Thanks
for a prompt edition of the grades at the end of an odd week, Commissioner.
Last night was a bit of an odd one in Kentucky. It took three
quarters of domination to cleanse the palate of the first three series, by
the offense at least. But those three quarters were a serious beat down.
I don't think Kentucky is a very good team right now, but I'm mindful
that just a few weeks ago they gave supposed BCS Buster Louisville all they
wanted for three quarters. Last night's game was over at half time.
It was good to see Alabama back to making the other team quit. Even
the players who are, shall we say, waiting their turns to start, lined up and
took the fight to the Wildcats. It is also worth noting that
yesterday seemed like Upset Saturday in college
football. Georgia, Michigan, Stanford, Oklahoma all expected a
brighter Sunday morning. Alabama avoided adding its name to the
list of teams that watched their chances to win it all be snatched away by
supposedly inferior teams, instead dominating an opponent it should have.
The
various offensive miscues and fireworks, all coming in the same game, make it
easy to overlook how very well our defense has been playing since it left
College Station. Last night's effort was suffocating. Kentucky's
touchdown came on a play where one of our defenders suffered a key isolation
block -- unintentionally thrown by one of this teammates. For the last
few seasons, various pundits have remarked that the team that was best situated
to beat Alabama was Alabama. I was not so sure that was true this season,
especially three games in. Here, at more or less the half way point, I am
starting to believe that may be true again and it is because of the
development on the defensive side of the ball. Given the losses to
graduation, I feared that the offense would have to carry the defense, which is
not my preference for a football team, but you do with what you have.
If the defense can continue to play like they did Saturday night, it will
make things that much easier for the offense. Bear in mind that
Ha ha was again held out Saturday night. The rumor we hear down
at the Tire Store on the fine young freshman defensive back is that he injured
an ankle during the homecoming game last week and was somewhat limited in
practice. However, reading quotes from the defensive backs coach/head
coach's press conference last night, it may be that Slyve just practiced
better and was given his just rewards on Saturday night. Can't say that
we have concerns about there being three healthy defensive backs that the
coaches have enough confidence in to start.
We do
agree that despite record-setting team performances all over the place,
the offense deserved to be graded down just a bit. A worrying case of
the dropsies seemed to be spreading like a bad virus.
Yeldon said after the game he was carrying the ball too low.
No word on Drake, though there is just a chance that was the result of an
outstanding play by Kentucky's defense. But a Fair + sounds just a bit
harsh for a team that turned in one of the best offensive showings in four
decades. Though it pains us to admit this, numerous subscribers to
the grades weren't yet alive the last time a better performance was turned in
by the offense. There's a passel of national championships, talented
players, and, to be fair, games against pretty weak
opponents scattered across that stretch. We'd say that rates at least a
"good". Continued improvement by the offensive line,
whether based on changes in personnel, better communication, or just the
experience of playing together is a very hopeful sign.
We
continue to be pleasantly surprised at the development of the special teams as
a weapon. For the second week in a row, it appeared that the other team
decided to punt away from our returners and paid a price when they didn't
execute correctly. Place kicking is solid and we even appear to be making
conscious choices whether to kick off deep into the end zone or to try to stop
returners short of the 25.
Your
larger point cannot and should not be ignored. Saturday was a
pounding of an inferior team. That does not mean that exactly the same
performance would even achieve victory over most of the rest of the
schedule. Believing there are no negative repercussions for sloppy play
is not acceptable. We have a good bit of confidence in this coaching
staff to ensure that message is delivered. See entry under, Saban,
Nick, exploding head. Also, we note improvement in preparation for games
like this which, in times past, Alabama might have been tempted to sleep walk
through a little bit. Even the key drop and two fumbles in the first
quarter were on plays that were well designed and working exactly as drawn
up by the coaches, so they get at least partial credit for that.
We did
not have high expectations for the officials' performance as soon as we noted
that Penn Wagers' crew had shown up for the game. We were not
surprised. Someone has to come up with a solution for the play where the
official marks the ball ready for play and is still somewhere between the line
of scrimmage and the linebackers when it is snapped. It didn't cost us last
night, but it could against a more potent offense. Some of the
personal foul flags were just silly.
Despite
struggles by the officials, I thought they performed better than the ESPN
announcing crew. It is always refreshing not to have Verne mangling
everyone's name and Gary waxing poetic about the Days o' Tebow, but at
least they call the action on the field. It seemed like we watched a
full quarter of the game last night while they had useless theoretical
discussions with the silly
Todd McShay about various NFL
draft "projections" and sang the praises of Oregon specifically
and the PAC generally. Biased much? Alabama was setting statistical
records left and right, but you wouldn't have known it from the broadcast.
While McShay was giving lofty explanations of why AJ is a
third-tier quarterback, he was buzzing laser-like strikes down the field in the
background. While the oblivious chuckleheads talked away about what NFL teams
might do in March, for pity's sake, Tenpenny was
pounding through the Kentucky defense like a saber saw, carrying something
like 8 times in 10 plays and scoring a touchdown. All we heard about was
what an intimidating place Seattle is to play football. Really, guys?
Next week, we'll just turn the volume off and listen to Eli.
We'll
just conclude with this, we always like those games where, during the Rammer
Jammer, Coach Saban is at midfield apologizing to the other team's
coach for the late touchdown scored by the backups.
The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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