Ole Miss Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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We agree with you about fashion, Commissioner.  As Coach Bryant still reminds us every Saturday, the same things win that always won.   Some of those things are desire, the will to prepare to win, being able to run the football when you need to, hard-hitting defense, and winning the kicking game.  Alabama had all of those going for it last night.  Speaking of fashion, through the week various football pundits made it fashionable to pick Mississippi and its oh-so-stylish offense to beat Alabama and its methodical will-breaking style of play.  When all was said and done last night, those same things proved to be the difference without regard to style of play.

Alabama is not yet a complete football team.  There are units which still have a ways to go to produce at the level required to win a championship.  On the other hand, a third of the way through the season, Alabama is 4-0, ranked #1 in the country, has beaten two ranked teams, is one of only two undefeated teams in the SEC, has won three games by 25 points each time, is coming off a shut out of a team that was averaging over 44 points a game, and will likely be favored in every game in October.  Even with the Aggies on the schedule, Alabama's defense is giving up just over 14 points a game.  Believe us, things could be a lot worse.

A word about our coaching staff.  It has also become fashionable to leave your starters on the field and run up as many points as possible when the game is no longer in doubt.  Earning "style points" they call it.  We have little doubt that Alabama could have punched in another touchdown or two late in the fourth quarter Saturday night.  The coaching staff chose not to exert extra efforts to do that, choosing to play the second and third string.  We think of that as something that never goes out of style -- we call it class.

Regular readers might want to sit down before reading the rest of this sentence, but we feel a bit sorry for the on-field officials as far as the targeting rule goes (no credit for apparently not knowing that it is against the rules for a defensive back to tackle a receiver while the ball is in the air).  The scandalous waste of oxygen that is the NCAA "developed" a rule that is practically impossible to see in real time and subject to so much "judgment" and "interpretation" as to be essentially impossible to get right dependably.  To make it harder on the officials, the NCAA then decreed that in a close situation, officials were to err on the side of calling the penalty.   Let that sink in a minute, the NCAA wants the officials to err.  This rule, a questionable use of the term given its definition, should have been eliminated by the end of the second week of the season.  Only the NCAA could concoct a situation where a team is penalized 15 yards for doing something that is not, on video review, a violation of the rules.  Leaving the on-field officials to try to clean up this mess is as unfair to them as it is to the players.   Our officiating crews have enough problems and are routinely (and rightly) roundly criticized by media and fans.  The NCAA should give them, and us, a break.

Roll Tide everyone, hope to see you at homecoming.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store

Ole Miss Grades

In case you don't have one of those apps on your smart-phone that lets you listen to any radio station in the world-and I do mean anywhere in the world,like the weather and traffic reports from Antarctica-I thought as a public service I would provide readers of The Commissioners Blog some of the calls that were placed to post-game sports talk shows around the SEC this last Saturday:

WJOX: Buddy from Pell City, you're next on Tide Talk, what's on your mind?

Buddy: Hey fellas, how're y'all tonight?

WJOX: Just fine, Buddy, how about you?

Buddy: Good....good....you know, I just got one question, or I guess it's really a comment, sort of, but you know, I don't understand why it is that the officials can throw a flag for a player getting hit by another player on a play and calling it 'targeting' and then the replay officials say it isn't but the penalty still gets imposed. Youknowwhatimean? It just seams to me that they ought to not call the penalty until the official in the booth says it is. YouknowwhatImean?

WJOX: Yeah, Buddy, I think I know what you mean. And this has happened to Alabama twice now, and maybe they will take a look at that rule after the season.

...

WVOL: Soddy Daisy is next....Travis, you're on the air with Vol-Talk.

Travis: Yeah....hey.....Yeah....hey

WVOL: Turn the volume down, Travis

Travis: Is that better?

WVOL: Yeah, thanks....

Travis: Well, I think the Vols can still win the SEC this year, whaday'allthink?

WVOL: Well, Travis, we admire your optimism, but Tennessee still has some work to do to improve and.....

Travis: I can't believe y'all, what a bunch of [bleep]. [bleep] you, you [bleep] [bleep]

...

WGA: Brian in Macon on line 2, you're on The Big Dawg

Brian: I just want to say that Mark Richt is the finest coach in America. He's more than just a great football coach, he's the finest man I can think of, what with all that he does for his wife and kids, and his family situation, and all, and healing people, and how he has turned Aaron Murray into the best quarterback in the SEC, and it just goes to show you that if you are going to be a coach and a great person you got to have standards and that means you might have to kick somebody off the team sometime and Zack Mettenberger can kiss my...

WGA Co-Host: Well thanks for the call Brian, we enjoy hearing from you each week and are glad you have recovered from the Clemson game......

There was another post-game media statement that was interesting. This person did not have to call a radio station, however. Ole Miss quarterback, Bo Wallace, wasted no time taking back the smack-talk he had delivered earlier in the week. 

The Rebel signal caller made headlines last Tuesday by comparing the UM wide receivers to those at Texas A&M and declaring that the student athletes to whom he threw passes were far superior to those on the receiving end of Johnny Manziel. And he didn't stop there. Wallace expanded his remarks to include his assessment of Alabama's defensive secondary, which he predicted would be no match for the aerial circus that is the Ole Miss, Hurry Up No Huddle ("HUNH") attack.

