All week leading up to Saturday's game, the blogs and papers were full of media reaction to Nick Saban's Wednesday press conference. The Alabama head coach was not happy with the way the chattering class had declared his football team to be unbeatable in the run-up to the weekend's game against what the pundits considered to be an unworthy Western Kentucky. Dennis Dodd from CBS Sports remarked on Friday that only Nick Saban would be upset because reporters said good things about his team.
In the aftermath of the game, Coach Saban stayed true to form, remarking that the game went pretty much like he expected it would and not the way the media had expected it to go. This sentiment was not missed by the players. After beating the Hilltoppers 35-0, Barrett Jones, the physical and mental center of the Alabama offensive line told reporters: "When we don't play our best, we are very ordinary."
National commentators who have only seen the score and skimmed the statistics continue to chat along about how dominating Alabama was last Saturday. They didn't watch the game. As a team, Alabama did not play up to the standard that Coach Saban has set for it.
One aspect of the day, however, did play up to Coach Saban's standard: the weather. Forecasters-with an accuracy much like sports writers-had predicted rain throughout the day with the chance of storms as high as 50% for most of the day. Apart from the slightest misty-drizzle at 11:00 and a vapor cloud around 3:00, the weather was splendid; partly sunny, cool and, by afternoon, low humidity. It was a delightful day to be in Tuscaloosa.
A word or two about the Hilltoppers. Those players are well coached and fundamentally sound. They wrapped up their tackles and threw good blocks. The coaches had a very good plan that called for quick passes on rhythm and misdirection in the running game. Defensively they gave the Tide offensive line fits and were it not for the fact of four turnovers, the contest had the potential to be very tight. On Saturday, WKU would have beaten the other SEC team residing in the State of Alabama. The Western QB is a far better player than is Auburn's Kiehl Frazier, and his coaches trust him to do more with the offense. More about the dumpster fire down in the Village later, for now, here's how I grade the game:
Offense: C In some areas, Alabama was indeed dominant, explosive and unstoppable. In others it was frustratingly inconsistent. It seemed as if the offense was taking every other possession off. The drive chart reflected it: five TDs interspersed by five punts. The Tide did not generate any consecutive scoring drives. The reason was obvious: the offense surrendered six sacks.
The Tide earned 17 first downs and gained 328 yards of total offense [6.4 yards/play], but only 103 yards came by rushing; Tide runners gained 151 yards but lost 48 primarily due to the six sacks. This inconsistency is also reflected in the time of possession by quarter. In the first and second quarters, Alabama held the ball 7:38 and 7:35 respectively. In the third quarter Alabama had the ball for only 3:06, but in the final stanza, the Tide dominated with 9:13.
AJ completed 14 of 19 pass attempts with no interceptions and 4 TDs; two each to Kevin Norwood and Christion Jones, who equalled a school record set 60 years ago for two receivers each having two catches for touchdowns in the same game. TJ Yeldon caught 4 passes for 47 yards, Kevin Norwood caught 3 for 92, Jone caught 3 for 47 and Amari Cooper had two catches for 12 yards. Seven different players caught passes in the game.
The Offense had only three drives that gained at least 40 or more yards [72, 68, 81] each resulted in a touchdown.
We were not a good team on third downs, converting only 4 of 10 possession downs.
Defense: C The Defense played about like the Offense: great at times, not so great at others, particularly on third down.
Western gained 224 yards of total offense [only 46 rushing] but earned 14 first downs and converted 5 of 13 possession downs. This stat would have been 8 of 13 but for the three fumbles forced and recovered by the Tide defenders.
CJ Mosley was credited with 9 tackles [7 solo] and a sack. Adrian Hubbard recorded 6 tackles; all solo and forced a fumble. Nico Johnson made 6 tackles [4 solo] and also forced a fumble. Deion Belue made the Tide's interception, and recorded 3 solo tackles, including 1 for loss.
Special Teams:
Punting: A Cody Mandel made up for all the time he spent doing his homework in the Michigan game with 6 punts [average 44.8 yards] two of which were downed inside the 20, 1 touchback and 1 fair catch. WKU returned 2 punts for 15 yards. Alabama's return game, relying on Christion Jones, gained 21 yards on 3 returns.
Kicking: A Cade Foster averaged 46.7 yards per kick and the coverage unit allowed only 47 yards on 3 returns.
Place Kicking: A Jeremy Shelly was perfect on 5 PATs.
Coaching: C+ Neither Jesse Williams nor Dee Milliner played in the game against WKU, but the participation report lists 47 of their teammates who saw action. No doubt, Coach Saban would have preferred to have played more, but the lack of consistency made that impractical until very late in the game. Alabama was penalized only once for 10 yards. Kevin Norwood led the team with 114 all purpose yards.
On paper, the game looks much better than in did in person. No doubt it's the kind of game that drives Coach Saban crazy; inconsistency, insufficient focus, lack of attention to detail. Likewise, I have no doubt that he and the rest of the coaching staff are doing everything they know how to correct these areas and help the team improve. If Barrett Jones' post-game comments are any indication, the coaches are going to have lots of help from the senior leadership this week.
So what's going on around the rest of the league?
Arkansas fell to ULM in overtime after blowing a three touchdown lead in the second half. Vanderbilt lost to Northwestern thereby making the path to even so much as a 6 win season hard to navigate. Georgia came on strong late in the game to beat Mizzou going away, and Florida handed Texas A&M a loss in its conference debut.
In Starkville, the Bulldogs beat a pretty sorry Auburn team. Two seasons removed from a BCS Championship, the Barners are pathetic in all areas of the game and their fans are already howling in disbelief. But not all Auburn fans are so distraught that they have lost their sense of humor. The prize for funniest posting on a Barn chat board Saturday night: "At least the trees aren't alive to see this."
Alabama's focus, however, needs to be on the Hogs. No doubt the Piggies are wounded and embarrassed by their loss to ULM. A desperate team can be a dangerous team. Nothing would redeem their season like knocking off the number 1 ranked team in the country. For Alabama to make a serious run at national championship number 15, the Tide cannot allow that to happen.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 Saturday afternoon. ESPN's College Gameday may have abandoned plans for Fayetteville, but I know plenty of folks who haven't. Y'all know who you are. Drive safe. Yell loud. And when the game clock goes to zero, give 'em the Rammer Jammer!
The Commissioner
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