Mississippi State Grades

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Alabama needed to get back on track.

This time last week, I was musing about how the players would react to the loss at the hands of LSU and suggesting that this last week might be one of the most challenging that Coach Saban's staff has faced. The offense needed to sustain drives and find the end-zone. The kicking game had to be salvaged. And the defense had to keep opponents at bay while the other components of the team found ways to improve.

The morning after Alabama's 24-7 victory over Mississippi State, it's safe to say that two of those three goals have been met. The defense stayed on track. The offense got on track as the game progressed. And almost like an added bonus, Trent Richardson's Heisman campaign is back on track.

As for the kicking game .... well ..... did you see how dominating the defense was?

In many ways, last night's game was typical of games between these two rivals. State always seems to save its best football for its closest neighbor. Beating Alabama spurs those bell-ringers to heights of ecstasy manifested by displays of sportsmanship like filling the Rose Administration Building fountain with laundry detergent as throngs of MSU fans did after the Bulldogs' 6-3 victory in 1980. Losing to State has been a catalyst to changes in Alabama coaching careers; at least that was so in 1996 and 2006. So it was no surprise that MSU played hard, particularly on defense.

This was no scrimmage game. At the beginning of the year, some pundits forecast State finishing as high as third in the SEC West. The Bulldogs came into last night's game with a 5-4 record, having lost to Auburn, LSU, Georgia and South Carolina. But the Chickens escaped Starkville by a margin less than a field goal; and Auburn survived a game tying score at the end of regulation by less than half a foot. LSU was held to 19 points but allowed only 6. Only Georgia defeated State by as much as two full touchdowns. Therefore, State was a worthy adversary for the Tide's attempt to recover from the funk of its overtime loss to LSU.

The defense once again delivered a praise-worthy performance. State was held to only 12 yards rushing on 29 attempts; that's less than 15 inches per running play. The offense started the game much as it ended the LSU game a week before. Bama's first four possessions yielded two punts and two missed field goals and although the offense finally got its first touchdown in six quarters before the half, it surrendered an interception and another punt prior to intermission. Football games are played in two halves, and the Alabama offense won the second half and most particularly the fourth quarter. By the end of the game, the offense had gained 386 total yards, and Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy combined for 223 yards rushing.

Holding only a 10 point advantage, with 6:26 to play in the game, and the MSU end-zone 78 yards away after a false start penalty made it first down and 15 to go, the coaches put the ball into Trent Richardson's hands. Nine plays later, each one a Richardson carry out of the Wildcat formation, the Tide had a 2d and 10 at the Bulldog 35. Eddie Lacy tag-teamed with TR and took two plays with fresh legs to stick the ball in the end-zone and stick an exclamation point on the end of the drive.

Even playing without All-American left tackle, Barrett Jones, Alabama is back on track as a physical offensive team, that will impose its will in the running game. With Stanford's Heisman-hyped QB Andrew Luck throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble last night, Trent Richardson's 153 all purpose yards [127 rushing; 26 receiving] keeps him on track for post-season individual recognition.

And as far as the getting the kicking game back on track .... well .... Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: B It took the first 30 minutes for the offense to shake of it's post-LSU doldrums. AJ had a workman-like performance, completing 14 of his 24 pass attempts for 163 yards. A bad decision late in the second quarter resulted in a MSU interception but AJ's great competitive hustle produced a TD-saving tackle during the return.

Marquis Maze had 4 receptions for 22 yards; DeAndrew White, who entered the game for an injured Darius Hanks, had 3 catches for 21 yards. Kevin Norwood, caught 2 passes for 60 yards. A total of 7 different players caught passes.

The Tide had four drives that gained in excess of 40 yards [52, 73, 53, 73] each of which produced all of Alabama's scores [3 TDs, 1 FG].

Defense: A MSU's only score came on a 22 yard drive set up by a 68 yard kick off return. Apart from that one shining moment, the Dogs were held to 131 total offensive yards, 3 of 16 third down conversions, and 6 possessions of 4 or fewer downs resulting in either a punt or turnover on downs.

Dont'a Hightower led all defenders with 11 tackles [4 solo] including 2.5 tackles for 10 yards of lost yardage and a pass break up.

Mark Barron recorded 9 tackles and C.J. Moseley had 7. The Stop Troops combined for 9 tackles for lost yardage including 5 sacks. State's quarterbacks were hurried twice and 5 passes were broken up.

Special Teams:

Punting: B+ Cody Mandel averaged only 37.2 yards per punt and saved his best effort [44 yards] for when we had an opportunity to pin State deep; instead that punt resulted in a touchback. The good grade comes from the return and rush efforts. Marquis Maze had a stellar 21 yard punt return and the rush made State's rugby-style punter pay for mishandling the snap.

Place Kicking: F Cade Foster missed from 49 yards in the first quarter. Jeremy Shelley missed from 31 in the second and was good from 21 in the third.

Kickoffs: F Foster had a dreadful night. He averaged only 58 yards gross per kick and the 68 yard return contributed to a net per kick of only 31 yards. Foster may have been injured during the long return, because Shelley kicked off after Bama's final score of the night and cranked out a respectable, but not spectacular, 62 yard effort.

Coaching: C+ Credit has to go to the coaching staff for the win, the play of the defense and the decision to put the game on TR's broad shoulders in the fourth quarter. The retrograde progress of the kicking game, however, drags the coaching grade down with it. Alabama was penalized 6 times for 40 yards; another area for improvement. The participation report lists 53 players who saw action. The staff deserves credit for having played multiple configurations in the offensive line earlier in the year, because the absence of both Barrett Jones [who will be back for Auburn] and Cyrus K. [who won't] necessitated some duck-tape patch-work in the offensive trench.

Yesterday was an eventful day across the college football landscape. Vanderbilt beat the Kentucky Mild-cats by a greater margin than the 'Dores have achieved against any team in the SEC since 1972. UT lost to the Hogs by 42 points to remain winless in league play this season. In Athens, the Bulldogs put on the opposite of a Barn Raising as they humiliated the defending BC$ Champions 45-7 in a game that was not as close as the score might suggest. Out in Idaho, the Smurf Turf could not produce its customary magic for Boise State, which lost to TCU by the narrowest of margins, 36-35. And in Silicon Valley, Stanford fumbled, stumbled and was humbled by Oregon, 53-30.

All of this leaves only one thing required for Alabama to play for the Big Crystal Football: Alabama has to finish no worse than No. 2 in the final BCS standings. To move up that final notch, the Tide will have to win out and either LSU or Oklahoma State will have to drop. Arkansas could beat LSU. The Sooners could beat OK. State. But neither of those outcomes are in Alabama's span of control.

The only thing that Alabama can control is how it plays the next two games against Georgia Southern and Auburn. Coach Saban isn't going to let the players think about the post-Thanksgiving trip to Lee County Agricultural Vocational and Technical School. His message will be about getting better, correcting mistakes, playing the best you can play.

The kicking game still needs to get on track. The offense and defense need to stay on track.

But how much do you want to bet that there's a GA or student trainer whose job it will be to keep track of what happens in Baton Rouge and Stillwater?

The Commissioner