Saturday evening, Wallace told reporters that he had been misquoted; his words taken out of context. Those were the only points anyone associated with the Mississippi offense made all evening.

The game of college football evolves over time. Fashions, particularly on offense, come and go. In the present age, HUNH seems to be the cutting edge of societal change. But on a late September evening, in Chamber Of Commerce weather, the Alabama Crimson Tide provided the college football world with a reminder of one of the most basic, and unchanging facts of the game: if the other team does not score, it cannot beat you. 

HUNH is supposed to run more plays, spread the field, fling the ball all over the place, ratchet up the tempo of the game and wear the opposing defense out. Let's see how that worked for Admiral Akbar and his Black Bears:

Key statistics:

First Downs: Ole Miss 11 Alabama 21

Passing: Ole Miss 17 of 32 Alabama 25-32

Offensive Plays: Ole Miss 57 Alabama 72

Total Offense: Ole Miss 205 Alabama 434

Net Rushing: Ole Miss 46 Alabama 254

Net Passing: Ole Miss 159 Alabama 180

And this one really stands out:

Possession Time: Ole Miss 21:31 Alabama 38:29

Think about that: Alabama had the football long enough for the Ole Miss offense to complete an on-line course.

Watching the game from the South Zone, it did not seem, in real time, to be the dominating performance documented by the final statistics. At the half, Alabama had less than 40 yards net rushing, and clung to a slim scoring edge thanks to three Cade Foster field goals. The second half, however, started with a 68 yard touchdown run by TJ Yeldon who blasted through a gaping hole created by the Offensive Line. Borrowing a page from the Eddie Lacy playbook, Yeldon put a spin-move on the Rebel safety and ran away from the pursuit to put the Tide up by 16 points. 

Ole Miss had two clear TD opportunities in the second half when a horrible officiating call [more later] and an interception, set the Rebs up with possession deep in Tide territory. But the Defense responded ferociously and forced turnovers on downs.

The final score: Alabama 25 - Ole Miss 0. The game was close enough, long enough, for the student section to stay full right to the end of the game; which is a good thing. The Rammer Jammer just sounds better coming from 17,000 young voices.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: B AJ set a personal record for completions in a game, with 25, but he threw his third interception of the season to start the 4th quarter. Christion Jones and Kevin Norwood each caught 5 passes, Kenny Bell caught 4 while Amari Cooper, Yeldon and DeAndrew White caught three apiece. Eight different players caught passes.

Yeldon's 121 net rushing yards came on 17 carries. This was Yeldon's 7th 100+ yard rushing performance of his career. He has rushed for more than 100 yards twice so far this season.

Kenyan Drake gained 99 net yards on 12 rushes, including an explosive 50 yard run late in the 4th quarter to end the scoring. Drake's TD was the first play following an Ole Miss free kick that went out of bounds-something that I cannot remember seeing before. Evidently, kicking the ball out of bounds on a free kick following a safety is a 20 yard penalty. Who knew?

Derrick Henry, Jalston Fowler and Altee Tenpenny all had their numbers called in the running game. I am looking forward to seeing more from each of these players this coming Saturday.

The Tide had five offensive possessions that gained 40 or more yards [61, 43, 56, 75, 50] each one resulted in points. Consistency, however, is still an unachieved offensive goal. The drive chart tells the story; Alabama's possessions ended with these results: FG, punt, punt, FG, FG, TD, punt, punt, INT, punt, TD, downs. One of the keys to improved consistency is better production on first down. It seemed that most of the negative plays came on first down. However, the Tide was much better in third down conversions in this game, moving the chains 8 times on 17 possession downs.

Defense: A+ Earlier in the week, CJ Mosley called a players-only meeting. Based on Saturday night's results, Coach Saban should make it a standard feature of the practice week schedule.

Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix lead all defenders with 8 tackles. Mosley recorded 7 stops while Eddie Jackson, Trey DePriest, Jeffrey Pagan, and Jarrick Williams each were credited with 4. 

Jackson deserves special mention. The true freshman found himself starting at right corner, and the Ole Miss offensive staff picked on him repeatedly. The results? Three solo tackles, one tackle for lost yardage, two break-ups and an interception. 

The Black Bears were able to convert only 4 of 14 third downs, and converted only 1 of 4 attempted conversions on fourth down. The Ole Miss HUNH achieved six punts, three turnovers on downs, a lost fumble, an interception and a safety. 

When your defense keeps the other team from scoring, and earns two points with a safety, the offense can spend the game studying for mid-terms.

Special Teams:

Punting: A+ Cody Mandel had an awesome night punting the ball. He averaged 46.2 yards on 5 punts, and downfield coverage was terrific. The safety came on the first play following a punt downed inside the Ole Miss 1.

Place Kicking: A+ Cade Foster was perfect on three field goal attempts including a career high 53 yarder.

Kickoffs: A On six kickoffs, Alabama averaged 48 net yards and Landon Collins  is an absolute beast on kick coverage.

Coaching: A Since 2009, the Tide has played an undefeated and nationally ranked team 17 times for a record of 15-2.  Ole Miss has not suffered a shut out since its 1998 game against Arkansas; a streak of 151 game. Alabama, under Saban, has held opponents to 10 or fewer points 43 times. Sixty two players are listed in the participation report, and the Tide was penalized 7 times.

