MSU Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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Good grades, Commissioner.  Thanks for bringing some needed levity and perspective to the kicking game situation.  I will be surprised if there aren’t significant changes around that phase of the game before we kick off next September – and not just the addition of the latest scholarship-holding wunderkind kicker from some high school we’ve never heard of who kicks it 90 yards, end over end, off the dirt cause his high school is too poor to plant grass, blah, blah, blah….

Everyone I know said they felt confident before Saturday night, but I think somewhere deep inside you had to wonder if the combination of skinned egos, bruised pride, and fractured dreams would lead to a meltdown by Alabama in the football game Saturday night.  Alabama at least came to play and as someone pointed out after the game, if I could get a ten-year guarantee of 24-7 victories on the road against any team in the SEC West, I’d take it without playing the games.  So credit the team and coaches with not letting what happened last Saturday ruin this Saturday, too.

In addition to the psychological scars, Alabama is a football team showing the wear and tear of a long campaign.  Both Kouandjio brothers are awaiting (or maybe recently had by now) surgery to end their seasons.  I think missing Cyrus hurt us particularly last week.  Barrett Jones is a key player, not only physically but from a leadership perspective.  Smelley played but seemed slowed.  If you are keeping score, we started our third different offensive line in four games Saturday night.  Vinnie Sunseri knocked himself out, literally, on special teams (though most serious observers presumed it was only a matter of time – kid plays with an admirable lack of respect for his physical well-being) limiting an extra option at linebacker.  Foster may have been injured not making the tackle on their long kickoff return.  Jesse Williams’ much tattooed arm was in a sling at the end of the game. Hanks lasted about one series.  Maze got slower as the game went along.  Lacy appears to be close to old form, but did not practice all week.  Kevin Norwood had a couple of nice catches.  If you have been wondering about him, he’s been weeks recovering from a high ankle sprain.  Kirkpatrick wore a black jersey in practice all week recovering from the concussion he suffered when he was mugged by an outlaw from Louisiana last Saturday.  This team needs some R&R.

You couldn’t tell any of it by our defense.  Twice put in deep holes, once by the offense and once by special teams, they gave up a grand total of 7 points.  Richardson had almost as many yards on the ground as MSU's entire offense gained in total.  After the season it will be time to talk about just how good this defense has been.  McCarron seems to have lost a little confidence and consistency along with his best wide receivers.  I wonder if there is a cause and effect?

I know that everyone on TV is all ga-ga about offenses that run 8000 plays a game and try to score basketball numbers with defense only there to kill time and let the offense think up some new plays.  You can have it.  What our running backs did in the fourth quarter against MSU Saturday was outstanding football.  It reminded me so much of Mark Ingram putting the team on his back two seasons ago against South Carolina. Against MSU, the offensive brain trust split AJ out to wide receiver and snapped the ball directly to Richardson and then Lacy double digit times in a row.  No one with the sense God gave a cowbell really thought Trent was going to toss it to AJ on the skinny post or an out and up. Certainly no one on the Bulldog defense did.  It didn’t seem to make much difference.  And that’s just the point. I know we aren’t supposed to talk about it, but I cannot help but wonder what the result would have been last week if we had remembered that this team is about as subtle as an anvil and a 10-pound sledge hammer.  It is fair to ask, having seen both processes, why did we suddenly trade our trusty blacksmith’s tools for the computer-guided laser scalpel of end arounds and wildcat passes to tight ends?  There are good reasons why blacksmiths don’t do surgery, and why surgeons don’t pound out horse shoes.    

Here is hoping we’ll continue to recover, physically and otherwise, and be true to our character for the last two regular season games.  If we do, neither one should be close.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store