A beautiful Sunday morning , indeed. We know those who speak of a Sunday following an Auburn loss, a Tennessee loss, and an Alabama win as "Trifecta Sunday". It was appropriate that Alabama took Tennessee to the woodshed on a night it "honored" Phil Fulmer, who as a secret witness, told lies to the NCAA in an attempt to destroy the Alabama football program and Peyton Manning who once "directed" the Tennessee band in playing Rocky Top after a victory over Alabama. I mean, can you even imagine A.J. coming back out of the tunnel Saturday evening to direct the Million Dollar Band in playing the Rammer Jammer? Me, either. It was an appropriate night for a curb stomping . The Crimson Tide delivered.
We do think the morning afterglow of a sound whipping and a fine cigar may have made you slightly generous in the grades, namely with regard to the kicking game.
Saturday night was full of kicking miscues. Tennessee's best drive of the night started with a great kickoff return. Players have lost lane discipline in kick off coverage -- to be honest, Patterson had his choice of avenues to return the ball. The dropped PAT snap was the first time that has happened that we can remember in years. A good kick return for us was negated by a foolish penalty that did not affect the play. Neither of the missed FGs ever had a chance of being good and missing them gave Tennessee good field position. Note: these were not 50+ yarders. And for some reason, we suddenly stopped kicking off the football into the dadgum end zone and started kicking it short to Patterson -- one of the most dynamic return men in the conference -- actually, maybe the best return man in the conference. We did everything possible to keep this player from getting the ball as a wide receiver, and we kick off short to him. Whether by accident or design, that was not a good thing. We are lucky we didn't pay a higher price for it. Jones was a shining exception to our otherwise iffy play on special teams.
For these failures we take full responsibility. We should not have bragged on the special teams in this space. We hereby repent for that error and hope for improvement.
Otherwise, we agree with the grades. The offense gained well over 500 yards. It should have. Tennessee's defense is a stinking pile of something. For reference, the Tennessee stop squad gave up 560 yards to UGA and 555 yards to USCe. Adding our total and the 450 Mississippi State managed, these guys have surrendered over a mile of offense to its four SEC opponents this year. Nonetheless, Alabama's offense took advantage of most of the openings Tennessee provided and proved it is not a one trick pony. Alabama scored 44 points, had a touchdown called back on an iffy call, missed two field goals, and played the second string in the fourth quarter. All of which is to say it could have been much worse. The high grade was appropriate.
Tennessee's offense, on the other hand, is a very respectable squad. In fact, they gained over 475 yards at UGA. Bray has an impressive arm and we probably just saw the best group of three receivers we will see in the regular season. We heavily recruited two of their offensive linemen. As a unit, they have allowed very few sacks this year. Alabama's defense held Tennessee in check in a way that was reminiscent of, well, of the 2011 Alabama defense -- no small praise.
Oh, and because I'm less restrained that Mr. McCarron, I'll mention that he already owns more national championship rings than Manning, and our head coach has more National Championship rings in the last three seasons than Fulmer has total.
Hope to see you at homecoming. Roll Tide. Beat the Bulldogs.
The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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