Officiating: R As in "R" You Kidding Me? What's with this crew? Twice they threw flags only to later waive them off. But the "targeting" penalty on Jackson was inexcusable. Jackson was actually trying to avoid the UM receiver who had failed to make a catch along the sideline. The Reb player's momentum carried him into Jackson who had turned partially away. Replays clearly showed there was no foul and the officials in the press box reversed the ejection, but Ole Miss nevertheless got 15 free yards and a first down. Fortunately, the Bama defense responded by turning up the intensity, but it will not be long before a big game gets decided because one team is awarded an unearned bonus like that.

Around the league, UT was fortunate to outlast South Alabama, Georgia beat LSU in a shoot-out, A&M beat Arkansas in a game with a combined score of 78 points. Even Vanderbilt scored half-a-hundred. Compared to those gaudy scores, Alabama's 25-0 defeat of Ole Miss seems like a throw back to a bye-gone age.....the distant past when defense won championships....an ancient time....like 2012.  It might not be worth calling a radio show, but it's worth writing home about.

See you next week for Homecoming.

The Commissioner  

Colorado State Grades

The Commissioner had duty this weekend and asked us to try to fill the gaping hole left by his unavailability.  This will be a poor substitute, but in the words of the current (and pretty frustrated) head coach, it is what it is.

Alabama won the game against the Colorado State Rams led by the Tide's former offensive coordinator, Jim McElwain.  That is about the most that can be said of this effort.  Despite the scoreboard reading 31-6 at the end of the forth quarter, Alabama did not dominate its opponent, it did not play to its own standard of excellence, and it certainly did not get the game experience for second and third team athletes that many hoped and expected.

There are certainly some reasons to think that this might have been the outcome before the game kicked off, indeed, some of them should have been apparent as soon as this season's schedule was finalized.

--Alabama still runs the offensive system McElwain helped develop and install.  Few people alive not on the current coaching staff probably understand it better.

--Whomever Alabama played the week after Texas A&M was going to get to play a tired (emotionally and physically) team -- or as Si from Duck Dynasty says beaten up "physically and metaphysically".

--Six players who started the game last Saturday did not start this one.  Yeldon's disciplinary suspension hurt, as did Belue's turf toe and Williams' absence, but none hurt more than the losing Steen from the offensive line, see below.

--I'm not sure anyone was particularly happy about a schedule that opened with a solid neutral site opponent, followed by an off week, then the toughest road game of the season, followed by opening at home against what should have been a tune up opponent, over a month after classes started.

--Cornerback, which might generously be called a work in progress, rotated around like it was A Day, not almost a quarter of the way through the season.  It was a little hard to keep up, but true freshmen saw the field and apparently there was some sort of quarter-by-quarter rotation, mostly without regard to success.

--This game was clearly one of the high points of the season for the Rams, in terms of both prestige and gate receipts.  Credit them for coming in with excitement, an excellent plan, and playing through the final whistle.

waited all evening for a payoff that really never seemed to come.  It wasn't exactly disappointing,  but it had that flavor.  There was a breathtaking sunset.

Yesterday was not a beautiful day in Tuscaloosa.  The day opened very cloudy, with what the WVUA weatherman described as a soaking rain.  Clouds and a muddy Quad persisted into the evening.  The stadium was relatively full, except for a very curious block of empty seats in the southwest corner.  The crowd was relatively lively, considering the competition, but it was as if it

On to the grades themselves:

Offense:  C-.  It is hard to award a grade this low when you look at a scoreboard with 31 points on it.  But 7 of those points were courtesy of special teams.  The offense just looked out of synch.  McCarron was harassed and sacked.  He made some poor reads and tried to force the ball into coverage.  Cooper's toe injury did not help us.  After a great week last week, Fulton appeared to run rather tentatively again.  This is a big key.  Saban-led offenses, going back at least to his LSU days, have always featured two backs.  Yeldon is outstanding, but no one has stepped up to be the second "punch" at that position.  Converting third downs was as scarce as confident Michigan fans (though to be fair, one third down wasn't considered a conversion because we scored a touchdown).  We badly need Steen back from his concussion-like symptoms.  Mostly, this group needs to display the consistency it did last week.   I'm willing to believe that the Aggie's defense is just not very good -- but it is as good as Colorado State's.  Special gold star for Kenyan Drake who scored a rushing touchdown, converted our first third down on a 22-yard catch (in the third freakin' quarter) and blocked a punt. But the totals rate the low grade, 66 net yards rushing, 272 yards passing, and 16 first downs.  Did you know Alabama is 56-0 in the Saban era when the Tide rushes for more than 140 yards?  Well, apparently all the opposing coaches know it, too.  CSU regularly had eight or nine in the box and we continued to pound our heads against that wall.  At least it felt good when we stopped.

Defense: B+  The Stop Squad allowed CSU 13 first downs, 64 offensive plays, and 228 yards passing.  Run defense was much stouter, allowing only 51 total rushing yards.  There was also a sack and several tackles for loss.  In a surprise to no one, C.J. Mosely led all tacklers with four solo and five assists.  I know, I know.  We are spoiled.  In the age of parity allowing an opponent only one trip inside the red zone and no touchdowns is an excellent achievement.  The down grade comes as a result of the defense's inability to get off the field on third downs, resulting in Alabama losing the time of possession battle, or to adjust to the trips formation/screen pass that CSU ran, by our unofficial count, 3,476 times last night.  Don't be surprised if Mississippi opens with it.  

