarter where he literally swatted away two would-be tacklers. But that was not his only run of the night worthy of a Heisman Trophy highlight reel. He had several rushes that gained 8 to 10 yards where most backs would have been fortunate to gain 2.

Eddie Lacy, still limited by turf-toe, gained 6 yards on 4 carries. Jalston Fowler ran the ball only once, but the play was good for 15 yards and Alabama's final TD.

The offense had 5 offensive possessions that gained 40 or more yards [81, 80, 51, 69, 90]. These drives consumed a total of 50 plays from scrimmage and produced 3 TDs and 2 FGs. The shortest scoring drive was the 35 yard TD pass to Shelley that followed a shanked Auburn punt.

Defense: A+   Auburn was only able to generate a single first down in the first half and was held to only 9 for the game, most coming in the 4th quarter when the outcome of the contest was not in doubt. The Tiger running game could only produce 78 yards rushing and the passing game was equally throttled [11-20-1, 62 yds, no TDs]. The only score on an Auburn pass attempt was made by the Alabama defense.

Gary Danielson at one point in the broadcast said that he had not seen Dont'a Hightower make any plays. Which made me wonder what game Danielson was watching. Dont'a had 9 tackles [6 solo; 1 for loss].

D. Milliner, Vinnie Sunseri and C. J. Moseley each recorded 6 tackles. Milliner drove the stake into the Tiger's heart with the pick-six. Courtney Upshaw had 5 tackles [4 solo; 2 for loss]. The Tide Defense recorded a total of 6 tackles for lost yardage including 2 sacks, and forced a fumble.

Special Teams:

Place Kicking: A   Jeremy Shelley was good each time he was called upon [30, 28; 4 PATs].

Punting: A   Cody Mandel punted three for an average of 40.5 yards. He placed one inside the Auburn 20 and each was fair caught. When he doesn't shank, the Auburn punter is good. In spite of the kick he sliced for 18 yards, he averaged nearly 42 yards per punt, and got excellent hang-time. Nevertheless, Marquis Maze managed to return 2 punts for 21 yards [16, 5].

Kick offs: F   I'm sorry, but while Cade Foster managed two touchbacks, he also had a 55 yard kick that, combined with an assignment bust, yielded an 85 yard return for a TD.

Coaching: A+   Alabama dominated Auburn. Think about this for just a minute. Yesterday's game was a contest between the two most recent winners of the BCS Championship. In the year after the Tide won its 13th national title, with most of its impact defensive players gone to graduation or the NFL, Auburn managed a one-point victory. The year following the Tigers' BCS win, Alabama crushed the Tigers, scoring more points than have been scored in this rivalry since 1977. The Process does not involve bringing in players for a one-year work-for-hire arrangement. It is a non-stop effort that begins with recruiting, involves intense conditioning, includes innovative player development, and requires absolute commitment on the part of all concerned. There is a reason why, in his fifth year as Alabama's head football coach, Nick Saban's team is on the cusp of playing for a second BCS title, and has a player on the short list for the Heisman Trophy for the second time in three years.

The Tide was penalized only three times, all in the first half. The participation report lists 50 players who saw action against Auburn.

Special mention to Vinnie Sunseri. The freshman DB did not start the game, but had significant playing time due to last week's injury to Will Lowery and an injury during the game to Mark Barron. Sunseri exemplifies what The Process is all about. Does anyone doubt that he will be a defensive star in the seasons ahead?

Saban's smile made a repeat appearance in his post-game presser where he gave credit by name to everyone from Dr. Witt and Mal Moore to his coordinators and assistant coaches for the sustained success of the Alabama program. He didn't say this, but the point is unmistakable: The 2011 Iron Bowl tells you all you need to know about the relative quality, not just of Auburn and Alabama, but Alabama and the rest of the college football universe. There are LSU and Alabama. Then there is all the rest.

Commentators have been writing and talking about "style points" and "statement games" ever since a series of foreseeable losses cleared out the brush and put three teams from the SEC West at the top of the BCS standings. Some pundits have been nattering about how they "don't want to see a rematch." Give credit, however, to Mark May. The CBS wrap-up show commentator was unequivocal: Alabama and LSU are the two best teams in college football. Assuming LSU beats Georgia next week, the only meaningful BCS CG will be one between the Tide and Tigers.

Allow me a comment or two about the quality of CBS's coverage of the 2011 Iron Bowl. I would grade it no better than a D+. Gary Danielson gets a high grade for his editorial about Heisman voting: Don't game the system; vote for whoever you believe deserves the award, but don't drop the obvious runner up solely to give your preferred choice an advantage. Nevertheless, it is outrageous that Lundquist and Wolfson spent time talking about the troglodyte Harvey Updike, and never mentioned Carson Tinker a single time. And then there was this from Wolfson on the Toomer's Corner trees: "I drove by them and they looked really bad. They usually have leaves all over them but now the branches are bare."

Helloooo! Tracy! Is anybody home inside your head? It's November 26 for Pete's sake; there are no leaves on the trees in my yard either! We have a phenomena in this part of the country called "The Autumn." Check it out on Wikkiepedia, or My Weekly Reader.

So now we begin a waiting period. A week from now we will learn officially whether the Tide will play for the Big Crystal Football. This is the last edition of The Grades until after the bowl game. Look for the Commissioner's MVPs and, hopefully, the return of Round Ball Grades from Marc Torrence. So, I leave you now, with a link to the Rammer Jammer that serenaded the victorious Crimson Tide and echoed off the empty seats of Jordan-Hare Stadium, which the Auburn people abandoned in the 4th quarter. It is guaranteed to bring a smile ....

The Commissioner