Whew. That was
needlessly exciting. LSU is a good solid
football team that will end the season ranked below teams that it could
beat. The combination of having an extra
week to prepare, 11 months to dwell on
an embarrassing loss, night time in Baton Rouge, and a Quarterback who played a
game that exceeded probably even his mother's expectations (reminiscent, to me
at least, of the Garcia effort in Columbia in 2010) combined with the injury
bug that has bitten the Crimson Tide hard this year nearly made for a bitter
gumbo for Alabama fans to swallow. By
the light of a crisp November Sunday morning, though, it seems likely to become
a very tasty memory.
I am not nearly the first, but since the Michigan game I
have been of the opinion that the only team on the regular schedule capable of
beating Alabama was...Alabama. The Tide
nearly did itself in last night. LSU
played a heck of a game in all phases, nearly overcoming some coaching decisions that were, to put it
mildly, questionable. But Alabama played
poorly enough to lose three games. It is
tradition to give the opponent credit for "causing" turnovers. LSU had nothing to do with Alabama's two
fumbles last night. Neither player was
touched by the LSU defense. On Yeldon's
fumble Alabama was on the cusp of scoring its 21st point, at least 17th, which
would have changed the complexion of the game.In addition to events on the field, fate seemed to be working against Alabama just as it did in Tuscaloosa last November. For example, with two minutes left the other team fumbles and you recover at mid field down by three, only to find out that the play was whistled dead because a running back was in motion before the offensive line was set for one second? Say what? You had to wonder if the combined voodoo , hope, wishes, and prayers of LSU, KSU, Oregon and Notre Dame fans were finally going to bring to an end a glorious run of Alabama football.
Give the players a lot of credit for not giving up. The defense stiffened when it had to. The offense moved down the field when LSU
seemed willing to play back and trade yards for time. One hundred and twelve seconds seemed like far
too little time for an offense that was, shall we say, ineffectual in the
second half -- instead, it was really twice as much as it needed.
Some comments on the grades.
Offense: I agree with
the grade and it might even be generous.
I do not think we have heard the complete story on McCarron's back
"contusion". He did not throw
the ball like he has all season, including last week before he left the game,
not to return. Lacy ran hard and true
and held onto the ball last night. You
may not notice, but he is a master at stopping blitzes and helping on rushing
defensive linemen. But his ankle is NOT
well. Similarly, Cooper was running very
slowly and was not even in the game at several key points. He was missed, badly. The offensive line, on the other hand,
probably played its best game of the year against the best defense they will
see. I don't care who we play in Atlanta
or a bowl game, that will still be true.
LSU's ends are ready to play in the NFL now. Fluker, who is in my opinion playing out of
position at tackle, had a good game given what he was up against. On McCarron's TD he lunged and got just
enough of the LSU end to save the day.
If the skill players can get back to matching the line's effort last
night, all will be well.
Defense: It is a
difficult, difficult thing to give up 400+ yards of offense and hold a team to
17 points. Alabama's stop troops managed
it last night. We were frequently out of
position on D, but I don't fault the players (see below). When it had to, the defense rose up and held
LSU. They get a mark up for that. But for all the times they could not get off
the field.... Our cornerbacks have been
a concern since A-Day, and having survived tough tests against the likes of
Tennessee, did not do well last night, especially on one side. On the other hand, give LSU credit for good
matchup schemes and some perfectly thrown balls. Your grading was fair, Commissioner, and they
should not be heard to whine about it.
Special Teams. Again,
injuries continue to hurt. The player
who fumbled the punt last night was likely third on the depth chart at that
position when the season started, if that.
I'm glad that the game did not come down to time running out field goal
attempt from the LSU 30, but I would have been comfortable with it. We should have seen the on sides kick coming,
no matter how unbelievable it was, and we were fortunate they misplayed it.
Coaching: What grade
to give? You beat the #5 team on its
home field at night after they have a week off with two of your best offensive
weapons hobbled and your quarterback having his worst game in a year? You keep the kids' heads in the game, down by
3 without a yard passing in the second half and under two minutes to go with no
time outs. And you win in
regulation? That would deserve at least
a grade of good, probably excellent one would think. On the other hand, coaching got us into this
hole a bit. Coming out of half time up
14-3 you go three and out in your first two series gaining about 4 yards? Sure, some of it is execution but a lot of it
is play-calling. There is room for some
discussion about our offensive choices last night, especially going away from
what was working. It is rare for Kirby
Smart to be out coached, but he was last night.
We constantly had the gallant Vinnie Sunseri matched up with tall, fast
wide receivers. It is not his fault when
he cannot cover that play. Full backs
and tight ends ended up with catches against our lighter dbs. Also not good. We never really adjusted. You can bet TA&M's coaching staff is in a
meeting room right now putting formations in their play book that look just
like LSU's. I think the grade is
right. It's like a student who was
inconsistent all semester long then shows up to the final, writes the best
paper in class and gets the bonus question right. Sure can't give that effort a C.
Officiating: At least
the zebras did not decide the game as they more or less did last November. But I missed the memo where holding along the
offensive line was removed from the rule book.
It was mostly rampant and mostly uncalled last night.
Broadcasting:
Arrgh. Not more Verne and
Gary. Please, Commercials Before Sports,
have mercy on us. "Corey"
Mandell, "Steven" Fluker and I are all begging you, go mangle someone
else's football experience.
Mathematically, at least, Alabama won at least a tie for the
SEC Western Division Championship last night (for which our neighbors to the
east would be getting fitted for rings and tossing toilet paper), and it would
have to lose to both Texas A&M and Auburn, as well as have a bunch of other
stuff go wrong not to find itself in Atlanta in December. But the goals are so much higher than a tie
for the Western Division of the SEC.
Texas A&M has an excellent offense and statistically played LSU
better than we did just a few short weeks ago.
It is the last of three very difficult games in a row in a season where
everyone wants to knock off the number one team.
Roll Tide. Beat the
Aggies.The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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