Special Teams:  A-.  Slight downgrade for missing a makeable field goal.  It was longish, but distance was not the problem.  It looked pretty, but never had a chance.  The other field goal was uglier than a three-color bowling shoe, but I'll take ugly conversions over pretty misses every time.  Blocked punt for a touchdown automatically merits an A.  We were clearly in the head of the opposing punter.  Jones scares me to death fielding those bouncing punts, but saved us lots of yards doing so.  We kicked off short on purpose again, and it paid off, thankfully.  The numbers bear it out, Mandell punted five times for a 45 yard average and had two that the gunners had a chance to down inside the 10.  CSU's kickoff returns averaged less than 20 yards.  

Coaching:  B.  A win, leading to a 3-0 season, and getting the team at least ready to play CSU a week after the epic drama of Texas A&M, and doing so without 6 starters, rates at least a good.  Suspending Yeldon (after he wrote a public apology note that was all over the internet and presumably did some, um, extra conditioning) sets a tone and was a good gesture.  But there is lots of coaching work to do.  The rotating CB scheme was to some purpose, we assume, and we hope it is obvious by this time next week.  However, not having an answer for the CSU passing game and, frankly, the fact we didn't beat the stuffings out of an opponent we should have dominated earns a lower grade.  The coach said after the game that this version of the Crimson Tide is still searching for an identity.  We are not sure what that is coachspeak for, maybe leadership, maybe becoming dominant in some phase of the game, maybe just attitude, maybe all of that.  Whatever it is, we need to find or develop it and the coaches are charged with helping the players do that.  Tempus fugit.

On to the University of Mississippi Admiral Akhbar Rebel Black Bears, who will have had two weeks to rest and prepare for the game.  Alabama will have to turn in a better effort next Saturday if they hope to prevail.  

The Correspondent from the Tire Store

Texas A&M Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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Good edition, Commissioner.  I find that it is hard to type when my pulse is still pounding even down to my fingertips.  If Alabama can just get the offense that played yesterday to show up on the same Saturday as the defense that played against Virginia Tech, perhaps my bp will fall back down to somewhere in the triple digits.

I agree with the grades.  I'm hoping for a quick recovery for Belue; we will beat Colorado State without him, but Mississippi will be much more of a challenge.

Officiating:  Regular readers of this space already know that by the middle of the second quarter my dogs were hiding under the furniture and my wife was checking to make sure the neighbors weren't out in the yard staring at the purplish haze of invective that was probably seeping out the windows and hanging like a cloud over the roof. So my apologies to the Ledbetter and Bunch families.  Ritter's crew has long had a reputation for being flag happy and conducting endless conferences, to no point, between plays.   Not that Verne and Gary are a brains trust, but even they were at a loss to provide a fig leaf for some of the goofy pronouncements from the field yesterday.

I thought perhaps it was just me.  It is not.  Fans from friendly rivals like Oklahoma, Ohio State, even mainstream reporters from places like ESPN and Yahoo are questioning some of what went on yesterday.  A stiff arm does not mean you are allowed to grab the defensive player's facemask.  The fact that a quarterback is scrambling (and really good at it) does not mean your offensive linemen are excused from obeying the rules about holding.  Even if a receiver is forced out of bounds, that doesn't mean he doesn't have to get back in bounds before touching the ball.  Just because a receiver made a really good catch doesn't mean that he gets to push off the defensive player to do it.  Calls were missed and blown both ways yesterday -- that does not make it "fair"; that makes it lousy.

Lots of chatter on the internet last night and this morning about whether the officiating crew was biased for Texas A&M.  I, for one, don't buy that.  My theory has always been that if the choice is between conspiracy and incompetence, pick incompetence.  Unfortunately, that leaves us with an almost as distasteful result.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the best teams, the best coaches, and the best fans in all of college football deserve the best officiating.  No one with even a casual understanding of the game would say that yesterday's "effort" was anywhere close to that.  It's not that they wanted Texas A&M to win, just that their incompetence happened to fall more heavily on us.

Look, no one is opposed to making players safer within the rules.  The new NCAA rule on "targeting" however, is ill-conceived,  arbitrarily applied, and should be repealed before this Thursday night's kickoffs.  We very nearly lost Clinton-Dix for part of the first half and all of the second, basically for trying to make an interception.  Let me ask you to consider this question:  If Ha-ha had been a half second faster and he had caught the ball, do you think the zebra would have thrown a flag on the wide receiver?  Me, either.   Questionable application of this rule probably cost Oklahoma a touchdown yesterday -- even after the officials in the booth overturned the ejection, the other team was awarded a first and goal.  How long before it costs someone an important game?  Before Halloween, would be my guess.

The SEC has been on a public relations campaign the last two seasons to try to gin up some sympathy for its officials.  Last year they even resorted to having sportswriters come on the field during scrimmage games like the A-Day game to see how hard they worked at their jobs.  This year, former officials have been sent on speaking tours to convince people that officiating is just really hard to do.  I think it speaks volumes that the conference thinks this is necessary.  If your press is that bad, isn't there just a teensy weensy chance it means you need to work on some issues?

Steve Shaw is an Alabama graduate, was a great on-field official, and a good man.  He has a thankless task.  But this issue needs attention pronto.  I understand that officials have film review of every game.  If so, whomever conducts the follow up to this Saturday's game should peel the paint from the walls in that session.   A more wholesale solution is required.  Perhaps it is time to dump the "crew" system for something else.  I'm willing to find out if something different really is worse.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store

Texas A&M Grades

I admit that I had lots of doubts before this game. In fact, I am still having a hard time believing what we witnessed Saturday afternoon. The talking heads had me convinced that there was no way Alabama could even stay on the same field with Texas A&M, much less actually win the game. 

Oh, sure, Lee Corso put the Big Al head on at end of College Game Day, but he is so batty he might have just been trying to irritate the Aggie crowd. Paul Finebaum predicted an Alabama win, but his heart didn't seem to be in it. For the rest of the chattering class, today was to be the day Alabama was exposed. The chance for a three-peat would evaporate like a mirage in the searing Texas heat. 

There was no way that the Tide offense could hope to keep up with the Aggie point machine. Johnny Manziel may well be an insufferable boor, but he is without doubt an unstoppable magician who would shred the Tide Defense with his arm and legs. 

Desmond Howard picked A&M to win. Kirk Herbstreet followed suit, citing Alabama's offensive woes against the Hokies two weeks back. World-class Tide hater, Spencer Tillman and notorious gas-bag, Tim Brando, gleefully predicted an Aggie romp. Even Marc Torrence sorrowfully picked A&M in Friday's CW. 

With the score 14-0 after the Aggies' first two possessions which sandwiched an Alabama three-and-out, I was confirmed in my pessimism. But then something amazing happened.

Greek mythology includes the story of the Phoenix. A magical bird, that is destroyed by fire only to be reborn out of the ashes.  Manziel and his gargantuan wide out Mike Evans burned Alabama, accounting for 279 of the Aggies' 628 offensive yards. But the Tide arose from the ashes with timely take aways on defense, and sustained scoring drives behind an offensive line that got better on every possession. 

Consider this from the first half: After gaining no yards in three plays on its initial possession, the Tide offense gained 75, 80, 80, and 93 yards on consecutive drives. Each possession resulted in a touchdown. The defense was torched by A&M's first two drives of the game, but rounded out the first 30 minutes of game time yielding ground, but nevertheless forcing two punts and an interception in the end zone. 

In the second half, A&M assumed the role of the phoenix, and came within a touchdown of erasing what at one time had been a 21 point Alabama lead. But, again, the defense made just enough big plays, while the offense, behind dominating blocking, ground out 222 yards and more than doubled the Aggies' time of possession [UA 20:16; TAMU 9:44].

A&M scored 42 points, the most allowed by Alabama in a victory, and surrendered more yards to the Aggies than it has given up in any game under Coach Nick Saban. The Tide, however, rang up 49 points and bludgeoned the A&M defense with a punishing ground attack.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: A TJ  Yeldon's fumble at the A&M 2 yard line, and a handful of dropped passes, many coming on first downs, keeps me from awarding the +. Fumble aside, TJ Yeldon had a stellar game running for 149 yards on 25 carries. Kenyan Dake gained 50 yards on 7 runs and Jalston Fowler ran the ball 4 times for 37 yards.

Where the 2012 Crimson Tide was Eddie Lacy's team, and Trent Richardson was the heart of the 2011 edition, 2013 belongs to AJ McCarron. The senior quarterback completed 20 of 29 pass attempts for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns. He threw no interceptions and was not sacked. His performance against A&M was enough to move him into second place overall in career passing statistics.

DeAndrew White was the leading receiver with 82 yards on 4 receptions including a touchdown. Tight end, O.J. Howard caught 3 passes for 68  yards, and Kevin Norwood-perhaps the best possession receiver in the SEC-caught 3 passes for 52 yards one of which was a highlight reel touchdown. Ten different players caught passes, including Kenny Bell who scored a 51 yard touchdown on a screen pass.

The offense had seven drives that gained at least 40 yards [75, 80, 80, 93, 83, 71, 65]. Alabama gained 31 first downs and converted 3 of its 6 third downs. The line played so well that A&M managed only 1 tackle in the Tide backfield accounting for only one lost yard.

Defense: C+ The Aggies gained 628 yards of total offense, converted 5  of 8 third downs and matched Alabama by also earning 31 first downs four of which came by way of defensive penalties. What salvages the defensive grade are several factors: (i) quality of opposition-simply put, Manziel is a world-class jackass, but he is also all world on the field as a player; (ii) two take-aways, including the best pick-six I have ever seen as Vinnie Sunseri returned his second interception in as many games 73 yards for what proved to be the margin of victory; (iii) some of A&M's offensive success was the result of horrific officiating at the expense of the Tide defense. 

C.J. Mosley recorded 12 tackles [6 solo] and Landon Collins made 7 stops [6 solo]. Clinton-Dix was credited with 6 tackles, while Cyrus Jones and Denzel Duvall made 5 each. The Vinnie-Badger, Jeffrey Pagan and John Fulton each made 4 tackles. The defense accounted for 3 tackles for lost yardage [1 sack], 2 interceptions, a forced fumble and broke up two passes. 

Special Teams:

Punting: A Cody Mandel averaged 51 yards per kick [43 net] and the coverage unit allowed only two returns for 9 yards. The A&M punter allowed only 1 return opportunity which Christion Jones converted for 5 yards.

Place Kicking: A Cade Foster was good on all 7 PAT attempts.

Kickoffs: A- Foster averaged 63.6 yards per kick [44.4 net] and Christion Jones returned 4 kicks for 83 yards. The coverage unit allowed 90 yards on 4 returns. 

Coaching: B You probably think this grade is too low considering the outcome of the game and the marked improvement in the offensive line during the preceding open week. All of that is true. However, the Tide was penalized 12 times for more than 100 yards [more on officiating in a moment] and one of those was a substitution penalty. The participation report lists 50  players who saw action against the Aggies. 

Officiating: F Because if there was a lower grade available this crew of nincompoops would richly deserve it. When the referee showed up with a white cane and dark glasses I should have known he would never see how blatantly A&M was holding in order to protect Manziel. But the Blind Mice managed to make two of the worst penalty calls I think I have ever seen: (i) "targeting" and (ii) "pushing the receiver out of bounds".

Thank goodness the replay official kept Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from being ejected from the game for "targeting", but the 15 yard penalty was still assessed, keeping alive and A&M drive that ought to have resulted in a punt. The only reason the field judge threw his flag was that the people on the A&M sideline were in his ear after Dix broke up a pass. It was a horrible call and could have been costly. Fortunately, Alabama held on the possession and forced and A&M punt.

CBS Broadcast: F Lundquist and Danielson have picked up in 2013 where they left off in 2012. Vern continues to mangle the players names....our punter is MANDEL not MANZIE....and after a long career in broadcasting you would think that he would have some expressions other than "WOW" and "OH MY" with which to react to big plays. And what can I say about Gary Danielson? He gushes about his favorite players to such an extent that if there are impressionable children in the room, I suggest that parents hit the "mute" button.

A&M is going to win a lot of football games this year. In fact, the Aggies are in a position, that with a little help from teams ranked above them, they could find themselves as the number 2 team in the nation following the SEC CG, setting up a re-match with the Tide in the BCS Championship Game. 

I don't think that will happen. I do know this, however, Alabama is a really good football team. The improvement since the season opener has been outstanding. The Road To 16 had a huge speed bump in it right in the middle of College Station, Texas. But the Tide has gotten past it and faces a well-paved stretch of highway straight to a November 9 meeting with LSU.

AJ has the route committed to memory.....so does Nick Saban....about that I have no doubt whatsoever.

The Commissioner   

                

Virginia Tech Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

Hurrah for the return of The Grades.  It has been a long summer of celebration for #15 and anticipation for the return of College Football.  The return last night was not exactly all we had hoped for, but Alabama put yet another W on the board against an opponent far superior to the Rice Owls, the Buffalo Bulls or the Nicholls State Whatever-They-Ares.
We agree with the Grades down here at the Tire Store, and are trying like heck not to feel lower than the grease rack about some units, well, ok, one unit.  Good news first, as we try to tell the customers.
Special Teams:  We think that is the "most specialist" we can ever remember the Special Teams being.  Javier Arenas gave us some great memories of returns, setting records and leaving a lot of defenders shaking their heads as he took kicks back for touchdowns.  But let's face it, during his glory days the other team was just as likely to return the favor on our ensuing kickoff.  Jones was special last night and I personally look forward to seeing him run with it again. It seems like only a few short weeks ago he was catching them on a substitute basis down in New Orleans and we were all yelling at the TV, "just fair catch it, son."   Our kick coverage was good last night, too.  The plan to kick it short mostly penned the Hokies deeper than if the ball had gone out of the dadgum endzone.  We have to think that was a matter of strategy, because just a few short months ago we boomed every kickoff out of the end zone in this same building.
Defense:  Best to admit the obvious up front.  Virginia Tech was not a strong offensive team when fall camp began, and they have had players dropping like flies ever since, tight end, wide out, running back....  It was a horrid fall for them injury / suspension / left-the-team wise.  We are not sure how much it mattered.  Take away one play that appeared to us to have at least two assignment busts, maybe three, and Virginia Tech was about as ineffective on offense as you can imagine.  They dropped some deep balls and badly misread at least one coverage, but on the whole the Stop Troops throttled them, despite really excellent field position for them from time to time.
Offense:  This is where things get ugly.  Like you, we think a lot of the blame has to go to the men in the trenches.  We are not sure what was going on last night, but it was uglier than bad brakes and bald tires.  Kelly struggled in his first start at center, but that might be expected.  Same for Austin Shepherd.  But Coach Saban himself said that Arie Kouandjio was one of our best linemen in fall camp.  Uh-oh.   We are big fans of Arie's.  He is a bright (business school honors student) and polite kid who has diligently rehabbed from injuries most of us prefer not to even imagine.  But last night he seemed confused and out of position.   Things were marginally better when he was replaced by Kellen Williams.  Perhaps the first start rule can apply to him, too.  So, then, what to make of his little brother's performance?  Cyrus was a stalwart last fall.  He is considered a first-round draft choice next winter by the folks who track such things.  Let's just say it's safe to say he didn't play like it last night.
Credit where credit is due.  Virginia Tech did not suffer the same epidemic of injuries on the defensive side of the ball.  Their starting line had almost 100 starts between them.  Several preseason publications were high on their defense, and especially their front seven, which were top 10 preseason according to some.  Their strategy to put 7-8 men on the line and drive into our backfield was monstrously successful.  I don't care how good you are, either in talent, training, or scheme, 5 guys are not going to consistently block 7-8 guys at this level.  What made it seem worse is that our coaches seemed determined to beat our heads against that wall (see below).
Simply put, our offense has too many good players to turn in a performance like last night.  It was highly rated coming into this season because of the talents of its individual players.  That respect did not depend on the potential of a bunch of kids who were attending Senior Prom back in May, either.  No, we have names likes McCarron, Yeldon, Steen, Fowler, Hart, Norwood, Cooper -- players who have made a name for themselves turning in big plays in big games.  Riddle me this, was there even one single starter for Virginia Tech's offense that you would have traded ours for at game time yesterday?  Me, neither.
Our award winning receivers dropped catchable balls.  Our backs were getting four yards after contact, the problem was that initial contact was happening five yards behind the line of scrimmage.  AJ was throwing off his back foot on the few occasions he had time to set himself to throw (and down here, we are suspicious about the whole ingrown toenail story; it sounds plausible enough, but it was only back at the first of the year that we were told B. Jones had a twisted ankle.)
It is odd, thinking back, to a performance like this by the offensive line.  Interestingly, the game we flashed on was Western Kentucky, just last year.  The Hilltoppers actually sacked AJ more times than Virginia Tech.  And last year worked out ok.  However, historically speaking Saturday nightwas the worst offensive output per play since the infamous Utah Sugar Bowl game, and it was about an inch a carry away from being the worst of the Saban era.  Calls for quick and dramatic improvement are well-deserved.
Coaching: We are not just sure what the coaches were thinking on Saturday.  Some of the decisions were head-scratchers.  We did not really seem to adjust schemes or play calls even after it became obvious that the Hokies were determined to make us beat them over the top.  We basically chose to run out the end of the first half rather than run the two-minute drill.  Did we just get a big lead and decide that since there wasn't much chance of them scoring on our defense, we'd just let a wide variety of guys run it into the line and take a licking?  We remember trying one screen pass, that failed when the running back couldn't get open.  So we never tried it again?  Was there even one slant route?
Worst of all, from time to time the body language of the offensive players was as if they just didn't really care to try it any more.  They didn't quit, exactly, but they didn't seem that fired up about going at it again.  We certainly didn't make Virginia Tech's defense quit.  Between now and a week from Saturday in College Station may be the most difficult coaching job the staff has had to do since 2010.  Somehow this team has to have a plan to impose its well on Texas A&M.  I'm betting they are up to the task.
Would last night's performance have carried the day against any of our future opponents?  Well, sure, a lot of them, actually.  But this Alabama.  The Process isn't aimed at racking up a 10-win season against the likes of Colorado State and Kentucky and attending a moderately impressive bowl.  No, we are used to (and rightly to our way of thinking) aiming higher than that.  And if we are, you know the coaching staff and players are.  It will be interesting to see how things work out a week from Saturday.  If commentary from around the country today about the Aggies' quarterback is to be taken at face value, it likely will be the only game this year where the majority of the country is actually rooting for us.  Although yesterday wasn't our best effort (we hope) we didn't give up 500+ yards of offense to the Rice Owls, either.
Roll Tide everyone.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store


 

Virginia Tech Grades

Earlier in the week, during the run up for the Alabama-Va. Tech. game, I was thinking about how I would begin the first set of Grades for the 2013 season. It is supposed to be The Road to 16. I thought that I would write about how all the available road maps show that the most direct route from Tuscaloosa to Pasadena is to get on I-10 and drive until you see the Pacific Ocean, but that in the world of BCS Football, Alabama had to begin its journey by driving east on I-20 to Atlanta. 

The detour to Atlanta is over; thank goodness. But considering how Alabama played on Saturday, the interstate highway metaphor is not a good one. It would require me to acknowledge that the axel is likely to drop out of the frame in College Station two weeks from now.

What does it say about Alabama football that a 25 point win over a respectable team provokes feelings of impending doom? Are Alabama's fans spoiled by success? Of course they are. Have scholarship limits, and other systemic restrictions created real parity among the two or three dozen elite program? No question that they have. Is it hard....and I mean really, really hard....for a team to stay at the top of the college football world year-in and year-out especially when it has to replace players who leave early for the NFL? Do you really need me to answer that one?

But here are some more questions, the answers to which are less obvious: How do you explain the incredibly poor performance of the Alabama offensive live? What accounts for the missed assignments in blocking and protection? Why did players appear to be completely confused? How is it that one of the most experienced offensive linemen, a returning starter, gets penalized twice for holding in the first half? What was going on during spring and summer camps that an emerging starter can challenge for right tackle, start at left guard, and get yanked after the first half because his blocking was as effective as a rusty gate?

The discussion of Alabama's 2013 season opener should not dwell exclusively on these negative concerns. There were many encouraging signs, and some spectacular individual performances, like Christion Jones, Vinnie Sunseri, Cody Mandel, Jarrick Williams and C. J. Mosley. But the fact is that Alabama's offense was missing in action. And if it is not found in the next fourteen days there will be no 16th National Championship in 2013. There will not be a return trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Indeed, the Tide will be lucky to finish third in the West.

Here's how I grade the game:

OFFENSE:       D       The Tide scored two touchdowns, but both scoring drives started on the Hokie's side of the 50 yard line. Indeed, the longest drive of the night was 49 yards, made in 11 plays, culminating in a nifty three yard touchdown run by T. J. Yeldon. The second TD came on a 38 yard pass from AJ to Christion Jones to cap a 4 play, 47  yard drive in the third quarter. 

Otherwise, the offense struggled all night. Alabama punted 9 times; 6 of those punts came on possessions of three-and-out. The O-Line was never able consistently to open holes in the VPI defensive front, and the Alabama running game generated only 96 net yards rushing. Blocking at the point of attack was so poor that Va. Tech. defenders made 11 tackles for 47 yards of losses-including 4 sacks. 

T. J. Yeldon rushed 17 times for 75 net yards. Altee Tenpenny gained 24 net yards on 6 carries and Dee Hart gained 15 yards on 5 rushes. Jalston Fowler and Derrick Henry both had their numbers called in the huddle, but neither was able to get traction running the ball. At one point, Marc Torrence tweeted that as Derrick Henry came off the field Coach Saban gave him the "Bug Zapper"-that look where lightning shoots out of Saban's eyeballs. I don't have any further information on why the big freshman was on the receiving end of the head coach's unwanted attention, but my guess is that it had something to do with missed blocking assignments. 

AJ was less than 50% passing, having completed only 10 of 23 attempts for 110 yards, a TD and an interception. He had precious little time to make his reads, set up and throw, but by and large he was delivering the ball. I counted at least four legitimate drops including one by Amari Cooper. 

Otherwise, Cooper made 4 catches for 38 yards. Christion Jones caught 2 passes for 47 yards, including the touchdown catch, which was picture perfect. 

Va. Tech. loaded the box all night and dared Alabama to pass. Ordinarily, AJ and the Tide receiving corps would make an opponent pay dearly for such a decision. Saturday evening, however, that was not the case as receivers failed to get separation from the Hokie secondary, and AJ was constantly pressured. 

In many respects, this game was reminiscent of Alabama's last two regular season games against LSU. The big problem is that VPI's defense is nowhere as good as LSU.

DEFENSE:        B-         The Hokies gained 212 yards of total offense including 153 net yards rushing. Third-string running back, true freshman, T. Edmunds, accumulated 132 net yards rushing, 77 of which came on a single play. Take away that single play, and the Tide's defensive stats look much better. On the other hand, the injury-riddled Hokies are not a good offensive football team. 

C.J. Mosley and Ed Stinson each had 5 tackles, Landon Collins, and Ha Ha Clinton DIx each were credited with 4. Vinnie Sunseri recorded 2.5 tackles, and intercepted a pass which he returned 38 yards for a touchdown. 

The Tide defense made 4 tackles for 7 negative yards. 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

PUNTING: A+ Cody Mandel saw so much action against VPI that I half expected him to be getting an IV from the training staff. Nevertheless, he averaged 46.4 yards on his 9 punts, and with one glaring exception, coverage was excellent. Four of Mandel's punts were downed inside the Hokies 20. The one instance of poor coverage resulted in a 48 yard return, but Mandel made the tackle. The punt return game was outstanding. Christion Jones returned VPI's first punt of the game 72 yards for a touchdown. 

KICKOFFS: A+ Christion Jones also handled kick return duties and accounted for 109 yards on 2 returns,including a spectacular 94 yard return for a touchdown.  Cade Foster and freshman, Adam Griffith, shared kickoff duties, averaging 60 and 62 yards per kick respectively. Kick coverage was superb all night, resulting in the Hokies having an average starting field position inside their own 20.

PLACEKICKING: A Bama was perfect on 5 PAT attempts. 

I do not want my concern over the woes of the offense to overshadow Christion Jones' record-setting accomplishments. Jones is the first Tide player in recorded history to score three touchdowns in the same game by returning a kick, returning a punt and making a reception. His 256 all-purpose yards are 180 more than second-place T.J. Yeldon and two times more than the Hokies' running back, T. Edmunds. It was a splendid performance.

The two most popular topics of conversation among Alabama football fans at any point in time are: (i) how good the Tide is, and (ii) how bad the Tide is. Today is no exception to that rule. 

Did you watch the Georgia-Clemson game? What about LSU-TCU? Do you think Alabama could have beaten either one of those four teams yesterday? I don't. I'm not convinced that Alabama could have outscored the diminished Texas A&M team that played the first half of its game against Rice.

You may well ask: So what's to be done? 

I can't answer that question. All I know for sure are two things: (i) We fortunately have extra time due to an open week to correct the problems with the offensive line. (ii) We have a head coach who was already working on the problem well before Saturday's game clock ran to zero.

It may be that when the history of the 2013 season is written, Saturday's miserable offensive performance may be seen as the best thing that could have happened because it provided Nick Saban with what he needed most-a way to focus the team on the imperative for improvement, a device for eradicating a complacent mind-set, a catalogue of correctable errors. 

Like Mario Cristobal, Burton Burns, Bill Napier, and Doug Nussmeier, I think the Bug Zapper is going to be working overtime for the next two weeks.

The Commissioner